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Rayleigh's expression grew more serious as he listened, and then he let out a low chuckle. "No wonder your codename is 'Shura.' Turns out you really are an Ashura from hell. All right then—let me see the strength of a Celestial Dragon Admiral."
"Kekekeke..." In his Shura form, Gorum cackled wildly, all six of his black blades whipping through the air as they slashed toward Rayleigh.
He was a prodigy among the young Celestial Dragons, having become a member of the God's Knights at a young age while also serving as an admiral at Marineford. Not only did he wield the swordsmanship of a great swordsman, but he had also mastered all three types of Haki. Now, after obtaining a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit, his power had reached a level never seen before.
Meanwhile, chaos raged across Amazon Lily. The Pacifistas were laying waste to the island. Aside from a few powerhouses like Hancock and Luffy, the Kuja warriors struggled to handle even a single unit. Though they understood Haki, the gap in raw strength between them and the Pacifista was simply too great.
"Biu… biu… biu…"
Lasers rained down over Amazon Lily, and flames swept across the island.
At that moment, five Marine vice admirals had Boa Hancock surrounded. One of them said coolly, "Surrender, Boa Hancock."
"Do you really think you can capture me...?" Hancock sneered, forming a heart shape with her hands.
Seeing this, the five Vice Admirals immediately realized what she was about to do. A flurry of flying slashes shot toward Hancock, forcing her hand.
Unable to muster enough time and power to unleash Love-Love Mellow, Hancock sprang into the air and snarled, "Slave Arrow!"
Countless pink heart-shaped arrows poured down on the Marines. Those struck by the wide-ranging attack had their eyes turn to stars as they were petrified on the spot. Even so, the five vice admirals managed to block her assault.
After all, Boa Hancock had been one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea for nearly ten years. The Marines had long since analyzed her abilities in detail.
Love-Love Mellow, in particular, was an indiscriminate wide-area attack. It wasn't about physical strength at all—it worked more like an absolute rule. On top of that, the technique took the form of light, making it incredibly fast and hard to dodge. Once someone was hit by the light of her attack, if they felt even the slightest attraction to her, they would be turned to stone.
Unless a person's Haki was strong enough or their willpower firm enough to resist it, this move was essentially a death sentence.
But the attack wasn't without weaknesses. There was a brief charging period before activation—just a few seconds, but enough to give the vice admirals an opening.
Aside from Love-Love Mellow, Boa Hancock's other ultimate techniques could also turn people to stone, but those could be resisted more reliably with Haki, unlike the nearly unavoidable Love-Love Mellow.
Because of this, the five Marine Vice Admirals had already reached a consensus: as long as they could prevent Boa Hancock from using Love-Love Mellow, the threat of the Love-Love Fruit would be greatly reduced.
On the other side of the battlefield, after more than half a year of special training under Rayleigh, Luffy's strength had increased dramatically, and he had even developed a trump card—"Gear Fourth." However, the side effects were still too severe for him to use it casually. The biggest problem was the sheer number of enemies this time; even if he went into Gear Fourth, he wouldn't be able to end the fight quickly. Once Gear Fourth's time limit ran out, he would be unable to use Haki for a while.
"Rear Admiral Namu…" Seeing the Rear Admiral defeated by Luffy in Gear Second, the surrounding Marines were stunned. This Straw Hat Luffy really was a 400 million bounty criminal—his strength was terrifying.
Watching his comrade fall, Rear Admiral Fei flew into a rage and roared, "Don't underestimate him! He's not an ordinary supernova! The fact that he survived the Marineford War is enough to prove his strength! All officers, Commodore and above, with me! Take down Straw Hat Luffy!"
"Ohhh!" In an instant, dozens of Marines of commodore rank and higher surged toward Luffy.
Now, everyone attacking him was a seasoned fighter. Even Luffy in Gear Second found the situation troublesome.
He quickly slammed his fist into two Marine commodores, sending them flying, but more Marines immediately rushed in. Surrounded on all sides by these Marine elites, Luffy was slashed several times by their sabers as the encirclement tightened.
"Damn it! These guys are all so strong!
Luffy stared at the Marines rushing him, finally realizing that everyone surrounding him now was an elite officer. These weren't the grunts he used to send flying with a single punch.
"Straw Hat, surrender!"
"You slipped away during the Marineford War, but don't think you'll escape today!"
"Today's your day, Straw Hat…!"
Voices rang out one after another as Commodores and Rear Admirals all charged in at once.
Luffy glanced around at the ring of Marines and said, his expression turning serious, "I won't run anymore. Just watch—I'll send all of you flying!"
He sprang high into the air, muscles tensing, and roared:
"Gomu Gomu no… JET GATLING!"
In an instant, a storm of punches and kicks erupted from Luffy midair, raining down on the surrounding Marines. Faced with such a dense barrage, the officers crossed their arms and raised their guard. Several of the weaker Commodores were still blown away, but most of the higher-ranking officers managed to withstand his strikes.
The very moment Luffy's onslaught ceased, Rear Admiral Fei bellowed, "Now! Don't give him a chance to breathe!"
The Marines surged forward all at once. Forced on the defensive, Luffy fell back step by step, his expression tense. He was no longer dealing with ordinary Marines—these were seasoned officer-level fighters, and every blow carried real weight.
Back on the battlefield where Gorum clashed with Rayleigh, the fight remained deadlocked. Though Gorum looked young, he was the vice-captain of the God's Knights. His original Ashura form, over ten meters tall, had now compressed down to a human-sized frame—most likely his human-beast form.
In this compact body, the Gorum's six black blades danced relentlessly around Rayleigh, striking from every angle.
Two fists can't beat four hands—much less six. Even with Observation Haki sharper than most and swordsmanship honed over decades, Rayleigh had to stay on maximum alert.
'I have to end this quickly…'
After crossing blades a few times, Rayleigh understood that his opponent was far stronger than he'd expected—well worthy of the title "Admiral." There would be no quick, easy victory here. And he himself was old; in a drawn-out fight, he couldn't hope to outlast a young powerhouse, especially not a Celestial Dragon Admiral with a Zoan-type Devil Fruit.
If he wanted to bring this down fast… he'd have to be ready to take some hits.
Rayleigh's blade crackled to life as he coated it with Conqueror's Haki. Gorum before him, holding the rank of admiral, was almost certainly one of the God's Knights—and that meant he almost certainly possessed that so‑called "immortality."
But Rayleigh had already crossed swords with the God's Knights during the God Valley Incident more than thirty years ago. He knew the secret to shattering that immortality.
Facing Rayleigh, Gorum no longer dared to be careless. He remembered his father's words: during the God Valley War, many of the God Knights had fallen to the Roger Pirates and the Rocks Pirates. He didn't know for sure whether Rayleigh still had the power to break their immortality—but it wasn't a risk he intended to take.
In his eyes, he was a lofty Celestial Dragon, while Rayleigh was just a decrepit ant nearing the end of his life. Even so, Rayleigh's sudden appearance here was an unexpected variable.
Gorum fixed Rayleigh with an icy stare. "Dark King Rayleigh, it seems you're the only strong one on this island."
Rayleigh didn't respond. He was concentrating, gathering his strength. To crush a Celestial Dragon's immortality, he needed an overwhelming surge of Conqueror's Haki. He had to condense every last ounce of it into a single decisive strike to settle everything in one blow.
He was prepared to take a hit if it meant gravely injuring this Celestial Dragon Admiral—but he couldn't afford to be crippled. That next attack had to be executed with absolute precision and caution.
Meanwhile, Gorum had already opened a mental communication link, directly reporting the situation to his father—one of the Five Elders, Figarland Garling Saint.
Moments later, a vast five‑pointed magic circle suddenly unfurled in the air above Gorum's head.
Rayleigh frowned, momentarily thrown off by the sight, while the Marines erupted in excitement. Most of them were bound by confidentiality, but many had seen this phenomenon before. Through this very magic circle, the five elders and the God's Knights could teleport directly to the battlefield.
Luffy stared up at the black magic circle forming in the sky, confusion and wariness in his eyes. "What is that?!"
A Marine quickly answered him, his voice tinged with relief and awe. "Good, it's that magic circle! Is Lord Shura using it to call for support from the God's Knights or the Lord Five Elders?!"
Many Marines still had no idea what the magic circle meant.
"Hey, what were you just talking about?! And who's coming to support us?" someone shouted in confusion.
"Of course it's—" A Marine almost blurted it out, but his partner grabbed him and hissed, "Idiot!" Did you forget we all signed confidentiality agreements? We can't talk about the Lords' affairs."
At that, the loose-tongued Marine instantly clamped a hand over his mouth and shut up.
The Marines who'd signed agreements with CP also fell silent, but plenty of them had already put the pieces together.
In this world, no wall is perfectly soundproof. Back during the wars on Cake Island and Egghead Island, the World Government had dispatched reinforcements to help the Marines, and tens of thousands of soldiers had seen it with their own eyes.
Even with confidentiality agreements, rumors had long since spread throughout marine ranks.
Besides, even if the Marines tried to keep quiet, the Three Emperors Alliance certainly wouldn't. In the New World, stories of the Five Elders and the God's Knights had already circulated far and wide. The World Government might control the world's official narrative, but it couldn't completely stamp out those voices.
For hundreds of years, the New World had never been under strict world government control. With the rise of the Three Emperors Alliance, their influence there had weakened even more.
Information about the God's Knights and Lord Five Elders was leaking all over the New World, totally beyond their control.
The moment Rayleigh saw the magic circle in the sky, a bad premonition twisted in his gut. He moved without hesitation.
Seeing Rayleigh rush toward him, Gorum let out a cold sneer. "So you really intend to kill me, Dark King Rayleigh."
As he spoke, Gorum entered his Six-Armed Shura form. Six black blades appeared in his hands and crossed over one another, weaving into a six-pointed, star-shaped defense.
Rayleigh's face darkened. His original plan had been to lure the man into dropping his guard and finish him with a single decisive blow—but now the guy had turtled up in a full defensive stance. Still, the arrow was already nocked; there was no turning back. Rayleigh swung, unleashing a fierce slash.
The six black swords in Gorum's hands flared red as he roared.
"Six Consecutive Light Slashes…"
With a sharp clash, the black swords erupted with six arcs of sword aura, smashing apart the slash Rayleigh had just released. But by then, Rayleigh was already upon him, pressing in with a flurry of relentless attacks against Gorum.
Forced to split his attention, Gorum shifted into a purely defensive stance. Part of his strength was now locked into sustaining the Magic Circle overhead, leaving him with no choice but to block and endure.
That only made Rayleigh more uneasy. He'd never seen a Magic Circle like this before, but it was clearly some kind of hidden trump card. And judging from what those Marines had just shouted, this thing could teleport the God's Knights and a member of the Five Elders. If that was true, their odds of winning would plummet.
As Rayleigh and Gorum clashed fiercely below, the black pentagram array in the sky began to crackle with black lightning. Before anyone emerged, an overwhelming wave of Conqueror's Haki crashed down first. Under that violent tsunami of will, countless Marines and Amazon Lily warriors collapsed where they stood, foaming and fainting.
Even Rayleigh, Hancock, and Luffy stiffened in shock. All three possessed Conqueror's Haki themselves, so they could clearly feel how fearsome this one was.
"This aura… could it be him…?" Rayleigh's face darkened, his expression as black as the abyss.
A moment later, a gigantic monster descended from the magic circle—a being with a bird's head, wings, and claws, yet the long, coiling body of a serpent, like some demon from legend come to life.
Cold sweat slid down Rayleigh's temple as he looked up. The pressure radiating from the creature was terrifying.
Figarland Gorum, upon seeing that form, lowered his head and said respectfully, "Father..."
The massive Itsumade's body then began to shrink rapidly, twisting and folding in on itself until it took on the human shape of Figarland Garling.
"It's Lord Five Elders!"
"It's Saint Garling!"
"Great! With Saint Garling here, victory is ours!"
The Marines erupted in excitement at Garling's arrival.
Rayleigh stared at Saint Garling. The man had clearly aged, but that crescent-shaped hairstyle was far too distinctive to mistake.
"I didn't expect the one to come would be you, Figarland Garling," Rayleigh said solemnly.
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