"They moved..."
Just as everyone on the battlefield was still stunned by the powerful Conqueror's Haki the two had displayed, each with their own thoughts, the two of them disappeared from where they stood at the same time.
"So fast!"
At a speed the naked eye could not follow, two pitch-black streaks of light collided between heaven and earth.
The pitch-black lightning could not even keep up with them, trailing closely behind their movements.
"Boom..."
In that instant, blinding light and impact swept across the entire battlefield.
No one could control their body. They were blown away by the fierce air currents, while the dazzling light made it impossible to open their eyes. All they could feel was the world beneath their feet being lifted up, sending them flying.
"H-Help..."
The ice beneath everyone's feet shattered completely, turning back into the sea and leaving them with nowhere to stand.
"Quick... Get back to the island!"
At some unknown person's shout, the soldiers of the Sky Pirates quickly swam toward Golden Crow Island.
As for the Marines, without anyone stopping them, they fled even faster.
At that moment, only two people remained at the center of the entire battlefield.
Fire Dragon Yemu versus Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
"Boom..."
At the level the two of them had reached, there were no unnecessary movements and no tricks.
It was only a contest of body, Haki, and who would fall first.
"Incredible... Is this what a battle between the world's strongest looks like?"
At that moment, those watching the battle through the TV Dials no longer even cared about victory or defeat.
Being able to witness a battle between two men worthy of being called the strongest in the world was something one might not encounter even once in a lifetime.
As the two fought, heaven and earth seemed to be stirred and torn apart by them. Winds rose, clouds churned, and the waves towered into the sky.
Their attacks, wrapped in Conqueror's Haki, collided blow after blow.
The contest between strength and will had fully begun.
...
Wenmigudan Island.
Everyone on the island was watching the battle nervously.
From the start of the war until now, not a single heart had known peace. Everyone's emotions had risen and fallen with the changes on the battlefield.
Only when they saw the Marines collapse did they finally relax and begin cheering, their voices resounding across the entire island.
By now, everyone understood that as long as Yemu-sama could defeat Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the Rainbow Country could fully declare victory in this war.
Although everyone hoped and believed that Yemu-sama could defeat Fleet Admiral Sengoku, as long as the result had not appeared, they still could not help feeling worried and tense.
At that moment, everyone's eyes were fixed tightly on the three huge screens, not daring to look away for even a second.
Because of that, none of them noticed.
From the moment Yemu and Sengoku revealed their true strength, the branches and leaves of the Rainbow Tree above their heads, whose canopy had grown large enough to cover half of Wenmigudan Island, began to sway and give off an even more brilliant, vivid light.
Of course, Lillilu, who had been hidden among the dense leaves from the very beginning and watching over the entire island, had already noticed everything.
At that moment, her fox-like black vertical pupils suddenly widened. Then, with complex human emotions in her eyes, she gazed toward the distant sea.
"Has the key finally appeared? Master, your dream... The new World Tree has grown out from his heart and become a towering tree. And as the owner of that heart, a part of his soul has also begun to successfully nurture itself into the spirit of the new World Tree. Unfortunately, Master, you are no longer here..."
With that thought, Lillilu lay back down again.
The old era had passed, and a new era was about to arrive.
...
Back on the battlefield, as the battle continued, Yemu suddenly began to hear a familiar sound in his heart.
It was the sound of something beating.
Thump, thump, thump.
It brought Yemu back to the time when he had first come to this sea from Skypiea.
Back then, in the Drum Kingdom, the still-inexperienced him had encountered an opponent stronger than anyone he had ever faced before: Bullet.
At the very end of that battle, he had heard this sound. What followed was an incredible power surging out from within his body.
At the time, he had not understood what that sound was. He thought it was some hidden power inside his body, perhaps something related to Rocks's heart. So he tried all kinds of methods to reproduce that power and draw out that potential, but in the end, every attempt failed.
That sound seemed as if it had never existed. It never appeared again in any of his battles.
So Yemu stopped forcing it.
But unexpectedly, at this moment, that sound appeared again.
Only this time was different. His battle with Sengoku could absolutely be described as evenly matched, and he still had plenty of stamina left. There was no need for him to draw out any hidden potential.
Then what exactly was this sound?
And right then, unlike the first time, the sound did not disappear after only a few seconds. Instead, it grew louder and clearer.
"Thump, thump, thump..."
"Thump, thump, thump..."
The sudden change and the noise in his heart interfered with Yemu's perception for a moment.
Sengoku, who was set on killing Yemu, naturally would not miss such an opportunity.
"Wrath of Asura!"
...
All of a sudden, the sight of Yemu being struck by Sengoku and sent flying backward toward Golden Crow Island stunned everyone watching the war.
"What happened? What just happened?"
Although most of the people watching this battle were not powerful fighters, even from the exchanges just now, they could tell that Fire Dragon Yemu and Fleet Admiral Sengoku were evenly matched.
Fire Dragon Yemu might even have held the advantage.
Yet suddenly, without warning or reason, Fire Dragon Yemu was sent flying.
A battle between true powerhouses was not like children fighting, where one side threw a punch and the other kicked back.
The perception of powerful Observation Haki and the defense of Armament Haki made breaking through an opponent's guard and landing a blow extremely difficult.
Especially in a battle between top-level fighters like these.
But now...
Even Sengoku himself found it strange.
Having once fought Yemu in Impel Down, he absolutely did not believe Yemu was the kind of person who would suddenly lose focus in the middle of battle.
However, that did not stop Sengoku's strike from slightly raising the morale of the Marines, whose spirits had already been crumbling.
"Did Fleet Admiral Sengoku defeat Fire Dragon Yemu?"
That thought appeared in the hearts of many Marines.
But at that moment, Yemu had fallen into an extremely strange state.
He felt as if he had become one with this world.
And in that instant, he finally understood what that sound was.
It was not a sound coming from his body.
It was the voice of this world.