Taro's blade burst through the venom; not only was it sudden, but the Sword Qi was also sharp and fierce.
Lafitte, flying in the air, was struck with inexplicable horror, unable to help but recall the scene when he faced Taro alone at Marijoa.
However, this time Taro's attack was even closer; Lafitte's heart tightened, and his body went stiff.
Just as it seemed this strike would cleave Lafitte in two, another Sword Qi suddenly slashed in from the side, forcefully knocking Taro's attack off course by a few inches.
"Ah...!"
Lafitte let out a miserable scream as his body tilted and fell from the air, followed closely by half of his arm.
This single strike had severed Lafitte's left arm directly at the elbow!
Failing to kill Lafitte instantly, Taro's gaze darkened as he looked to the side.
It was Silvers Rayleigh's slash!
Taro gritted his teeth in hatred, yet he immediately saw that Magellan's situation on the other side of the battlefield was very dire.
Because Blackbeard had been continuously swallowing Magellan's venom, and with the antidote provided by that traitor Silvers Rayleigh, the group besieging Magellan didn't fear his poison much.
With his toxic attacks severely weakened, Magellan's combat strength was greatly compromised.
The left side of his body had been heavily wounded by a terrifying blade injury; his demon-like, powerful Physical Body was now bleeding incessantly.
The left wing on his back was half-severed, hanging limply from his body, and one of the horns on his forehead had been sliced off, along with a wound stretching from his forehead to his cheek.
This damage had actually been caused by a single strike!
Seeing Magellan so heavily injured, Taro's heart felt heavy.
Blackbeard's ability completely countered Devil Fruit users like Magellan.
"Dark Water" could even pull in non-ability users like himself; now Magellan was severely wounded, while the results he himself had achieved were quite limited.
The situation was very unfavorable for their side!
Taro leaped to Magellan's side. "Are you alright?"
"Cough, I won't die." Magellan forced a cough, breathing slightly hard.
"Don't worry about me. If they want to leave this place, they'll have to kill me first!"
Magellan also realized the gravity of the situation and was prepared to die; there was no hesitation in his words.
He had dedicated his entire life to Impel Down.
Now, he only wanted to uphold the justice in his heart.
"I won't... let these bastards leave here easily!"
On the other side, Blackbeard's dark power swallowed the massive stone pillars trapping Burgess and Doc Q, rescuing his two companions.
He then looked at the wailing Lafitte; the severed arm lying beside him was particularly eyesore.
Blackbeard let out an angry howl, "Taro, I will definitely kill you!"
Taro's reaction was very calm; he first whispered to Magellan, "Rest for a while, I'll take care of them!"
Then he looked coldly at the gathered Blackbeard Pirates, saying proudly:
"You want to kill me? Come then! We're gambling with our lives; someone has to leave theirs behind!"
"It just so happens that I want to beat you all to death right now!"
Blackbeard bared his teeth and grinned maliciously, "You're at death's door, yet you're still acting tough!"
He then looked at his companions who still had combat strength, "Let's go together and tear him apart!"
Before Blackbeard could finish his sentence, Taro sheathed his sword.
The Internal Energy throughout his body surged violently, concentrating in his hands; the Internal Energy permeated his body and finally condensed into a physical form, emitting scorching steam.
Taro gave a low shout.
"Meteor Volcano"
His arms suddenly blasted toward the sky; fists wrapped in bluish-white Internal Energy punched out, and countless fist shadows soared into the air before falling like rain.
Those fists made of condensed Internal Energy smashed into the ground and then exploded violently; powerful shockwaves and intense explosions swept across the entire battlefield.
"Great Eruption!"
Immediately after, Taro gathered his Internal Energy again, trails of blue smoke rising from his right arm as he threw a punch.
A massive fist shadow flew straight toward the three weakest members of the Blackbeard Pirates: Burgess, the unconscious Doc Q, and the one-armed Lafitte.
The Magma Fruit was the fruit designated by that old thief as having the strongest attack power among the three types of Devil Fruits.
Taro hoped this attack would heavily injure those three, thereby recovering some of the disadvantage.
"Dark Water"
While Taro was pursuing the three including Burgess, Blackbeard forced his body to hold steady against the powerful shockwaves, his left hand wide open.
The dark vortex carried a massive gravitational pull, absorbing the shockwaves in front of him one by one; at the same time, this suction still had enough power to surge toward Taro.
In an instant, Taro's body flew uncontrollably toward Blackbeard's hand, while Blackbeard had already raised his right fist high, ready to strike down.
Beside Blackbeard, except for the three weaklings Taro chose to attack, everyone else took the opportunity to launch an assault on Taro.
"Poison Dragon"
As Taro was being sucked in, three Poison Dragons appeared behind him.
More accurately, they were Qi Dragons; the three bluish-white Qi Dragons blasted toward Burgess, Lafitte, and Doc Q respectively.
Just as he finished this, Taro was sucked into Blackbeard's grasp; Blackbeard grabbed Taro by the neck and smashed his right fist down, while the others' attacks arrived in an instant.
"Nether Dog"
The captured Taro's Internal Energy surged once more; scorching Internal Energy covered his left arm, and blue-black Armament Haki wrapped around his fist. His left fist, shiny and blue-black, punched toward Blackbeard's chest and abdomen.
"Argh!"
"Argh!"
Taro and Blackbeard both let out a scream of pain.
Blackbeard was hit by Taro's punch, a hole several centimeters deep instantly appearing in his chest; the intense pain caused Blackbeard to release his grip.
If his body hadn't been restrained, Taro believed this punch could have caused even more severe damage to Blackbeard.
Meanwhile, Taro looked even more wretched; almost all of his Internal Energy was concentrated on his left arm, with the remaining Internal Energy only existing within his internal organs to protect his vitals.
First, he was struck in the neck by Blackbeard's fist, then Silvers Rayleigh slashed him across the chest.
Vasco Shot followed up with a sword thrust to his abdomen.
Then he was struck by San Juan Wolf's clasped fists.
Finally, he was sent flying by a blast from "Dictator King" Avalo Pizarro, and Catarina Devon's Fox Fire clung to him, burning his body.
Simultaneously, the three including Burgess, who were the focus of Taro's attack, were not faring well either.
The one-armed Lafitte, with the unconscious Doc Q tucked under his arm, was already struggling slightly to deal with the fist shadows falling from the sky; now his retreat was blocked by the Qi Dragons.
Seeing that they were about to be hit head-on by the "Great Eruption," Burgess leaped high and landed beside them, shielding them behind him.
"Boom!"
The massive fist shadow hit Burgess directly in the back; the powerful explosion, accompanied by rising heat waves and a strong impact, instantly sent the three of them flying.
"Gah... cough, cough!"
Burgess let out a miserable cry in mid-air and spat out a large mouthful of blood; the three of them smashed through several cells in succession before finally crashing into a wall, showing no further movement, their lives or deaths unknown.
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