The God's Knights emerged from the light, appearing behind Garling.
"Did you think I came unprepared?"
Christopher sneered.
Behind him, a group of armored warriors were gathering.
These individuals were composed of various races—
Longleg Tribe, Longarm Tribe, Giant Race, Mink Tribe, Fishman Race... and an even greater number of humans.
They were all Slaves Christopher had saved over the years.
In reality, Christopher had saved far more Slaves than just these.
He had merely selected those with combat talent and will, cultivating them into powerhouses capable of standing on their own.
While this private army was no match for the God's Knights in a one-on-one fight,
they held a clear numerical advantage.
Coupled with the fact that they were all strong individuals, they truly had the power to contend with the God's Knights.
But thinking about it, it was normal.
Most of the God's Knights were selected from among the Celestial Dragons.
Even if the Celestial Dragons generally had good talent, they only enjoyed eating, drinking, and merrymaking.
It was not easy for a Celestial Dragon with great talent and a willingness to develop in that direction to appear.
Slaves, on the other hand, were carefully selected excellent individuals from various races.
Even if their upper limit wasn't necessarily high, the probability of cultivating mid-tier powerhouses was very great.
Garling watched this scene with an unpleasant expression, his body trembling with anger:
"Good, good, good!"
"It seems you've been preparing to betray the World Nobles for a long time."
"Today, I shall exercise the supreme authority granted to me by the Celestial Dragons—"
"To sentence you... to death!"
On Christopher's blade, Blake lightning intertwined into a net:
"Then come and try!"
"Let's see if I shatter your decaying order, or if I perish here today!"
Garling's sword had not yet been unsheathed, but the sky above Mary Geoise was already covered in a spiderweb of Blake lightning.
"divine judgment · Annihilation!"
He raised his hand and slashed, and a Blake-red lightning bolt carved a scorching trajectory in the air.
Christopher's blade, however, parried upwards at an angle that defied joint limits—
The Armament Haki wrapped around the blade suddenly twisted upon contact, deflecting Garling's sword qi towards the sky, tearing a canyon-like rift in the clouds.
Garling sneered:
"You think you can fight me with just a Devil Fruit?"
"Overestimating yourself!"
He suddenly stepped forward, his afterimage instantly splitting into seven entities, each simultaneously unleashing a sword strike.
"divine judgment · Afterimage Slash!"
Christopher's pupils constricted; in the future he perceived through Observation Haki, the seven slash trajectories truly existed simultaneously.
"Dimensional Collapse!"
His blade vibrated rapidly, each parry causing subtle wrinkles in space.
The seven slashes were folded onto the same plane, exploding into a dazzling sphere of light between the two.
Garling took a step forward, and an incomparably powerful force erupted from his feet, spreading forward in a fan-shaped shockwave.
Christopher, instead of retreating, advanced, moving against the air current.
Where his blade tip passed, space was like silk kneaded by an invisible hand, twisting the shockwave into a helical barrier around him.
"divine judgment · Soaring Dragon Flash!"
"Space-Time Dislocation!"
The Blake-red lightning dragon rearing on the sword's edge collided with the solid-like barrier on the blade, emitting a grating screech.
Moments later, the barrier shattered, and the lightning dragon also dissipated.
Garling's and Christopher's swords intertwined, the distance between them only three inches, their blades almost touching each other's throats... "Despicable lower race, how dare you offend us! Today, I shall slay you here!"
Shamrock drew the longsword from his waist, the humming vibration of the blade rippling through the air.
Tiger took half a step back, and the moment his foot shattered the floor tiles, high-pressure water jets erupted from the cracks:
"I came here precisely to make you high-and-mighty Celestial Dragons see the wrath of the Slaves!"
He had already transmitted the Fish-Man Karate shockwaves into the rock layers below during their earlier confrontation, silently controlling the water within the Red Line.
Shamrock, relying on his excellent Observation Haki mastery, spun his body, dodging the incoming water streams.
While dodging, he waved his hand, and the sword's edge suddenly split, three slashes wreathed in Blake flames attacking Tiger in a triangular formation.
"Fish-Man Jujutsu · Countercurrent Wall!"
Tiger's arms, covered in Armament Haki-imbued scales, directly blocked the slashes, and the splashing water droplets evaporated into mist upon contact with the Blake flames.
Shamrock, however, suddenly pressed forward, his sword tip twisting and deforming during the thrust.
The hilt transformed into a ferocious dog's head biting towards Tiger's throat, while the extended blade split into two barbed chains, blocking his left and right dodging space.
Tiger's pupils constricted; he had never seen such a shape-shifting weapon and was momentarily flustered.
Fisher Tiger abruptly threw his head back, and the instant the canine teeth grazed his Adam's apple, his right foot, covered in Armament Haki, stomped hard on the ground.
The stirred-up gravel was swept up by high-pressure water, forming an impenetrable barrage.
Shamrock sneered:
"I leave it to you, Cerberus!"
The longsword in his hand completely disintegrated, and the phantom of a three-headed hellhound materialized in the smoke.
The middle head spewed corrosive Blake flames, the left head bit Tiger's right arm, and the right head coiled around his legs.
Shamrock was only one year older than Blake.
As a normal Celestial Dragon without any external cheats, his current strength was even inferior to Shanks, who had fought for many years outside.
And Fisher Tiger, no matter what, was the leader among the Fishmen, his strength comparable to the future Jinbe.
But fortunately, Shamrock's weapon provided a significant boost to his combat power, even allowing him to subtly take the initiative.
After several clashes, their battlefield had become a puddle of water, and Tiger's foot suddenly slammed into the water's surface.
A circular water blade erupted from him, splitting the Blake flames, and simultaneously propelling him into the air.
He curled his body mid-air, his left leg striking the three-headed dog like a battle-axe.
The three-headed hellhound was sent flying, landing steadily back in Shamrock's hand, transforming back into the shape of a rapier.
When Tiger landed, the fabric on his left shoulder was charred Blake, the embers of Blake flames having burned through his clothes.
The two gasped for breath, dozens of meters apart, the shattered water droplets suspended between them like diamonds, reflecting their blood-stained yet more exhilarated faces.
When Christopher's blade and Garling's sword collided again, the Blake-red sphere formed by the clash of their two Haoshoku crushed the surrounding buildings to dust.
Tiger and Shamrock were forced to retreat, the four staring at each other across the energy vortex—
Their robes were damaged, but they had no significant injuries.
However, the battle intent in their eyes was more dazzling than the flames burning in Mary Geoise.
Instantly, the two sides engaged in fierce combat once again.
Faintly, Garling's roar could still be heard:
"How much longer do you think you can last?!"