"Got you!"
A massive battle axe ca crashing down. Gion, still shaken from the earlier exchange, was kicked aside at the last second. A Marine Rear Admiral stepped into her place, katana in hand, barely managing to block the descending axe.
"Get a grip! This is a battlefield! Hesitation will cost you your life!"
The attacker's ambush was stopped, but the pressure behind the blow was imnse. Veins bulging, the Rear Admiral gritted his teeth and forced the axe back, his eyes turning cold.
"'Executioner' nodell! I'm your opponent!"
"Heh heh! Even better! Our captain said a Rear Admiral's head is worth 10,000,000 Berries!"
Like a rising tide, pirates surged forward, surrounding the Marine officers. Ten million per head was enough to drive anyone mad.
Tokikake and Gion suddenly realized—
This wasn't like their previous missions.
Here, the Marines were the prey. The pirates were the hunters.
The battlefield had flipped in an instant, and they were completely unprepared.
Boom!
Borsalino crashed into the sand before them, spraying grit everywhere and leaving the two sputtering.
"How terrifying… Roldy's becoming more and more monstrous."
His suit was torn, and his Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral coat was covered in dust. Propping himself up, he glanced at the stunned pair and gave a crooked smile.
"If you can, go lend a hand. The Marines still need your strength."
Before they could respond, he dissolved into light and shot back toward Roldy.
They looked in that direction.
Sakazuki and Dragon—longti rivals who could never stand each other—were fighting side by side for once. One attacked from the left, the other from the right. Their coordination was unexpectedly precise.
Howling winds fanned the magma's heat to terrifying levels.
Yet—
Two seemingly simple, unadorned punches blocked it all.
A flash of light streaked constantly around the battlefield as Borsalino reappeared intermittently, golden blade in hand. His radiant Ama no Murakumo Sword stabbed repeatedly at Roldy, causing so trouble—but nothing decisive.
"I… I'm not dreaming, right?" Tokikake muttered, throat dry. "Weren't the four of them once called the new generation's strongest prodigies of Marine Headquarters? With three Vice Admirals working together… how is Roldy still standing?"
Gion swallowed.
Tokikake was being generous.
The truth was harsher.
Even with three Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals attacking in unison, they gained no real advantage.
Each of Roldy's punches forced Sakazuki or Dragon to grit their teeth. Blood seeped from the corners of their mouths.
Borsalino's harassnt looked effective, but his blade only left shallow wounds. And when Roldy managed to catch him—
The beating was brutal.
"We should help them."
Gion's voice trembled slightly, but her resolve did not.
Tokikake's face twisted. He pointed at himself, then at the battlefield in the distance.
"You an… us?"
That's suicide!
"I'm going!"
Braver than he was, Gion inhaled deeply and charged without hesitation.
She struck the mont Roldy clashed with Dragon. Her swordsmanship was solid, and with her newly awakened Armant Haki, her blade slashed across Roldy's arm—
And didn't shatter.
That alone was shocking.
"Fine! If I die, I die!"
After a long hesitation, Tokikake roared and unleashed his Zoan-type Devil Fruit power. Charging like a ferocious boar, he stomped the ground and launched himself forward like a living harpoon.
His hardened head slamd into Roldy's chest.
"Have the Marines really fallen to this level?"
Tokikake's vision swam. It felt like he'd ramd into a wall forged from diamond.
Through the ringing in his ears, he heard Roldy's voice.
A sharp rush of air split the sky.
Before he could react, a massive hand seized his ankle and flung him backward.
"Your courage is admirable! But train for a few more years!"
Dragon intercepted just in ti, saving Tokikake. Imdiately, he counterattacked with his self-developed Dragon Claw Fist, aiming at Roldy's joints with razor-sharp precision.
That technique was powerful enough to twist apart the leg of a 100-million-Berry pirate.
Yet when it clamped onto Roldy's joint—
It wouldn't budge.
No matter how much force he applied.
Dragon's forehead beaded with sweat.
Throughout the prolonged clash, Borsalino's blade had inflicted minor wounds. Sakazuki's magma had left scorch marks.
But Dragon's wind?
It felt like it was cooling Roldy down.
Even his proud Dragon Claw Fist couldn't pierce Roldy's Armant Haki Coating.
The gap between them had widened to a terrifying degree.
Even at full strength, Dragon was barely more than giving him a massage.
"Enough gas."
Roldy's aura surged.
He grabbed Dragon by the arm, spun once, and hurled him into the distance.
Then, faster than before, he drove a fist toward Sakazuki.
The pitch-black sheen of hardened Armant Haki made it clear—this was no joke.
Sakazuki couldn't evade in ti. Crossing his arms to block, he was smashed straight into the earth.
At the last second, he reacted—his body liquefying into magma and burrowing underground to escape.
Borsalino disengaged instantly with his speed.
For a fleeting mont, he thought he'd escaped.
Then—
He saw Roldy's massive fra suddenly shrink.
And in his hands—
Two swords appeared.
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