Paramount War (Eight) [5/5] / Paramount War (Nine)

Since Shanks had lost his left hand, how long had it been since Mihawk had encountered an opponent he took this seriously, one he even wanted to fight with his full strength?

"Is it your turn to be my opponent? First division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, 'Phoenix' Marco!"

On the battlefield, the area for several hundred meters around Arthur remained completely empty. No one dared approach him.

Arthur held Excalibur, pointing it at the blue-flamed bird before him, and spoke with a smile.

"Why would a powerhouse like you willingly become the Navy's lapdog?!" Marco, half-transformed into his Phoenix Form, hovered three meters above the ground and looked at Arthur through half-closed eyes.

Rather than pursue the matter of Arthur injuring Jozu, he asked in puzzlement.

As mentioned earlier, on these seas. (PS: If you've forgotten, you can look back at Chapter 18.)

Generally, people with Arthur's strength would develop an ambition, one called either a dream or a desire for supremacy.

As the saying went, power made people conceited, and powerhouses were extraordinary wherever they went.

Thus, everyone driven by this ambition would become one of the three: a pirate, a marine, or a revolutionary.

Marco had never encountered an oddball like Arthur in his life.

Chapter 94: Paramount War (Eight) [5/5]

"Our goals are simply different!" Arthur said calmly after hearing Marco's words.

Arthur had an ambition too, but his was called neither a dream nor a desire for supremacy.

It was called a goal.

As stated before, Arthur had no grandiose fantasy of overthrowing the World Government and founding a new dynasty, nor did he want to become the Pirate King.

At the most uncertain point in his life, the [Achievement Quests] issued by the system had shown him the way forward, creating the present-day 'Knight of Knights'.

Arthur's goal was simple. From beginning to end, it had been to complete every [Achievement Quest] while leaving his own spectacular mark on this vast world of pirates along the way.

"Whatever the reason, you're far too dangerous. I can't let you carry on like this," Marco said gravely.

"'Phoenix' Marco, I've heard much about you!" Arthur held Excalibur in one hand and pointed it at Marco as he spoke calmly.

During their conversation, Arthur's mana had recovered to roughly eighty percent, and he had shaken off the fatigue from his earlier fight with 'Diamond' Jozu, returning to peak condition.

The breakthrough in his four attributes had allowed Excalibur to have another seal released.

Even without using the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's power, Arthur now had the means to fear no one.

The moment he finished speaking—

The air around Arthur and Marco changed in an instant. Their exchange had been amicable just moments ago, but now it was filled with a chilling edge.

One was a knight standing on the ground with a sacred air; the other hovered in the sky like the mythical beast, the phoenix.

Their confrontation drew countless eyes.

'Knight of Knights' versus 'Phoenix' Marco!

This was an even hotter topic than Arthur's fight with Jozu.

Even Sengoku, Garp, the Three Admirals, the Shichibukai, and Whitebeard turned their attention toward them.

Arthur looked up at the grim-faced Marco, his presence steady as a mountain. If his enemy did not move, neither would he.

He did not rashly strike first as he had against Jozu.

His opponent could fly, so taking the initiative could easily put him at a disadvantage.

Whoosh—

Seemingly seeing through Arthur's thoughts, Marco transformed his arms into wings wreathed in blue flames. They traced a series of blurred arcs as he turned into a streak of blue fire and shot over Arthur's head at lightning speed. His right foot, transformed into a mythical beast's talon, slashed down in a hooked kick.

The kick, empowered by his flight, was strong, but it could not compare to Jozu's earlier punch.

Yet, surprisingly,

Arthur rapidly retreated some distance in the face of Marco's kick.

Boom!!

The blue-flamed kick landed on the icy ground, striking a forceful crater into it with a thunderous crash.

"You..."

Marco, whose lower body had become a mythical beast's talons, flew out of the thick mist and hovered high in the air before Arthur again.

His gaze was grave as he looked at Arthur. "Was it intuition? Or did you foresee my attack, like Charlotte Katakuri?!"

"It was Instinct!" A rare trace of annoyance appeared on Arthur's face. "Using your ability to sneak-attack an enemy isn't something the first division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates would do."

"Can't be helped. You're too dangerous." A murderous glint flashed through Marco's half-closed eyes. "I don't have time to play at a fair fight with you! This is a war between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Navy. You're a bounty hunter, a third party, and you never needed to get involved in the first place! As long as I can kill you, things like honor don't matter."

"I see!" Hearing that, Arthur understood.

He finally understood why the future he had foreseen showed Marco attacking from the front, only to actually take a sword strike head-on and draw the dagger at his waist to launch a lethal sneak attack.

It was just as Moria had said.

As a bounty hunter, Arthur shone brightly, but he was also far too conspicuous.

In this age of pirates, a bounty hunter this powerful had to be eliminated.

"Then come at me with the intent to kill!" Arthur gripped Excalibur with a determined gaze. The mana within him began to circulate, and Mana Burst (A) and Armament Haki (B) reinforced his body and weapon at the same time.

Facing Marco, whose overall strength made him even more troublesome than Jozu, Arthur went all out from the start.

"Ace!"

Boom!

Boom! Boom!

Just as Arthur and Marco were about to begin their true fight to the death,

a roar that resounded through the skies suddenly reached the ears of everyone on the battlefield.

Immediately afterward, everyone felt the icy ground beneath their feet begin to shake violently.

A figure as tall as a mountain suddenly appeared behind the Whitebeard Pirates.

He stood so tall that even giants had to look up at him. His enormous body, two protruding fangs, and bizarre appearance made him look like a devil that had walked out of hell.

Little Oars Jr., one of the forty-three pirate captains in the Whitebeard Pirates' grand fleet, was a descendant of Demon Oars and a demon who had formed a deep bond with Ace over a straw hat Ace had woven by hand.

"Little Oars Jr..."

"Little Oars Jr. is here!!"

"..."

Little Oars Jr.'s appearance heartened the entire Whitebeard Pirates.

With his size, Little Oars Jr. was a killing machine on a battlefield like this.

With him clearing the way in front, they would surely reach the harbor quickly.

"Brother Ace, I'm here to save you!"

Just as the many crew members of the Whitebeard Pirates had imagined, Little Oars Jr. marched forward unimpeded. The Navy elites below fled in terror, while those directly beneath his feet could not even escape before being trampled alive into bloody pulp.

"Damn it, a descendant of Demon Oars?!" On the Execution Platform, Sengoku frowned deeply. He picked up the broadcasting Den Den Mushi in his hand and shouted, "Giant unit, prepare for battle."

"Understood!"

Several giants standing behind the hundred thousand elites shouldered their enormous weapons and looked up at Little Oars Jr. as he approached.

One of the giants said, "This is the first time in my life I've had to look up at someone."

Chapter 95: Paramount War (Nine)

"Hee hee hee hee... Oars's descendant is serving under the Whitebeard Pirates? I want it so badly—his corpse!!" Atop the high wall, Moria opened his mouth full of fangs. His eyes shone with fervor, as though he had found a treasure.

"Brother Ace, please wait a little longer! I'll be there to save you soon!"

His footsteps thundered across the ground as Little Oars Jr. soon entered Crescent Bay from the rear.

Not far ahead of him lay the plaza guarded by the giants and the harbor where the Shichibukai United Army was stationed.

"Aim at Little Oars Jr. and fire!"

As Little Oars Jr. stepped into the inner bay, a Navy officer gave the order with a rapier in hand.

"Boom, boom, boom...!!!"

The fortress cannons swiveled toward the highly conspicuous target that was Little Oars Jr. and fired a barrage of shells at him.

Not a single shell in the barrage missed; every one of them exploded against Little Oars Jr.

Thick smoke mixed with orange-red flames erupted all over his body.

The impact of the exploding shells struck like invisible hammers, causing Little Oars Jr. indescribable pain.

"Don't get in the way of me saving Brother Ace!" The pain finally made Little Oars Jr. stop. He stepped to one side, lifted a massive warship with both hands, and hurled it at the fortress firing the shells.

Boom!!

The massive warship crashed into the fortress, and its cannon emplacements immediately collapsed.

"This is as far as you go, Demon Oars!"

As Little Oars Jr. approached, the giant unit finally moved to block his path.

"Out of my way!"

However, the giants' size was intimidating, and they were the embodiment of brute strength.

But while they possessed great power, they also had a weakness: greatly reduced speed and reactions.

The giants, towering in the eyes of ordinary people, were fragile targets in Little Oars Jr.'s eyes.

With just one straight punch, he sent the giant blocking his way toppling backward like a collapsing mountain, making some of the marines behind him pale in shock.

"Ace..."

Continuing forward as though no one stood in his way, Little Oars Jr. kept his eyes fixed on Ace, who was staring wide-eyed from the Execution Platform.

"Oars, don't come any closer! A body as big as yours will make you a target!" Seeing Little Oars Jr. drawing closer and closer to the harbor, Ace shook his head vigorously and shouted anxiously.

"Brother Ace, wait for me! I'll be there to save you soon!" Yet Little Oars Jr. paid him no heed and kept moving forward. Along the way, he sent another giant blocking his path flying, finally drawing close to the harbor where the Shichibukai stood.

Tap!

At that moment, an expressionless Bartholomew Kuma suddenly stepped forward, removed the black glove from his right hand, and raised both hands.

The paw pads on his palms began to pulse, slowly at first, then faster. Afterimages appeared in the surrounding air as it gathered toward him, seemingly taking physical form.

A huge, translucent white paw-shaped energy wave appeared, then rapidly compressed into a small one, which Bartholomew Kuma held above his palm.

"Ursus Shock!"

Bartholomew Kuma spoke calmly and gave the paw-shaped energy wave above his palm a gentle push.

"Boom!!"

The paw-shaped energy wave entered the approaching Little Oars Jr.'s body, and a dazzling white light erupted in an instant. The energy wave that had sunk into him appeared once more, rapidly expanding several hundred times to engulf his massive figure.

In an instant, Little Oars Jr. became like a human bomb, an immensely powerful shock wave erupting from within him.

Like a gale, the shock wave swept away everything within several hundred meters of Little Oars Jr.

Every person and object within that range was mercilessly torn from the ground.

Crack, crack—

Cracks spread across the icy ground.

When the shock wave had been fully released from his body, the bloodied Little Oars Jr. swayed slightly, then dropped heavily to his knees, his enormous body pitching forward to the ground.