Paramount War (10) / Paramount War (11)

"Oars!" Seeing Little Oars Jr. fall, Ace roared again from the Execution Platform, his tear-filled eyes full of remorse.

In this war, everyone had suffered casualties, and now even Oars had been dragged into it—

It was all because of his own selfishness!

"Ace..."

Little Oars Jr., who had fallen to the ground, slowly lifted his bloodied head and looked through blurred vision at the tearful, remorseful Ace. Then he reached out, as if hoping to touch him.

But helplessness was rapidly washing over Little Oars Jr., and he knew he could not make it to the Execution Platform.

"...At least I have to take down one Shichibukai!"

His head slowly sank, and his gaze fell upon the Shichibukai United Army before him. Little Oars Jr. pushed himself up with all his strength and took a staggering step forward, clenching his enormous hand into a fist and smashing it down at Doflamingo below.

"Hm? I see. A desperate final attack?!" The shadow of the fist blotted out the sky like a dark cloud, making Doflamingo, who was watching the battle below, look up. He immediately bared his teeth in a sinister grin. "Fufufufu~~ Looks like I've been underestimated! Hahahaha..."

Puchi—boom!!

As his laughter died away, Doflamingo vanished from atop the high wall before Little Oars Jr.'s fist could land.

Sunlight streamed down, and a glimmer of crystalline white light flashed through the air.

A surge of agonizing pain erupted as a severed leg, so huge it could rival a warship, fell from Little Oars Jr.'s body.

In the next instant, Little Oars Jr.'s entire body crashed to the ground, marking the exit of the demon who had led the Whitebeard Pirates' grand fleet into the bay.

(The protagonist doesn't appear in this chapter, but it isn't filler! War isn't a one-man show. Characters have to move the prelude and the direction of events along, and Little Oars Jr. is a turning point that can't be ignored. All I can do is speed up the plot. To avoid filler, I have to pick out what's important and cut what isn't necessary. It's even harder to write than a one-man show, and this chapter took two hours, so please don't call it filler and make me eat my words (scratches head)!)

Chapter 96: Paramount War (10)

(I didn't get to sleep until four in the morning, and I woke up at eight to go on a long trip. I just got back and I'm pretty tired today, so there will only be three updates! One more before midnight!)

"Oars..."

"Little Oars Jr.!!"

"Captain Oars... those Shichibukai bastards!!"

"..."

Little Oars Jr.'s fall plunged the Whitebeard Pirates into sorrow.

The pirates of the Whitebeard Pirates' grand fleet who had followed Little Oars Jr. into the inner bay had tears in their eyes.

"Oars..."

Aboard the Moby Dick, Whitebeard stood silent with his naginata in hand, shadows falling over his eyes.

"You left yourself open, Whitebeard!!"

At that moment, a Giant Vice Admiral wearing a metal mask leaped over from nearby, swinging down a giant axe covered in a layer of rushing air.

Crack—boom!

But the giant's action seemed to make a long-dormant volcano erupt.

Whitebeard shattered the descending axe with a punch, then seized the Giant Vice Admiral by the head and slammed him onto the ship's deck. A translucent white halo appeared, and a tremendously powerful shockwave shattered the giant's metal mask, revealing blood streaming from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

"V-Vice Admiral, sir, he was taken down in one blow!"

"Is this... Whitebeard's power?!"

"It's terrifying, the power of the World's Strongest Man!"

"..."

The Giant Vice Admiral was utterly helpless against Whitebeard, and the world finally gained a clear understanding of how terrifying Whitebeard was.

"Step over Oars and keep moving!" Grabbing the Giant Vice Admiral by the head and throwing him aside, Whitebeard shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Oooooh—"

"Die, Marines!!"

"..."

Their fighting cries echoed across the entire battlefield.

Compared with Marco's earlier commands, Whitebeard's voice was more like a shot in the arm, turning all their sorrow and anger into strength to save Ace.

With Little Oars Jr. having cleared the way, virtually all of the Whitebeard Pirates' grand fleet behind him had entered the inner bay.

The atmosphere grew ever more intense, and the war finally reached a fever pitch.

"Swoosh—boom!!"

"As the first division commander, are you sure it's all right not to take command? Besides, I'm in no mood to keep playing along with a fight where you show your opponent so little respect."

On the battlefield, Arthur swung Excalibur with apparent ease, constantly shifting his feet as he dodged Marco's attacks one after another. Every now and then, he sent a dazzling golden sword wave at him, but Marco blocked them all with near indifference.

Fighting Marco, Arthur was constantly on the defensive.

With his abilities to revive and fly, Marco could disregard a swordsman's slashes head-on and easily evade them from the side.

Just like Diamond Jozu's ability, it was far too troublesome.

Just like Diamond Jozu's ability, it was far too troublesome.

Marco was always hovering in the air, occasionally flying down to probe Arthur or launch a sneak attack, while spending the rest of his time watching the battlefield. Arthur had seen through Marco's intentions: he wanted to hold Arthur off while conserving his own strength, so he could immediately provide support if anything changed on the battlefield.

To Arthur, the Paramount War was a map where he could farm Victory Index points like crazy. There were countless powerful fighters here who met the system's victory conditions.

Unlike his all-out battle with Jozu, this fight was gradually wearing down Arthur's patience.

"Don't worry. We'll kill you as quickly as possible!!"

After hearing Arthur's words, Marco, who had been looking around from the air, suddenly turned back. His half-lidded eyes were icy as his hovering body slowly descended.

Whoosh—crack!

Swoosh!!

As Marco landed, blue flames burst from his body, forming a wall that blocked Arthur's view.

Even so, Arthur could faintly hear a cracking sound from behind the high wall of blue flames.

The next moment, Marco seemed to abandon his probing and sneak attacks, charging straight at him.

·· ··· Please send flowers ·· ·····

The change was sudden and thoroughly deceptive.

"I see. What tenacious vitality!" Arthur narrowed his eyes slightly. Instinct (A) took effect, and he saw through Marco's intentions.

Bang, bang, bang!!!

Empowered by both Mana Burst (A) and Armament Haki (B), Arthur kicked off the ground and shot forward as an afterimage. Excalibur swung repeatedly in his hand, its phantom-like sword waves forming a golden sea that completely engulfed Marco.

But as soon as the golden sea engulfed Marco, blue flames broke through it. The Phoenix, his entire body transformed, charged at Arthur in his mythical beast form, the Resurrection Blue Flames burning all over him.

.. ... ...

Boom!!

Behind him, a shadow blotted out the sky, drawing the eyes of everyone on the battlefield.

"Hey, hey... You've got to be kidding."

"That's ridiculous, isn't it?!"

"It's Captain Jozu... Thank goodness, Captain Jozu has recovered!!"

"..."

Quite a few people in the midst of battle silently stopped as if by mutual agreement, looking at the iceberg crashing toward Arthur and the Execution Platform behind him.

Many of the weaker Marines within the shadow's reach instantly turned deathly pale.

The pirates of the Whitebeard Pirates, meanwhile, erupted in excited cheers.

A crater several hundred meters across had appeared on the battlefield, and seawater was rushing into it, forming an enormous blue lake.

Jozu, his entire body transformed into diamond, had lifted an iceberg no smaller than Little Oars Jr. and hurled it straight at the Execution Platform.

If the iceberg was not stopped, not only would a great many Marines be killed or injured, but the Execution Platform would also collapse completely.

Arthur, who was also in the iceberg's path, seemed to ignore it. He had no intention of stopping it, his gaze fixed on Marco.

"He lifted an iceberg that big. How terrifying," Kizaru said lazily from the Admirals' seats, his legs crossed.

Chapter 97: Paramount War (11)

(There are only three updates today; I need to get to bed early! Starting tomorrow, I'll be giving my old home a thorough cleaning, so updates won't come until noon, and I don't dare promise a burst of updates! But there will definitely be a burst the day after tomorrow. I'll try to finish the Paramount War in the next few days!)

"Yasakani no Magatama!"

Despite his words, Kizaru slowly stood up. Looking at the approaching iceberg, he transformed into a streak of dazzling golden light and vanished.

High in the air, Kizaru hovered like the sun, firing a barrage of golden orbs that were not only brilliant to behold but also filled with tremendous power.

"Boom, boom, boom—!!!"

A series of violent explosions rang out as the golden barrage blasted the iceberg, comparable in size to Little Oars Jr., into countless chunks that fell like hail.

"Two eight three." "We're saved!"

"Admiral Kizaru stepped in..."

With the iceberg shattered, many Marines breathed a sigh of relief, then looked excitedly at the figure high above, their eyes burning with admiration.

"'Phoenix' Marco, Diamond Jozu. Fighting the first and third division commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates at the same time, and he still looks like he has strength to spare. Young people these days are really scary," Kizaru said, hovering high in the air and comically pursing his lips as he looked down at Arthur, who was now being attacked by Marco and Jozu from both sides. He had no intention of going over to help.

"If we want to keep our losses to a minimum, we'll have to capture the king first..."

After briefly surveying Arthur's side of the battlefield, Kizaru turned his gaze to the Moby Dick, where Whitebeard was the only one left. The next instant, his lower body began gradually transforming into golden photons.

"Coup de Burst—"

"Aaaaaaaah..."

"Straw Hat kid, it's all ice down there! We're going to die, we're going to die, we're going to die!!!"

"..."

Just as Kizaru made his move, panicked, terrified roars and screams rang out across the battlefield.

Looking in the direction of the voices, they saw a sailing ship flying toward them from afar.

"A flying ship... Is that for real?!"

"Who's coming?!"

"Straw Hat kid, could it be..."

Looking at the sailing ship flying in from the horizon, many Marines and pirates stopped fighting and began guessing who had arrived.

Quite a few people with exceptional hearing narrowed their eyes.

"Luffy, why did you come here?!"

Garp in particular, standing on the Execution Platform and looking at the sailing ship that had once escaped him, clutched his head with both hands and shouted, his face stricken.

"Garp! Damn you, is it another one of your family?!" Hearing that name, Sengoku immediately glared at his old comrade below.

"Luffy..." Ace's eyes likewise widened as he looked at the sailing ship flying in from the horizon. His expression changed drastically. "It's dangerous... Luffy!"

The ground below was covered in ice and snow. If the ship landed, it would surely be smashed to pieces.

He knew Luffy was made of rubber and might be all right.

He knew Luffy was made of rubber and might be all right.

But his companions would surely be hurt!

"Looks like another remarkable person has arrived. How scary!" Watching the sailing ship's shadow grow larger and larger, Kizaru pursed his lips and said meaningfully, "And what perfect timing."

Boom!!

The sound of a column of water blasting into the sky rang in their ears, and countless gazes turned toward one spot.