Hoshigaki Furiously Beheads Skuard, Teach Gravely Wounds Hoshigaki!

Clearly, White Bay and Skuard had no intention of responding to the Momonga.

The Momonga didn't seem to want to wait for them to speak. He reached out and ruffled Smoker's hair, saying, "It's good to be brave and charge forward, but don't get too carried away. The battlefield is no joke. Hurry up and retreat."

Smoker and Lucci knew this was not a battle they could participate in, so they quickly left the area.

White Bay and Skuard didn't try to stop it; both of them kept their eyes on the Momonga.

The next second, Skuard said in a deep voice, "Attack together and take him down!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Skuard pushed off with his feet and lunged towards the area where the Momonga was. His long sword, imbued with Haki, slashed out!

The Momonga didn't use its ability at this moment. Instead, it used its Haki to turn its entire arm black. Facing the long sword that Skuard was slashing at it, it raised its hand and rammed into it, managing to block the blade with its own arm.

In an instant, he drew his other hand from the Griffin sword hanging at his waist, and with the same Haki, he blocked forward.

Then, the Ice Witch White Bay's blade struck his Griffin with a single blow.

"Frostblade!" White Bay was parried by the attack, but he did not stop his subsequent offensive, and shouted in a low voice.

A burst of icy cold air instantly erupted from her blade, spreading along the Momonga's Griffin towards his palm!

The title of Ice Witch is well-deserved; she is a Paramecia Fruit user, specifically the Frost- Frost-Frost Fruit.

According to the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia that Ortolan had seen before, it could be considered a lower-level version of Kuzan's Ice-Ice Fruit ability, except that one is Logia-type and the other is Paramecia.

With a burst of Haki, the Momonga shattered the spreading frost. Then, Griffin parried White Bay's longsword, and with a swift Soru, vanished from the spot.

In that instant, Skuard also changed his tactics, striking down with a single blow, but failed to catch the Momonga's figure.

However, his Observation Haki was also quite powerful. When his attack missed, his gaze was already fixed on the air, and sure enough, the Momonga was there.

Skuard, who was originally holding the knife in one hand, stomped his foot and lifted the back of his blade with the other hand. With a sudden burst of strength, he lifted the long sword that was originally on the ground. His sword was indeed long enough that this lift was just enough to cut the Momonga's position.

At this moment, the Momonga had already bitten a gemstone ring on its hand.

With one bite, a large number of iron chains instantly burst forth from the Momonga's feet, directly wrapping around Skuard's longsword. At the same time, he swung his arms, and several iron chains flew out from his arms, sweeping towards Skuard.

Without a doubt, the gem he just ate was a Paramecia Chain-Chain Fruit.

"Frost Breath!" White Bay reacted quickly, exhaling a breath of freezing air that created a mist of frost that instantly froze the chains that were about to hit Skuard, immobilizing them.

The next second, the Momonga opened its mouth and spewed out a Flame Impact that burned directly at White Bay. White Bay did not hesitate to slash out with a frost blade. The flames and the freezing air of the frost collided and turned into a large amount of white water vapor, which blocked everyone's vision.

The moment the white mist appeared, Skuard roared, brandishing his longsword and charging into the mist.

The sound of metal clashing erupted from within, the clash of swords between the Momonga, White Bay, and Skuard.

Not long after, with a loud bang, a violent explosion erupted from the white mist, and the powerful blast instantly swept away the surrounding steam. Immediately afterward, thick black smoke replaced the white mist.

Then, Skuard emerged from the smoke and fire in a disheveled state, bearing some burns. His arm was clearly badly injured, a bloody mess, with part of the arm bone exposed.

After rolling twice on the ground, Skuard coughed and spat out two mouthfuls of foul blood. His internal injuries seemed quite severe, and his face was stained with black gunpowder residue, making him look extremely gruesome.

A sea breeze blew by, dispersing the smoke and revealing a cut on the Momonga's arm. It wasn't serious, and black smoke was still emanating from his nostrils and mouth. Apart from the cut, he was completely unharmed. Clearly, the violent explosion earlier was his doing!

Not far in front of the Momonga, White Bay was completely protected by ice, which shielded her from the violent explosion and prevented her from suffering any damage.

That huge explosion was the power of the Paramecia - Explosion-Explosion Fruit that Momonga ate!

And he used this trick to create an opening, suffered a minor injury, and managed to outmaneuver Skuard!

"Skuard, are you alright?" White Bay asked with some concern.

Skuard struggled to his feet, grumbling, "It's nothing, I'm still..."

However, before Skuard could finish speaking, a slash carrying an inexplicable power erupted from not far behind him. The slash struck several pirates in its path. At that moment, the pirates seemed to have encountered something terrifying, letting out a painful roar. But before the sound could even fade, their bodies were instantly reduced to ashes. The blackened skeletons, still glowing with sparks, fell to the ground and scattered in disarray.

Skuard was also within the range of the slash. Without saying a word, he blocked forward with his long sword, imbued with Haki.

Then, the slash struck his longsword. For a moment, Skuard's palm felt a burning sensation, but the feeling was fleeting, and the strange power it carried was dispelled by his Haki!

Then, a burly and tall Marine Admiral with a somewhat simple and honest face, a cigar in his mouth, squinting his eyes, chuckled as he stepped over the ashes and debris and said, "Momonga, how about we team up again after all this time?"

The Momonga raised its hand, silently using Seimei Kikan to suppress the knife wound on its arm, and said with a smile on its face, "No problem, Hoshigaki!"

That's right, the Vice Admiral who arrived at this moment was none other than Hoshigaki!

He was originally in charge of the artillery formation, but now that the Marines and pirates were completely locked in a fierce battle in one area, they could no longer bombard indiscriminately. So their formation immediately became a support force and joined the fray.

He himself is quite powerful, and he also ate the Ash-Ash Fruit, Paramecia type fruit, and combined the fruit's power with his swordsmanship, creating an extremely brutal Ash Slash technique.

White Bay was in a bad mood. Her ability was to Ice-Ice, while the Momonga could breathe fire, which was somewhat effective against her. Now, there was also a Hoshigaki. Although White Bay didn't quite understand what Hoshigaki's ability was, judging from how it burned people to ashes in one blow, it was undoubtedly another fire-based ability, which was really annoying her!

However, Momonga and Hoshigaki wouldn't give them any choice. With a glance, the tacit understanding between the two, the longtime friends and the Marines's combined attack, was already formed.

In the next instant, the two attacked simultaneously. The Momonga attacked White Bay, Hoshigaki drew his sword and slashed at Skuard.

Skuard was already seriously injured, while Hoshigaki had just joined the battle and was at his peak. When their longswords swelled together, Hoshigaki's Armament Haki suddenly erupted, surging and intense, instantly shattering Skuard's Haki!

When that Haki was shattered and the two blades merged together, a red light flashed in Hoshigaki's eyes, and a surge of Devil Fruit power erupted. He shouted, "Ash Slayer - Remnant Fire Katana!"

The blade was so smooth, as if it were gliding through flying ash. With this strike, Hoshigaki directly cleaved Skuard's longsword in half, and ashes flew wherever it passed.

Skuard seemed to be caught off guard for a moment, or perhaps his injuries had indeed affected his reaction time. He instinctively wanted to change his move, but it was too late.

Hoshigaki first severed Skuard's longsword in two, then the downward slash tilted to the left and flicked forward, flashing past Skuard's right arm holding the sword with incredible speed!

This blow severed Skuard's right hand at the elbow!

Hoshigaki pressed its advantage, severing Skuard's arm with a single strike. Then, it leaped forward, its figure swiftly appearing before Skuard, and with another slash aimed at Skuard's neck, unleashed another devastating blow!

But at that moment, a slightly stout figure rushed toward Hoshigaki at an extremely fast speed.

With a quick glance, Hoshigaki instantly recognized the figure. Hmm... there were no markings, so it wasn't Whitebeard Pirates officer; it must be an ordinary combatant!

At this critical moment, Hoshigaki had made a decision: even at the risk of being hit by this guy, he would kill Skuard, this Great Pirate, first!

Therefore, Hoshigaki neither dodged nor avoided, but instead unleashed his Haki, which clung to his side, and he resolutely swung his long sword down!

With a snap, Skuard was beheaded by Hoshigaki with a single blow, and died!

At that moment, the stout figure crashed into Hoshigaki's side. To everyone's surprise, Hoshigaki's not-so-bad protective Haki was instantly shattered by this guy!

Then, blood splattered as Hoshigaki's abdomen was pierced by the claw blade in this guy's hand, leaving three extremely long claw wounds, dripping with blood, indicating that his injuries were extremely serious!

"Hoshigaki!" A look of surprise and worry flashed in the Momonga's eyes as it instinctively shouted.

White Bay recognized the figure that had suddenly attacked the Hoshigaki.

That was an old crew member on the Newgate ship, but he had never been famous, and had never even had a bounty put on him... Marshall D. Teach!