"Retreat! Everyone, retreat!!"
"Run!!"
Countless screams rang out all at once. For a moment, it was as if time had frozen.
Every Marine on the shore was turning to flee. Panic, fear, despair—every kind of expression appeared on their faces.
Blinding white light engulfed the land, and a terrifying explosion instantly swallowed the Marines on the shore.
As all fifty Pacifistas self-destructed at once, a sharp pain pierced everyone's eardrums. Then all sound seemed to fade away. The world fell silent, and everything beneath the sky turned a vast, blinding white.
Rumble!!!
Then, with a deafening boom, a terrifying explosion swallowed the coast.
The sky shook, the earth trembled, and a black mushroom cloud laced with flames billowed upward. A blast of superheated wind pressure surged outward.
The coast had been blown into a semicircular crater hundreds of meters across, as if a huge bite had been torn out of it.
The thick vines Ryokugyu had created as a bridge from the sea to the shore had been severed in the blast, right where their ends plunged into the earth.
Seawater surged in to fill the gap. The warships on the surface rocked violently, while the shore was filled with cries of agony.
"Waaah—!!"
"Help! Someone, help me!"
"—Aagh!!"
Many Marines had been thrown into the water by the impact. Most of those left behind stood on the broken bridge, staring at the devastation with expressions of panic and grim concern.
"Send warships to rescue them!"
"Cover them! Provide cover!"
"Medical teams, move in!"
The Marines were indeed a force skilled at fighting on a large scale. As soon as the explosion ended, the fleet reacted at once. Three warships pushed through the turbulent currents under their own power and advanced.
Behind the front lines.
"Report! The estimated casualties from