Rice-Pattern Strangulation

Zoro slammed his right foot down.

The massive tree branch beneath him exploded into a storm of splinters.

Green dust blasted out behind him.

He shot forward like a dark-gold meteor.

In midair.

He spun wildly.

Spinning was how he built up force.

His waist was the axle, his shoulders the rudder, and his three swords swept out in three deadly arcs.

Enma slashed down from the upper right, its dark-gold demonic aura tearing through the air.

Sandai Kitetsu swept up from the lower left, blood-red demonic energy coiling around it like a snake.

Wado Ichimonji cut across the center, its pure-white blade light aimed straight at the heart.

The three flashes wove a net of death.

Saint Killingham screamed.

He tried to raise his arms.

To guard his heart.

The vines locked him down in an instant, wrenching his arms apart so he could no longer bring them together.

Chopper's vines pulled from the ground, behind him, and both sides at once.

They pinned his legs.

Forced his knees apart.

Held his torso still.

Spread his arms wide.

He was fixed in place with his arms outstretched, like a butterfly specimen pinned to a board.

The green runes on the vines flared.

Their purifying light burned through the demonic energy left on his legs.

The black-crystal Leg Armor lost its color and turned ash gray.

White mist poured through the gaps in the vines, drawing a thick curtain across the scene.

The Rain God was still struggling.

Three black-water arms lunged from behind Killingham like enraged black pythons, lashing toward Zoro's back.

The air hissed.

The tree-ring mark on Chopper's forehead gave one final pulse.

The last of his strength.

Three huge holes burst open in the ground.

Three logs as thick as barrels surged from the frozen earth,