A Nightmare Realm

The one who had unleashed that enormous flying slash was Whitebeard. Its sheer scale had caught quite a few people in its range.

Not just Lilith, but Charlotte Linlin and Shiki nearby as well.

All three of them thought Whitebeard had done it on purpose.

"I wasn't aiming at you! I was cutting down the enemy!"

Whitebeard offered that explanation, but the three clearly weren't convinced.

"Stop lying! I almost died! We can settle this right here and now!" Linlin grabbed Whitebeard by the collar, furious.

"I wasn't aiming at you! How many pirate crews have landed?" Whitebeard reiterated, changing the subject.

"Hey! Were you trying to kill me, Newgate?" Shiki flew over as well.

"Ah! I was drawn over by the commotion. You're here too, Lilith." Kaido had also been drawn in by the disturbance.

"I'll tell Lord Annus that you nearly killed me!"

Lilith held the red-haired twins in her arms and glared fiercely at Whitebeard. If looks could kill, Whitebeard would already be dead.

"Sorry, Lilith. Don't tell Annus." Whitebeard scratched his head.

Anyone else would have been one thing, but Annus really held grudges.

Nearby, Maffy's severed body began to writhe. Bloody threads and black matter grew from the cuts, reconnecting her upper and lower halves.

However, although her physical wounds had healed, Maffy's expression remained grim.

Lilith alone had already been difficult enough to deal with, and now she had to face the five great officers of the Rocks Pirates!

"She regenerated?!" Lilith, who had been watching this side all along, was startled.

With injuries that severe, an ordinary person should have died!

Regenerating after being cut in half was something she had never even heard of!

"It's the Rocks Pirates! Take them down, and our reputations will soar!"

"There are only five of them! We'll become pirates renowned throughout the world!"

Suddenly, another group of pirates appeared from behind and charged at Whitebeard, Shiki, Lilith, Linlin, and Kaido.

"These bastards are even putting on airs while targeting Shakuyaku..."

The smile vanished from Shiki's face, though he was usually always smiling.

"Go back to sleep, you little fry!"

Facing the siege of countless pirates, Shiki, Whitebeard, Kaido, Linlin, and Lilith attacked at the same time.

The overwhelming force sent every pirate targeting them flying and triggered a violent explosion.

To take the heads of these five, one needed matching strength. These pirates clearly had no idea what kind of monsters the Rocks Pirates' officers were, and they were all defeated in less than one exchange.

Not only that, the thunderous explosion was caught by Garp nearby. The strongest Marine vice admiral, a powerful man who relished battle, rushed over with his fist raised.

"Found a Level-One Fishing Ground! Don't even think about running, Sea Kings!"

Garp in his prime was someone none of the Rocks Pirates' officers wanted to face. Without a second thought, they turned and fled in different directions.

For a time, the scene descended into utter chaos.

Rather, the entire island had fallen into a nightmare-like state, with the roar of artillery fire rolling on like thunder during a rainstorm.

Pirates, Marines, God's Knights, and forces from every side clashed fiercely, sometimes unable even to distinguish enemies from allies.

"What exactly is wrong with these people?"

On one side of God Valley, in a forest in the northwest, Rocks fled with his wife and child over his shoulder.

Behind him were Garling, a long-haired woman, and one demonic figure after another.

On closer inspection, those terrifying figures bore an eighty or ninety percent resemblance to the Davy Clan slaves who had been on the platform earlier.

"We can only run! There is no other way!"

Even someone as strong as Rocks felt helpless before the chillingly bizarre sight in front of him.

Not long ago, he had successfully rescued all his clansmen. But after the two God's Knights appeared, every clansman who had been caught turned into those demonic things.

They had been family, people so close to him, yet in an instant they had become enemies coming for his life!

It wasn't as though Rocks had not tried fighting back. He had even nearly cut off that moon-headed man's head.

But that moon-headed man and the woman seemed incapable of dying.

No matter how serious their injuries were, they seemed unaffected, continuing to chase him even with half their heads cut away.

A Devil Fruit ability? Or someone else's power?

Rocks speculated inwardly as the two God's Knights riding ostriches pressed closer step by step.

"Put me down, Xebec!"

Alice, slung over Rocks's shoulder, demanded this.

"Stop messing around!"

But Rocks ignored her and accelerated even further.

We have to leave this island as soon as possible!

Meanwhile, Garling, riding atop an ostrich, touched the half of his head that had been cut away. His gaze was cold. "He really is strong! The places where that man wounded me need time to regenerate..."

He had more than one wound. Besides the slash across his head that extended down to his brow, there was also a massive wound on his shoulder that had nearly severed his arm.

Both wounds were writhing now as a mysterious power attempted to repair them. But the lingering power of Conqueror's Haki resisted it, preventing the regeneration from being completed quickly.

"But now that we know that man is also from the Davy Clan, Master will surely be pleased if we kill him!"

The other God's Knight, the long-haired woman holding a knight's lance, spoke.

Garling nodded with a solemn expression. "Ah! That's right! Although the game was interrupted, we're fortunate!"

Compared to the Human Hunting event held once every three years, the remnants of the Davy Clan were clearly far more important.

Rocks was the one who had entered the Room of Flowers. For years, Master had wanted to eliminate him but had never managed to do so.

Now, such a fine opportunity lay before them, and they had confirmed that he possessed Davy Clan blood. If they did not eliminate him on this island, the future consequences would be endless!

"Let me go! Xebec! Do you think you can handle these people with one hand?"

"Stop it, Alice! Once someone from the Davy Clan is captured, they will suffer pain so terrible that even hell would seem gentle by comparison!!"

As a member of the Davy Clan himself, Rocks understood that deeply. No matter what, he refused to put Alice down.

Boom!

An explosive sound suddenly came from behind. Flames surged, and a long-handled warhammer came crashing down, knocking Garling off his ostrich.

"Yale?! Why are you here?"

Rocks recognized the newcomer. Or rather, the utterly naked appearance was unique even within the entire Rocks Pirates.

"Rulalala! I was ordered to save your son. 'Yale, the person you need to save is Rocks's son,' Lord Annus told me."

Yale pulled up the warhammer and blocked Garling and the others' path.

"Looks like this will be a scorching battle! It's great not having to wear clothes!"

Hearing that, Rocks's expression changed as he demanded, "What does that disappointing bastard Annus know?!"

Aside from Harald, I shouldn't have told anyone that I have a wife and child!

Could Harald have told him?