Old and New Collide

The battle was about to erupt.

Roger and Newgate exchanged a glance.

Without a word, they moved at the same instant.

The two figures streaked into the distance like falling stars.

Boom!!!

The ground split beneath their landing, and a shockwave hurled up clouds of dust.

By unspoken agreement, they drew the main battle away, leaving the central front to the crewmates they trusted most.

It was an understanding between the mightiest pirate crews, born of absolute trust.

At the center of the battlefield.

Marco charged first, blue flames surging skyward.

"Phoenix—Human-Beast Form!"

Flames engulfed him like a tide. His arms became burning wings, and his feet sharpened into talons.

Blue-green fire streamed from his tail feathers, making him look like a creature descended from myth.

He beat his wings and fixed his gaze on—

Rayleigh.

"Phoenix Stamp!"

Marco plunged downward, phoenix fire compressing around his foot.

Heat swirled, the air shrieking beneath him. His kick fell like a flaming meteor.

Rayleigh looked up, his pupils narrowing slightly behind his glasses.

A red glint flashed as Conqueror's Haki and Observation Haki flowed through him at once.

The next instant—

He raised a single finger and held the Phoenix's burning talon firmly in place.

"—?!"

Marco's pupils contracted.

"What?!"

The terrible force of his strike might as well have hit a mountain of steel. It did not budge.

Rayleigh spoke calmly.

"Kid."

"I'm taking this seriously..."

Before he could finish, Marco's gaze hardened.

His talon drove down.

Blue Flames collapsed rapidly beneath his claws, compressed to their limit like a miniature sun.

Boom!!!

A powerful shockwave exploded right in Rayleigh's face!

Rayleigh's eyes sharpened.

He slid back half a step and swept his sword across.

Clang!!!

The blade split the heart of the flames. Blue fire burst into sparks, and a