Besieging Magellan

The dark-red hand of the Venom Demon came crashing down, engulfing every pirate who failed to evade it. The even more corrosive venom left nothing behind of the many corpses—not even bones.

Compared to the Purple Venom Dragon, the Venom Demon possessed not only a higher level of toxicity, but also gave the originally liquid venom considerable physical destructive power, making Magellan even more difficult to deal with.

The dark-red god of slaughter charged at the masterminds behind this prison break at no slow speed, and the giant's hand swung down once more.

Faced with the unstoppable Magellan, Mr. 3 Galdino gritted his teeth and activated his Wax-Wax Fruit ability.

"Candle Wall!"

An enormous amount of wax sprayed from Mr. 3's hands, quickly forming a massive Candle Wall that caught the giant's attack. Behind it, Luffy had already transformed using Gear Third.

A fist even larger than a Giant's arm used the Candle Wall as a shield, forcing the venom giant back.

Mr. 3 might not have been strong, but against Magellan, he was more useful than Crocodile and Jinbe.

Ivankov, who had been assisting from the side, had already prepared his attack. His long nails pierced his forehead as he injected Emporio Growth Hormones into himself.

His ordinary-sized head slowly grew larger. In the end, he leaped into the air with a head over ten meters wide, creating dozens of afterimages. Every giant head aimed at Magellan's true body and blinked at once.

"Galaxy Wink!"

All the afterimages continuously blinked, firing shockwaves. Their combined numbers amplified the power of the eye-beam shockwaves dozens of times over.

In an instant, countless craters exploded across the Venom Demon's surface. The splashing dark-red venom claimed the lives of another batch of unlucky people.

Magellan could no longer continue his assault. He controlled the Venom Demon to curl into a ball, making the venom encasing him several layers thicker.

Magellan had switched from offense to defense, giving Bondi, who stood in the rear, plenty of time to perform. Shooting at a target was what he did best.

Both hands grabbed the cannonballs the surrounding prisoners had gathered. The veins in his arms bulged visibly as his hands hurled cannonballs without pause.

"Meteor Destruction!"

One cannonball after another expanded to ten meters wide in midair, bombarding the giant continuously like anti-aircraft artillery.

"Boom... Boom... Boom..."

The Venom Demon was like an ordinary man drifting helplessly amid raging waves, forced back again and again. One small mushroom cloud after another blinded countless people. The moment one appeared, it was swiftly covered by a new one. Such terrifying firepower made men love it and fear it at the same time.

Bondi only stopped when his strength was exhausted, his muscular arms trembling weakly.

This made Bondi, who had only just gotten into the excitement of it, reveal a lonely expression. He was old now. He was no longer the powerhouse who could casually blow a small island off the map.

As Bondi stopped, the shockwaves from the explosions gradually subsided. However, the devastated second level looked ready to collapse at any moment. Buildings had fallen, floors had shattered, and in some places beneath the thick flooring, the third level could even be seen.

Magellan's Venom Demon had long since vanished, leaving only a small amount of venom wrapped around him.

Without giving his enemy a chance to catch his breath, Sal pressed his advantage and charged toward Magellan at gale-like speed. Mr. 3 had covered him in a layer of wax armor to minimize contact with the venom.

While the Venom Demon was recovering, Magellan sensed Sal's movements with Observation Haki. Though the recent explosions had shattered the Venom Demon, they had also injured him.

But Magellan had long prepared for Sal's Conqueror's Coating. Even as he dodged, he controlled the Venom Demon to restore its defenses.

"Chain of Heaven!"

The unexpectedly tiny bracelet transformed into the Chain of Heaven, winding upward from Magellan's thigh and binding the caught-off-guard man. No matter how hard he struggled, all he could do was stretch the chains taut until they creaked at their limit.

At that moment, the dark-red halo around Sal's fist expanded in Magellan's pupils. As a top-tier powerhouse, he understood very well the might of Conqueror's Coating.

"Boom..."

Conqueror's Coating directly vaporized the venom, allowing the fist to ignore the thin layer of venom defense and strike Magellan directly. Several dark-red bolts of lightning burst forth as Magellan's huge body slammed into a wall hundreds of meters away, leaving a deep crater.

The battle between the two sides had lasted only a few breaths, and Buggy stared in stunned amazement, brimming with excitement.

"Did we get him? Was Magellan defeated by the team led by Captain Buggy?"

"...Probably not. Magellan can't be that fragile."

Afraid of getting caught in the crossfire, Mr. 3 hid beside the Candle Wall and had no choice but to shatter his new captain's fantasy.

Just as everyone expected, rubble fell to the ground, and Magellan quickly broke free from the wall and walked out. He tore off his damaged coat. As Magellan roared, venom seeped from his skin once more, and a Venom Demon slightly smaller than before reappeared.

Magellan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. The power of Conqueror's Coating had clearly dealt him heavy damage, and a mangled, bleeding wound remained at his waist.

His gloomy gaze swept across every one of them, especially Augustus D. Sal. He was the one who had destroyed Impel Down. Among the outside invaders, only he and Luffy were present, and neither Luffy's strength nor intelligence made him seem like the mastermind.

So it was obvious that this great criminal who had killed Celestial Dragons was the mastermind. If looks could kill, Sal would already have been killed by Magellan countless times.

"Augustus D. Sal, as the warden of Impel Down, even if I die, I will stop someone like you from destroying it. It is a symbol of peace."

[An SS-rank character has developed negative emotions toward the host. High hostility. +50000]

Sal slowly shifted to the left, and Magellan's vicious gaze moved with him, as though Sal was the only person in his eyes.

"..."

The last time an SS-rank character had such intense emotions was when Rayleigh caused them.

Magellan's hatred left Sal speechless. He had merely come to Impel Down to join the fun. How had he become the main aggro tank? This was far too unfair.

Fortunately, the situation was now very favorable. The three of them had worked together to suppress this powerful enemy, and they no longer feared Magellan.

Magellan's Venom-Venom Fruit awakening was incredibly powerful. In terms of Devil Fruit strength, it was no weaker than the three Admirals, but its shortcomings were equally obvious.

After exchanging several rounds with him, Sal had roughly gauged Magellan's weaknesses. His Armament Haki and Observation Haki were at most advanced level, and had only barely reached that level. His physical constitution was merely around that of an ordinary Shichibukai, not much stronger than Crocodile.

If his opponents were pure close-combat fighters like Black Arm Zephyr and Luffy, then Magellan was a terrifying existence comparable to an Admiral. But against Logia opponents like the three Admirals, the warden of Impel Down was not much harder to deal with than Marco.

Just as both sides were preparing for battle, Jinbe suddenly shouted to everyone.

"Everyone, Crocodile and I will go seize a warship first. We'll leave this place to you."