Fighting the Donquixote Family Alone

Whoosh!

At that critical moment, a shrill sound tore through the battlefield's clamor, as though it might rip the night sky apart.

It came hurtling from the dark forest at the edge of the battlefield, a darkness as deep as a beast's maw.

It was an astonishingly long sword!

And it was fast!

So fast that the smile had only just frozen on Donquixote Doflamingo's face. So fast that Diamante's vicious grin had yet to turn to shock. So fast that none of the Donquixote Family officers could even follow its path.

Shnk!

The blade pierced Diamante just below his left shoulder blade with the ease of a hot knife through butter.

The terrifying force behind it carried him off his feet and hurled him backward like a stone from a catapult.

It slammed into the trunk of an ancient tree dozens of meters from the center of the battlefield, one so thick several people would have had to join hands to encircle it. There it pinned him aloft like a specimen.

"Aaaagh!"

Only then did a gut-wrenching scream burst from Diamante's mouth.

Blood gushed out, instantly staining his splendid clothes and the cold blade red. Behind him, a dark crimson patch spread across the rough bark.

His rapier had long since clattered to the ground. His body convulsed with pain, but he could not break free.

The entire battlefield fell utterly silent.

The crackle of flames and the wind moaning through the ruins seemed to have been strangled by an invisible hand.

Every Donquixote Family officer froze. Their amusement, anger, and smugness vanished, replaced in an instant by disbelief and horror.

The smile that said Donquixote Doflamingo had everything under control disappeared. He shot upright on the ruined wall and stared into the dark forest from which the blade