"Lucky Roux, Yasopp, Snake... everyone..."
Shanks looked at his three companions, who had been defeated in an instant, and an indescribable bitterness welled up in his heart.
The gap in strength between the two sides was simply too great. As for why he was not angry, the reason was simple: the other side had not pressed their advantage and finished them off.
By now, how could he not understand that Dawn's goal had never been to kill off the Red Hair Pirates, but to make him submit completely?
"As captain, I have to stand up for my crew."
The Supreme Big Slipper beneath his feet slammed heavily into the snowy plain. He shot toward Dawn like a cannonball fired from its barrel.
The members of the Dawn Pirates along the way acted as though they had not seen him, each tending to the battlefield without making any move to stop him. That silent understanding was more oppressive than any words—what Dawn wanted was a fair one-on-one duel.
Shanks' charge reached the absolute limit of speed. In an instant, he closed the distance between them. Behind him, only several pierced rings of air and piercing sonic booms remained.
Clang!
Shanks suddenly drew Griffin from his waist with his right hand. Black-red arcs of lightning coiled around the blade as he slashed toward Dawn with the famed lightning-fast strike.
"[Kamusari]!"
A crescent-shaped slash parted the airwaves on both sides and lunged at Dawn with the force to tear apart the sky.
Dawn raised Kikoku, expertly coating it with both Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki at once, then swung it at the incoming Flying Slash.
"[Abyssal Echo]!"
The violent force punched the air before him into a depression, directly sweeping up the surrounding air and forming a magnificent shockwave in an instant.
Boom!