"Whew..."
On the frozen ice, amid the scalding steam, Kuzan dispelled his elemental form with a breath of cold air and swiftly retreated from the battlefield.
This time, the monster-like woman across from him did not pursue him, but Kuzan felt no joy whatsoever.
He raised his head and stared at the defeated Marines in the distance, his expression solemn and his eyes somewhat lost.
"Justice has been defeated?"
This failure could no longer be described as a simple defeat for him. It was the defeat of the Marines' justice.
The two sides had not even determined a victor on the main battlefield. In fact, the Marines still held the advantage. If they persisted, the Marines would definitely win.
But there were no "ifs" in war.
It was not easy to restore the Marines' shattered morale. Even they could no longer do anything, let alone now that they were being held back by their opponents. Unless Fleet Admiral Sengoku could defeat Fire Dragon Ye Mu at this very moment—but was that even possible?
In the distance, Anu had also dispelled her Devil Fruit form and returned to her human appearance. Her beautiful eyes swept across the surroundings, filled with surprise and pride.
"Not bad. You really did it!!!"
Just then, something no one had expected happened.
Sakazuki's furious roar echoed across the entire battlefield.
"Stop joking around! The Marines haven't lost yet!"
"Great Eruption!"
The entire sky visibly began turning scarlet. Countless torrents of crimson magma rained down from above, but they were not aimed at the Sky Pirate Crew. They fell at the very front of the fleeing Marines.
The blazing magma descended from the sky and directly destroyed the Marines' escape route.
Countless Marines at the very front of the fleeing group were struck by the magma rain.