The battlefield was chaos, Marines and pirates locked in a tangled melee. Shells and bullets flew everywhere.
Artillery fire and ability attacks had riddled the ice with holes, but it still remained relatively intact.
Burning warships lay tilted in the bay, corpses and wounded mingling in the water as blood seeped through cracks in the ice.
Shells kept landing on the ice and exploding, scattering ice shards and shrapnel in every direction.
After Little Oars was brought down, the Shichibukai began to move as well.
The Empress fought halfheartedly. Hawk-Eye seemed to be strolling through the battlefield, showing a little interest only when he encountered a swordsman.
Kuma remained stationed on the high platform, intercepting pirates only when they approached.
The battlefield's considerable depth kept the less mobile "powerhouses" from encountering one another right away.
A streak of lightning swept over the battlefield, its course erratic, flashing from place to place without following any continuous path.
A silver-gray hooded coat briefly appeared between each flash, then vanished into the air, leaving a thin electric arc behind.
Then the arc spread like a spiderweb.
A small group of Marines separated from their unit in the melee had been surrounded by several times their number of pirates.
Just as they stood back-to-back, holding out for help, electric arcs swept through the area.
"This is-"
"Advisor Flashlight!"
The arcs threaded through the air in tangled curves, instantly "crawling" across the surrounding space. In the blink of an eye, the pirates fell, charred and smoking.
Flashlight had no intention of stopping. He darted across the battlefield in a roaming, lightning-fast assault.
"...Damn it-"
A Marine major crouched on the ice, supporting himself with his sword's scabbard. He had wounds of every size, the worst on his left leg. Blood dripped down his trouser leg