A blade of Sword Aura tore through the sky.
By the time Sakazuki recovered from the impact of the Conqueror's Haki,
the slash was already upon him.
He looked at the dying Kaido beneath him.
He sensed the lethal threat in that slash.
Sakazuki made his decision in an instant, his aura growing even more savage.
He poured every last bit of energy into the arm that had pierced Kaido.
He dropped out of red lotus mode in an instant, no longer able to maintain the red lotus state.
Just as the slash reached him, he finished channeling his energy.
That portion of magma detached from his body, remaining inside Kaido.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
A string of explosions rang out. With no time to dodge, Sakazuki took the flying Sword Aura straight to the chest.
Sakazuki summoned his Armament Haki, stacking layer upon layer in front of him.
He coated both hands in Armament Haki and pressed them against the Sword Aura.
As the Sword Aura clashed with his Armament Haki, the flesh across his chest was mangled in an instant.
The slash carried him backward, smashing him through countless trees.
Finally, when he felt the energy within the Sword Aura growing increasingly volatile,
he used his Armament Haki-coated hands to forcibly shove the Sword Aura away, sending it diagonally behind him as he flew backward.
It struck a small hill behind him.
A small mushroom cloud rose.
Not far from the mushroom cloud, Sakazuki smashed through a boulder before finally coming to a stop.
Blood dripped onto the ground as Sakazuki stood up after taking Charlotte Linlin's Ikoku Sovereignty head-on.
"Cough... cough... Big Mom, huh."
Unable to stop coughing up blood, he looked toward the figure who had rescued Kaido.
Elsewhere.
Charlotte Linlin was furious. Ever since Kaido joined the Rocks Pirates, she had felt an inexplicable connection to him.
That was why she had always looked after Kaido like a little brother.
She had even told Kaido outright that Rocks could not be trusted, and that he should come straight to her if he had any problems.
Even Charlotte Linlin had been unsure how this battle would turn out.
So she had assigned Kaido to a ship farther back, leaving him to fight on the outskirts of God Valley.
If they won, Kaido could build up some experience on the outskirts and earn a promotion.
If they lost, Kaido's strength would make it easy for him to escape. Charlotte Linlin had thought all of that through for him.
But for all her careful planning, she had never expected him to encounter Sakazuki, a transmigrator.
She had only lost track of him for a moment, yet he had nearly died.
She looked at the enormous wound piercing through Kaido's body as he lay at death's door.
Charlotte Linlin wanted to finish Sakazuki off, but Kaido's injuries could not wait.
She scooped Kaido up and rushed toward Rocks's massive ship.
She remembered that Rocks had obtained a mythical zoan fruit a while ago.
Watching Charlotte Linlin rush away with Kaido in her arms,
Sakazuki knew that, just as in the original story,
Rocks had already been betrayed by his subordinates during his assault on God Valley. Some had left, and others had fled.
"Maser Cannon: Three Thousand Leagues!"
Suddenly, as Charlotte Linlin ran away, she gathered her power at the tip of Napoleon and swung it forward.
It formed an enormous female apparition that charged toward Sakazuki.
"Rising Pit."
Watching the apparition rush toward him, Sakazuki pressed both hands against the ground.
He channeled his Devil Fruit Ability underground, and a small magma volcano rose from beneath the earth.
It knocked the apparition upward, then erupted in a torrent of magma that shot into the sky and engulfed her.
"What a pain."
Through the magma, he sensed that the engulfed apparition had barely weakened.
Thick smoke suddenly billowed from Sakazuki's body. Then he turned into a pool of magma, sank underground, and fled deeper into the earth.
Without Sakazuki there to sustain the magma,
the enormous female apparition easily broke free.
But with only rudimentary awareness, the apparition could only slash about aimlessly once she could no longer find Sakazuki.
After an unknown amount of time... she gradually disappeared.
Meanwhile, carrying Kaido, Charlotte Linlin looked across the battlefield on the outskirts of God Valley.
A flicker of joy flashed in her eyes when she spotted Rocks's pirate ship.
"Maser Saber!"
An enormous laser shot out, making no distinction between friend and foe.
After clearing a path, it tore straight through the cabin of Rocks's pirate ship.
"Get the hell out of my way!"
Charlotte Linlin roared as she rushed toward the cabin.
Suddenly, she felt energy surging beside her. She looked down, her pupils contracting. It was too late!
Armament Haki poured out, coating Kaido's wound, but before she could cover it completely,
Bang!
The magma left inside Kaido's wound erupted.
Magma gushed endlessly from within Kaido's body.
Before you continue