Rocks's eyes were blood-red. He had lost all reason, consumed by hatred!
Destroy! Destroy!! Destroy!!!
Rage had eaten away at his mind. The shaking earth barely hindered these top-tier fighters.
Violent Conqueror's Haki poured out of him, coiling around his body.
He charged at them all.
For a moment, not a single one of them could withstand a slash from Rocks.
Rocks flashed in front of Roger in an instant.
His blade swept down.
Roger swung to meet it. The clash of their supreme Conqueror's Haki destroyed everything around them, cracking the earth.
Within a few breaths, white light flared.
Boom!
A sudden explosion sent both men flying backward before either could land.
Still airborne, Rocks turned with blood-red eyes to face the incoming attacker.
Garp's arms were pitch-black, with faint wisps of black energy flowing around them.
He drew back his right arm.
Then he drove a punch at Rocks as he came toward him.
A metallic clang rang out. Rocks neither dodged nor evaded, letting Garp's iron fist slam into his body.
"Aaaaargh!!!!!"
The pain only fanned Rocks's ferocity, and he roared like a madman.
He seized Garp's right arm with his left hand and raised his blade in his right, black-purple energy flowing along its length.
He viciously slashed at the trapped Garp.
Clang!
Boom!!!
Nearly solid black-purple Sword Aura bore down on Garp.
The two accelerated toward the ground, smashing out a deep crater.
Endless Sword Aura erupted from the crater.
It shot straight into the sky!
With the two men at its center, cracks spread outward across the ground.
Then black-purple Sword Aura burst from the fissures.
It carved out an enormous crater a kilometer across.
"Aaaaargh!!!"
"Haaah!!!"
Their furious roars rang out from the center of the crater's floor.
Relentless gale-force winds erupted from their bodies.
They swept away the dust filling the air, revealing the two men.
Garp's eyes were wide with fury. His left hand, coated in Armament Haki, gripped the blade tight.
Rocks's eyes were blood-red as he forced the sword in his right hand toward Garp's neck.
Both men roared as they wrestled for dominance.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Two figures flashed to Rocks's sides, one on his left and one on his right.
Conqueror's Haki coiled around their arms, and the force of their fists sent ripples through space.
They struck at Rocks's head together.
The hairs on Rocks's body stood on end. The threat of death jolted a measure of reason back into him.
He released Garp, kicked off the ground, and vanished.
Boom!
With their target gone, Kong's fist collided with that of the burly member of the Five Elders, triggering a violent explosion.
Having flashed away from the fatal strike, Rocks found another blade slashing straight at him.
Armament Haki flowed over his left hand as he caught the incoming blade.
Ignoring his slashed, bleeding palm, he twisted his upper body slightly to the right.
Boundless hatred flashed in his eyes as he slashed behind him. Nothing enraged a man more than betrayal by one of his "own."
Roger swung his sword in silence, while Rocks slashed back with limitless hatred.
The instant their blades met-
"I won."
The thought crossed Roger's mind.
Crack!
"What!"
The sword in Rocks's hand snapped.
Rocks's pupils shrank to pinpoints. How was that possible!!!
But there was no time to think. The threat of death rushed straight at him.
His hair stood on end, and he forcibly twisted his body just enough to avoid the fatal slash.
Even so, it sliced open one side of his body, cutting deep enough to expose bone.
Yet the danger signals screaming from his instincts did not diminish in the slightest.
A faint whistle cut through the air.
Rocks forcibly twisted his body again, lifting himself a little higher.
As Roger swung, the member of the Five Elders whose blade Rocks had caught made his move.
He extended the index and middle fingers of his left hand like a sword, wrapping them in flowing Conqueror's Haki.
The instant Roger's blade cut into Rocks's body-
He thrust them at Rocks's heart as though wielding a sword.
Splurt!
The sound of a blade piercing flesh rang out, followed by an eruption of endless Sword Aura.
It tore a gaping hole directly beneath Rocks's heart, blood pouring out without stopping.
Boom!
A violent aura erupted from Rocks along with his Conqueror's Haki.
It blasted Roger and the member of the Five Elders away.
By now, Rocks had regained his senses completely.
His thoughts raced as he searched for a way out.
He was strong, not stupid. If he kept fighting this many opponents, he would certainly be the one to die.
Boom!
Boom!
Everyone in the battle sensed the temperature across the island rise ever so slightly, but paid it no mind.
Meanwhile, on the coast on the other side, Sakazuki watched the soldiers bustle about.
Sensing that slight rise in temperature, the corners of his mouth curled upward, then settled again in an instant...
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