Palms Together

Sakazuki descended from the sky right behind her.

Magma flowed over his right foot as he stomped toward Eilinsna.

Eilinsna planted her left hand on the ground and rolled aside.

Boom!

A deafening crash rang out.

Countless streams of magma erupted beneath Sakazuki's foot, surging wildly in every direction like a volcanic eruption.

Before Eilinsna could get up, a wall of magma rushed toward her.

She pushed hard with her arm, launching herself into the air, then kicked against the air to retreat.

"Earthbreaker Rising Pit!"

Sakazuki turned into magma and merged with his surroundings, using Observation Haki to predict where Eilinsna would land next.

A mountain of magma shot skyward beneath her.

Eilinsna coated her legs in Haki and stomped down hard, blasting apart the upper half of the magma mountain.

Then endless magma erupted from the mountain's lower half, shooting straight into the sky.

The tremendous impact drove Eilinsna backward through the air, toward the top of the skyward surge of magma.

Sakazuki's upper body returned to human form while his lower body remained merged with the magma.

Endless magma poured from his lower body, forming a column that stretched without end.

It propelled Sakazuki's upper body toward Eilinsna at tremendous speed.

"Dog Biting Crimson Lotus."

Sakazuki's indifferent voice rang out as one arm turned into magma.

His fist became a dog's head with gaping jaws, snapping viciously at Eilinsna's neck.

Clang!

Metal rang against metal.

Eilinsna drew the sword hanging at her side, coated it in Haki, and blocked those hideous jaws.

At the same time, she used the force to propel herself backward.

As she flew through the air, Eilinsna wreathed her sword in Conqueror's Haki and slashed downward.

Several enormous crescent-shaped Sword Auras formed, cutting toward the Sea King below.

The Sea King's corpse, hundreds of meters long, was instantly sliced into chunks, losing the buoyancy it had possessed as a whole.

Most of the magma-covered corpse sank beneath the sea.

Eilinsna landed on a chunk of the Sea King untouched by magma.

She looked up at Sakazuki, gripping her sword in both hands as she gathered her strength.

Sakazuki paid no attention to the vast stretch of footing that had sunk.

He brought his hands together, then drew them apart, forming a blade over three meters long in the blink of an eye.

He gripped its hilt with both hands and coated it in Armament Haki.

Diving from the sky, he brought the three-meter black blade down hard toward Eilinsna.

Spiraling Conqueror's Haki coiled around Eilinsna's sword as she swung to meet the descending giant blade.

Clang!

Metal clashed against metal.

Then came a tremendous roar.

A massive gale erupted from their clash, ravaging everything around them.

Crackle! Crackle!!!

Black-and-red lightning sparked from their blades as they strained against each other.

"Haaah!!!!!"

Eilinsna roared, unleashing all her strength.

A flicker of gravity crossed Sakazuki's face, and he too unleashed tremendous strength, pressing down.

Boom!!!

The clash exploded!!!

Under that immense force, the blades in their hands slid uncontrollably past each other.

One slashed downward, the other into the sky.

Two boundless Sword Auras, one horizontal and one vertical, split the sea and sky in two.

Both were blasted away, and Eilinsna was flung onto a massive chunk of flesh.

Holding her sword in both hands, she stared gravely at Sakazuki as he shifted slightly in midair.

Sakazuki made a slight stepping motion with his right foot, and a sonic boom rang out.

He kept himself suspended in the air, looking down.

Boom!

A sonic boom rang out alongside the whistle of bodies cutting through the air.

Both vanished from their positions in an instant.

Their blades collided again and again, with the sounds seeming to follow a moment late.

The two figures flickered and clashed, sometimes in the air, sometimes atop the chunks of flesh.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! ...

Countless columns of water erupted from the surrounding sea as the two reappeared, their blades locked together.

Clang!

Crackle! Crackle!

Eilinsna was sent flying backward.

She left a trail of afterimages through the air before crashing into the distant ship of the Kuja Pirates.

Boom!!!

"Is that?!"

"What?!!"

"Your Majesty!!!"

"Catch her!!!"

"Quick!!!"

The crew of the Kuja Pirates cried out at the sight of the figure hurtling toward them.

Then they realized it was their empress and hurried into her path, trying to catch her.

The instant they touched her, the tremendous force swept them along, and a deafening crash rang out.

Several of them crashed into the cabin along with Eilinsna.

"Urgh..."

"Hss..."

"Where's Her Majesty?!"

"Pfft!!!"

"Cough, cough..."

Cries of pain filled the cabin as everyone ignored their own injuries and hurried to check on the empress.

"Cough, cough... I'm fine."

Eilinsna coughed and stood, leaning on her sword, her face pale.

A trickle of blood ran from the corner of her mouth, and her right hand trembled slightly around her weapon.

The gap was too great, especially the crushing difference in strength.

Every clash sent a volcanic surge of force through her, shaking both hands until they went numb.

Sensing something, Eilinsna abruptly looked up.

She kicked off the floor and rushed out of the cabin as Sakazuki's indifferent voice came from above.

"Great Eruption!"

A gigantic Molten Rock Fist, several times larger than the Kuja Pirate Ship, bore down on the vessel.

A crescent-shaped Sword Aura shot skyward from the ship, slicing the Molten Rock Fist in half with a swish and sending the halves falling to either side.

Then Eilinsna's furious shout rang out:

"Enough, Marine!"

Having split the Molten Rock Fist with a single slash, Eilinsna looked at Sakazuki as he stepped through the air using Geppo.

"We concede this time."

"You can have all the treasure aboard this ship."

Sakazuki merely looked down at them indifferently, his cold voice ringing out:

"Did you think we were playing pirates?"

Clap!

Sakazuki pressed his palms together in midair.

As the two halves of the Molten Rock Fist fell, they twisted and transformed into two gigantic magma palms.

An endless rumbling rang out.

Magma erupted from the backs of the giant palms, as though the Kuja Pirate Ship between them exerted some pull.

The palms closed together from either side, bearing down on the Kuja Pirate Ship.

Boom!!!!