Though it was only intermediate Armament Haki, not advanced Armament Haki, it was enough.
Awooo!
Moo!
After incorporating Haki, the two great Shikigami grew far stronger and were no longer so fragile.
"Hahaha! I did it!"
"Kill all these Marines!"
Seeing his success, Roy laughed aloud. Without making any further arrangements, he ordered the two great Shikigami straight at the Marines.
Divine Dogs: Totality roared, raised its wolf claws, and lunged into the Marine ranks.
Crack!
Several Marines had no time to defend themselves before they were swatted dead on the spot.
Piercing Ox also let out a moo, suddenly powering forward in a straight-line charge.
Wherever he passed, Marines and pirates alike-anyone blocking his path-were rammed to death on the spot.
For a time, piercing screams and terrified cries rose one after another.
Even those who tried to resist could not hold out long before dying where they stood.
Every Marine present was horrified.
What kind of beasts could use Haki?
This was ridiculous!
Besides, these two Shikigami were already incredibly powerful. With Haki on top of that, they were practically unkillable cockroaches.
How were they supposed to fight this battle?
With Roy taking action again, both sides plunged back into a brutal struggle on the battlefield.
And this time, it was bound to be even bloodier.
Time trickled by. Neither side knew how long they had fought, but casualties at the scene were already horrific.
The air reeked of blood, and severed limbs and shattered remains littered the ground, like a true hell.
Both Marines and criminals lay among the corpses strewn everywhere, but the Marines had ultimately suffered far worse.
"Ah... hahaha! They're all dead, all dead! There are fewer than a hundred of us left! How can we keep fighting? I really can't take it anymore. I might as well die!"
"Yeah, they're all dead... Other than Adjutant Bogard, both the other vice admirals died fighting. The rear admirals and captains were killed by those two beasts too. What's the point of us staying alive?"
The hundred-odd battered survivors had bloodshot eyes and were on the verge of mental collapse.
They had originally assembled more than four thousand Marines, only to be almost completely wiped out in the fighting. Now fewer than a hundred remained, still struggling in despair.
The powerful Jailer Beasts, along with several lieutenant commanders, captains, and even a rear admiral, had all been slain.
Those people had been killed by Piercing Ox and Divine Dogs: Totality.
Seeing that no one could stop the Shikigami, they had stepped forward of their own accord, hoping to kill the two.
But the Shikigami's strength had long since exceeded their imaginations.
Those lieutenant commanders and captains had endured only ten charges before being pounced on and killed on the spot, dying gruesome deaths.
The rear admiral had lasted a little longer, holding out through roughly a hundred attacks.
Unfortunately, he had ultimately exhausted his strength and been killed on the spot.
Still, those few rear admirals had inflicted some injuries on Piercing Ox and Divine Dogs, neither major nor minor, proving their considerable combat strength.
"Sir Roy, what should we do with these remaining Marines?"
Emporio Ivankov and the many pirates turned their gazes toward Roy's excited face.
By now, apart from Garp and the others, whose fights remained undecided, all the other battles had ended.
Everyone had delivered impressive performances.
Yake, for instance, had exchanged over a hundred moves with a captain.
In the end, relying on his bone-deep hatred of the Marines, he had traded injury for injury and slain his opponent.
But his left arm had already been injured, and this battle had left it completely crippled.
Emporio Ivankov, Inazuma, Crescent Moon Hunter, Big Barrel, and the others had each slain their opponents as well.
Aside from Garp's adjutant Bogard, the other two vice admirals had pushed themselves to their utmost limits under the encirclement, ultimately dying in battle.
Though Crescent Moon Hunter and the others had surrounded and killed them, they had also desperately inflicted serious injuries on several people at the very end, a fitting final dance of their lives.
Furthermore, although the criminals had won, their total casualties numbered fewer than a thousand.
More than two thousand remained now.
Of course, much of that was thanks to Roy's intervention. Otherwise, their casualties would certainly have been greater.
Though Roy had acted casually, he had left a deep impression on everyone.
Even without fighting personally, he could slaughter his way through all of them simply by controlling two Shikigami.
Thus, though the battle had ended, everyone had already come to regard Roy as their mainstay.
Facing everyone's gazes, Roy glanced at Garp and the others, who were still locked in fierce combat, then swept his eyes over the despairing Bogard and the hundred-odd battered survivors before speaking in an unquestionable tone.
"The Marines in Impel Down no longer pose a threat, but we still can't let our guard down."
"If we want to leave Impel Down, we still have to go outside, deal with the Marines on the outer perimeter, and seize ships. We need to be ready to withdraw at any moment in case Marine Headquarters sends reinforcements."
"You understand what I mean, right?"
At these words, the criminals' gazes sharpened.
That was indeed the case.
Though they had routed the Marines on the second level, a full three thousand Marines were still stationed outside. To leave, they had to defeat them, seize warships, and withdraw as quickly as possible.
Otherwise, once Marine Headquarters reacted, only death would await them.
"Lord Roy, why not leave an important task like seizing warships to the few of us?"
Crescent Moon Hunter's eyes flickered, and her shrill voice promptly rang out. "The other criminals can stay here and assist you."
At her words, everyone looked over.
Beside Crescent Moon Hunter stood Big Barrel, World, and the foolish-looking giant, Sanjuan Wolf.
Everyone looked admiring, thinking that these truly were ruthless figures from Level 6 of Impel Down, daring to volunteer to deal with the three thousand Marines outside.
"Heh. The Mythical Zoan Nine-Tailed Fox ability lets you copy other people's faces, right?"
Yet Roy stared coldly at her, his killing intent seething. "Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do."
"Try anything else, and I'll slaughter you!"
The criminals present froze, not understanding why Roy's attitude had suddenly changed.
Wasn't it a good thing that someone had volunteered?
The expressions of Big Barrel and the others beside Crescent Moon Hunter shifted slightly, but they all kept silent.
Only Crescent Moon Hunter looked terrified and hurriedly explained.
"Lord Roy, you've misunderstood me!"
"I really do want to help you defeat the Marines and seize warships!"
She did indeed harbor ulterior intentions, but at this moment, she could only pretend not to understand Roy's words.
Because she could truly feel the chilling killing intent in his eyes.
But while Crescent Moon Hunter's little tricks could fool others, they could not fool Roy.
"Heh. Do you think I don't know Sanjuan Wolf is a giant who ate the Expand-Expand Fruit?"
He slapped her aged face outright and said with a cold laugh:
"As long as he activates his ability, he's a giant warship out at sea."
"You lot say you're going to seize warships for me, but I think you're planning to use Sanjuan Wolf's ability to run away instead, aren't you?"
He paused, swept his gaze over their ugly expressions, and continued:
"You even planned to have us draw their fire while you took the chance to slip away, preferably getting rid of us too, right?"
"Heh. I have to say, you're very clever. If I hadn't known the inside story, I would almost have fallen for it."
"Now, I'll give you two choices. Either obediently go deal with the Marines above, seize warships, and wait for us to finish off Garp and Kuzan so we can leave together."
At this point, nothing remained in Roy's tone but coldness and indifference.
"Or I kill you right here and now, and we leave on our own. Choose."
As his words fell, the entire place went silent. Everyone felt icy killing intent sweep through their hearts.
They had never imagined Crescent Moon Hunter would be so despicable as to try to get them all killed.
She was utterly vicious.
Fortunately, Roy had seen through her scheme. Otherwise, they really would have been played for fools.
At the same time, none of them doubted that Roy would truly kill her.
Before you continue