"Damn it!!"
"Raise the bounty to six hundred million Beli!!!"
"As long as you can kill this bastard!!!"
Watching everyone flee in defeat, Diamante immediately shouted in fury.
He wanted to increase the bounty
to halt the retreat unfolding before him.
But
everyone fleeing knew
that money was good,
but staying alive to spend it mattered most. They paid no attention to Diamante's words, boarding their own ships and leaving the island.
Arthur had no intention of letting a single person go.
He chased down the fleeing crowd, killing one after another.
Then he went after Diamante!
"I didn't expect to let you escape last time, but today you die!" Arthur said coldly. Without the slightest hesitation, he chased after Diamante, who was also leaving.
He swept both claws through the air.
Dozens of Flying Slashes shot straight out!
They swept through a vast swath of forest ahead, hurtling toward Diamante's back.
"What the hell!!!"
Diamante glanced behind him,
and immediately felt a surge of terror!
Sweat broke out along his spine. He had never imagined he would come so close to death.
From his previous battle with Arthur, he already knew
that Arthur D. Dragonier's physical defenses had reached an absurd level, perhaps already comparable to those of the Beasts Pirates.
His strongest attack could not hurt Arthur.
Even if he stayed,
he could only become a target for that damned brat!
He had no desire to die here.
With those thoughts in mind, Diamante pushed his speed beyond his limits, trying to leave the island. Any ship would do.
But in the very next instant,
Arthur suddenly used Soru, one of the Six Powers, in rapid succession.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!
Arthur's speed had already reached a terrifying level!
In the blink of an eye, he reached the shore ahead of Diamante, blocking his escape route!
"Damn it!"
"Half Moon Funeral!!!"
Diamante's pupils trembled violently!
To hell with it, I have to escape this island no matter what!
Gritting his teeth hard, Diamante unleashed a powerful slash. Razor-sharp sword energy howled toward Arthur.
A contemptuous smile appeared on Arthur's lips.
Faced with the razor-sharp sword energy that had already taken tangible form,
he made no special move to defend himself. He merely grabbed lightly at the incoming sword energy, crushing it like a bubble!
Pop!
The sword energy immediately dispersed.
Diamante was even more shocked at the sight!
That strike of his had been sword energy coated in Armament Haki.
It could easily have sliced through a Marine warship!
Was this brat's body that of a monster!?
Just as shock filled Diamante's heart,
Arthur moved!
He charged straight at Diamante.
An unstoppable punch smashed mercilessly toward Diamante's face. Even though he had already reacted and coated his head in Armament Haki to defend himself,
Arthur's punch
contained the full power of his Godzilla Beast-Man Form!
Without exaggeration,
the power of this punch could shatter even a mountaintop!
Bang!
Diamante's face visibly caved in.
His Armament Haki defense might as well not have existed!
Then the incredibly violent impact blasted his entire body away, sending him crashing into the forest behind him and tearing through vast stretches of it!
"Even Diamante was defeated!!"
"He's a monster!!!"
"Diamante, an officer of the Donquixote Family, couldn't even withstand a single blow from that monster!?"
"Run!!!"
Diamante's horrific fate
sent a wave of terror through the pirates, assassins, and people of the Underworld who were boarding their ships!
After all,
Diamante was a core officer of the Donquixote Family, with the strength and means to roam the Grand Line, far beyond the level of those in the North Blue.
Yet even so,
that Arthur D. Dragonier
had used just one punch, a single punch, to crush and kill Diamante!
And if it had been them instead, there was even less room for doubt. They, too, would be killed instantly!
The various forces that had come to surround and kill Arthur now all wanted to retreat.
They were like the tide,
coming quickly and retreating just as quickly.
Meanwhile, in the waters just off the island, the Marines, World Government personnel, and others watching the battle also noticed this astonishing turn of events!
"Hey, hey, hey, is this for real!? Why have all those guys started running for their lives!?"
"This is bad... every one of us misjudged that man's strength."
"Someone Doflamingo personally put a bounty on really is beyond what ordinary people can imagine..."
"Should we move in?"
"No, keep watching..."
The Marines, World Government personnel, and the others witnessed the rout.
At the same time, they recognized the powerful rise of the man named Arthur D. Dragonier.
So many forces from the North Blue had gathered to surround and kill one man,
only for that one man to turn around and slaughter them!
They could do nothing at all to that man named Arthur D. Dragonier...
Yet at that very moment,
after Arthur killed Diamante outright with a single punch,
he stood on the shore, watching the pirate ships trying to sail away.
He had no thought of sparing them.
Since these people had dared to come and kill him, they naturally had to be prepared to be killed.
A deep blue light immediately appeared in Arthur's eyes.
Then, in his hand,
a lance radiating a magnificent deep blue glow instantly condensed, making the air howl and reverberate, like an authority only a god could wield.
Without the slightest mercy, Arthur hurled the Atomic Lance.
The lance pierced through the air,
leaving an incredibly swift streak of light across the azure sky before tracing a perfect arc down toward a pirate ship at sea.
Aboard that pirate ship,
the pirates who had just thought they had escaped with their lives
saw the streak of light falling from the sky,
and every face filled with shock and terror!
"What is that!?"
"Why do I feel the presence of death?"
"Hard to port!! Hurry and dodge that thing in the sky!!!"
Panic immediately swept across the pirate ship!
But in the next second,
the Atomic Lance plunged without resistance into the hold beneath the deck.
Then,
before the eyes of everyone there,
whether Arthur himself on the island, or all the ships in the surrounding waters, the pirates, the Marines, the World Government personnel, or the disguised Revolutionary Army members,
they all suddenly saw
a colossal explosion erupt!
Rumble!!!
The sky trembled, and the sea roared!
The powerful explosion instantly engulfed the pirate ship.
An enormous ball of fire rose amid a deep blue glow!
Before you continue