The long blade swept in a semicircle, knocking the diamond-coated arms aside.
Black-and-red mist curled around its edge as it silently sliced toward the throat-
A sharp metallic clang rang out.
A figure with a silver-gray mane darted into the battle, catching the blade with his claws.
"My lord, your condition..."
"The poison... the spider's poisonous mist is still coursing through my veins."
Silver eyes swept over the battlefield.
In the distance, the woman with the sword knelt on one knee, panting; nearby, the blond boy and his blood-soaked companion were moving into a pincer formation.
He lowered his voice.
"Now isn't the time for a head-on fight."
The lion's claws made a feint, forcing back the pursuing blade.
Both figures retreated deeper into the ruins at once.
"Don't let them-"
Before the words were finished, two figures had already pursued them between the broken walls.
As he ran, Doflamingo glimpsed the mark on the back of the fugitive's neck ahead.
The symbol he had once seen on countless slaves was now branded onto a Shichibukai's skin.
"Did you see that?"
"Yeah... what an ironic brand."
Someone once bound by chains had now become an extension of those chains.
The entrance to the Grand Line, the warships' movements, those perfectly timed obstructions-all the clues pointed to the people above the clouds.
Fear was a contagious disease.
Even after the shackles were broken, a tremor remained deep in the marrow.
Not because of the nobles wearing glass domes themselves, but because of the unfathomable shadow behind them.
The sword's tip cut through the curtain of rain.
"Hurry."
A beastlike growl came from deep within the ruins.
The gleam of diamonds flickered in the dim alleyways like a firefly in its death throes.
Rossi felt the strength draining from his body, bit