Marine Headquarters, Gulf.
The battle on the ice had reached a fever pitch.
Marco transformed into Kizaru Phoenix coiled around Kizaru. Blue flames and golden beams of light clashed in the air, and the shockwave from the collision of the two forces shattered the surrounding clouds.
Kizaru spoke while squinting as he unleashed a laser.
" The Phoenix's abilities are really troublesome~"
Marco's wings were riddled with dozens of holes, but the blue flames managed to heal them each time.
"You're not bad either, Glint-Glint Fruit."
The two fought with an uncanny tacit understanding—neither of them used their full strength.
The moment Jozu knocked Aokiji away, the entire ice surface trembled.
Aokiji shattered into ice shards in mid-air, only to reform in the next second, a trace of blood hanging from the corner of his mouth.
Before Jozu could give chase, Aokiji launched his counterattack—frost spread from Jozu's feet, freezing half of his body into an ice sculpture.
Akainu finally stood up.
His right fist transformed into magma, unleashing a massive Magma Fist at the Whitebeard.
The Magma Fist streaked across the sky above the battlefield, leaving trails of black smoke, and the intense heat melted and smoked the surrounding ice.
Whitebeard swung his naginata with one hand, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit enveloping the blade, and the tip precisely pierced the center of the magma sphere.
Then he took a deep breath and exhaled at the magma ball—the flames went out.
The magma ball cooled into a piece of black volcanic rock, which fell onto the deck with a thud and shattered into several pieces.
"Go light my birthday candles, you little lava imp."
Akainu's expression grew even colder. His lips twitched, but he said nothing.
Roy shifted his gaze from Akainu and scanned the entire battlefield once more.
Now, even Marine Vice Admiral has been killed in action, and two division commanders on Whitebeard's side have been carried off the front lines. The casualty figures on both sides are rising.
But the atmosphere of the decisive battle has not yet arrived.
Roy isn't in a hurry.
He's been preparing for ten years, so a little more time won't make a difference.
The Ark Maxim continued to hover in the clouds, with golden lightning silently dancing around its hull.
The sounds of fighting on the battlefield below pierced through the clouds, weakened into a muffled background noise, like the sound of distant waves.
A huge crack suddenly appeared on the ice, casting a large shadow.
The ancient giant Little Oars Jr., emerged from the very back of Whitebeard's fleet.
Its towering structure, several tens of meters tall, cast a massive shadow on the ice, towering half a head higher than the walls of the Marine Headquarters.
With each step he took, the ice surface cracked in a spiderweb pattern, and the broken ice was crushed into powder under his feet.
The specially made curved knife in his hand was longer than him, its blade covered in rust and stained with dried blood from the last battle.
" Ace --!!!"
Oars's roar made the eardrums of the naval soldiers in the square ache.
He tilted his head back, his face, half-hidden by a straw hat, filled with anxiety.
I've come to save you!
You taught me to use Straw Hat to shield myself from the sun, Oars will never forget!
You knitted Straw Hat for Oars, Oars always wore it!
He pointed to the Execution Platform.
The movement was clumsy, like a child's, but the direction of his finger was frighteningly precise—directly towards Ace, who was kneeling in the very center of the Execution Platform.
Ace suddenly looked up.
He heard Oars's voice clearly, even through the sounds of gunfire and shouts of battle across the entire square.
His lips moved, as if he wanted to say "Don't come any closer," but his voice was carried away by the sea breeze.
Seven naval Giant Vice Admiral, faced off against the enemy simultaneously.
Savon Wolf was the first to rush forward, his Giant Axe cleaving Oars's thigh, creating a deep, bone-revealing wound.
Oars grunted, swung his scimitar, and sent Wolf flying dozens of meters away, axe and all.
Lacroix cut in from the side, his spear piercing Oars's waist. Oars grabbed the spear shaft with his backhand and flung himself and the spear into the air.
The third Giant Vice Admiral's battle axe struck Oars in the shoulder, the fourth's flail smashed into Oars's back, and the fifth's spear pierced Oars's calf.
Oars didn't stop.
Such a minor injury was nothing to worry about on this ancient giant.
He smashed through the Giant Vice Admiral's defenses with his body, and those giants, who were over ten meters tall, were knocked around like children blocking his way.
His fist slammed into the Execution Platform.
That punch carried the sound of wind, blood, and the full power of an ancient giant.
Then a naginata pierced his abdomen.
Weevil's silly laughter rang in Oars's ears.
"Heh heh, you're the enemy, that's why I have to kill you."
The naginata twisted half a turn inside Oars's stomach, and a mouthful of blood gushed from Oars's mouth, spraying onto the ice and creating a cloud of blood mist.
Doflamingo leaped from the edge of the Execution Platform.
His pink feather coat unfurled in the air, and his fingers twitched slightly; the Parasite String were almost invisible in the sunlight.
The thread got tangled around Oars's right knee.
"Speaking of which, the physical structure of the Ancient Giant Tribe is truly intriguing!"
Doflamingo beckoned with his finger.
Cut the line.
Oars's right leg was cleanly severed at the knee, the cut as smooth as if it had been laser-cut.
Fresh blood gushed from the cut, splashing a large, dark red fan shape on the ice.
Oars's body lost its support and collapsed with a thud.
The ice surface was smashed, creating a huge dent, with cracks extending dozens of meters in all directions, and ice shards around it were shaken up to a height of more than a person.
" Oars --!!!"
Whitebeard's naginata hilt slammed heavily onto the deck.
His face was expressionless, but the fingers gripping the knife hilt tightened slightly for a moment.
Marco swooped down from the sky.
Blue flame wings trailed two long tails of flame behind him, Kizaru's laser beams relentlessly pursued, piercing his wings one after another.
Each time the flame is pierced, it can heal itself, but the healing speed becomes slower and slower.
Marco gritted his teeth and passed through the barrage of beams, landing on the ice where Oars had fallen, and injected blue flames into Oars's wounds.
"You were too careless," Marco said in a low voice.
Oars's eyes were half-closed, and he was still mumbling Ace's name.
His fingers twitched, trying to push himself up on the ice, but his severed right leg could no longer support his body, which was dozens of meters tall.
The blue flames enveloped his wound, temporarily stopping the bleeding, but the leg could not be reattached.
The aerial battle continues.
Marco flapped his wings and took to the air again, the blue flames clashing with the golden beam once more.
The pace of their fight was faster than before— Kizaru's laser beams became increasingly dense, while Marco's flame healing speed became increasingly slow.
Kizaru tilted his head and looked at him.
"Even the Phoenix's abilities have their limits~"
Marco didn't reply. Blue flames burned wildly on his left wing, completely filling the dozen or so holes that had just been pierced.
On the ice, the battle between Diamond Jozu and Aokiji reached its climax.
Jozu's right arm was half frozen, but the remaining half of his body continued to rampage in its diamond-like state. He crashed into Aokiji, Aokiji shattered into ice shards;
Aokiji reformed and counterattacked, freezing Jozu's left foot; Jozu shattered the ice and crashed into it again.
The two fought back and forth for more than a dozen rounds, leaving the surrounding ice surface completely wrecked.
The bloodstains at the corner of Aokiji's mouth were more numerous than before, and the area frozen on Jozu's right arm was also expanding—neither of them had gained an advantage, but neither of them was willing to back down.
The duel between Vista and Momousagi was the quietest of all the battlefields.
Petals and sword energy clashed in the air, and each collision of their blades produced only a crisp, light metallic sound, unlike the earth-shattering sounds of other battlefields.
But both of them looked extremely serious. Vista wielded his twin blades in a dazzling display, the trajectory of his Flower Sword drawing countless arcs in the air;
Momousagi countered with Konpira single-handed attack, each strike precisely hitting the weakest point in Vista's offensive.
When the two exchanged blows, their eyes met, revealing a mutual respect and admiration for each other, as if they were evenly matched.
"How does your swordsmanship compare to Hawk Eyes's?" Momousagi asked.
"Have you ever seen him draw his knife?" Vista countered.
"Never seen it before."
"Then you wouldn't want to see it."
Both men simultaneously sheathed their swords, then simultaneously drew them again.
Sparks flew as the blades clashed, exploding in mid-air, and petals turned to ash amidst the sparks.
The Whitebeard Pirates, led by their captains, broke through the Navy's first line of defense.
Pirates on forty-three ships charged across the ice, shouting as they clashed with the Navy's forward forces.
The sounds of clashing swords, booming guns, screams, and roars mingled together.
The ice surface was littered with fallen figures and splattered blood.
The Marine Vice Admiral led the counterattack, and the giant army rampaged across the ice.
The pirates tripped the giant with ropes and fishing nets, then hacked at him with swords and axes.
Blood and flesh flew everywhere.