Chaton's breathing was heavy and rapid.
Four Vice Admiral lay dead around him, and blood was still seeping from the long, diagonal knife wound on Onigumo's chest.
Doberman, clinging to one knee, managed to stay upright; the Momonga lay buried in the rubble, its fate unknown.
Dalmatian Dalmatian lay on the ice, his chest charred black.
His own rock armor was mostly shattered, revealing his naval uniform soaked with sweat underneath.
The thin bloodstain on my throat still aches faintly, and I can taste the blood with every swallow.
Five against one.
In less than three minutes, they all collapsed.
Roy stood right in front of him, not even a speck of dust on him.
The Black Blade Shusui, gleamed coldly in the sunlight. The blood on the blade had dried, turning into a thin, dark red film.
"Your Devil Fruit ability is quite good."
Roy tilted his head, sizing up Chaton.
" In its Cloud Boar Form, it can manipulate earth and air elements. It is well-rounded in both offense and defense, and also possesses the ability to launch high-speed attacks."
Mythical Zoan Fruit are quite rare.
Chaton gritted his teeth and didn't respond, slowly opening his hands in front of him, and the remaining rock armor began to reform.
The surrounding air began to flow around him again, and the earth element beneath the ice was drawn in by his power.
It surged up from the cracks in the ice, covering his body again with a layer of grayish-white rock.
This time, the rock armor is thicker and heavier than before, and its surface has an additional layer of rapidly rotating air.
Two layers of defense: one physical layer and one air buffer layer.
Then he took a deep breath.
The ice beneath his feet cracked under his weight as he charged toward Roy once more.
It was even faster than before, so fast that it created a white sonic boom cloud around the air.
This is his true all-out effort.
This was no longer the probing attack of before; instead, all their power was poured into this one strike.
Armament Haki was concentrated to its maximum on his right fist.
The air blades around the fist were even more violent than before, cutting the air with a piercing shriek.
"Porpoise·Split the Sky--!!!"
Chaton's fist slammed towards Roy's face.
Roy looked at him but didn't move.
Just before the fist was about to strike, Roy's body shifted slightly to the side.
Chaton's fist grazed his cheek, leaving a very thin bloodstain on his face.
Then Roy placed his hand on Chaton's chest.
The Telekinesis shockwave emanated from his body.
The rock armor on Chaton's chest shattered instantly, sending fragments flying in all directions.
He was thrown backward by the shock, spitting out a mouthful of blood in mid-air.
This time, however, he didn't fall. Instead, he used the momentum of flying backward to do a somersault in the air, and after his feet landed, he slid several meters before barely managing to regain his balance.
A charred handprint appeared on his chest; his rock armor was completely shattered, revealing the burned skin beneath.
But he was still standing, his hands still moving.
"It's not over yet!"
Chaton slammed both hands down onto the ice beneath his feet.
"Earth's Ley Lines - Rise--!!!"
The ice surface exploded.
Dozens of thick rock pillars broke through the ice from below, each as thick as a thigh, and their surfaces were covered with a layer of flowing air blades.
Under Chaton's control, these rock pillars became as if they were alive, simultaneously stabbing at Roy from all directions.
Roy's body spun around in place, and Shusui drew a perfect circle around him.
The rock pillars were all chopped into pieces half a meter away from him, the cut surfaces as smooth as mirrors.
But that's exactly the kind of gap that Chaton needs.
He transformed into a white streak of light and appeared behind Roy.
Rock armor and air blades re-condensed on his right fist, which slammed fiercely into Roy's back.
This punch used all of Chaton's strength.
Roy didn't even turn around.
He reached his left hand behind his back and gripped Chaton's wrist with his five fingers.
The hand wasn't large, but the grip on Chaton's wrist was as strong as an iron clamp.
Chaton felt his wrist bones cracking.
He tried desperately to pull his hand away, but Roy's five fingers were as if welded to his wrist and wouldn't budge.
His rock armor shattered inch by inch under Roy's palm, and the air blades didn't even leave a mark on Roy's fingers.
"Not bad speed."
Roy slowly turned around and looked at Chaton face to face.
"But in my field, I've seen every move you make in advance."
Chaton's pupils suddenly contracted.
Roy released Chaton's wrist and then slapped Chaton in the chest.
This time the force was greater than the last.
Chaton was sent flying, his body traveling more than twenty meters through the air before finally coming to a stop after crashing through half of a crumbling wall.
Debris rained down on him as he lay sprawled in the rubble, coughing up mouthfuls of blood.
Roy slowly walked over.
He squatted down in front of Chaton, looking down at this candidate Admiral had already lost his fighting ability.
Chaton's eyes were unfocused, but his lips were still moving, as if he were saying something.
"What a pity, Marine Admiral Candidate."
Roy scoffed, stood up, sheathed Shusui, and took out a piece of fruit from his storage bag.
"Your Devil Fruit ability is a perfect fit for Hachinosu."
However, at that moment, the sky directly above the battlefield suddenly darkened.
Dark purple patterns spread out from the void, as if something was forcibly breaking through from the other side of space.
The patterns gathered more and more, becoming denser and denser, eventually forming a huge pentagram array.
The magic circle rotated, and with each rotation, the surrounding space became more unstable.
Purple arcs of electricity crackled at the edge of the magic circle, and a strange, acrid smell filled the air.
Then the magic circle cracked.
A gigantic figure stepped out from the magic array.
The figure was over ten meters tall, surrounded by dark purple will-o'-the-wisps.
Its upper body has a human-like outline, but its lower body is dragged by eight thick spider legs.
Each of the spider's legs was as thick as a water bucket, with sharp tips like spears, making a dull thud as it stepped on the air.
Gyuki Form.
One of the Five Elders, Lucy Saint Saturn.
He held a jet-black cane in his hand, with a dark red bead embedded at the top.
His wrinkled face was expressionless, except for a pair of deep-set eyes that scanned the battlefield below.
Behind Saint Saturn, twelve figures emerged from the magic circle in succession.
They were all dressed in identical white robes, but each wore a different mask.
Their robes fluttered in the sea breeze, and the twelve people standing together exuded an aura that made the surrounding air feel heavy.
The leader was tall, with a clearly defined face beneath the mask.
He had a long sword hanging at his waist, its scabbard inlaid with white gemstones that gleamed coldly in the sunlight.
The current commander of the Holy Knights, Figarland Shamrock.