Nineteen figures stood tall in the sky, each radiating a different colored light.
They were no longer dressed in black robes that covered their faces.
Everyone revealed their true, complete Devil Fruit abilities.
The one on the left, with a burly build like a small mountain, bulging muscles and skin that gleamed like rock, slammed his fist into the stone surface, causing the entire stone chamber to shake three times— the Barbarian King.
The man next to him, half a head taller than a giant, was carrying a massive hammer almost as big as Loki's Iron Thunder.
With eyes as fierce as a wild wolf— the Mountain King, an ancient king born into the Giant Tribe.
Beyond that, there was a man as thin as a bamboo pole, with a long, slender sword at his waist, its blade gleaming with a chilling light that sent shivers down one's spine— the Sword King, an old monster renowned throughout the world for his swordsmanship.
And then there's that thing shrouded in black mist, whose face is completely obscured and who leaves no shadow when it moves— the Shadow King, a monster of unparalleled speed.
Each of the nineteen individuals, taken individually, possesses fighting strength approaching that of Whitebeard at his peak.
What's even more troublesome is--
"Let's attack together!"
Before Roy could even give the order, Kaido, who was following closely behind, couldn't wait any longer. With a dragon's roar, his blue dragon pounced directly at the Barbarian King.
The Hassaikai, enveloped in Lightning, slammed their staff into the Barbarian King's raised arm as he tried to block.
"Clang--!"
The clanging of metal made everyone's ears ring.
Kaido ten meters by the force of the impact, and two deep furrows were carved into the stone surface beneath his feet.
The Barbarian King shook his arm, acting as if nothing had happened, and grinned:
"Is that all the strength you have?"
Kaido could even speak, Loki and his group had already started fighting.
The Mountain King swung his hammer down, and Loki caught it head-on with his Iron Thunder Mine.
The two weapons collided, Loki's massive body, over seventy meters tall, was slammed into the ground, half of it embedded in the rock, sending debris flying.
"Tsk."
Loki climbed out of the pit, spitting out blood, but the fighting spirit in his golden vertical pupils only intensified.
"That's interesting!"
Hawk Eyes off against Sword King.
Two sword masters, without even an opening remark.
Sword King flicked his slender sword, and three silver sword energies shot straight toward Hawk Eyes's face.
Hawk Eyes's Black Blade Yoru, the green blade light splitting the three sword energies in two, the aftershock directly cleaving a nearby stone pillar in two.
The two moved at high speed in the stone chamber, sparks flying with each clash of their knives.
Shanks approached the Shadow King.
The Shadow King was so fast that even Observation Haki couldn't detect him; he moved through the stone chamber like a black shadow.
Shanks unleashed his full Conqueror's Haki, and black and red Inazuma illuminated the entire stone chamber, making it flicker with light, barely enough to keep up with the Shadow King's movements.
"Your speed is good."
Shanks took a swig of wine.
"Too bad, she ran into me."
With both sides engaging in battle simultaneously, the entire holy land instantly transformed into a battlefield.
Lights of various colors burst forth in a dazzling display, and the magnificent buildings crumbled piece by piece in the aftershocks of the battle.
But as the fighting progressed, things started to go wrong on the allied side.
Kaido broke three of the Barbarian King's ribs with a single blow, but the Barbarian King only coughed up a mouthful of black blood, and the broken ribs cracked and healed within a few breaths.
Loki smashed the Mountain King's left shoulder with his hammer, but the Mountain King shook his shoulder, and the collapsed shoulder seemed to be supported by an invisible hand, slowly returning to its original state.
Hawk Eyes pierced Sword King's chest with his sword, but Sword King merely grinned and forced Hawk Eyes back with a backhand slash. The hole in his chest closed up at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Can't be beaten to death?!"
Sanji kicked away a King who was lunging at him, then turned around and shouted.
"No, that's not right." Roy's voice came from mid-air.
He hasn't actually made a move since the start of the war; he's just been hovering in mid-air.
The Observation Haki acted like a net, completely enveloping the power trajectories of the nineteen kings.
He's watching.
Observe how their power flows.
See where that healing energy is coming from.
Let's see who is hiding the thread that binds the nineteen people together.
Five minutes later, Roy understood.
A black mist swirled around each of the nineteen people, constantly circulating among them.
Whenever someone is injured, a wisp of the black mist separates from the other eighteen people and flows instantly to the injured person through some unseen connection, healing their wounds.
This is not a treatment approach where everyone works in isolation.
This is about sharing life.
In the very center of these nineteen people stood an old man dressed in a gray robe, who hadn't made a single move from beginning to end.
He closed his eyes, his hands forming a strange mudra in front of his chest.
The black mist circulating among the nineteen people was continuously emanating from his body.
He is the key.
Roy's Telekinesis instantly connected with all the officers.
"Listen up, everyone."
His voice resounded directly in everyone's minds.
"The old man in the gray robe right in the middle is their core healer."
All our attacks, stop spraying other people! Hold him off first!
" Kaido, you're in charge of the Barbarian King. Just keep him occupied."
" Loki, Mountain King too."
" Hawk Eyes, Shanks, you two give it your all and keep the Sword King and Shadow King pinned down."
" Luffy, Ace, Dragon, Red Count, Bullet, Yamato, Hancock, Zoro, Sanji, Beckman-- "
"Switch to defense!"
"Stop thinking about killing them! Keep a close eye on the people in front of you, don't let a single one escape!"
The moment the order was given, the allied forces' rhythm changed immediately.
Instead of relentlessly hammering the Barbarian King on the head, Kaido circled around him, constantly harassing him with his dragon tail and claws, keeping the Barbarian King pinned to the spot.
Loki also abandoned his desperate stance, with Iron Thunder positioned in front of him, engaging in a war of attrition with Mountain King.
Hawk Eyes and Shanks went even further, flanking the Sword King and the Shadow King from either side.
The flashing blades formed a net, preventing the two men from moving even an inch into the center.
The nineteen kings were initially caught off guard, but by the time they realized the allied forces' attack direction had changed...
Roy is gone.
Where is that guy?!
The Barbarian King missed his punch, looked around, and roared.
"Oh no! He went to see the 'elder'!" The Sword King's expression changed.
But it was too late.
Roy's Telekinesis Domain contracted completely in that instant, suppressing his own aura to the extreme.
He vanished completely from the perception of the nineteen kings, like a drop of water merging into the ocean.
The gray-robed elder was still forming hand seals with his eyes closed, his Observation Haki spreading out around him, but Roy's presence seemed to have been swallowed up by something, and he couldn't detect it no matter what he did.
"Who?"
The old man suddenly opened his eyes.
A hand was already pressed against the top of his head.
Thick black mist surged in the palm of that hand, the same as the black mist on his own body, yet far purer, far more violent, and far more ancient.
Dark-Dark Fruit.
The ability is invalid.
The old man felt as if the power that had been surging within him for eight hundred years had been forcibly pulled away the moment that hand pressed down on him, and he froze instantly.
"You--"
Roy gripped Shusui in his other hand, the indigo blade flashing upwards.