Big Mom ultimately didn't choose to make a move, not because she was intimidated by Kaido's words; she wasn't afraid of the threat at all. The pirate group wasn't as united as Kaido claimed!
Moreover, those strong individuals of her level wouldn't come looking for a fight just because of this. She was being held back by Kaido, and given Kaido's strength, she wasn't confident she could break through. So it was better to wait and conserve her strength for the right opportunity!
Lodestar Island was originally a very ordinary island. The outermost part of the island was flat land, and then there was a ring of small hills. The innermost part was a valley surrounded by small hills, and the whole island looked very much like a volcano crater!
However, that's not the case, because if it were truly a volcano, it would have erupted long ago due to the aftershocks of the clash between the Five Elders and Dragon's Conqueror's Haki!
A battle between powerhouses of this caliber is devastating to the arena. The valley in the center of the island was significantly deepened by their fighting. At this moment, Akainu had already led his large force to the top of the hills surrounding the valley and could see the great battle inside at a glance!
"Leave half the men to guard the mountaintop, under the command of Gion Tokikake. The rest of you, follow me!"
Akainu shouted and gave an order. The aftershocks of the clash of Conqueror's Haki echoed through the valley. Even from the mountaintop, they could clearly feel them. He knew that most of the Marines he had brought couldn't withstand that intensity, so there was no need to take them down there and embarrass them. Leaving them here would be a precaution!
"Be careful! Pirates might land again. Don't attack first!"
Tsuru approached Gion and whispered some instructions before following Garp and the others down the mountain!
Those who remained on the mountaintop were only the two strong individuals, Gion Tokikake. The rest were nothing more than greenhorns from the New World, hardly forming any decent fighting force!
Gion Tokikake had no idea why Akainu had brought these weak soldiers here. This was no way to bolster their image; it was practically playing with soldiers' lives!
In truth, Akainu didn't know why he brought them along, but the Five Elders insisted that he send out a large army, so he had no choice but to mentally shout, " The Five Elders are idiots!"
Leaving aside the fact that the Navy descended the mountain and approached the battlefield, the situation on the battlefield had already changed. This change was not due to Kaido and Big Mom's absence; one was fighting the Five Elders and the other was fighting Dragon, so their impact on the situation was minimal!
Instead, Saturn, one of the Five Elders, died. With one less of the Five Elders, the Revolutionary Army now has the upper hand, even though the two sides were originally locked in a stalemate!
Dragon and Sabo each faced one of the Five Elders, while the remaining two Five Elders faced a lot more Seraphim. They had little chance of fighting back. Even if they were immortal, they were afraid of being surrounded. Even if they couldn't kill them, they could at least hold them back and trap them!
Sabo's opponent is Garling, who has transformed into a giant scorpion. Sabo is not even as thick as one of Garling's scorpion legs. However, being small has its advantages; Sabo is more agile.
Of course, Garling's scorpion tail is also very flexible, and it's also highly venomous. If you get stung, it's not just a simple injury!
Just like in martial arts novels, even top-tier martial arts masters are afraid of poison because poison affects the human body, not the master's internal energy. The same applies in this world. Even if you have a strong Haki, it is difficult to resist the damage that toxins can cause to the body!
" Conqueror's Dragon Claw Fist!"
Sabo's right hand is outstretched, with his index and middle fingers together, his ring and little fingers together, and his thumb standing alone, resembling a dragon's claw!
At this moment, Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki were swirling around it, with black and red Inazuma swirling around it. Sabo dodged a scorpion tail stab and flashed to the side and rear of the scorpion's back, which could be considered a blind spot of the scorpion tail!
Before Garling could retract his scorpion tail, Sabo's dragon claws, imbued with double Haki, ignored the scorpion's defenses, broke through its Armament Haki- coated shell, and plunging into its body!
"Ah!"
A scream echoed through the valley. Sabo's grab wasn't very deep; his forearm was only inserted into the scorpion's body. For a scorpion bigger than a truck, it was nothing at all!
However, Sabo's hands are wrapped in two types of Haki. Armament Haki can penetrate deep into the body and cause damage, while Conqueror's Haki can suppress Garling's flesh regeneration and can also be used to strike from a distance!
Therefore, Sabo's attack instantly caused great damage to Scorpion's internal body. Furthermore, Scorpion's immortality ability was countered by Conqueror's Haki, so even though his body was severely damaged, Garling could not recover instantly with his immortality. This attack was a real injury, which is why Garling let out a pig-like scream!
Sabo is strong enough on his own, and he can gain the upper hand even without the Seraphim's assistance. However, the Five Elders are immortal, so no matter how strong he is, it's useless. Just like Vic said, he can only gain the upper hand temporarily, and in the end, he will still be dragged down to death!
But now that Sabo has mastered advanced Conqueror's Haki's Haki, even if he can't completely defeat Garling, he won't be worn down to death. He's already given a lot of breathing room!
After Sabo severely injured Garling with his first blow, he immediately attacked again. He wouldn't give Garling any time to recover; his mind was still perfectly clear!
So after Sabo pulled the arm out of Garling's body, he flashed to the giant scorpion's tail again. This time, he didn't use the dragon claw, but instead clenched his fingers into a fist, which was wrapped with Conqueror's Haki, and punched the base of the scorpion's tail from a distance!
Whether it was because Sabo's Conqueror's Dragon Claw Fist caused too much damage to Garling, making him unable to react, or because Sabo's speed was too fast, in any case, with one punch, the Conqueror's Coating's long-range strike completely severed Garling's scorpion tail at the root without any hindrance!
This time, Garling didn't scream. His tail was just broken off. How could that compare to the pain of his internal organs being attacked? It's like an ordinary person getting hit in the thigh with a stick. It's nothing compared to the pain of a kidney stone rolling around inside his internal organs. That's what excruciating pain is!
Therefore, the pain of Garling losing his tail may have been masked by the pain coming from inside his body, of course, based on the most painful one. So he already screamed earlier, there's no need for him to scream again now!
Dragon had always been quite worried about Sabo, as he was uneasy about him facing the Five Elders, who possessed immortality, alone. Now, seeing Garling in such a miserable state, he was finally relieved and felt very gratified!
Although Sabo and many others in the Revolutionary Army had learned skills from him, Dragon taught Sabo the most, even his self-created Dragon Claw Fist. They were practically master and apprentice. Seeing Sabo's growth now, he felt a great sense of accomplishment. Wasn't this the moment he was aiming to teach his apprentice?
Withdrawing his attention from Sabo and Garling, Dragon dodged Nusjuro's clenched sword with a swift movement!
No matter what level of weapon the Five Elders use, or how fast you swing your sword, as long as you cut through the air and create wind, you can't escape Dragon's perception. So even though he focused most of his attention on Sabo, he could easily dodge Nusjuro's slash!
Nusjuro thought that Dragon's Observation Haki was at its peak, even more so than Future Sight the Future Sight. He never considered that it was because every move Dragon made stirred up the wind, and the wind was Dragon's most secret partner. So no matter what Nusjuro did, he couldn't touch Dragon at all!