Facing the eight-armed magma giant that stood half a body taller than him, Knox felt a jolt in his chest.
Sometimes, size alone didn't determine strength. But when something that big formed before your eyes, towering above you, it was hard to believe it was weak.
Still, he hadn't survived the New World for years relying just on size. It was strength that mattered most.
A flash of fierceness passed through his eyes, and the steam giant raised its huge fists, now coated in Haki. As it charged toward Sakazuki, it fired its steam-coated punches one after another.
In response, the magma giant extended five arms.
Bang!
With a series of heavy thuds, the lava hands caught the steam fists mid-air.
Hiss!
White steam exploded from the captured fists, flooding over the magma giant's body.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!...
A chain of violent explosions rang out as the impact pushed the magma creature several steps back.
Not far away, the steam giant swung its right arm, and a blinding white greatsword, hundreds of meters long, formed in its hand.
Simultaneously, Knox released his Conqueror's Haki, pressing it toward Sakazuki. In a flash, he rushed forward and closed the distance.
He leapt, aiming straight for the center of the steam cloud. He brought the massive sword down in a strike like a mountain-splitting blow.
Suddenly, a lava hand pierced through the steam and grabbed the sword.
Boom!
A wave of shock burst out and cleared the mist in an instant. Then, the lava hand yanked the steam greatsword downward while another hand reached up and clutched the steam giant by the neck.
It slammed the creature down hard.
The five-hundred-meter-tall giant was forced to the ground like a child.
The earth shook violently, all across the island, people fled in panic, desperate to escape. It wasn't just the clash between titans that drove them into fear.
There was another reason.
"Run!"
"Get off the island now!"
"When Captain Knox really explodes, that move doesn't care who's who!"
"Hurry!"
"Forget the treasure! Your life's more important!"
On the battlefield, the magma giant's hand kept the steam giant pinned to the ground.
As the other six arms rose high, Haki surged and wrapped around them. Then they smashed down together.
The island trembled like mad. People stumbled, fell, then scrambled back up and ran like their lives depended on it.
Back in the crater, the steam giant's limbs were shattered and flung through the air.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Without the main body's control, they exploded in midair. The blasts forced the magma giant to pause. Below it, Knox seized the moment.
"Pressure Kill—!"
But before he could finish shouting, Sakazuki sensed the wild energy building beneath him, instantly understanding what the pirate was planning.
The eight magma limbs locked onto the broken steam giant's body like shackles, then they hurled it upward with force. At the same time, the arms detached from the vice admiral's body.
Powerful energy burst from their ends, dragging the steam giant, they rocketed into the sky and vanished from view.
BOOOOM!
A thunderous explosion ripped through the air as the clouds were instantly blown away, leaving a massive hole above.
The shockwave spread in all directions.
On the ground, those fleeing were struck by the force. Many screamed as blood poured from their ears.
Sakazuki's body compressed and condensed. Six cylinder-like engines formed on his back, glowing with heat like jet turbines. Lava erupted from them, propelling the magma giant straight into the sky.
As it shot upward, eight magma arms began forming again, piece by piece. Four of the above ones gripped the other four beneath them and pulled.
The limbs detached from the body, transforming into four magma swords gripped firmly in hand.
In the sky, from the gigantic cloud of white mist that had just exploded, three colossal steam giants, each over a hundred meters tall, burst forth. They had no sentience, only surging, frenzied energy.
All of them charged at the magma giant from a different direction.
Sakazuki controlled three of his arms, swinging them down to cleave apart the charging steam bomb-men.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The steam giants exploded within a hundred meters of the vice admiral. The fierce shockwaves slammed into the magma giant's body, halting its upward momentum.
At that moment, Knox, who had reformed his five-hundred-meter-tall body, dove down from above. Several jet vents on his back flared violently, launching him toward Sakazuki at incredible speed.
The vice admiral's remaining magma sword writhed and reshaped into a long spear. Next, he hurled it straight at the descending steam giant.
Knox's right arm, coated in Haki, struck sideways, deflecting the spear. But then the weapon suddenly glowed red.
BOOM!
The compressed magma detonated, and the shockwave knocked Knox off course.
He let out a cold grunt, the blast hadn't stopped him. He slammed into Sakazuki, wrapping his arms tightly around the magma giant's body.
Tssssss!
Steam burst from every inch of the steam giant's form as it rapidly shrank and a thick cloud of mist engulfed the magma giant.
Knox's voice rang out, cruel and grim. "Pressure Kill: Steam Execution!"
High in air, within the vast cloud of white mist, new steam giants formed endlessly. They threw themselves into the steam mass, and with them came deafening explosions.
The range of the steam cloud continued to expand as more and more steam giants were generated. Scorching heatwaves began to radiate downward from a thousand meters above.
As the relentless series of explosions went on for several minutes, even distant islands began to feel the surge of heat.
"What's going on?"
"Why is it suddenly so hot?"
"Yeah, you feel it too?"
"This is weird."
Back above Garna Island.
The massive white steam cloud blanketed the sky.
Knox reformed, panting heavily.
At the center of the steam, a small clump of molten rock, just a few meters tall, glowed ominously.
The pirate's eyes flashed with hesitation.
He was out of options. This wasn't one of those ten-day slugfests. This was full-force combat, explosive and brutal. If even his ultimate move couldn't do the job, there wasn't much left he could try.
Pressure Kill: Steam Execution—in a large-scale battle, it could massacre as many as came his way. But when used fully against a single foe… it had failed.
Compressed steam erupted beneath Knox's feet. A piercing, high-pitched whistle shrieked through the sky as he launched himself backward at high speed, retreating from the battlefield.
Just then, behind the molten rock, a burst of searing magma and shockwaves surged outward. The mass of pitch-black magma, coated in Haki, crashed through the air like a meteor, hurtling straight for Knox.
Moments later, the pirate's Observation Haki detected the incoming projectile. His pupils shrank. He increased his speed again, but he couldn't shake it off.
Numerous steam shields materialized behind him, but all of them shattered on impact.
In Knox's horrified eyes, the black meteor struck him square in the back.
CRACK!
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