Kaido, momentarily stunned, quickly regained his composure. He knew this wasn't the time to dwell on things. Seeing the golden Buddha form of Sengoku slamming his palm toward him, Kaido swiftly shifted from his beast form to his hybrid form. Taking advantage of his reduced size and increased speed, he dodged the shockwave and immediately fled in the opposite direction without looking back.
He wasn't foolish. With his current strength, he stood no chance against Sengoku. He had to find a way to escape! "Damn you, Big Mom, Whitebeard! Just you wait, I'll settle this score with you sooner or later!"
What kind of mess was this? They were the ones who struck first, and now that he had joined in, they just left? He had imagined an epic, top-tier battle royale, not being ganged up on by the strongest fighters. "Hey, Kaido, since you're here, why not come with me for a little trip?"
But while Kaido wanted to run, someone else wanted him to stay. With a deafening sonic boom and a burst of air pressure, Garp instantly blocked his path, flashing a row of perfectly white teeth.
"Old man, get out of my way!"
Kaido, furious and desperate, swung his spiked club without hesitation, streaks of bright purple lightning crackling around it.
"Thunder Bagua—!"
[BOOM!]
A pitch-black fist coated in Armament Haki shattered the air, creating a visible shockwave of white mist. Wreathed in black and red lightning, the fist collided with the club, sending rippling shockwaves in all directions. The sea below churned violently, as if a volcano had erupted.
A deafening metallic clang echoed across the battlefield, and the spiked club shattered into pieces. The fist, glowing with black and red electricity, continued its trajectory, smashing into Kaido's cheek.
For a moment, his neck stretched and twisted unnaturally from the impact.
The next second, his body spun like a top, flying backward and crashing into an intact pirate ship, burying him in the wreckage.
"..."
At this moment, the most terrified people were the pirates already on the battlefield or about to join the fight. They had assumed that Sengoku and Garp would be occupied by Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Kaido. But in just a few minutes, the first two had left, and the last one was being pummeled right before their eyes. What were they supposed to do now? "Retreat!"
"Get out of here!!"
"We can't fight this, we're done!"
The pirate captains no longer cared about the One Piece or becoming the Pirate King. They desperately tried to return to their ships and escape the battle as quickly as possible.
One after another, pirate ships turned around. Those pirates who had already boarded the Marine ships either abandoned their comrades or jumped into the sea. It was every man for himself. The once white-hot, brutal naval battle had now turned into a chaotic game of survival.
"Trash, there's nowhere for you to run!"
Sakazuki, his face dark with murderous intent, glared at the fleeing pirate ships in the distance. His arms, still in their molten lava state, slowly rose. Drops of magma fell onto the deck, burning holes into it, while the pungent smell of sulfur filled the air.
"Me-te-or Vol-ca-no."
[Boom, boom, boom, boom.]
With each boom, a scorching magma bullet was launched at an astonishing speed. In just over ten seconds, hundreds of them had already been fired.
"What... what is that..."
A pirate captain, who had been urging his crew to speed up, was left dumbfounded when he saw the dense cluster of magma meteors in the sky, each as large as a house. He stood there, mouth agape, watching as they drew closer and closer.
But while he stood frozen, others did not.
Some pirates with high bounties, relying on their strength, leaped into the air to confront the magma, activated their Devil Fruit abilities, or swung their swords to unleash Flying Slashes, each using their own methods to try and shield their ships from the magma bullets.
"Charge!"
"Block them!"
"Attack together!"
The pirates from dozens of ships were driven to desperation, gritting their teeth as they unleashed their strongest techniques to face this Natural Disaster that resembled apocalyptic meteors.
[Whoosh————]
But it seemed someone thought the despair they faced wasn't extreme enough. Admiral Kizaru once again transformed into particles of light, instantly appearing hundreds of meters in the air.
He's glowing again!
The diamond-shaped golden Glint, no longer as dazzling as before due to the absence of dark clouds, was even more terrifying to the pirates.
"Ya—sa—ka—ni—Sacred—Jewel~~"
Once again, Borsalino's drawn-out, lazy voice echoed. In the next moment, a dense barrage of Glint beams, far more concentrated than the Meteor Volcano, blanketed a vast area of the sea.
Red and fiery, dazzling and disorienting.
The massive magma meteors raining down from the sky, combined with the overwhelming barrage of Glint beams, formed the most exaggerated firepower coverage network in the world.
After all, Admiral Sengoku's earlier order was to leave no survivors! "Wow————"
Witnessing such a terrifying and spectacular scene, the countless royals, nobles, civilians, marines, and pirates watching the projection were in an uproar.
Is this the destructive power of top-tier Logia-type users, the Admiral candidates? Especially for the Fish-men and Mermen of Fish-Man Island, the entire island fell into complete silence. At this moment, their underestimation of human strength was utterly shattered by the magma and Glint.
Fear of the World Government and the Marines began to skyrocket in the hearts of all races! Even Imu, far away in Mary Geoise, though maintaining a calm expression on the surface, was thoroughly enjoying the spectacle.
The scene was simply too thrilling, far more exciting and shocking than what was depicted in anime.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, the awakened ultimate moves of Logia-type users are truly spectacular. One person alone can rival a heavy artillery group."
However, with his current strength, he could also see that whether it was the Meteor Volcano or the Yasakani Sacred Jewel, while impressive in terms of area damage and destruction, they were of little use in battles of the same level.
Unless the opponent was already on their last legs, then it could serve as a magnificent farewell.
The scene shifted.
When all the magma meteors and Glint beams had settled, and the sea, which had been heavily disturbed, gradually calmed down, people noticed that there were very few pirate ships left on the surface.
Except for those ships that were too close to the warships and didn't have time to escape, the remaining vessels had now turned into burning fragments of broken wood, drifting slowly with the push of the waves.
The battlefield was cleared!
"Roar————"
Just as everyone was quietly enjoying the sudden silence, a high-pitched and mournful dragon's roar once again drew the attention of countless eyes.
Kaido had transformed back into the massive blue dragon, soaring into the sky, but everyone could see that he was already trapped.
The golden Buddha clad in the Justice Coat and Vice Admiral Garp had positioned themselves above and below, sealing off all his escape routes. Unless he could break through one of their interceptions, the outcome was already decided.
Deep down, Kaido knew he was in trouble this time, but even so, he didn't want to make it easy for the Marines. He was determined to make them pay a heavy price.
With this in mind, his gaze fell on the two large cargo ships carrying the 'ONE PIECE.' He opened his blood-stained dragon mouth, gathering a bright ball of fiery light.
"Heat Breath!!"