Boom!
Aokiji crashed into the sea, instantly freezing the surrounding waters in a shimmering sheet of ice.
Moments later, he reappeared at the side of Zephyr and Borsalino, standing guard against
Doflamingo, who was recklessly unleashing wave after wave of Conqueror's Haki.
"Aokiji, Borsalino!"
Both men glanced toward their teacher at the center of it all.
Right then, Zephyr drove his left hand down onto his right shoulder with brutal force.
The cracked remains of his right arm's bones gave a sickening snap.
They both cried out in shock.
"Doflamingo's after me. I'll handle him. You two—keep him distracted. This is not an enemy you should be fighting head-on!"
Sweat the size of raindrops beaded on Zephyr's forehead.
His chest heaved as he sucked in deep breaths of air.
There was no time to feel pain. He forced his muscles to clamp down and seal off his right shoulder. That useless arm—now just dead weight—would only slow him down.
Because now, he had to clear a path for the next generation of Marines.
There was no time left for tender moments between master and students.
Thick, Haki-covered tendrils rained down on the three of them like a collapsing sky.
Huff! Huff!
Straining his failing lungs beyond their limit, Zephyr drew in as much oxygen as he could.
His body swelled in size, his feet grinding into the ground so hard that the earth cracked beneath him in layers.
With a roar, he leapt forward.
His entire body focused every ounce of Armament Haki into his left fist and wrist, distorting the air around it.
It wasn't just coated—it was a level meant to crush from within.
Zephyr's remaining fist rocketed forward.
At the same time, Aokiji and Borsalino launched their own attacks.
Spears of ice and bursts of light hammered down on the gaps in Doflamingo's arms—the parts not shielded by Haki.
Boom!!!
Fist met tendril in an earth-shaking clash!
Zephyr was driven into the ground like a nail hammered deep into wood.
Pffft!
Blood, dark and thick with bits of pulverized organ, sprayed from Zephyr's mouth. Fragments of his lungs—he could taste them.
But in front of him, the massive figure of Doflamingo's awakened form showed cracks.
Parts of his body were frozen solid, while others were blackened and blasted apart.
Aokiji and Borsalino felt their spirits surge.
They could breach his defenses!
With newfound focus, they unleashed their elemental powers in a storm of ice and light, giving Zephyr the breathing room he desperately needed.
Doflamingo's god form shuddered under their combined assault.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Tch... Damn annoying..."
Doflamingo's voice rumbled from the smoke, low and furious.
"I should've killed you both back in Loguetown!"
Crack!
The damage they'd done was already knitting itself back together, thread by thread, under Doflamingo's awakened control.
This time, the threads merged perfectly with his Haki, reinforcing his body.
Ice and light? They no longer had the same effect.
Aokiji and Borsalino, who had barely started to feel hope, watched in horror as it all slipped away.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground groaned and split apart from the strain.
Through Aokiji and Borsalino's desperate barrage, the black-clad demon surged forward.
"Zephyr! Die here today!!!"
His right arm raised high, crackling with black and red lightning so thick it looked solid in his grasp.
"Doflamingo! Scum like you should've stayed locked away in Impel Down!!!"
Zephyr roared as he sprang from the crater, his eyes bloodshot, the whites completely gone.
His once-purple hair was now a lifeless gray, drained of its vitality.
"Ice Age!!"
Aokiji pushed his fruit's power to the brink.
Even the falling giant fist began to freeze in spots.
An enormous ice shield formed midair, slamming into place to block Doflamingo's blow—and shelter Zephyr behind it.
At the same time, a flash of light zipped through the sky.
Borsalino appeared at Doflamingo's right arm, aiming to knock it off course.
But could two fighters—who hadn't yet reached their full potential—really stop Doflamingo's devastating strike?
Of course not.
The instant they made contact, Borsalino was struck like a man hit by divine wrath.
He was sent flying, crashing into the sea with an explosive splash—the only tribute to his courage.
Crack!
The ice shield shattered into fragments, evaporating into the air.
The giant fist didn't slow at all as it barreled toward Zephyr.
Thud!!
With a bone-jarring sound, Zephyr was smashed back into the crater he'd just climbed out of.
The ground trembled under the impact.
"Fufufufufu... Powerless, aren't you? Despair yet?"
Doflamingo's twisted grin echoed across the battlefield.
His left arm exploded into sixteen tendrils, each coated with Haki strong enough to crush bones from within.
He swept them at Aokiji and Borsalino, forcing them to retreat.
"Now then… Watch helplessly as your teacher dies before your eyes!"
"Zephyr! Dying by my hand—that's an honor!"
His right fist surged again with raging Conqueror's Haki, hammering downward.
Today, he would personally beat an Admiral to death. Just because he could.
"Death? Bah! I fear nothing! Even if I die, justice will prevail!!!"
Zephyr roared, his voice cracked and raw, like the dying flame of a candle.
His body was splitting apart—his muscles laced with deep, jagged fissures like broken porcelain ready to shatter.
His left fist? Already obliterated in that last clash.
Only a sliver of his wrist remained, and around that stump, he condensed the last drop of his Haki.
"Justice will prevail?"
Doflamingo's titanic right fist plummeted toward him, unstoppable.
"Of course it will!"
BOOM!!!
Zephyr's Haki-clad body burst apart like an overfilled balloon, the shockwave rattling the air.
All that remained—a single piece of wrist bone, flung through the sky.
Zephyr, the Black Arm.
The Admiral of an era.
Met his end.
"Teacher!!!"
"Zephyr!!!"
"Admiral Zephyr!!!"
All around, Marines stood frozen, unable to believe the scene before them. Grief and fury rippled through their ranks like wildfire.
Aokiji and Borsalino, their eyes wild with rage, poured every ounce of firepower they had at Doflamingo's god-form.
Their eyes were bloodshot. Their sanity, fraying.
Meanwhile, Sengoku and Garp were locked in brutal combat, pinned down by Kaido and Charlotte Linlin.
"Urururururu! Mamamamama! Kid, you did great!!!"
Their laughter boomed across the battlefield.
A dead Marine Admiral? That was worth celebrating.
The soldiers on both sides? Their blades grew heavier with killing intent.
The bloodshed intensified.
"Fufufufufu~"
Doflamingo's grin widened, basking in the carnage.
His voice cut through the chaos, loud and clear:
"Because only the victor... is justice!"
"Ururururu! Well said, Doffy!!!"
Kaido's voice roared back in approval.
"Next… it's your turn!"
Doflamingo's crimson eyes locked onto Aokiji—the last one still standing strong.
"Justice is doing what's right!"
Aokiji shot back coldly, refusing to acknowledge that twisted logic.
The blizzard swirling before him grew denser, freezing even the air itself.
"Oh? Then I suppose the Buster Call on Ohara, and the slaughter of pregnant women on Baterilla Island—that was all 'justice' too, right?"
With a punch, Doflamingo shattered the oncoming storm of ice and charged forward, his killing intent blazing.
Today, he planned to slaughter the future Three Admirals in one go.
His words struck deep—Aokiji's heart twisted in silence.
Even Garp, locked in battle with Big Mom, faltered.
Some instinct whispered to him: Roger's child... was in Doflamingo's hands.
"What's wrong? Where's your noble justice now, Vice Admiral Aokiji?"
Aokiji clenched his jaw, silent.
But Doflamingo wasn't done—his mouth twisted into a sneer.
With a roar, his god-form's fist came crashing down, the air splitting from the force.Even the sky trembled.
At last, Aokiji understood the crushing pressure his teacher had faced.
It was suffocating.
His focus sharpened like never before.
With a surge of power, an enormous sphere of ice erupted around him, cocooning his body.
BOOM!!!
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Fanfic is finished 527 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg