Kaido's single sentence made the atmosphere on the scene turn completely delicate.
Golden Lion and Whitebeard both furrowed their brows tightly, looking at Kaido with hostility and wariness.
Before, their fighting power was indeed abundant.
But if Kaido defected, the situation would become totally different.
Three against two.
Adding Rosse's side with Gion, who wasn't weak either, it was possible they could really drag things out until Zephyr and the World Government's reinforcements arrived.
If it really came to that, then just like the Holy Land incident, a few of them would have to die before escaping.
'Damn it, f***ing Kozuki Oden!', Golden Lion cursed furiously in his heart. Without giving Rosse the chance to speak, he directly activated his Devil Fruit ability.
At once, the land upheaved, and within several hundred meters, rocks of all sizes flew into the air, hurling toward Rosse's direction.
At this point, he couldn't let Kaido and Rosse reach a consensus.
If they really did, even escaping would be hard.
"GOLDEN LION!", Kozuki Oden roared, not joining in to target Rosse, but instead drew his dual swords and actively blocked Golden Lion's assault.
"Idiot!", Golden Lion's face turned red with rage. Without thinking further, his body floated into the air, and he immediately turned to fly away.
'Damn it!'
He'd come with good intentions to help, yet ended up blocked by his own side.
This fight today, he wasn't going to be part of it anymore.
But before he even got a few meters away, suddenly a figure appeared before him.
"Rosse?"
Golden Lion's pupils shrank sharply. Seeing Rosse appear so abruptly, shock flashed across his eyes.
Leaping a hundred meters in an instant, they could all do that.
But crossing a hundred meters while even he couldn't sense the other's arrival, that was incomprehensible.
"Since you've come, why don't stay?"
Rosse laughed heartily, his fist wrapped in Conqueror's Haki, and suddenly smashed toward Golden Lion's face.
In his script, Golden Lion and Whitebeard couldn't die too early, or else there'd be nothing to play with later, and the pirate side would be weakened.
But not dying too early was one thing, getting beaten was still necessary.
Last time he fought Golden Lion, he didn't even collect the defeat reward. Even if it was only 500,000 experience, it was still a little gift pack.
"Damn it!"
Golden Lion flared up too. His twin blades wrapped in Armament Haki, he flipped and struck back.
BOOM!
Fist and blades clashed in midair. In an instant, the aftershock rippled for hundreds of meters. The ordinary people and samurai surrounding them were unlucky. In a flash they turned into a mist of blood.
Only Black Maria, shielded by Gion, barely escaped, since Gion already knew Rosse was going to strike.
Yet after just one clash, Golden Lion's face changed completely. His body flew like a cannonball, smashing heavily into the ground, blasting out a massive crater.
As he lay on the ground, Golden Lion felt like his internal organs had shifted out of place.
"Damn it... strong like a monster," Golden Lion looked at Rosse in disbelief, not expecting the blow to be this overwhelming.
Back in the Holy Land, he could still stand evenly against Rosse.
At that time Rosse had gone a little easy, but Golden Lion hadn't realized how great the gap was.
But this clash made him completely aware, his strength wasn't on Rosse's level at all.
If he were in peak condition, he could still exchange a few moves.
But with this weakened body now, he was no match.
"AHHHHHHH!", At that moment, compared to the fallen Golden Lion, Kozuki Oden was the angriest.
Hundreds of Wano people had turned into a blood mist before his eyes. And as a pure swordsman, he couldn't even protect them in time.
In that instant, Oden completely abandoned his wishful thinking, leaping high and charging toward Rosse.
At least he still had some reason. Though he wanted to kill Golden Lion, the one who caused this, he also knew clearly. Today, no matter the cost, they had to keep Rosse here.
This man was simply too dangerous.
"Newgate! He's stronger than Rocks-nii! Join forces!", Lying in the crater, Golden Lion was temporarily drained of strength, but he still managed to shout a warning.
Hearing that, Whitebeard's face changed in shock.
'Stronger than Rocks? That is not good news.'
On that matter, he trusted Golden Lion's judgment. Not to mention, Rosse had just sent Golden Lion flying with one blow.
"HRRAH!", Whitebeard roared, clenching both fists tight and slamming heavily into the air.
Zzzzz~
A violent vibration rang out.
The space cracked like a spider web, spreading toward Rosse at an unbelievable speed.
At the same time, Oden's dual blades wrapped in Conqueror's Haki also slashed down toward Rosse.
"Are you scratching an itch?", Rosse chuckled, not even bothering to draw a weapon. Both his hands instantly took on Armament Haki, wrapped with Conqueror's Haki.
Control of Armament Haki was linked to the body, the stronger the physique, the easier the mastery.
The same was true of Conqueror's coating. Possessing Conqueror's Haki was the foundation, but wrapping it onto the body or weapons depended on one's strength.
With his strength now, he could cover or coat it with a single thought.
Rosse angled his right forearm to meet the dual blades. As they clashed, his left hand shot out like lightning.
With his current physique, striking full force in a sudden move, Oden had no way to block effectively.
Even so, Oden still coated his whole body in Armament Haki,man instinct born of years of battle.
Rosse suddenly grabbed Oden's head and slammed it down.
BOOM!
Oden's body was smashed from the air, his face crashing into the ground in intimate contact.
The damage wasn't especially great, but the humiliation was extreme.
As for Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit attack, Rosse completely ignored it.
Without Conqueror's coating, Devil Fruit attacks were just ordinary powers.
Even the effect of a magnitude-10 earthquake wouldn't affect him much.
Crack! Crack!
The space around Rosse groaned, sounding like endless glass shattering.
But though Rosse stood at the very center of the attack, he remained completely unharmed.
The space all around him shook and fractured, yet where he stood, he was utterly unmoving.
"All of you, come at once," Rosse spoke lightly, stepping down from the air one step at a time, walking toward the ground.
Far away, Black Maria, already taken aside by Gion, stood several hundred meters away. Her dark green eyes shone brightly, and in her gaze at Rosse remained only reverence.
'Yes!'
This was exactly the image of a god she had imagined.
A god who not only saved her, but displayed divine might.
'He is my god!'
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