**Chapter 525: Melee, Life-or-Death Struggle, Deep Sea Anomaly**
Kozuki Oden's slash greatly boosted the Roger Pirates' morale.
Rayleigh secretly glanced at Dragon.
He finally guessed a little of Dragon's thoughts.
Realizing this, Rayleigh directly left the CP0 Director-General.
His figure in the Sky plummeted like a falling meteorite, holding his Black Blade, targeting a God's Guard Candidate.
Rayleigh's sudden movement startled the CP0 Director-General.
Realizing something was wrong, he spread his dragon wings and quickly chased after him, trying to intercept Rayleigh.
Dragon's reaction was faster.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared below Rayleigh.
"Dragon's Claw!"
As soon as he attacked, Rayleigh's Griffin strangely avoided his claw and struck his chest.
"Divine Departure!"
His half-elementalized body was forcibly interrupted, and Dragon was sent flying over a thousand meters.
The CP0 Director-General didn't have time to chase.
Rayleigh's figure had already landed.
This God's Guard Candidate realized Rayleigh's arrival too late.
He hadn't expected someone to leave their opponent and target him instead.
The terrifying pressure of Conqueror's Domain combined with the momentum of Rayleigh's descent pressed down on him like a mountain.
Facing this strongman, who might be a Celestial Dragons, Rayleigh's eyes were filled with killing intent.
A slash coated with Conqueror's Haki directly struck his abdomen.
At the same time, one of his arms was severed.
It was a bit of a pity he couldn't kill him directly, but a severed arm coupled with a severe injury was enough.
Colonel Muren, who had been suppressed, intensified his offensive and began to counterattack.
As for Rayleigh himself, he immediately delivered a slash upon turning around, causing the ground beneath him to collapse under the terrifying strength.
The arriving CP0 Director-General, covered in dragon scales, had his Haki-coated claw precisely blocked by Rayleigh.
"Melee!" Rayleigh shouted with a laugh, his voice echoing across the entire Battlefield.
Under an absolute strength gap, a two-on-one battle like before offered them no hope.
It was only in a melee, relying on the crewmates' astonishing coordination, that they could persist for a longer time.
Kozuki Oden's counterattack and Rayleigh's target shift were just the beginning.
No matter what, the Roger Pirates were at a disadvantage, but this would create more opportunities for counterattack.
Without counterattacking, they would simply die like a Boiling Frog Strategy.
The sacrifice of their companions had long since accumulated a massive amount of wrath in their hearts.
The Marines and World Government's primary target was them, the most important core combatants.
So, they would shift their target to the World Government and Marine strongmen who were slightly weaker, especially those rising stars.
Captain Roger's actions were still unknown.
Even if he was doing something, it would require time to brew.
All they could do was buy more time.
By now, they couldn't worry about anything else.
Mutual destruction was undoubtedly the mentality of the Roger Pirates.
If they weren't going to have an easy time, neither would their enemies.
Even if they died, they would bring heavy casualties upon them.
In this melee situation, the Roger Pirates' advantage could undoubtedly be maximized.
The World Government and Marines, on the other hand, definitely couldn't exert their full combat strength as they did before.
With apprehension in their hearts, those Marine young monsters and Celestial Dragons were undoubtedly targets that these strongmen needed to pay attention to.
Indeed, except for Roger, who continued his battle against Garp and Sengoku without change, the entire Battlefield became a chaotic mess.
Both sides were mixed together in a great battle, no longer divided into small, separate battlefields as before.
The situation on the Battlefield was more complex, and they needed to be more careful of attacks from others.
Figures like Kozuki Oden, Rayleigh, and Gaban were still surrounded by two or even three strongmen without change.
However, when there was an opportunity, they would still help their companions.
Even a small move could potentially save a companion's life.
This was true even if they might endure an attack from others because of it.
To them, this was nothing.
Possessing monster physiques coupled with powerful Haki, they wouldn't suffer too heavy damage before their stamina was exhausted.
It was clear that under these circumstances, the Roger Pirates' situation had improved significantly.
Especially the change in tempo, which gave them breathing room.
Even a short while was very important.
For the change in the situation, Tsuru, who was not participating in the battle, remained calm.
This was merely the Roger Pirates' final struggle.
It couldn't change the overall picture; the Roger Pirates were still being suppressed overall.
A simple change only bought them a little more time.
In her view, it was already difficult for the Roger Pirates to recover.
Severely injured members were constantly withdrawing from the Battlefield.
The only difference was that the casualties had increased slightly.
One Army General, one God's Guard Candidate, two Marine Vice Admirals, three Army Vice Admirals, and one CP0 Agent.
Such losses were within acceptable limits.
Many were killed by the Roger Pirates' monsters at the price of injury, and under the cover of other members, they had no time to retreat.
However, the price paid by the Roger Pirates was also heavy.
Even when injured, they stubbornly persisted in battle, even wanting to achieve mutual destruction with their enemies, launching suicide attacks.
Facing these mad enemies with resolve to die, some losses were unavoidable for Tsuru.
Another day passed, and over ten more members of the Roger Pirates were sacrificed.
The remaining combatants had already reached their limit, as they were often surrounded by multiple strongmen.
Under these circumstances, their stamina and Haki were rapidly consumed.
Their intense combat will showed no thought of giving up; they wanted to fight to the death.
Their bodies were covered in scars, and blood nearly stained them entirely.
From passive resistance to counterattacking despite injury.
Even Kozuki Oden's body had endured considerable damage.
But his combat strength showed no decline.
The Enma in his hand seemed even more eerie after sucking blood.
His enemies, if not undying, would suffer greatly.
The more they fought, the more terrifying Enma's lethality became as it devoured large amounts of Haki.
The great battle continued.
Even Tsuru didn't notice that the Great Sea was strangely peaceful.
An anomaly seemed to be occurring in the Deep Sea.
(end of chapter)