Chapter 296: The Five Elders? The Three Elders!
Saint Nusjuro's roar echoed through the vast valley.
"Retreat?" Akainu, who was fighting Shane, was momentarily stunned. Then he clenched his fists and roared in anger, "The fight isn't even over yet, and our chances of winning aren't low! You old geezers, you come and go as you please! What do you take us Marines for?!"
"Insolence! Less talk! Follow the order, Sakazuki!" Nusjuro's face was like ice. After a cold rebuke, he raised his front hooves and then slammed them down.
VWOOM!
A bizarre, cold black flame erupted, instantly forming a massive teleportation circle around him. In the distance, the other four Elders did the same without hesitation. All five teleportation circles were summoned!
These bastards! Akainu's eyes were practically spitting fire. Cowards! Five cowards! They had only just arrived, their stamina was still high, but just because that holy power was a hard counter, they were abandoning the fight! The dignity of the World Government and the Marines would be utterly ruined! If they were his own soldiers, he would have executed them without hesitation, but…
"Stop them!" Shane roared, knocking Akainu back with a punch. There was no way he was letting these five old dogs get away!
"Yes, Master!" With a clap of thunder, Angewomon shot into the sky, her face like ice. She raised her holy bow, and five lightning arrows materialized on the string. "Holy Quintuple Arrow!"
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!
The five arrows, streaks of blue-gold light, shot out, accurately targeting the core of each of the Five Elders' teleportation circles!
Dammit! Nusjuro's face changed drastically! Having fought Angewomon, he knew how terrifying those lightning arrows were. If they were hit, the teleportation process would be hindered, and might even be interrupted! He immediately drew his sword and, with a swing of the Shodai Kitetsu, blocked the arrow aimed at him. Though he was electrocuted again and spat out a mouthful of blood, the teleportation circle was unaffected and successfully activated. The giant skeletal horse's figure began to blur in the distorted space.
"Shane! I will remember today's humiliation!" an old, hateful voice came from the void. "After we report to our master, we will surely…" Before he could finish, the teleportation circle flashed, and Nusjuro's figure vanished completely.
The other four Elders, however, were still fending off their own opponents and couldn't focus on Angewomon. The four arrows, imbued with both lightning and holy attributes, successfully hit their targets, embedding themselves deep in the cores of the teleportation circles!
VWOOM VWOOM!
The four circles that were hit began to tremble violently, the once-stable black energy becoming chaotic and distorted.
Damn! The giant Sandworm, Ju Peter, was the first to react. He immediately reverted to his half-human form and reached out to pull the arrow from the circle.
"I won't let you!" Jack roared, charging forward, his Haki-coated tusks aiming for Peter's abdomen! "Stay right where you are, you old worm!"
"Get lost!" the giant Sandworm roared. He whipped his massive body around and slammed it into the mammoth, which was a size smaller than him.
BANG!
Jack grunted and was sent flying, crashing into a mountain hundreds of meters away! This had happened many times already. Of all the top officers' fights, only his was a complete rout. He was being completely suppressed, taking a beating. But he refused to give up, fighting again and again, managing to tie down the Sandworm and keep it occupied.
"ROAR!" Jack clambered up and, without a word, charged again. Though he was tough and hadn't been seriously injured, Peter had used the opportunity to pull out the arrow, and the teleportation circle had stabilized.
"Am I too late?!" Jack gritted his teeth and charged with all his might. But he was a step too slow. He watched as the giant Sandworm's figure blurred and then vanished.
"Dammit!" Jack roared in frustration. I'm still too weak! I failed Boss Shane's order!
Wait! Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something. He had been fighting the Sandworm for so long that he had ended up near that old man—the bisected Saturn. There hadn't been enough time to clear away the residual Haki from the Destructo Disc, so Saturn had abandoned his lower spider-half. He was now hobbling forward, leaning on his broken cane, trying to pull the arrow from his own teleportation circle. And that spider-butt was pointed right at his tusks.
A perfect opportunity! Jack was overjoyed. He spun around and, with the speed of a lightning bolt, charged at Saturn! "You're not getting away, old man!" Jack roared, accelerating, his massive mammoth body kicking up a gale. He focused all his Armament Haki into the tips of his tusks and aimed for Saturn's crippled body! Damn! He couldn't beat a full-power Elder, but this half-dead cripple? He could take him!
Saturn, in his weakened state, saw him coming and tried to dodge, but he was too slow—
SQUELCH!
Jack's tusks pierced him, and with a scream of agony, "Aaargh! You damn fish-man scum! You low-life animal!" Saturn was lifted high into the air. The more he screamed, the more satisfied Jack felt. He flung him to the ground.
BOOM!
Saturn's crippled body slammed into a deep crater. Before he could even get up, Jack was on him. He reverted to his human form, used Moonwalk to gain altitude, and then transformed back into a giant mammoth in mid-air, plummeting downwards!
"Mammoth Meteor!" Jack laughed, coating his abdomen and legs in Armament Haki. With the added acceleration, he was like a giant cannonball!
"No! No!" Saturn, unable to move, could only scream in terror as the massive shadow engulfed him.
BOOM!!!
A terrifying shockwave swept out for hundreds of meters. Saturn's crippled body was smashed even deeper into the ground.
"PUAH!" Blood and organ fragments spewed from his mouth. Saturn could no longer maintain his Ushi-Oni form and was forced back into his human form. In the distance, his teleportation circle fizzled out.
"Not done yet!" Jack reverted to his human form, grabbed Saturn by the neck, and, with his other fist wreathed in Haki, began to pummel his old face.
"This one's for Boss Shane!" POW!
"This one's for Kuma and Bonney! Don't ask me why, I don't fucking know, but Boss Shane said if I got my hands on you, this is what I should do!" POW!
"And this one… I let one get away, and now I'm pissed, so I'm just hitting you!" POW POW POW!
Saturn was beaten to a pulp, whimpering, tears of rage and humiliation streaming down his face. To be seriously injured by Shane was one thing; even he had to admit that the man was a once-in-a-century genius. But this? A mere fish-man, a second-rate pirate, taking advantage of the situation to humiliate him like this! It was the greatest… shame!
Jack was getting into it, showing no signs of stopping. With another punch, Saturn's nose was completely broken, his face a bloody mess. Saturn cried out in pain again, but this time, his voice was drowned out by a piercing shriek from above.
Hmm? Jack, still holding Saturn by the neck, looked up. "Tsk, as expected of Big Sis Kuina." He looked back down at Saturn and grinned. "Hey, looks like you're not the only unlucky one who got left behind…"
"Wh-what?" Saturn struggled to open his swollen eyes and looked up at the sky. High above, the Itsumade, Mars, was being suppressed by Kuina's storm of sword strikes and had also failed to remove the lightning arrow in time. Its teleportation circle had also fizzled out. The giant bird-monster, though constantly regenerating, was being pushed back by Kuina, shrieking in agony.
"You shouldn't have ganged up on Boss Shane and pissed off Big Sis," Jack said with schadenfreude. "You were about equal in strength, but the fighting spirit of a great swordswoman who's willing to put her life on the line is not something a coward like you who runs at the first sign of trouble can compare to!" Time to keep hitting him! He couldn't help with anything else, and he couldn't kill an Elder, so he would just stay here and keep this old man suppressed, unable to heal or move.
POW POW POW! Saturn's piercing screams echoed through the sky once more!
"Saturn…" High in the sky, the giant bird-monster saw Saturn's plight and his eyes turned cold, but he was too busy to help. Two of us have already escaped? No, it seems three. The Houki, Warcury, with his thick defense, had tanked a few of Kuma's shockwaves, pulled out the arrow, and successfully activated his teleportation circle, vanishing right before his eyes. So it was just him and Saturn left. With more and more enemies closing in, he couldn't delay any longer! Otherwise, he would be surrounded and die here with Saturn!
"Just go!" A ruthless glint in his eyes, Mars flapped his wings and, instead of trying to restart the teleportation circle, shot straight up into the sky! He had almost forgotten! Of the five of them, his Itsumade form was the best at flying! If he couldn't teleport from the island, he would just fly to a secluded spot and teleport from there!
"Trying to run?" Kuina's eyes turned cold, and she used Moonwalk to give chase. However…
"Hahaha, useless!" Mars cackled. With a powerful flap of his wings, he created a terrifying gust of wind that pushed away the clouds and accelerated even faster! "This body of mine can travel thousands of miles in a day! How can a little girl like you possibly keep up!"
Kuina's Moonwalk was slower, and even at her top speed, the distance between them grew wider.
"Dammit…" Kuina watched the bird-monster disappear into the horizon, her face grim.
Just then, "Leave it to me," a cold, majestic voice came from beside her. Kuina turned to see Angewomon, her eight wings spread, crackling with golden electricity. "If you can't keep up, then I will."
Before she could finish, Angewomon had transformed into an azure bolt of lightning and vanished! Not only was the eight-winged archangel incredibly fast, but with the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, her speed was now at the top tier of the world!
"So fast!" Kuina's pupils shrank. That speed… it's almost as fast as that Admiral, Kizaru! She could definitely catch him! She would go back and help the others. As for the bird-monster, she would leave it to Mochi.
Kuina turned and headed back down to the valley, but the image of Angewomon's slender, beautiful figure flashed in her mind… Is that really Mochi? She still couldn't quite believe it. And what was this ominous sense of foreboding she was feeling?
High above the sea.
The bird-monster, Mars, looked back at the receding island and finally slowed down, letting out a sigh of relief. That Kuina's swordsmanship was terrifying, but she couldn't keep up with his speed. He was finally safe. He shook his wings, about to find a spot to land and teleport back to Mary Geoise. Suddenly, he froze, noticing the giant snail fleet looming in the sea mist below.
That's… the army of Germa 66?! A flash of anger in his eyes. He had thought they were just late. So they had arrived a long time ago and were just watching from the sidelines instead of helping the Marines?! What were they planning? Hedging their bets? Waiting to see who would win?
As one who had held supreme power for many years, Mars understood their intentions in an instant. The bird-monster was enraged! How dare they, the Vinsmokes!!! He was already in a foul mood from the mission's failure, and now this. And in any case, he couldn't let these people spread the news that the Five Elders had personally descended and returned empty-handed…
"Leave no survivors!"
The moment the killing intent arose, the giant bird-monster's eyes turned cold, and he dove downwards!
SCREECH!
The wind from his wings tore the sea mist to shreds, revealing the stunned faces of Judge and his four children on the deck below.
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