"Prometheus, Napoleon, Zeus!" Charlotte Linlin roared, head thrown back as she poured every ounce of her will into her Haki.
"Emperor Sword!" Thundercloud Zeus rose obediently and bore her aloft, while Sun Prometheus surged up behind her and merged into her head. Napoleon, the bicorne hat, shifted and replied as if awaiting orders.
"As you wish, Mama!" Boom. Prometheus' roaring flames fused with Linlin's body, setting her hair ablaze. Napoleon unfolded into a vast, curved longsword and dropped into her hand. The heat from Prometheus ignited the blade with a thunderous roar.
The sword warped into something monstrous, its length stretching, the edge opening into a jagged maw rimmed with searing fire. Two bloody, triangular eyes on Napoleon's blade fixed on Shirogai, who hovered in the air.
"Arrogant brat, I will roast you and slice you in two!" Napoleon hissed.
"Mamamama, you hateful old woman, don't think you've won just because your Conqueror's Haki is stronger!" Linlin snarled, switching into full combat posture as Zeus bore her higher. She leveled the blade at Shirogai and bellowed the command for her attack.
"Emperor Sword: Breaking Blade!" The giant sword, crackling with black and red lightning, slashed down toward the space where Shirogai hovered.
Not far off, Katakuri's composed mask slipped. He saw the unconscious family members strewn behind Shirogai, victims of the earlier intimidation, and panic flared through him. If Linlin's strike landed, those knocked-out would be vaporized along with anyone nearby. Katakuri could barely defend himself against two Emperors-level wills clashing. Intervening in their duel was impossible; all he could do was pray Shirogai would hold the line.
"Hahahaha, bring it on!" Shirogai grinned, excitement sharpening his voice as Linlin's aura swelled. "Linlin, that aura suits you. Show me the strength of an Emperor!"
Above him, three opposing masses of power condensed at once, coalescing into distinct forms: scorching, black-and-red fire, an ice-blue cold that smelled of frost, and a cyclone of yellow sand that hummed like a living thing. Shirogai stared down at the descending blade and intoned, calling his servants into being.
"Frost Wraith, Inferno Titan, Desert Queen!" The black-and-red flames flared, opening crimson-white eyes and howling.
"I am here, Master!" The bone-cold mass unfurled its pale pupils and whispered, "As you command."
The sand, eyes wide and maddened, cooed, "My lord, shall I end her for you?" In an instant, Shirogai had birthed three top-tier soul servants, Homies born of his will, each rivaling the might of Linlin's own Prometheus, Zeus, and Napoleon.
As Linlin's devastating [Emperor Sword: Breaking Blade] fell, Shirogai smiled and summoned his blade.
"One must respect an Emperor. [God King Sword], form!" The three servants spiraled together and fused into a gigantic longsword, its hilt earthy yellow, the core burning with roaring flames yet rimed in jagged ice. Shirogai seized that colossal sword — ten times his size — and met Napoleon's strike without flinch, laughing as the blades clashed.
"[God King Sword: World-Ending Slash]!" Dark, violent bolts lit the God King Sword, radiating a destructive will.
Boom! The impact detonated through Cake Castle. Walls exploded outward as a surge of energy ripped through the hall. The concussive blast hurled many family members clear, flinging them toward safety, though others were not so fortunate. Some blasted apart midair, torn to bloody fragments by the roaring currents.
The collision split Cake Castle down the middle in a single cataclysm. Clouds overhead were rent in two by the shockwave.
"A sliver of hope!" Katakuri shouted through grit and pain, eyes flicking to the survivors. He had foreseen a way and released his own Conqueror's Haki to steady himself. With dozens of mochi arms he snatched at stunned family members, flinging them out through the broken walls the moment the blast opened a corridor of escape.
"No time for niceties. If they fall, they die," he barked. Another wave of violent force thundered through the wreckage. Katakuri condensed Armament Haki and used his Mochi-Mochi ability to cocoon a handful of the strongest survivors inside a smooth mochi shell. The force slammed them like a battering ram. Buildings shattered as the mochi ball tumbled, finally smashing into a street and popping open to spill out the barely conscious elite.
Above, the sky churned into black thunderclouds. Two opposing storms coiled and roared, mirroring the titanic duel below. The thunder itself was small against the continuous roar of those two wills crashing like gods. Pieces of Cake Castle became flying shrapnel, smashing into neighboring structures and hollowing out new craters across the island.
"This is monstrous. That new pirate, Shirogai, he's at Mama's level," Perospero murmured, voice trembling as he licked his broken candy staff.
Supported by Smoothie, Katakuri forced himself upright and stared toward the rending horizon.
"All we can do is pray Mama wins," he said, though his tone betrayed the thinness of that hope.
"She will not lose to a newcomer!" Daifuku growled, clenching knuckles.
"If Mama falls, only a few of us will be left," Oven added, unable to keep the tremor from his voice.
Katakuri turned to Smoothie, pushing her from him with the weight of command in his eyes.
"Smoothie, if Mama truly falls, you must not stay. Gather the others on the outer islands and withdraw from Totto Land. Only come back when it is safe." His voice was flat, a last order in case the unthinkable happened.
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