Just as Deuce and the others watched in horror, Guernica's Finger Pistol was about to strike Ace's exposed side.
Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!
A series of harsh electrical crackling sounds erupted on the spot.
"You keep launching cowardly sneak attacks! I won't forgive you, you awful person!"
An angry cry accompanied a lightning flash that left brilliant afterimages as Carrot, her face tense with fury, launched a thunderous counterattack.
"What?!" Guernica was startled and instinctively redirected his partially-launched Finger Pistol toward the incoming rabbit mink.
Several chaotic impacts rang out in rapid succession as two figures suddenly went flying through the air.
The already injured Guernica was struck again, this time with a deep, charred scar across his shoulder and his entire left arm hanging uselessly. This was the result after he'd barely managed to avoid a fatal blow to his vital organs.
"Carrot!" Carina and the others screamed in alarm, anxiously watching as Carrot—also bearing a shoulder wound and bleeding heavily—fell to the ground, gritting her teeth against the pain.
"Come on, help her onto Farul," Deuce said weakly, his voice strained. "Someone get my medical kit—I'll bandage and treat her wounds."
"Tell me what to do and I'll help," Carina said as she sprang into action. "Bonney, stay close and be careful."
"Yes, I'll help Carrot," Bonney nodded determinedly. She stepped carefully around the Marine soldiers lying unconscious nearby—sailors who'd been transformed into elderly men or children by her Age-Age Fruit abilities—and approached the injured mink.
Skull's eyes flashed with deep concern, but he didn't lose his composure. After quickly assessing their surroundings, he stepped forward with purpose. "Kotatsu, let's move!"
"Meow!" The enhanced lynx took flight, confronting the Marines who were trying to exploit the chaos and attack the crew after surviving Ace's Conqueror's Haki burst.
Skull drew two pistols and fired rapidly at the retreating Guernica, though unfortunately his shots were blocked by nearby Marine soldiers who moved to intercept.
"You're all going to pay!" Seeing two of his precious friends injured, Ace completely erupted with rage.
He roared like an enraged beast and attacked Gismonda with absolutely reckless fury, abandoning all defensive considerations in his desperate assault.
"Flame Commandment: Flame Emperor!"
The various techniques he'd learned from Jerry during their training sessions poured out continuously and intensively, flowing like pure instinct channeled through overwhelming emotion.
Within moments, Ace—consumed by this state of protective rage—had utterly overwhelmed Gismonda with his relentless offensive barrage.
"We need to get back to the ship now," Carina said urgently as she helped provide emergency treatment for Carrot's wounds while Deuce gave quiet instructions.
Everyone nodded in agreement, and after Skull called out to Brook, he and Kotatsu began leading the way forward through the chaos.
Deuce and Carrot were carefully positioned on Farul's broad back, while Carina and little Bonney formed a protective escort as they moved quickly toward their escape route.
Thanks to the overwhelming Conqueror's Haki that Ace had unleashed earlier, most of the Marine soldiers lay unconscious across the battlefield. The few remaining conscious troops were simply unable to stop Deuce's group from evacuating.
After his friends disappeared safely into the distance, Brook—whose elegant clothes were now torn in multiple places—suddenly swung his sword in a wide arc, forcing back the equally exhausted Isuka, then turned and fled without looking back.
"Huff... huff..." Isuka took several deep breaths and was about to pursue the escaping pirates when she heard Ace's furious roars echoing across the battlefield once again.
To prevent the many unconscious and injured sailors from being harmed by the devastating aftermath of the ongoing battle, she reluctantly abandoned her pursuit. Instead, she regrouped with the remaining mobile soldiers to wake and protect their fallen comrades.
Several sword-light flashes passed by, followed by countless lightning bolts disappearing and converging into Cavendish's reformed figure. His clothes were disheveled and he bore various bruises across his body and face, but the corners of his mouth were raised in a triumphant smile.
It had to be admitted that Maynard's defensive "turtle shell" tactics had been remarkably successful. If he'd fought conventionally, he might have caused Cavendish more initial trouble, but the outcome would have been decided much more quickly—and Maynard knew his chances of victory weren't high using traditional methods.
Maynard's body was covered with numerous wounds. Although he'd tried his best to avoid the most devastating attacks and had successfully knocked Cavendish back multiple times, after Cavendish had taken that hit to his face, the already intense assault had become absolutely ferocious.
Though their duel hadn't lasted particularly long, Maynard had accumulated too many small wounds across his body, causing significant blood loss that gradually sapped his strength and stamina.
"From the looks of you, you won't be able to hold out much longer," Cavendish observed with cold satisfaction. "Let me help end your suffering."
As he spoke, Cavendish moved at tremendous speed once again, his sword crackling with electrical energy.
"Beautiful Sword: Thunder Slash!"
Cavendish was about to strike Maynard with the combined force of wind and lightning when suddenly, his entire body shuddered with instinctive alarm.
"Look out!" A shout from a voice somewhat unfamiliar to Cavendish rang out in warning.
A sudden whistling sound cut through the air, and in that instant, Cavendish felt sharp pain lance across his entire back. There was no time to turn around and no way to maintain his sword attack on Maynard. Acting on pure reflex, Cavendish transformed into an arc of electricity and shot skyward.
A devastating blow powerful enough to split mountains and boulders swept through the space where Cavendish had been standing, carving a long, deep furrow in the earth below.
Flying through the air, Cavendish touched his coat, which had been sliced into ribbons, and couldn't help feeling genuine fear. If he hadn't been alert enough and hadn't reacted with lightning speed, that sword strike would have cut him completely in half.
With this sobering realization, Cavendish turned in frustration to glare at Gion, who was rushing toward him at incredible speed, and Marco, who followed a beat behind.
He shouted angrily at the First Division Commander: "I know you! You're that pineapple-head who replaced Ace earlier! Watch your own opponent!"
Seeing that Cavendish had managed to dodge at the critical moment, Marco smiled and scratched the back of his head apologetically. "Ahaha, sorry about that. She just knocked me back pretty hard too."
After Marco's arrival, his battle with Gion had become perfectly matched—two fighters of nearly equal skill unable to determine a victor quickly.
Gion knew this famous First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates very well. She understood that Marco's mythical Phoenix regeneration abilities were extraordinarily powerful, and his overall strength was formidable.
After a period of intense combat, she'd noticed the deteriorating situation on the Marine side and Maynard's gradual signs of defeat. Gion realized that if the battle dragged on like this, it would become extremely disadvantageous for Marine forces.
With Marco's unexpected arrival, she'd decided to try changing her strategy entirely.
Therefore, Gion had seized a brief opening in Marco's defense, forced him back momentarily, then pivoted to rush toward Cavendish. During her approach, she'd unleashed a fierce and precisely aimed slash.
"Are you alright?" Gion held her sword ready, staring at the two pirates hovering in midair while asking Maynard softly behind her.
"Still breathing," Maynard replied with obvious difficulty, then clenched his fists and dragged his feet forward slowly, indicating he could continue fighting despite his injuries.
At that moment, all four combatants found themselves in a tense standoff, their minds hyperalert and focused.
Just as the atmosphere grew thick with anticipation and the air itself seemed to vibrate with potential violence, Ace's enraged roars suddenly erupted across the battlefield.
"Flame Commandment: Flame Ring: Inferno!"
"Sacred Fire: Narakugawa!"
"Die, you bastards!"
"Flame Commandment: Fire Serpent!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Tremendous explosions accompanied rolling waves of intense heat as Ace's fury manifested in increasingly devastating attacks, each technique flowing seamlessly into the next as his protective rage burned brighter than ever before.
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