"Oh?" Rakuya lifted his eyelids and toed Saint Charlos square in the face. "What was that you just said, Sengoku?"
"Awoo." Charlos rolled on the ground with his face twisted in pain, squealing like a hog at slaughter.
"Rakuya." Flames burned in Sengoku's eyes. He wanted to tear the man to pieces.
"Still here, still here."
"Release the Celestial Dragon."
"The money first." Rakuya smiled.
"Money? You truly intend to extort the Marines? The entire Sabaody Archipelago is ours now." Sengoku's braided goatee trembled with rage.
"No pay, no release. Sounds like you don't know the rules, Sengoku. Want to try my little dark room yourself?" Rakuya's grin turned playful.
"Hmph. Keep running your mouth for now."
"Garp, move." Sengoku's gaze went glacial as a commander's steel settled over him.
At the same time Garp's eyes sharpened. "Leave Roger to me. I've hunted him long enough. I end it here."
"Fine." Sengoku nodded and swelled once more into the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Buddha's third state, the Giant Buddha Form.
In that form his offense and defense spiked again, and he could unleash those crushing shockwaves at full tilt. It came with a near-fatal flaw. The drain was monstrous. In the past Sengoku saved stamina by switching only between his base and Buddha forms. Today he had no such luxury.
"Rakuya, you are not escaping." Golden light roared off the Giant Buddha as a shockwave blasted out.
"Repulsion, Divine Spear."
Rakuya raised his hand without a flicker of panic, watching the field like a man surveying a board game while his spear of compressed force clashed with the Buddha's palm.
Elsewhere, Garp bounced back to peak in a breath and fixed on Roger. "A final bout, Roger. Sabaody is sealed by Marine warships. Even with wings, you are not leaving."
"Garp." Roger's expression tightened.
"Vice Admiral Garp, let me help." Bastille staggered up, a wreck from Rakuya's earlier hit.
"Bastille?" Garp frowned. "In that shape?"
"As long as I live, I will stall them."
"Good."
"Fist-Bone Meteor."
Garp did not waste words. He hefted a massive shell one-handed like a toy, Armament Haki sheathing his right arm as raw explosive power bled into the iron.
"Catch, Roger."
The shell howled through the air. Roger grimaced, raised his western blade, and grew serious.
A blue arc cleaved the sky. Sword aura howled in a sweeping half-circle that churned the air and shook the earth.
With a ringing clang, the shell parted like tofu, split clean in two.
Boom.
Fire surged from the sundered shell, a tidal wave of heat swallowing everything nearby, Roger included.
"What a pain." Roger muttered, then loosed another thunderous slash.
The inferno split from crown to root and blew past on either side. Roger stood his ground, a little singed, a little ragged.
"Vice Admiral Garp, together we take him." Bastille lunged for Roger, seizing the opening.
"So the Navy only fights when the odds favor them, Bastille?"
"Silvers. Rayleigh." Bastille froze as the man with the spectacles slid between him and his prey.
"While the captain trades with Garp, you are not getting through. I will keep you company instead." Rayleigh's glasses flashed with quiet wit. He stood like a sheathed blade no one could ignore.
"Tch." Bastille's temper flared. His ambush spoiled, he struck anyway.
"Armament Haki."
"Shave."
"Your Rokushiki hits like thunder in Garp's hands. Why is it wet paper in yours?" Rayleigh's blade turned Bastille's strike aside and he chuckled.
"Rayleigh."
Bastille's eyes burned.
"Armament Hardening. Iron Fist."
Garp blurred with Shave, reappeared at Roger's side, and swung. Power gathered on his blackened fist like a collapsing star.
Roger met him head on. Steel and iron collided and spat sparks. Roger did not give an inch, violet light shrouding his blade as Armament surged. The shockwave crazed the ground with spiderweb cracks and made Marines' scalps prickle.
"Brothers, charge."
Seeing their captain cut loose for real, the pirates howled and smashed a gap through the Marine line.
"Hold that corridor. Captain, we'll be waiting."
The Roger Pirates went wild, pouring everything into the breakout.
"All clear?" Roger split his focus for a breath, Observation Haki sweeping after his men.
"If you are out, your captain has to hurry."
"Dividing your attention while fighting me?" Garp laughed, and another brutal fist fell.
"I will not be taken, Garp. Never."
"Then prove it." Garp's grin widened. Power surged to his right hand and crashed down.
On the other front, Sengoku had turtled behind unbreakable defense to force a war of attrition with Rakuya. Even so, sweat streamed down his face. His breath sawed. He looked worse by the second.
"Sengoku, how many more of my Divine Spears can you block?" Rakuya's eyes gleamed with amusement.
"Hmph. No matter what, I will stall until all of Headquarters arrives. Wounds mean nothing. You are not getting out."
"That will disappoint you. I am not only leaving. I am taking you with me."
"Universal Pull. Black Hole."
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