"Ah!!"
Souta Kiryuu roared in fury, his crimson hair whipping in the storm of his unleashed will. Waves of Conqueror's Haki exploded outward, shaking the island to its core as heaven and earth seemed to pale before his wrath.
"Wurororo! You killed one of my Flying Six, I kill one of your men—that's balance, isn't it?"
"Daivide—Thunderous Eight Trigrams!"
Kaido the Beast King grinned with feral delight. Seeing Souta momentarily lose control, he seized the opening, his immense Haki coating the iron-studded kanabo before he brought it crashing down toward the red-haired Emperor.
"Companions only make you weak," Barrett said flatly. He had joined the Ardragon Pirates only because following Souta Kiryuu promised stronger fights. He didn't see them as comrades. He had never needed comrades.
Watching Souta go berserk, Barrett paused and gave a cold, disdainful chuckle. Unlike Kaido, he didn't take advantage of the moment to strike. Even he had a few principles.
Souta, lost in rage, was struck by Kaido's overwhelming attack and sent flying through the air. The searing pain jarred him back to clarity. He couldn't afford to lose control—he still had people to protect, comrades who needed to escape this island alive.
With the Ardragon Pirates joining the fray, the Red-Haired Pirates were already outmatched against the combined might of two Yonko crews.
"Beckman! Retreat!"
Souta wiped blood from the corner of his mouth and barked the order. They had lost this battle.
His words snapped his crew back to focus. The Red-Haired officers all understood the gravity of the situation. Staying any longer would only mean destruction.
On the battlefield below, Catarina Devon, who had just slain Gab the Roaring Giant, barely had time to boast before Souta's Conqueror's Haki exploded again. The sheer pressure sent her trembling, forcing her to shapeshift and disappear into the chaotic crowd, terrified that the enraged Emperor would target her next.
Seeing Catarina flee, Rockstar—the rookie who had recently joined the Red-Haired Pirates with a bounty of 94 million Berries—charged through the blood-soaked ground to recover Gab's fallen body, his face streaked with his own blood.
"Everyone fall back! No more duels!" Beckman, the calm but grim strategist, shouted to the others. His expression was dark; this whole operation had gone sideways. Trying to stop the Beasts Pirates from destroying Fortress G18 hadn't benefited them at all. Not only had they failed to drive Kaido back, they'd lost one of their key officers. A devastating loss.
At Souta's signal, a massive crimson dragon appeared high above, circling the battlefield—ready to carry the Red-Haired Pirates to safety.
"That red dragon again!" Kaido's eyes flared. He had long wanted such a beast for himself, but since it belonged to Souta, he wanted nothing more than to crush it. The creature's speed was monstrous—it could fly from the far reaches of the New World back to Marineford in a single day. Even Kaido, in his azure dragon form, couldn't match it.
"Souta, you meddlesome brat! I'll make sure you pay dearly for interfering with me over and over again!" Kaido roared with savage laughter, swinging his kanabo again. He would not let them leave easily. If he could slaughter a few more of Souta's officers, he'd cripple the Red-Haired Pirates' strength for good.
...
At Fortress G18, chaos reigned. With the Ardragon Pirates' Impel Down division joining the battle, the navy's forces suffered catastrophic losses. Admirals and officers fell one after another, hunted down like prey.
Despair spread through the surviving marines. They had truly been abandoned by Marine Headquarters. There was no escape left.
Hopelessness gave way to resentment, and whispers of surrender began to stir among the ranks.
Meanwhile, on the main battlefield, Souta and Beckman's orders had spread. The Red-Haired officers began disengaging from their opponents—none had the will to keep fighting.
"Don't let them get away!" roared King the Wildfire, his tone cold as death. The Beasts Pirates weren't bound by the same camaraderie as the Red-Haired crew. Their hierarchy was absolute, and orders from the All-Stars were law.
Even wounded, Ulti and Page One forced themselves back into battle at King's command. They would fight until they collapsed.
But they were already exhausted. Before the Ardragon Pirates' arrival, the Flying Six had taken severe damage in their clashes with Souta's officers. If not for the Red-Haired Pirates holding back from an all-out death match, one or two of Kaido's elite might have already fallen.
That was the price of leaving Queen the Plague behind to guard Onigashima.
Unlike Kaido's crew, the Red-Haired Pirates ran on an elite, mobile strategy. They held no territory, and their main strength was always together—ready to strike or retreat as one.
As the battle raged on, Lime Jones and Snake managed to break free from Who's-Who and Sasaki. They joined Hongo to wound the dark necromancer Moria and then pushed forward together toward Binji and the towering monk Moshida, the man-and-ape duo.
Ulti and Page One tried to block them again, only to be knocked back and injured even further.
"Are you Beasts Pirates' officers all useless?" bellowed Avalo Pizarro, the Evil King, as he saw three Red-Haired commanders charging toward him. He cursed furiously. Just a little longer, and he and Giant Barrel Chote could've finished off the man-ape pair and earned huge credit for the Ardragon Pirates.
But now? That chance was gone.
Across the battlefield, Lucky Roux tried to retreat as well—but Shiryu of the Rain, that bloodthirsty psychopath, was relentless. Roux couldn't shake him off, and his wounds were piling up.
Meanwhile, Yasopp, ever the quick and precise sniper, managed to escape from the sluggish mammoth, Jack the Drought. But he had no time to rest—Beckman was locked in a brutal fight with King and Enel the Thunder God, both impossible opponents. King's flight and Enel's lightning made it nearly impossible for Beckman to disengage.
When the Evil King and Giant Barrel saw the three Red-Haired officers approaching, they retreated to avoid being overwhelmed. The four pirates and the giant ape regrouped successfully, only to be pursued by the five wounded members of the Flying Six.
The Beasts Pirates' expressions were grim—they had failed to carry out King's order to intercept.
But Pizarro slammed his hand into the earth, using his Island-Island Fruit to reshape the terrain, trapping Souta's officers in a shifting maze of stone. Catarina Devon regrouped with him and Chote, and together with the Flying Six, they surrounded Souta's team completely.
"Nyahaha! You useless fools couldn't even stop them!" Pizarro sneered at the Flying Six, dripping with contempt. Their incompetence had just made his job harder.
"Enough talk. Kill them all!" Catarina's grin was vicious, her gaze fixed on the bloodied Binji. She specialized in finishing off the wounded.
"Attack!" roared Chote, swinging his massive weapon as the entire force charged. The Red-Haired Pirates' officers braced themselves—the encirclement had closed, and there was no more room to run.