On one side of the Grand Line, the Revolutionary Army led by Ryuunosuke Doragu was stirring chaos near the Kingdom of Rurucia, not far from the Red Line.
Meanwhile, Souta Kiryuu and his Dragon Vanguard were mobilizing on the opposite side of the New World, threatening the Navy's G1 Headquarters, also close to the Red Line.
Under the dual threats of the Revolutionary Army and the Dragon Vanguard, the Five Elder Sages had little attention left to spare for the fortress at G18. Both Kiryuu and Doragu were potential threats to the Celestial Nobles' nest itself — Mary Geoise.
Of course, Kiryuu never truly intended to launch an assault on G1. What he wanted was simple: to delay the Five Elders' response so they couldn't swoop in to exploit the G18 chaos. His Seraphim-class teleportation weapon hadn't even arrived yet.
Caution ruled his every move. Though his trajectory pointed toward the G1 fortress, Kiryuu deliberately kept his distance. That naval stronghold was perilously close to Mary Geoise itself. He feared Imu and the Elders might abruptly turn their cannons toward him and unleash their full might on the Dragon Vanguard.
So he made his route painfully obvious, exposing his march toward G1, yet advanced at a crawl — pausing, resuming, always ready to vanish if things went south.
Just as Kiryuu predicted, his movements rattled everyone.
As the Dragon Vanguard advanced from Fort G14 toward G1, Vice Admiral Oni-Arane and Fleet Admiral Sengoku were both on edge. Even the Four Elder Sages at Mary Geoise had to take his actions seriously.
Upon hearing that Kiryuu's forces might attack G1, Isaaku, ever the opportunist, eagerly volunteered to join the defense. He even petitioned the Elders to deploy Steelbone Sora, the Supreme Commander of the entire fleet, to assist him in confronting Kiryuu's army.
After a brief deliberation, the Five Elders approved Isaaku's request.
Thus, Isaaku and Steelbone Sora — two titans of the Navy — departed Mary Geoise at once, rushing to reinforce G1.
The Holy Land's defenses were left thin. Only the newly formed, half-crippled Knights of the Divine Order and a handpicked squad of elite CP0 operatives remained.
As one by one, the Navy's strongest left for missions abroad, unease spread among the Celestial Nobles. Their supposed protectors — the Five Elders — were unpredictable, vanishing without warning. Who would guarantee their safety now?
The combined pressure from the Revolutionary Army and Kiryuu's Dragon Vanguard forced the Elders to adjust their plans. The insolence of these "criminals" infuriated the world's highest authority.
"Why don't we just wipe Kiryuu out already?" snarled Saint Saturn, his expression frozen in murderous calm. "Finding Vegapunk matters far more than the lives of those pathetic Four Emperors."
The provocation from Souta Kiryuu and Doragu had filled him with a rare, icy rage. Imu's supreme orders placed Vegapunk's recovery above the fate of any Emperor. Vegapunk was the only scientist in centuries capable of harnessing the Prime Flame — the mother of all energy.
Without him, Imu didn't know how many more decades it would take to reactivate the energy source that powered the "National Treasure."
"But this might be the perfect chance to reclaim the Azure Dragon Fruit," hissed Saint Nasujurou, his eyes glinting like a serpent's. "If we can slay an Emperor now, we could also recover the Azure Dragon, Tremor, and Soul Fruits — the rarest among them all. The current chaos among the Four Emperors won't come again soon."
"Let Lord Imu decide," said Saint Vohquli, eyes wide with frustration. Ever since Kiryuu's rise, such dilemmas had become constant.
Led by Vohquli, the Four Elder Sages once again descended into the Void Throne Hall, kneeling before Imu to await the verdict of the unseen ruler.
Meanwhile, at Fort G18 in the New World—
After Kaen no Jin, Shiryu, and several others retreated from the battle, Shanks the Red-Haired managed to rescue some of his allied subordinates.
His rage was boiling. Gone was the calm man who once spoke of maintaining "balance." With his famed blade Griffon in hand, Shanks plunged straight into the battlefield. He could still remember the deadly blast that had killed Rinaria — a combined technique of Kaido of the Beasts and Big Mom, their Sea Sovereign Strike.
"Kaido!" Shanks' roar shook the skies as he unleashed all his fury upon his old rival.
Had Kaido not thrown the New World into turmoil with his massive army, the battle at G18 would never have escalated into a full-scale war dragging in all Four Emperors, the Dragon Vanguard, and the Navy's main forces.
Now it had gone too far. Not even his name could end it.
"Worororo! That's it, Shanks! This is the feeling I live for! Let the world burn!"
Kaido bellowed with laughter, clashing head-on with Shanks' furious strike.
The clash of five Emperor-class powers tore G18 apart. The shockwaves shattered entire islands, reducing them to drifting rubble. Even Whitebeard's division captains, Kaido's elite "Sky Beasts", and the Navy admirals couldn't endure the residual force and were forced to retreat from the battlefield.
Kaido's pirates fled in chaos, seizing the chance to escape the Navy's encirclement. The Impel Down convicts who'd been abandoned on G18 by King Evilsaint and his commanders were slaughtered by Whitebeard's crew, or perished in the collapsing ruins.
It was the bloodiest loss the Dragon Vanguard had ever suffered.
The remnants aboard Evilsaint's floating warships tried to flee the carnage, but their path was soon intercepted by the Red-Haired Pirates atop a colossal crimson dragon. Panic spread among the fleet. Evilsaint, Barrel, and their lieutenants nearly abandoned their ships to save themselves.
Fortunately, Shiryu of the Rain, now transformed into a massive eagle, and Enel, crackling with thunder, both returned to reinforce the airborne fleet.
Their sadistic grins faced off against the Red-Haired Pirates' officers midair, tension thick enough to ignite the sky — one wrong move and a full-scale aerial battle would erupt.
Below, the sea boiled with violence as King Kaen and Jack the Drought engaged Vice Admiral Gion the Peach Rabbit, Chadun, and Bogart, buying time for Kaido's remaining elites to retreat.
The clash between the Four Emperors and the Navy's heroes lit up every broadcast screen across the world. Pirates everywhere watched in bloodthirsty awe, while ordinary civilians went pale with terror.
Monsters capable of erasing islands — how could such beings be allowed to exist in this world?
Hidden in the shadows, Saint Marcus Mars watched with cold dread. Even he, one of the Holy Land's untouchables, hesitated to intervene. Were he to appear now, those savage lower-world warriors would tear him apart.
Elsewhere, the duel between Admiral Kuzan and Barrett raged on. Kuzan froze an entire stretch of the ocean, yet Barrett's monstrous Haki radiated over the glacial expanse, suppressing even Kuzan's elemental form.
Aboard the Ark Testament, Souta Kiryuu stood among his subordinates, watching the live feed of the battle unfold across multiple screens.
He scanned each display carefully — searching for any sign of suspicious Navy fleets that might indicate the presence of the Five Elders — while also assessing the condition of Whitebeard and Shanks.
If an opening appeared, Kiryuu would show no mercy. He would eliminate any Emperor that blocked his path.
Meanwhile, the Pacifist Blackbeard, Teach, was poised for his next step — to seize Whitebeard's Tremor Fruit, ascend to Emperor-level strength, and ultimately become one of Kiryuu's greatest weapons.