"Full retreat!!"
A frigid roar thundered from Souta Kiryuu. Even his overwhelming ice could not restrain Barrett for long. They had to withdraw, and they had to do it now.
"Thousand Thorn Spears!"
Souta raised both hands toward the heavens, unleashing his freezing power.
In an instant, countless razor-sharp spears of ice erupted around him, bristling upward and locking onto the three figures in the sky: the blazing Ash Calamity Jin, the Thunder God Enel, and the Rain-Slayer Shiryu.
Spear after spear shot skyward, forming a vast frozen curtain meant to hinder the three powerful pursuers, as well as the many pirates of the Big Mom Pirates and the Beasts Pirates.
"Bogart! The future seeds of the Navy are in your hands now!"
"Meteor Break Fist!"
Garp's voice boomed like war drums. At the same moment, steam the color of blood surged from his body, just like Whitebeard before him.
He was burning through his very life's blood for one final peak battle.
"Vice-Admiral Garp..."
Bogart pulled down the brim of his hat, hiding his eyes beneath shadow. His jaw trembled, but he forced himself to remain steady.
"Bogart obeys!"
His justice cloak snapped in the wind as he turned and began evacuating the navy at high speed, leading them off the collapsing glacier.
"Garp... you stubborn old man..."
Admiral Momousagi bit down hard, expression tight with grief, but she still directed her forces to retreat quickly toward the warships.
Tea Dolphin, heavily injured, had already been pulled back and was among the first to depart.
Souta Kiryuu watched the Beasts' Kaido withdraw from the glacier airspace, moving instead toward the Five Elders. Only then did Souta's expression ease.
If that Emperor had decided to attack the navy here, none of them would have escaped.
...
On the last remaining fragment of the Moby Dick's wreckage-
"Saint Wokyuri, Saint Nasujuro, Saint Masu! Please, grant me this request. End this war.
In exchange, the Red-Haired Pirates will take responsibility for rescuing Saint Santan!"
Riding atop his massive crimson dragon, Red-Haired Shanks rushed forward, shouting as he saw the monstrous boar avatar of Saint Wokyuri and the skeletal warhorse swordsman Saint Nasujuro preparing to finish Whitebeard.
But a gigantic divine bird, the monster form of Saint Masu, swooped down and blocked the crimson dragon's advance.
"Whelp of the Figarland lineage—what worth is your so-called request?
Your father, Saint Garin, died beneath the claws of the Eastern Wild Dragon. When will you wake up?
You carry the most sacred bloodline of the gods. Why do you degrade yourself as a pirate?
I'll give you one more chance: rescue Saint Santan now, and I will permit you to return to Mary Geoise."
Saint Masu's voice was a divine command, echoing across the battlefield.
He glanced toward the naval forces as well, clearly intent on sending them to retrieve Santan.
If Shanks could be brought back into the Holy Lands... the Five Elders would gladly seat him as the next Commander of the God Knights.
Shanks had the strength. And the pedigree.
If the Red-Haired Pirates submitted, then today not only would the Whitebeard Pirates be wiped out, but the Beasts Pirates, the Big Mom Pirates, and the Wild Dragon Fleet would all be crushed together.
"Too many have fallen today. Whether for Saint Santan's life or for the balance of the New World—this must end.
If not... I won't be able to hold myself back."
Shanks' voice was hoarse. His Red-Hair Grand Fleet was gone. The other Emperors' forces had suffered staggering losses. Even the navy's might was broken.
Only the Wild Dragon Fleet had suffered less, but even then, the Impel Down assault unit had lost countless prisoners-turned-soldiers.
"This war will not end just because you want it to.
If you refuse to return to the Holy Lands... then begone."
Saint Masu's god-feathers shimmered with killing edge, ready to sever the crimson dragon in a single stroke.
Boom!
Whitebeard, already wounded and fighting atop the broken remains of his ship, suffered another devastating impact under the dual assault of the boar and bone warhorse.
The last fragments of the Moby Dick split apart and began sinking.
"Do none of you care whether Saint Santan lives or dies?!"
Shanks drew his blade and charged the two divine beasts.
"We can kill you first, then rescue him afterward."
Saint Masu met Shanks head-on, cutting off any hope of aiding Whitebeard.
A wild, thundering laugh rolled across the battlefield.
Kaido.
He did not join either side's clash. Instead, he dove straight toward Whitebeard.
"Worororo! Whitebeard, when you brought me into the Rocks Pirates on Hachinosu Island, I swore...
Today, I'll save you once.
You die by my hand. Not theirs."
"Daibutsu: Abyssal Drop!"
The dragon that was Kaido plummeted. Halfway down, he shifted to his towering half-dragon form, swinging his supreme-grade kanabo, Hachasaikai, with annihilating force toward the colossal boar.
"Ghost Tribe Kaido!"
"Divine Flute: Sky Severer!"
Saint Wokyuri, still in his boar form, had no choice but to abandon his finishing strike on Whitebeard.
Boom!!!!
Kanabo and twin tusk blades clashed, igniting a blinding eruption of shockwaves.
The remaining wreckage beneath their feet shattered into dust.
"The ship's gone!"
Saint Nasujuro shouted, springing upward on four skeletal legs, momentarily forced to abandon the kill.
"Kah!!"
Whitebeard coughed blood. His body trembled. But he forced power into his legs, generating quake after quake beneath his feet, launching himself toward the frozen battlefield instead of the pirate ships.
He refused retreat. He chose the ground itself as his final battlefield.
Saint Nasujuro did not chase immediately. His mouth moved rapidly, as if communicating with someone unseen.
Moments later, a massive magic formation ignited before him.
"No way... the last of the Five Elders is joining the war?!"
The world, watching through countless screens, erupted in hysteria.
Whitebeard's face contorted. He roared for Marco, Weevil, and every division commander still breathing to retreat.
If they stayed any longer, none would escape.
...