"No wonder Borsalino ended up in such a sorry state."
Shiki's smile widened at his words.
"Don't concern yourself with Kizaru, Aokiji. By the time I'm finished with you, what happened to him will look like mercy."
Aokiji released a long breath, white mist spilling from his lips.
"Ice Block: Partisan."
Several enormous spears of ice formed above Aokiji and shot forward, tearing through the air toward Shiki from different directions.
Shiki didn't even need to take a step from where he stood. The gravitational field surrounding him simply crushed the oncoming attack into glittering fragments.
Aokiji vanished behind the scattering ice and reappeared directly before Shiki, one arm transformed into a jagged blade of ice.
The blade swept toward Shiki's neck.
Clang!
Shiki calmly raised his sword and stopped the blade inches from his throat.
Ice exploded outward from the collision, freezing the ground beneath them and racing up Shiki's blade. With a twist of his wrist, a crushing force erupted from his sword.
The ice blade shattered, and Aokiji's body was hurled backward. He struck the ground, bounced once, then broke apart into countless chunks of ice that scattered everywhere.
Bang!
The fragments immediately began pulling themselves together.
Shiki watched Aokiji reform without making any attempt to stop him.
"It really is convenient, being a Logia… A power like yours is something people would kill to get their hands on."
Aokiji's body finished reconstructing itself, but he didn't catch the hidden meaning behind Shiki's words and simply assumed he was messing with him.
"Ara ara… Coming from someone who flew an entire prison all the way here, I suppose I should take that as a compliment."
He raised one hand.
"Ice Ball."
Five pillars of ice burst from his fingers and closed around Shiki from every direction.
The cold spread across the ground so quickly that several nearby prisoners screamed and scrambled away.
"Run!"
"We'll get frozen too!"
"Why did we land beside an Admiral?!"
Buggy was already sprinting in the opposite direction, his feet moving so quickly that they blurred beneath him.
"Who cares about fighting?! Find somewhere safe!"
"You're so wise, Captain Buggy!"
"You immediately understood the danger!"
"That's why we follow you!"
"I'm abandoning all of you, idiots!"
Behind them, the five pillars converged upon Shiki.
Aokiji clenched his hand and in response the ice collapsed inward.
Boom!
A towering mass of frozen crystal formed in the center of the battlefield.
Several Marines stared at it in awe and excitement.
"Did Admiral Aokiji get him?"
"No way he could've survived that!"
Just then a low creaking sound came from within the ice.
Shiki's voice emerged from inside.
"Is that all?"
The mass of ice exploded as Shiki stepped through the frozen mist without a single piece of ice clinging to his clothes.
"Looks like freezing you once won't be enough… Guess I'll just have to keep at it until you stay frozen."
Aokiji's right arm transformed into ice.
The frozen air twisted around him, forming the head and wings of a gigantic bird.
"Ice Block: Pheasant Beak!"
The enormous ice pheasant screamed across the battlefield.
Its wings spread wide enough to cover dozens of Marines beneath its shadow as it charged toward Shiki.
A cold, almost amused smile touched Shiki's lips as he raised his sword, darkness flooding across the blade until even the sunlight recoiled from its edge.
Then he swung—and a black crescent slash tore through the air, splitting the ice pheasant straight down the middle as it continued toward Aokiji without losing speed.
Aokiji's expression changed as he twisted aside at the last instant, but the black slash still tore through his shoulder before racing onward across Marineford.
Boom!
One of the massive fortress walls behind him split open.
"Admiral Aokiji-san!"
The Marines cried out in horror as they watched the seemingly invincible Admiral suffer a wound so soon after the battle had begun.
Aokiji let out a slow breath. His hand rose to his shoulder, where a deep gash had been carved into his body. Slowly, he sealed the wound with ice.
"Well… that's not good. I almost died there. I really can't afford to take you lightly anymore."
Before Shiki could answer, heat washed over the surroundings, and even the ice around them began to melt.
A huge fist of magma descended from above.
"Great Eruption!"
Shiki calmly raised his gaze as the molten fist crashed down upon him, exploding on impact and swallowing the entire area in a raging sea of magma.
Boom!
Several marines and pirates alike screamed as the shock wave sent them tumbling backward.
Aokiji raised an ice wall to shield the Marines behind him, while the plaza turned red beneath the unbearable heat.
Akainu slowly lowered his smoking arm. After being struck by Whitebeard, he had intended to catch the old pirate off guard, but Shiki's sudden appearance had given him a new target.
"You've wasted enough time, Kuzan."
Aokiji shot him a glance, his expression far from pleased.
"You could've warned me before dropping that... You almost took the Marines out with me, Sakazuki."
"If an attack like that was enough to kill you, then you had no business standing here... As for them, dying to eliminate someone as evil as Shiki would be an honor for the Navy."
Magma dripped from Akainu's arm as his gaze settled on the burning crater.
"Golden Lion Shiki. You murdered three Celestial Dragons, attacked a Marine Admiral, invaded Impel Down, and released the filth imprisoned within it."
His voice carried throughout Marineford.
"Your very existence is an insult to justice... Today, I'll burn through you and erase the stain you are upon this world."
The magma inside the crater suddenly began to rise, twisting into burning spheres around a figure slowly emerging from the crater.
Shiki stepped through the flames.
His coat had been singed along one edge, but his body remained untouched.
The magma surrounding him compressed under the force of his gravity until each sphere became smaller than a cannonball.
Shiki looked at Akainu as though he were the biggest joke in the world.
"Justice?"
Burning spheres of compressed magma shot forward, slamming into the Marines like artillery shells.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions engulfed the base, and even the entire structure shook beneath Sengoku, Ace, and the executioners.
Akainu transformed into magma as the attacks tore through him, then reformed amid the smoke.
Shiki's voice reached him, clear and dripping with disgust.
"You people only ever remember that word when someone humiliates you. I can't understand how you Marines can say it with a straight face while protecting filth like that."
Akainu's expression did not change.
"Filth? The Navy is the shield that protects this world from scum like you. Any sacrifice made in the name of justice is an honor—and I'll burn every last one of you from the face of the sea."
Shiki's eyes narrowed slightly, and a quiet, mocking laugh slipped from his lips.
"A shield? Don't make me laugh. You're nothing more than the World Government's attack dog, barking about justice while guarding the filth above you."
His brows lowered as he looked down at Akainu, open contempt settling across his face while he casually rested his sword against his shoulder.
"Dress a dog in a uniform and teach it a few fancy words—it's still just a dog, Sakazuki."
Akainu's face twisted with anger, the veins along his temple bulging as magma erupted from his clenched fist.
"You arrogant bastard!"
He launched himself forward, the molten arm swelling into the jaws of a monstrous hound.
"Hell Hound!"
Aokiji let out a tired sigh as frost spread from beneath his feet.
"You really know how to get under people's skin…"
He raised one hand, and a storm of ice surged forward alongside Akainu's magma.
...
Whitebeard's gaze shifted toward the battle raging around Shiki, and a deep laugh rolled from his chest.
"Gurararara! Garp… looks like those two Navy brats of yours are in trouble."
His eyes narrowed as a thoughtful glint flashed across them.
"That kid's far too young to carry himself like that, but the Haki pouring out of him tells a different story."
Whitebeard tightened his grip on his bisento.
"Gurararara… This era really doesn't have much room left for old men like us."
Garp's lips spread into a broad grin.
"Bwahahaha! Then why don't you give up already, Whitebeard?"
Whitebeard's grin widened.
"Don't get the wrong idea here, Garp."
A pale sphere formed around his fist as cracks spread through the air.
"I still have a father's duty to finish."
Whitebeard swung with all his might.
Garp met the blow with his own fist.
Boom!
The space between them shattered, but unlike before, Whitebeard drove the force of his quake downward as well.
The frozen ground beneath them split apart.
A massive hole opened across the plaza as broken slabs of ice and stone collapsed into the depths below.
Garp kicked off the crumbling ground and leapt backward.
The instant distance opened between them, Whitebeard turned and charged straight toward the execution platform.
Garp stared after him, momentarily speechless.
Then his expression twisted.
"You cunning old bastard!"
Whitebeard laughed as he raised one fist.
"Gurararara!"
The air around his knuckles cracked as he punched forward.
A colossal quake shock wave tore across Marineford, ripping apart the ground as it surged toward the execution platform.
"Damn you, Whitebeard!"
Sengoku clenched his fists.
The Marine coat draped across his shoulders snapped violently behind him as his body expanded, golden light flooding across his skin.
In an instant, he transformed into a towering golden Buddha.
With Akainu and Kuzan occupied by Shiki, Borsalino absent from the war, and the rest of the Marine forces trapped in battle, only Garp and Sengoku remained capable of stopping Whitebeard's advance.
Sengoku leapt from the execution platform.
"I won't let you go any farther, Whitebeard!"
He drove his enormous golden fist forward.
Whitebeard met him head-on, slamming his quake-coated fist into Sengoku's attack.
Boom!
The collision detonated above the plaza.
Space fractured between their fists as a massive shock wave erupted in every direction.
"Arghhh!"
Marines and pirates alike were hurled from their feet.
"They're going to destroy the whole island!"
Doflamingo watched the chaos unfold with a delighted grin.
"Fuffuffuffuffu! Everything's falling apart!"
Mihawk cut down another pirate with effortless precision. His golden eyes, however, were still replaying the slash Shiki had unleashed earlier in his mind.
"Pirate Empress! Why aren't you fighting the enemy?!" a Marine shouted as he hurried toward Hancock from behind.
Hancock slowly turned, annoyance flickering across her face at having her thoughts interrupted. She had been contemplating something far more important.
"You dare raise your voice to me?"
"N-No, I..."
"Perfume Femur."
Her graceful kick struck his face. In an instant, his body turned to stone before he was sent hurtling across the plaza.
Hancock didn't spare him a second glance.
"Pirate or Marine... it makes no difference. All men are equally repulsive."
On the other side, with Garp joining the battle, the pressure on Whitebeard increased dramatically.
Sengoku and Garp attacked him from both sides, steadily adding to the wounds covering his enormous body. Yet Whitebeard fought like a wounded beast that had already resolved itself to die. He met every blow head-on, no longer caring what happened to his body.
The Marines' greatest forces were now locked in battle.
No one else could even approach them.
On one side, ice and magma surged with such violence that the air itself seemed to distort. On another, an ominous black force spread across the battlefield, sending chills through everyone who looked upon it.
The fierce clashes were almost completely hidden from view.
Only the relentless trembling of Marineford revealed the terrifying struggle taking place within.
Boom!
Crack!
The entire island lurched once again.
Luffy stopped in the middle of the plaza.
His sandals scraped across the ice as he stared toward Whitebeard's battle, his eyes trembling.
Whitebeard's enormous figure disappeared and reappeared between explosions, surrounded by Sengoku's golden shock waves and Garp's blackened fists.
"Those old guys…"
For several seconds, Luffy could do nothing but stare.
Then another explosion erupted from the opposite side of Marineford.
Luffy turned his head.
Beyond walls of steam and frozen mist, he caught a glimpse of Shiki standing against two Admirals. Magma rained around him while black slashes carved through them with ease.
Shiki had helped them to Marineford yet Luffy could not help him...
"Damn it…"
A hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.
Luffy looked back and found Zoro standing beside him, one sword resting across his shoulder.
"Don't even think about it."
"Zoro…"
"That isn't a fight we can interfere with."
Zoro glanced toward where Shiki was facing Akainu and Aokiji.
"Getting in there would only slow him down."
Luffy clenched his teeth.
Zoro shifted his gaze toward the execution platform.
"Worry about the fight only we can finish."
Luffy drew in a deep breath.
The helplessness in his expression vanished.
"Right!"
He slammed one fist into his palm.
"I'm saving Ace!"
Luffy charged forward once again.
"Get out of my way!"
His arm stretched backward before snapping ahead.
"Gum-Gum Pistol!"
The punch sent several Marines crashing through the frozen barricades.
A Vice Admiral stepped into his path with a Haki-coated blade, but Zoro appeared from the side and intercepted him.
Clang!
Sparks exploded between their weapons.
"Go!" Zoro shouted.
Luffy raced past them without slowing down, kicking one Marine aside before driving his fist into another officer's stomach.
Meanwhile...
Boom!
"Huff… Huff…"
Whitebeard staggered backward beneath the combined force of another exchange.
Blood streamed from the corner of his mouth, and wounds covered nearly every part of his body. For a moment, it seemed as though even his towering frame might finally collapse.
Then his foot slammed into the shattered ground to steady himself.
"Gurararara!"
Even in such a state, Whitebeard threw back his head and laughed.
"What happened to those fists of yours?" he taunted. "Age has made the two of you soft!"
Garp and Sengoku stared at him with complicated expressions.
They both knew the truth.
Compared to Whitebeard, they were still in far better condition. The man before them was already grievously wounded, his body ravaged by age and illness even before the war had begun.
And yet he still refused to fall.
"Whitebeard, you cannot win this battle!" Sengoku declared.
He raised his fist, preparing to launch another attack.
Whitebeard merely grinned.
"Do not be so quick to decide the future, Sengoku."
Sengoku's eyes narrowed.
"You still underestimate the brats of this era."
Whitebeard glanced toward the battlefield, where countless young pirates continued to advance despite the overwhelming forces standing against them.
"They are the ones who will inherit the seas after us."
"What are you—?"
Before Sengoku could finish, a blazing blue light appeared above the execution platform.
A massive bird wreathed in blue flames swept through the sky, carrying Luffy in its talons.
"It's Commander Marco!"
"Marco!"
The Whitebeard Pirates erupted into cheers at the sight of their First Division Commander returning to the battle after being struck down by Garp.
Sengoku's expression immediately changed.
"Stop him!"
Marines raised their rifles, while several Vice Admirals rushed toward the execution platform.
Marco released Luffy directly above it.
"Straw Hat!"
Luffy began to fall toward Ace.
"Save your brother, yoi!"
Marco spread his wings, and a towering wall of blue flames erupted behind him.
Gunfire disappeared into the flames, while the Marines and Vice Admirals attempting to interfere were forced back by the blazing barrier.
"I'll keep them away from you!"
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