The Quetzalcoatlus.
The largest flying creature of prehistoric times—the king of the skies.
With a wingspan exceeding seventeen meters, its appearance was indeed terrifying.
At least, that was how the Lieutenant Commander felt at this moment—he had completely lost his composure.
"How is this possible? Weren't Quetzalcoatlus' supposed to be extinct long ago?!"
"Idiot."
But Commodore Lanley had already stepped forward.
"Look at its head."
Its head?
The Lieutenant Commander froze for a moment, then finally noticed—
Compared to its enormous body, the head was extremely small, and atop it was an unusual rooster mask. The mask extended along with its beak, making the whole thing look bizarre.
But there was no doubt about what it meant.
"This thing… is a Devil Fruit user."
Lanley stated calmly.
"A Devil Fruit user? That means—he's human?!"
The Lieutenant Commander blurted out almost immediately.
"Could it be the one who attacked Mast Port—"
"No idea."
Lanley let out a low chuckle and slightly raised the great Ōdachi in his hand.
"You should leave."
"Leave? What are you talking about?!"
The Lieutenant Commander froze, then tightened his grip on his musket.
"Now that we know he's the attacker, of course I'll fight alongside you!"
"Idiot! This isn't an opponent you can handle."
Lanley shot him a glance and waved his hand dismissively.
"Leave immediately. Go check the casualties and damage at the other bases. This one's mine."
"But—"
The Lieutenant Commander still hesitated.
At that moment, Lanley roared angrily:
"No 'but'! In my hometown, stopping a man from dueling a strong opponent is a capital crime!"
"…"
Then where is your hometown, exactly?
The Lieutenant Commander grumbled inwardly, but still obeyed without hesitation, turning around and fleeing.
And so, within the forest—
Only Commodore Lanley remained, standing alone and looking up at the colossal figure in the sky.
"You're not going to stop him from leaving?" He gripped his great Ōdachi and grinned.
"No need."
At that moment, the massive creature in the sky actually smiled as well.
"My mission is to take the Celestial Tribute from this place—so I only need to deal with you."
Hearing that, Lanley's grin widened.
"Bold words."
As he spoke, his right hand settled on the hilt of his blade.
"If you want to deal with me, then first you'll have to get past this sword—Chōkō!"
The next instant—
"Clang!"
A clear, ringing sound echoed as silver light flashed.
That was blade light.
"Volcanic Flow · Flying Slash!"
With a sword cry that tore through the air, the tip of Lanley's great Ōdachi Chōkō unleashed a massive silver-white flying slash.
The attack surged straight into the sky.
This alone spoke volumes of Lanley's strength.
A flying sword slash—refined to such a degree. Across the seas, he was unquestionably a top-tier master swordsman.
"Shhk!"
In an instant, the flying slash struck the Quetzalcoatlus's enormous right wing with pinpoint accuracy.
Lanley's lips curled upward slightly.
"A body that big isn't always a good thing."
He knew full well—this slash alone was powerful enough to cleave a small ship in half.
"All I need to do is wait for it to fall from the sky, then—"
He was already thinking ahead to how he would finish the fight.
But in the very next moment, both his thoughts and his smile froze.
Because at that instant—
"Boom!"
As the dust dispersed, Lanley saw something that made his expression stiffen completely.
The massive Quetzalcoatlus continued to soar high in the sky.
The enormous wing that had been struck showed no wound at all.
Its smooth wing membrane gleamed with a cold, stone-like luster under the sunlight; only a faint white mark testified to the existence of that previous slash.
"It's actually this hard…"
Lanley's expression grew completely serious.
With just that single exchange, he had already realized that this fight would not be easy.
His flying sword slash couldn't injure the opponent, and the opponent's ability to fly meant that most of his other sword techniques would be extremely difficult to land.
In the end, this was precisely the greatest advantage of a flying-type Devil Fruit.
"Hmm!?"
But just as Lanley was thinking of a countermeasure, he saw the colossal figure in the sky move!
The huge Quetzalcoatlus body rapidly shrank and transformed before his astonished eyes.
In the blink of an eye, the shadow that had blotted out the sky vanished.
What replaced it was a figure that slammed down to the ground.
"Boom!"
The heavy impact shook the earth, sending a ring of air rippling outward.
Standing before Lanley was a humanoid monster nearly three meters tall.
He still wore that signature rooster mask. His body retained the basic outline of a human, yet it was covered in rock-like blue-gray dragon scales.
His arms had transformed into thicker draconic claws, complete with talons and wing membranes; his legs had become powerful, reverse-jointed beast legs.
A thick dragon tail swayed slightly behind him.
This was Roy's human–beast form of the Quetzalcoatlus Fruit.
"You bastard…"
Seeing this, Lanley felt a surge of rage.
The hand gripping his sword bulged with veins from the force of his grip.
"Are you humiliating me?!"
Voluntarily giving up aerial superiority—this was nothing short of an insult!
"On the contrary."
Roy replied softly.
"I just think you're worth letting me stretch my legs a bit."
As he spoke, he twisted his neck, producing crisp crack crack sounds.
Then he smiled at Lanley.
"Ready? Then let's begin!"
"You—"
Lanley tried to say something more.
But a moment later, he swallowed his words back down.
Because in the next instant, he realized that the other figure had vanished.
"Shave (Soru)!? That fast!"
Lanley was shocked, but before he could think further—
His Observation Haki had already captured an enormous, violent force surging in from his side.
"Volcanic Flow · Iron Guard!"
Without hesitation, Lanley raised his great Ōdachi to his side like a shield.
Invisible power spread across the blade.
It was one of the most mysterious powers on the seas—
Armament Haki!
The next moment, a massive winged claw slammed down onto the Ōdachi.
"Clang!"
A thunderous crash like colliding steel rang out as sparks exploded everywhere. Lanley's body was blasted away, smashing through the trunk of a massive tree.
"A combination of Armament Haki and Iron Body? And you've even integrated it into your sword techniques?"
Roy remarked with clear interest.
"So this is Vice Admiral Kasayama's sword style—Volcanic Flow. Impressive!"
And just as his words fell—
"Don't get too cocky, you bastard!"
Lanley burst out from within the shattered tree.
"Since you chose close combat yourself, don't expect me to hold back—Volcanic Flow · Ten Tempests!"
With a sharp whoosh, his figure vanished from the spot as well. As a Marine Commodore, his mastery of Shave was naturally top-tier.
In the next instant, he appeared at Roy's side.
The great Ōdachi in his hands, wrapped in Haki, transformed into streaks of silver light, slashing wildly at Roy's vital points at extreme speed and from vicious angles.
"Not holding back?"
Roy answered with a light laugh.
"That's exactly what I was hoping for."
And so, the great battle began!