Aokiji's massive ice form fused seamlessly with the frozen sea beneath him, anchoring his lower body into the ice itself as waves of freezing air spread across the battlefield.
With tremendous force, he surged forward and pressed against one of Zunesha's front legs.
Aramaki glanced sideways at the towering ice giant and smirked.
"You brat, when did you learn a trick like this?"
Aokiji continued forcing Zunesha back without looking away.
"It wasn't difficult to develop. I just never had the chance to use it before."
His confident reply carried unmistakable pride, causing Aramaki to burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Good! Then let's see whose power is greater!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Aramaki let out a fierce roar. Countless thick vines erupted from his body, coiling tightly around his gigantic wooden arms like dense muscle fibers.
These vines were not merely for appearance. They truly functioned like muscles, the more vines that wrapped around him, the greater the strength they generated.
Naturally, Aokiji had no intention of falling behind.
His ice could not directly increase his physical strength, but the freezing aura continuously released from it drastically slowed Zunesha's movements.
From another perspective, every bit of speed Zunesha lost became an advantage for Aokiji. As the giant elephant slowed and exhausted itself, Aokiji's ability to restrain it became increasingly effective.
Together, he was no less useful than Aramaki.
Aramaki's enormous tree form roared as countless vines wrapped around Zunesha's legs like gigantic serpents.
"This beast is mine to stop!"
Aokiji's ice giant raised both hands and slammed them against Zunesha's massive abdomen. Frost instantly spread across the elephant's skin, freezing layer after layer.
"Stop acting tough. Your vines won't last much longer."
Under the combined restraint of ice and vines, Zunesha's advance became slower and slower.
Meanwhile, Admiral Akainu, Admiral Kizaru, and Kuma continued launching relentless attacks from above.
Akainu's gigantic magma hound clamped its jaws around Zunesha's trunk.
Kizaru's lasers poured down like a relentless storm.
Kuma's Ursus Shock shattered the muscle tissue beneath the frozen surface.
Even Zunesha's mountain-sized body gradually began to tilt, nearly collapsing under the overwhelming pressure.
A sorrowful trumpet echoed across the heavens.
Bound by vines and frozen solid, the ancient elephant found it increasingly difficult to move even a single step.
Watching their guardian being held back, both the Giants and the Minks felt despair sink into their hearts.
To them, Zunesha had always been their ultimate weapon.
A living king.
An unstoppable force once it began marching.
Before this war, none of them had ever imagined that human beings could actually restrain such an ancient monster.
Their understanding of strength had been completely overturned.
Could humans truly become this powerful?
Even worse, there were five people capable of doing it simultaneously.
And every one of them belonged to the enemy.
As far as they knew, the Navy possessed six Admirals.
That meant one Admiral had not even entered the battlefield yet.
If another Admiral-level powerhouse appeared now, what chance would they have left?
Yet that was not the most terrifying thought.
Above all six Admirals stood one man.
Fleet Admiral Black Dragon.
Just how powerful was he?
Could even Joy Boy withstand someone like that?
For the first time, the two races who trusted Joy Boy the most, and regarded him as their destined savior, found doubt creeping into their hearts.
High atop Zunesha's head, Joy Boy's relaxed expression finally changed.
His brows knitted together.
He slowly clenched both fists, clearly sensing the strength within his body fading.
Looking down at Admiral Akainu and the others below, he quietly muttered,
"So my heart is wavering... over something like this."
After a brief silence, he gently shook his head.
"Then again... they are not the people from eight hundred years ago."
"I shouldn't expect too much."
As his words faded, Joy Boy bent down and placed both palms against Zunesha's enormous body.
The rhythm of the Drums of Liberation resonated together with the giant elephant's heartbeat.
"My companion... it's time."
In an instant, brilliant golden light erupted from Zunesha's pupils.
Ancient patterns resembling mysterious inscriptions emerged across its colossal body, flowing like streams of molten gold.
Akainu, Kizaru, and Kuma all froze in surprise.
Before any of them could react...
Zunesha released a thunderous roar.
The terrifying sound waves swept outward like a tangible force, instantly blasting Akainu, Kizaru, Kuma, Aokiji, and Aramaki away.
The massive sheets of ice shattered.
The vines wrapped around Zunesha's legs exploded apart.
Freed from the combined restraint of the five Admirals, Zunesha immediately charged forward once again.
Its momentum became even greater than before.
The five Admirals had barely regained their footing when the colossal elephant crashed toward them.
Their Logia bodies were instantly torn apart by the overwhelming impact.
Kuma was the only one who was not a Logia user.
The instant Zunesha reached him, he immediately raised both hands and pressed the paw pads against the elephant's body.
Although he could not repel something as enormous as Zunesha, the repelling force launched his own body backward, allowing him to escape the devastating collision.
Even Kuma could not confidently withstand the impact of a creature standing thirty-five thousand meters tall through sheer physical durability alone.
With the five Admirals forced apart, the blockade completely collapsed.
Nothing remained to stop Zunesha.
Golden inscriptions flickered brilliantly across its body as the colossal elephant charged directly toward the Red Line with unstoppable force.
Given its unimaginable size, every single step covered nearly ten kilometers.
At full speed, it would soon crash into the Red Line.
Witnessing Zunesha break through the Navy's blockade, the morale of both the Giants and the Minks soared.
They raised their weapons and roared together,
"For freedom!"
The Navy immediately launched a fierce counteroffensive, suppressing them with overwhelming force and quickly crushing the momentum they had regained.
Even so, the brief surge in morale restored the strength Joy Boy had lost.
Standing atop Zunesha's head, one hand resting on his straw hat, Joy Boy gazed through the clouds toward the towering Red Line growing ever closer.
In his mind, he could already see Mary Geoise reduced to rubble beneath Zunesha's unstoppable charge.
At that very moment, the guards stationed in Mary Geoise noticed the colossal shadow rapidly approaching across the distant sea.
Panic spread instantly throughout the Holy Land.
Messengers rushed to report the emergency deeper into Mary Geoise.
Many Celestial Dragons had already retired for the night, sleeping peacefully beside their wives.
They were violently awakened by frantic guards bursting into their rooms.
Before they could vent their anger, they heard the shocking report.
A gigantic object was about to collide with Mary Geoise.
The moment they understood the situation, they panicked even more than the guards themselves.
Still wearing little more than their robes, they fled into the streets in terror.
As soon as they stepped outside, they were met by the desperate screams of countless other Celestial Dragons.
Then, from somewhere within the terrified crowd, an unknown voice suddenly shouted,
"Saint Lloyd, save us!"
The surrounding Celestial Dragons froze for a brief moment.
Then, as though they had found their final hope, every one of them began shouting at the top of their lungs.
"Saint Lloyd, save us!"