Under the threat of life and death, the Golden Lion's adrenaline surged.
Everything in his vision seemed to slow down.
Watching the two figures attacking at point-blank range.
He unleashed Conqueror's Haki.
He moved his arms, slashing left and right with his swords.
Faster! Faster!! Faster!!!
The Golden Lion, at this moment, intensely regretted his own slow speed.
Crack! Crack!!!
Two sounds of bone cracking echoed in succession.
Sengoku and Garp's fists, one to the left and one to the right, slammed fiercely into the Golden Lion's chest.
Krak—
A tremendous force spread outwards, followed by a series of bone-cracking sounds.
Centered on the point of impact, the bones shattered outwards.
All the ribs in his chest were pulverized.
Ugh!
The Golden Lion's face contorted, and he spat blood.
In an instant, he gritted his teeth and remained still.
With his adrenaline pumping, his mind was incredibly clear.
He suppressed his body's instincts. If he spat out all that blood,
his body would completely deflate, and he would surely die.
Then, he activated his Devil Fruit ability.
He forcibly stabilized the shattered bones rushing towards his heart, protecting it.
What seemed like a long time,
was actually completed in the mere instant his chest shattered.
Then, with a ferocious expression, the Golden Lion,
imbued his two famous swords with Conqueror's Haki and slashed at Sengoku and Garp's chests.
The two, having anticipated this, one transformed into a golden giant, the other coated his body in Armament Haki to defend.
Hiss—
The clashing Haki sparked scattering black and purple lightning.
The violent gusts of wind caused the cloaks of the three men to billow.
The Golden Lion roared and gathered his strength:
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
He slashed down fiercely with his swords!
Two golden sword waves, hundreds of meters long, shot out from his blades.
The Float-Float Fruit allowed him to anchor himself in the air for leverage, while Sengoku and Garp had nowhere to brace themselves.
Even though their strength surpassed the Golden Lion's, without leverage,
they were still pushed back by the sword waves.
"Cough! Cough!!"
The Golden Lion coughed up several mouthfuls of blood on the spot.
His breathing rapidly weakened:
"Hoo! Hoo!! Hoo!!"
He gasped for air, cold sweat pouring down his face.
The aftereffects of the adrenaline surge struck, leaving him incredibly weak.
He dared not linger.
He flew upwards.
The two, who had been blown back by the sword waves in the distance, had now shattered them.
They pursued, treading on Moonwalk.
With a stomp of their feet, the air within a radius of dozens of meters exploded.
Their burst of speed was actually a few notches faster than the Golden Lion's Devil Fruit ability.
They were hot on the heels of the Golden Lion.
The Golden Lion flew upwards without looking back.
His Observation Haki clearly sensed the two pursuing him.
A fierce glint flashed in the Golden Lion's eyes.
He activated his ability.
The floating island headquarters above his head shattered and reassembled.
Countless giant lions, along with surrounding pirate ships, plunged downwards.
Innumerable pirates were engulfed by the debris and hurled towards the two.
Some even fell from the sky towards the sea below.
The fleet he had painstakingly built was destroyed, and though it pained him,
it was enough if it could buy him even a moment's delay!
Only by surviving could he have anything!!!
Sengoku below watched the Golden Lion's ability.
He frowned.
Roar!!!
Several giant lion heads roared and charged forward.
Carrying violent gusts of wind.
They aimed to crush the two downwards.
Seeing this, Sengoku transformed into a hundred-meter-tall golden Buddha.
Hum—
A golden palm was covered by a translucent shockwave.
He swung upwards!
The shockwave, like a beam of light, tore through the sky.
Piercing through a string of giant lion heads.
Then, a series of explosions erupted.
Boom boom boom boom....
The incoming gusts of wind still impeded Sengoku for a moment.
Meanwhile, Garp's approach was simple and brutal.
He moved his right fist behind him to charge,
his left elbow moved forward.
He stomped on the air beneath his feet, unleashing Moonwalk.
His entire body coated in Armament Haki, he charged directly.
Bang bang bang bang.....
The giant lion heads here were all shattered and exploded.
Yet Garp's speed did not falter.
A sinister grin spread across his face as he closed in on the fleeing Golden Lion:
"Shiki!!!!"
The Golden Lion ahead felt the fatal threat.
He couldn't dodge...
He turned, ripped off his billowing cloak, and flung it at Garp.
At this moment, Garp was only two or three body lengths away from the Golden Lion.
He closed the distance in an instant.
The cloak flung by the Golden Lion obscured Garp's vision.
It landed on Garp's body.
However, at such a short distance, coupled with Observation Haki,
it made no difference.
His pitch-black Armament Haki, almost tangible,
flowed like water around Garp's right fist:
"Die!!!"
He threw a punch at the Golden Lion's head.
The Golden Lion's sense of danger intensified.
He was locked on!
Garp's Iron Fist, in the Golden Lion's rapidly constricting pupils,
grew ever closer.
The fist wind had already touched his eyebrows.
Suddenly!
The Golden Lion retracted all his Devil Fruit abilities and focused them on himself.
Under the immense buoyancy, his entire body seemed to shift as if by magic.
He moved upwards a notch, and Garp's Iron Fist struck his left shoulder.
Bang!
A mist of blood exploded, and his entire shoulder disintegrated.
His left arm, along with Sakura Ten, fell downwards.
Ignoring his severed arm, the Golden Lion used the impact to accelerate backwards.
Simultaneously, he pressed down with his right hand.
The cloak covering Garp suddenly erupted with immense power.
Like a meteor, it dragged Garp downwards.
By the time Garp tore away the Golden Lion's cloak,
the Golden Lion had already vanished.
And all of this happened in mere moments.
Leaving no time for anyone to react.
The crew of the Golden Lion's fleet hadn't even figured out what was happening when,
the ships and island debris, from which the Golden Lion had withdrawn his powers, began to fall.
"Save me!!!"
"Damn it!"
"What's going on!!!"
"Where's Boss Shiki!"
"What happened!!!"
Freefalling from thousands of meters high, no one desired such an experience.
Except for a few powerful pirates who could stomp on the air with their strength,
or escape using their Devil Fruit abilities,
the rest were certainly doomed.
The sky cleared, with only a few individuals escaping.
But they couldn't feel any joy....
Because they were met by the hundred-meter-tall golden Buddha,
and Garp, the "Hero" who chased Roger all over the world.....
Cold sweat trickled down their foreheads.
Swallowing hard, someone suddenly shouted:
"Run!!!!"
Everyone scattered.
Sengoku's colossal Buddha face remained expressionless.
The translucent shockwaves in his hands had formed sometime previously....
Hum—
--------------
Meanwhile, Garp's arms flowed with Armament Haki as he grinned menacingly at the pirates.
Bang!
The air beneath his feet exploded, and he seemed to teleport as he charged towards the pirates.
--------------
On the sea fleet, aligned in a single line.
Sakazuki stood at the bow of the central warship.
He watched the islands and pirates falling from the sky.
The corner of his mouth curled up.
He clapped his hands together.
Snap!
He transformed into magma and expanded wildly in all directions.
Then, he surged towards the other warships, forming a magma giant seated atop five of them.
The magma giant had a face like a demon, yet its eyes were closed in compassion.
Thousands of arms sprouted from its back, forming fists and pointing forward.
Sakazuki stood on the magma giant's head with his arms crossed, his low voice resonating.
"Descending Thousand Hands · Asura of Compassion."
As his voice faded, from the magma giant's thousands of arms,
magma erupted fiercely,
a thousand arms detached from the body and reformed, repeating the process.
Endless black smoke and heatwaves propelled the magma arms, like rocket missiles.
They covered the sky.
Infinite firepower rained down towards the falling pirates and ships......
------------
Late 1491, Age of the Sea. Shiki the Golden Lion attacked Marine Branch G3.
The Marines deployed five warships, led by Vice Admiral Sakazuki, engaging in a fierce battle in the Rana Sea.
The Golden Lion's fleet was annihilated, and Shiki, with a severed arm, escaped.
The Marine Headquarters suffered zero casualties.
The world was in an uproar, and Sakazuki's name resounded across the seas.