Boom! Boom!! Boom!!!....
Like a curtain of rain, cannonballs smashed into the path of the Nine Serpent Pirate Group's advance, round after round. The three giant serpents pulling the ships were forced to stop, their hulls rocking.
"Your Majesty!"
The sudden bombardment interrupted their conversation. The king's guard, steadying himself against the swaying, quickly looked towards Eirenna.
Eirenna narrowed her eyes, her expressionless face radiating a subtle killing intent.
"Initiate saturation bombardment."
Her cold voice rang out, followed by volleys of arrows imbued with Haki, rhythmically flying towards the warships.
It had to be said, the magic of Armament Haki was incredible. Arrows imbued with it possessed not only great range but also immense power. A single hit on the deck would blow a hole through it.
On the warship, arrow rain filled the sky. Soldiers, some bare-handed, others armed, covered themselves in Haki and deflected the arrows.
On one side stood an elite force chosen by a nation, seasoned veterans of the seas for years. On the other, aspiring naval elites not yet fully grown. For a moment, cheers of surprise erupted from the warship.
"Hiss!!"
"It hurts, it hurts so much!!!"
"How can these arrows be so powerful!!"
"Ugh!"
"Ah!!!"
"Clang!"
"Ding, ding!"
Soldiers wielding weapons gasped at the arrows' power. For those without weapons... the point of contact with an arrow was akin to a bomb exploding, cries of pain filling the air.
Meanwhile, Sakazuki stood on the topmost deck, his Observation Haki fully active, his fingers tapping rhythmically.
Some of the arrows, aimed at critical angles that would have severely injured the soldiers, were all deflected into the sea by Sakazuki's Finger Pistol.
Moments later, all the soldiers on the ship had sustained injuries, many bruised. A few were hit by arrows, but none were fatal.
Fueled by the adrenaline of life-or-death combat, the soldiers fought with increasing ferocity. Their Armament Haki became more proficient, and their reaction speed improved.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three subtle piercing sounds echoed. Sakazuki, on the top deck, flickered and instantly vanished, reappearing at the warship's railing.
"All of you, stand down."
Sakazuki's voice boomed, not waiting for a reaction.
Appearing on the deck, Sakazuki waved his hand, and a magma curtain, infused with Armament Haki, materialized, standing vertically on one side of the warship.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions like thunder roared, causing a ringing in the ears of everyone on the ship. Immediately after,
Boom! Boom! Boom!....
The sounds of explosions continued unabated. Outside the magma wall, with Empress's continuous attacks, the Nine Serpent Pirate Group rapidly advanced towards the warship.
Sakazuki's Observation Haki detected this, and his brow furrowed.
"Seeking death."
"Finger Pistol."
He withdrew the magma wall, his right hand adopting a pistol-like stance. His index finger glowed red, with faint traces of magma flowing.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!....
Like bullets, black magma projectiles imbued with Armament Haki shot out from Sakazuki's index finger towards the Nine Serpent Pirate Group.
Seeing the bullet-sized magma projectiles approaching, the Nine Serpent Pirate Group paid them no mind. One by one, the combatants leaped onto the bow of the ship, drawing their swords and slashing at them with Haki.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!...
Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!...
As the combatants of the Nine Serpent Pirate Group swung their swords to cut down the magma projectiles, the projectiles did not fly away. The roar of clashing Armament Haki echoed.
What followed was a scene that filled the ship's occupants with terror. Upon impact with the magma projectiles, a thunderous roar sounded, and then the magma projectiles rapidly grew and expanded, accompanied by angry roars.
Each magma projectile transformed into a molten lava giant tiger, spewing black smoke, and lunged towards the group. Its massive tiger claws slammed into the combatants, the sound of flesh and blood exploding echoing repeatedly.
"What!!!"
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!"
"Bang!!!"
"Save...!!"
"Ugh ah ah ah!!!"
"Puff!!!"
The immense force struck the combatants. Most, in their terror, were reduced to mist. The few who managed to react and cover their bodies with Armament Haki were still sent flying backward, crashing through layer after layer of the ship's deck.
The lava giant tigers, devoid of intelligence, could only perform simple pounces and reckless charges. They would only stop when shattered or when they left Sakazuki's ability's range.
In just a few breaths, the bow of the Nine Serpent Pirate Group's ship suffered heavy casualties. Eirenna, the Empress of the Nine Serpent tribe, felt her anger surge, her Conqueror's Haki erupting and pressing forward.
Several lava giant tigers at the bow froze momentarily. In the blink of an eye, several black arrows shot from the hands of the reacting combatants, striking the heads of the giant tigers.
A series of explosions rang out, and the heads of the lava giant tigers were blown off. They thought it was over.
However, they never expected that the lava giant tigers, whose heads had been blown off, would glow red, releasing a scorching heat that swept towards everyone.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Like lava bombs, scattered magma rained down upon them, engulfing the entire ship in a sea of thick smoke and flames.
Some magma struck the three giant serpents pulling the ship. The pain of the burns caused the serpents to writhe frantically, making the ship sway violently.
Then, an incredibly domineering aura, accompanied by killing intent, struck the serpents. The fear in the hearts of the three giant serpents overwhelmed the pain of the burns, forcing them to quiet down.
"Everyone, extinguish the flames!"
Eirenna, suppressing her anger, forcefully maintained her composure and gave the order. Then, she leaped out, sonic booms sounding with every step. Eirenna's figure flickered in the air as she charged towards the warship.
Plundering ships was a common occurrence, but they had never suffered such losses or been in such a desperate state, even when repeatedly cornered by the navy.
For her, the Empress of the ancient Nine Serpent tribe, this was an unforgivable matter.
Watching Eirenna charge from a distance, seemingly using Moon Walk,
"You think the navy is empty just because you've escaped a few ambushes?"
Sakazuki's indifferent voice echoed. The navy currently lacked the energy to deploy a large-scale encirclement here.
This island nation was the only one in the Calm Belt. Conquering it would be of little use, and transportation would be extremely troublesome, with constant worry of Sea King attacks. However, it was not an excuse for a mere pirate nation to act with impunity.
Bang!
Sakazuki stomped his foot, charging diagonally. He didn't need to step on air, flying directly towards Eirenna. His body tilted slightly to the right, and his right arm, imbued with Armament Haki, was thrown into a punch.
Clang!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!....
Mid-air over the sea, Eirenna's right foot, wrapped in Conqueror's Haki, collided with Sakazuki's fist. The sound of metal striking metal rang out as they were locked in a stalemate.
The sea below was affected by their auras, exploding like torpedoes in the ocean, sending countless geysers of water erupting from the surface.
Hiss—Hiss—!!!!
Faint black lightning sparks flickered from their collision. Moments later,
Bang!
A figure was sent flying, crashing into the corpse of a Sea King hundreds of meters long from earlier. After breaking countless massive bone spurs on its back,
Boom!!!!!!!!!!