A monstrous, sky-blotting wave surged from the distant rear, bearing down on the warship with the force of utter annihilation.
"Holy crap!" Bacon's eyes nearly popped out of his head, his tongue twisting in terror. He scrambled frantically for a handhold, muttering curses at his jailbreak companions for not warning him.
"Aaaah!" A chorus of indistinct screams came from behind. The Straw Hat crew's ship bobbed like a sesame seed amidst the raging waves.
"Nyehehehe… It seems some things can't be easily changed. Even in this situation, they still managed to escape. Blackbeard's crew likely did as well. Nyehehehe… This is going to be troublesome." From atop the warship's mast, a deep voice emanated from within the giant serpent, its eyes glowing red.
The waves were colossal. Even before the tsunami reached the warship, everyone felt the vessel begin to rise. The violent rocking made even Wilder feel uncertain; he'd underestimated the power of this thing.
Seawater washed onto the deck, then flowed back out the other side, repeating the process. The gigantic tsunami drew ever closer.
A shadow fell over the sky. With a tremendous, shuddering groan from the ship, the tsunami crashed down!
"Waaah—!!" Bacon's scream pierced the heavens. His eyes had bulged out of their sockets, and his tongue was contorted as if it had grown bones.
Two warships were pushed together by the waves, rising higher and higher with the surge.
"Oiiii! Uncle! It's good to see you again! Shishishi!" Monkey D. Luffy, with his signature idiotic grin, waved at the giant serpent on the mast. He'd seen Wilder's swamp form before, and only someone with his carefree attitude and thick skull could manage to greet someone at a time like this.
"Are you some kind of freak?! You're in the mood to say hello at a time like this?!" Bacon couldn't help but roar.
"Nyehehehe…"
"You too! Why are you laughing at a time like this?!" Bacon turned, his teeth bared in a jagged snarl.
The warship rose higher and higher, until it was pushed to the very crest of the wave.
"Aaaah!"
"What's that?!"
At that moment, the crew saw the scene below the wave.
"Marineford!" Jinbe, the Knight of the Sea, said with a grave expression.
"Aaaah! We're gonna die! We're gonna die!"
The two opposing waves crashed down, engulfing Marineford.
"Ice Age!" A resonant, magnetic voice rang out.
Two sharp spikes of ice extended outward, piercing the giant waves.
"Crack… crack…" A grating, teeth-on-edge sound echoed as the extreme cold spread rapidly. In the blink of an eye, the terrifying waves were instantly transformed into two colossal icebergs!
Thud!
"A-Amazing! As expected of Admiral Aokiji!" The marines were dumbstruck, their faces filled with awe.
"Gurararara, not bad, Ice Boy," Whitebeard declared from atop the Moby Dick. His towering figure stood tall and proud. Even with his generated tsunami frozen solid, he showed no change in expression, laughing boisterously.
The battle had officially begun!
"Bang, bang, bang…!"
Gunfire and exploding cannonballs erupted. The battlefield was instantly shrouded in smoke and fire!
The crescent-shaped inner bay was frozen solid, rendering ships immobile. The Whitebeard Pirates' crew began leaping from their ships, preparing for a forced landing.
The battle progressed rapidly and fiercely. In the blink of an eye, blades clashed!
"Die, Marines!"
"Everyone, rescue Ace!"
The Whitebeard Pirates advanced towards the execution platform. Every so often, someone would fall along the way.
"Splat!" A pirate cleaved a marine with his sword, blood spraying. The marine collapsed.
"Bang!" A gunshot rang out. From a distance, a captain shot the pirate down.
Below the execution platform, Aokiji, having refrozen the tsunami, had returned to his seat. He, along with Kizaru and Akainu, watched the battle unfold. Similarly, Whitebeard and some of the higher-ranking commanders of his fleet had yet to make a move.
The pirates pushed towards the execution platform, while the marines formed a solid defense, blocking and killing the pirates.
The battle between the two sides was brutal and swift.
"Buzz…!" The Fifth Division Commander, "Flower Sword" Vista, entered the fray. Red flower petals fluttered around him as he wielded two sharp swords. Blood spurted from a rear admiral who stood in his path, and the man fell lifelessly to the ground.
The Sixth Division Commander, Blamenco, wielding a wooden mallet five or six times larger than his own body, smashed his way through numerous marines.
"Charge!" With numerous commanders paving the way, the pirates' morale soared. A dense mass of pirates charged forward on the ice of Marineford's crescent bay.
"Hahaha! Kill! Rescue Ace!" The Fifteenth Division Commander, Fossa, wielding a sword wreathed in flames, unleashed a sweeping blow. A terrifying wave of air, carrying flames, radiated outward, instantly toppling the marines blocking his path. Screams of agony rose and fell.
The Whitebeard Pirates were unstoppable.
Below the execution platform, in the middle of the three chairs, a man wearing an ordinary marine soldier's cap slowly raised his head. He had a plain, middle-aged face, unsmiling, with a glint of light flashing in his indifferent eyes. He was one of the three Marine Admirals, the one known as Akainu, Sakazuki!
Akainu slowly stood up, his gaze fixed on the pirates below. His face was expressionless, but a terrifying heat emanated from his body.
"Hiss!" A tiny flame emerged from his clenched fist, but it was extinguished in an instant. A red glow emanated from his fist, growing brighter and brighter, until…
A torrent of magma erupted!
"Meteor Volcano!" A somewhat aged and dry voice came from Akainu. His face was no longer expressionless; his teeth were clenched, and killing intent spread. Countless massive, fist-shaped magma projectiles shot forth from his hands, soaring into the sky and vanishing in an instant.
"Whoosh…!"
"What's that sound?" On the battlefield, the advancing pirates slowed their pace. Some looked around in confusion.
"Splat!" Flower Sword Vista dodged a marine and looked up at the sky. His pupils constricted!
"Everyone, run!"
A slightly trembling shout rang out. Everyone else had now noticed something was amiss. The surrounding air had suddenly become hot in a short amount of time. A sense of foreboding rose from the depths of everyone's hearts. When they looked up, the sky was already stained red!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Countless massive magma fists, trailing fiery streams, fell from the sky! They slammed onto the ice-covered battlefield!
"Aaaah!" Piercing screams erupted! Pirates under Whitebeard's command began to flee, dodging the falling magma!
"Bam, bam, bam!" Ice shattered! The magma punched holes in the bay's surface, and seawater began to surge in!
"Aaaah! It's hot!"
Before long, the seawater began to bubble ominously. Under the assault of the magma, the water in the bay began to boil!
Countless pirates fell into the water, their screams echoing as they were scalded by the boiling seawater. They desperately swam towards the remaining, unfrozen ice!
In this near-apocalyptic magma bombardment, besides pirates, a number of marines were also caught in the crossfire, suffering significant casualties.
By the time the magma stopped falling, the battlefield was a scene of utter devastation, with hundreds dead or wounded.
"…What a terrifying natural disaster!" On the platform below the three Admirals at Marineford, a man dressed in a pink feather coat laughed wildly.
But soon, his brow furrowed, and he looked up at the sky. Dozens of black dots, split into two groups, were growing larger.
"Aaaah!" Screams of terror drew closer, until everyone could hear them. They looked up at the sky. The black dots became clearer, revealing vaguely human-like figures falling at high speed.
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