"Kill!!"
"Take out all the Marines!!"
"Kill Daren!!"
...
The battle erupted in full force.
Countless pirates surged toward the Marines, eyes bloodshot, faces twisted in madness. With no path left to retreat, they knew they had only one option—to fight their way through.
"Protect Commodore Daren!!"
"Hold the line!!"
"Push forward!!"
The Marines fired relentlessly, shielding Daren behind them with unwavering resolve.
"This... this has never happened before. Pirates daring to launch a direct assault on the Marines..."
Borsalino suddenly grinned and shot up into the air.
"Can't let you guys take out Daren now, can I..."
With his arms thrown open, he pinched his fingers into a poised gesture.
A blinding golden light erupted, and golden beams of energy poured down on the pirates like a torrential storm.
"Yasakani no Magatama."
Boom—boom—boom—
Like a divine purge, wave after wave of explosions tore through the pirates, spraying blood and limbs into the air. Many didn't even have time to react before being swallowed by the dense barrage of light bullets.
Flames roared into the sky, black smoke rolled across the battlefield, and screams of agony filled the air.
Countless pirates turned into burning husks, writhing on the ground before crumbling into charred skeletons.
Daren, shielded by the Marine formation, watched the devastation, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.
When Borsalino got serious with Yasakani no Magatama... it was absolute carnage.
"Impact Wave!!"
Sengoku had also entered the fray, his massive golden Buddha form surrounded on all sides by a sea of pirates. But every thunderous palm strike blasted dozens of them flying, blood spraying from their mouths.
The ground quaked under the sheer force of the shockwaves, dust clouds surging into the air.
"Kahahahaha!!! This is it!! This is the rush I live for!!"
A booming laugh echoed through the chaos.
Bullet's figure crashed into the pirate horde like a feral beast, his movements sweeping and brutal. Everything in his path was destroyed. No one could last even a single exchange against him.
"Damn it!! Bullet, you bastard! You're a pirate!!"
"Go after the Marines! Why the hell are you attacking us!?"
"We're on the same side here!!"
Bullet shattered a pirate's skull with one punch, then sent another pirate with a hundred-million bounty flying over a hundred meters with a brutal spinning kick. His eyes gleamed red with madness as he roared with laughter.
"Why the hell should I listen to any of you!?"
"Marine or pirate—I'll kill whoever I damn well please!!"
"Stand with you weaklings? Don't make me laugh!!"
"Kahahaha!! Daren, watch closely... I'm way stronger than you!!"
Daren: ...
He paused, then sneered.
"Is that so? I don't buy it."
"I wiped out Shiki's entire fleet on my own."
"If you want to prove you're stronger than me, then take out all the pirates here with bounties over 100 million. There's only, what, forty or fifty of them? Do that, and I'll admit you're the stronger one."
Bullet blinked, then his eyes blazed with crazed excitement.
"Kahahaha! You said it!"
"Get ready to eat your words!"
"Besides, in your current pathetic state, killing you wouldn't even be satisfying!"
He suddenly turned, locking eyes with the pirates in front of him whose faces had turned pale with fear. Like a predator eyeing its prey, he licked his cracked lips and grinned wickedly.
"Sorry about this... Try your best to entertain me."
With that, Bullet activated his Devil Fruit ability once more.
A purple-black vortex surged outward as countless rocks and chunks of earth gathered onto his body. In the blink of an eye, a towering behemoth hundreds of meters tall took shape.
It rose from the earth—monstrous and overwhelming.
"This time... I'm gonna go on a real killing spree!!!"
Bullet roared with laughter, swinging his mountain-sized arms and slamming them down!
Boom!!
Dozens of pirates were obliterated in an instant, crushed into pulp before they could even react.
The ground shook violently, groaning under the impact, dirt and debris flying everywhere.
Bullet's laughter echoed across the battlefield as his giant form charged into the densest part of the pirate ranks, flattening everything in his path.
Blood ran like rivers.
Sengoku stared, dumbfounded.
What the hell is this...!?
Is he an idiot?
He turned to Daren with a blank expression.
Daren gave a weary shrug.
...
Of course, not everyone was out of options.
"We should go..."
Charlotte Perospero supported the badly injured Charlotte Daifuku, glancing at the chaos engulfing the battlefield as he lowered his voice.
Charlotte Daifuku pressed his pale lips tightly together and said nothing.
The Moa Moa no Mi had already fallen into Marine hands. Their chance was gone.
Even though the pirates on Coin Island seemed numerous, compared to the elite forces of the Marines, they were just a disorderly mob.
Their apparent advantage in numbers meant little. With Sengoku and Borsalino—two top-tier powerhouses—still at full strength, it was only a matter of time before the pirates were wiped out.
Both of them were already wounded. If they stayed any longer, they'd end up dying here.
And not just the two of them...
On the other side—
"The Conflagration" King landed steadily atop a crumbling rooftop, breathing heavily. One hand clutched at the wound on his abdomen.
A vivid stream of blood ran down from beneath his mask.
"It's time to retreat," he muttered weakly.
Borsalino's strength had far exceeded his expectations. Judging from how relaxed he still looked, it was clear he hadn't even been fighting seriously.
"Hey, aren't you leaving? If you don't go now, you won't get another chance."
King suddenly turned and called out to a shadowed corner.
After a moment of silence, a figure slowly stepped out of the darkness.
Marco pulled back part of his hood, speaking with a hint of resignation.
"How did you spot me?"
King replied coldly,
"You hid well, but that Phoenix scent of yours—I could smell it from kilometers away."
As a fellow Zoan-type Devil Fruit user, and with a unique racial bloodline, King had a heightened sensitivity to different kinds of aura and scent.
Marco froze in surprise.
And in that brief moment of distraction—
Shhk!!
A streak of black light shot straight through his body.
Marco's pupils widened. He looked down to see a blue-green flame slowly ignite around his abdomen, rapidly healing the wound.
He'd been discovered!
Marco quickly looked up.
Amid the Marine ranks, Daren was looking right at him with a slight smile.
"Marco, it's been a while."
"How's Kozuki Oden? Oh, and when you get back, be sure to tell him..."
Daren raised his hand.
The black light that had pierced Marco moments ago flew back to his side and landed neatly in his grasp.
"This Enma suits me perfectly."
The corner of Daren's mouth curled upward.
"If I get the chance, I'll go pay him another visit... I'm quite interested in Ame no Habakiri too."