Chapter 529: The Shifting Tides of Battle (Part 1)
Enraged by the taunt, Kong's aura flared once more as he swung his fists wildly at Charlotte. But Charlotte remained unhurried, his verbal barbs continuing without pause. He was using his words to keep Kong's attention, to keep his mind clouded with anger, buying as much time as possible for Esdeath and the others.
"Kill them! Support the Big Mom Pirates!" Esdeath shouted, cutting down the last Marine blocking her path as she gestured towards the Big Mom crew's battlefield. The Marine high command on this front had been routed by the Rockefeller Pirates, with many of their officers killed. Only a small handful had managed to escape.
"Sister! I'll go support Big Brother. You take the others!" Tesla landed beside Esdeath like a bolt of lightning, seeing the murderous glint in her eyes.
"Alright. Be careful," Esdeath nodded, offering a word of caution.
"Don't worry, Sis. You know how fast I am," Tesla grinned. His body dissolved into a current of electricity and shot towards the distant, magma-covered island.
The battle between Caesar and Akainu had unknowingly moved that far. Perhaps Akainu, unsuited for fighting on the ice, had shifted the battlefield to the island.
On the island, a half-beast, dragon-like figure stood at its center, a look of utter indifference on his face. Caesar raised his guandao and swung it down. Akainu met the blow with a fist burning with magma.
Boom!
The clash sent magma splashing in all directions, and flames shot into the sky. The sound of explosions echoed from their exchange. The shockwave, like a volcanic eruption, was so powerful it forced the approaching Tesla to a halt. He felt the wave of heat wash over him as he watched the two figures battling in the island's center.
"Big Brother, I'm here to help you!"
"Thunder God's Flash!"
Crack!
A bolt of lightning tore across the sky, illuminating the entire island. Countless arcs of electricity flickered, converging on Tesla, who was now airborne. The tremendous roar made both Caesar and Akainu look up from their fight.
A small smile touched Caesar's lips when he saw the figure within the lightning. Akainu's expression, however, turned grim.
"Marine," Caesar said, realizing immediately what had happened with Tesla's arrival. "It looks like you're about to lose." For Tesla to be here now, it could only mean the Marines on their front had been defeated. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to get away.
Seizing the moment of Akainu's distraction, Caesar roared, "Ten Thousand Tons: Thunderclap!"
He raised his guandao high. Streaks of white lightning coiled around the blade as he brought it crashing down towards Akainu. Simultaneously, Tesla, high in the sky, hurled a massive ball of lightning downward.
The two bolts of lightning descended at the same time, the brilliant flash illuminating the entire island.
Akainu's pupils contracted. Before he could react...
BOOM!
The lightning struck, engulfing his entire body.
CRACKLE! BOOM!
After the initial strike, arcs of electricity snaked out wildly, forming a pool of pure lightning. The intense heat generated from the attack caused streams of magma to flow out.
Caesar and Tesla stared intently at the spot where Akainu had been. As the lightning dissipated, the scene was slowly revealed. A large pool of magma flowed slowly where he had stood, but Akainu himself was gone. Yet, the two brothers kept their eyes locked on that flowing pool of lava.
As the last of the lightning faded, the magma began to coalesce, slowly reforming into a human shape.
"Pirates!" a voice roared, thick with murderous rage.
Sakazuki stood there, covered in blood, glaring at Caesar and Tesla. His body was charred black, and a patch of mangled flesh was visible on his neck. To think that he, a Logia user of the Magu Magu no Mi, had been burned by lightning... it was laughable. If he hadn't twisted his body at the last second, that attack would have landed directly on his head.
"Dark Hound!" Sakazuki threw a punch, and a massive fist of magma shot towards Caesar.
Caesar immediately dodged. When he looked to counter-attack, he found that Sakazuki had vanished. Confused, Caesar glanced up. Tesla pointed into the distance.
Caesar looked in the direction Tesla was pointing and saw Sakazuki, clutching his arm, running back towards the main Marine force.
"What the—!"
Caesar was completely taken aback. He never expected the ferocious Sakazuki to actually run away. It was completely out of character.
"Big Brother, let's go help the others!" Tesla said, landing beside him.
"How are things on your end?" Caesar asked.
"Our front is pretty much wrapped up," Tesla explained. "Sister is leading the others to support the Big Mom Pirates. This battle will be over soon."
"So quickly?" Caesar asked, finding it hard to believe. Was the battle really ending so soon? He had thought it would last for three or four days, maybe even half a month. A battle of this intensity wasn't something that could be ended so easily.
"With Sister there, you know how strong she is. Dealing with a bunch of grunts is more than easy for her," Tesla said with a shrug. Without a top-tier opponent to hold her back, Esdeath's fighting style was less of a battle and more of a massacre.
"Yes, you have a point," Caesar nodded. He was all too familiar with his sister's capabilities.
"Come on, let's not waste any more time here, or the fight will be over before we get there," Tesla said, clapping Caesar on the shoulder.
"Alright, let's go!"
With that, Caesar's body swelled, transforming into a colossal dragon that soared into the sky. Its massive form cast a shadow that blotted out the sun below. Tesla followed close behind, a flash of lightning that streaked towards the battlefield.
Meanwhile, on the Big Mom Pirates' front, the battle was reaching a fever pitch.
Since their ammunition had run out at dawn, the fight had devolved into a brutal melee. Over ten thousand elite Marines and twenty thousand allied soldiers were locked in a fierce struggle with more than thirty thousand of the Big Mom Pirates.
Under Smoothie's command, even without direct leadership from their top officers, the Big Mom crew fought with disciplined order, following the arrangements she had made beforehand.
However, the strength of the elite Marines had exceeded Smoothie's expectations, and indeed, the expectations of all the Big Mom Pirates. The sheer ferocity of the Marines was something none of them had anticipated. Even when surrounded, they unleashed a powerful counter-attack, breaking through the pirates' encirclement and inflicting heavy casualties.
Of course, the Marines did not escape unscathed. Their desperate breakout had cost them a third of their own men. But the remaining two-thirds fought on without fear, relentlessly attacking the Big Mom Pirates. With just over ten thousand elite Marines, they had fought the nearly thirty thousand Big Mom Pirates to a complete standstill.
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