Chapter 530: The Shifting Tides of Battle (Part 2)
"Kill!"
A sudden, great shout erupted from the distance.
Esdeath, leading the Rockefeller Pirates, charged in from the rear, launching a ferocious assault on the Marines. She was at the forefront, her longsword a continuous blur of motion. No Marine in her path was her match.
Faced with the arrival of this fresh, powerful force, the Marine lines quickly crumbled. They never imagined the enemy would attack them from behind.
"What's happening? What's going on in the rear?" many of the officers yelled, trying to maintain their formations while looking back over their shoulders.
But when they saw the tall, blue-and-white figure in the distance, their faces turned deathly pale.
"That's... the Rock-Rockefeller Pirates! How did they get here?"
The question flashed through their minds, but the battlefield gave them no time to think.
"Quick! Form up! Form up!" one of the commanders roared at the scattered Marines.
"Rear Admiral Chaton, the Marine force assigned to the Rockefeller Pirates has been completely wiped out! The Rockefeller Pirates are bearing down on us!" a Major yelled, running over with a panicked expression.
"What happened? How were they wiped out? Where is Vice Admiral Akainu? Where is Admiral Zephyr? Where is Fleet Admiral Kong?" Chaton demanded as he was hustled away by his subordinates, retreating towards an open area of the battlefield. One moment, they were steadily grinding down the pirates; the next, they were the ones being slaughtered. The sudden reversal was too much for many of the Marines to process.
The Big Mom Pirates, however, had a different reaction.
At first, they noticed the chaos erupting in the Marine's rear and were momentarily confused. But that confusion quickly turned to joy. They saw a figure that was both a welcome sight and a hated rival.
Esdeath's form, cutting a path through the enemy, came into their view.
"It's the Ice Queen! It's the Ice Queen! Brothers, the Rockefeller Pirates are here to support us! Kill them!"
Seeing Esdeath, everyone understood. They raised their weapons and charged at the Marines, eager to avenge the slaughter from before.
Quickly, caught between the two pirate crews, the Marines, lacking clear command, were massacred on a massive scale. Thousands fell under the blades of the two pirate crews. Countless soldiers from the Kingdom Allied Army also met their end on the pirates' block.
Esdeath's merciless slaughter ignited a bloodlust in all the pirates. With crimson eyes, they swung their blades, cutting down the surrounding Marines. It didn't matter if they had dropped their weapons or not; they were all killed.
In that instant, rivers of blood flowed across the ice, staining the entire surface crimson.
Witnessing this, the high-ranking Marine officers could no longer afford to be entangled with their opponents. The one-sided slaughter forced them to retreat.
"What is going on? Why are the Rockefeller Pirates here?" Vice Admiral Onigumo roared in fury after making a hasty escape and seeing Esdeath.
"I... I...!" The Marine beside him stammered, unable to speak. He was just as bewildered, with no idea what had happened. If he hadn't been clever enough to retreat with another officer, he would have ended up lying in a pool of blood like the rest.
"Retreat!" Onigumo roared, his voice filled with unwillingness. He led his remaining thousand or so soldiers and fled towards the Whitebeard Pirates' battlefield.
The large-scale rout of the Marines was also seen by the top brass.
"Bastards! Damn it!"
Witnessing the scene unfolding right under his nose, Sengoku flew into a rage, trying to shake off Charlotte Linlin. But Big Mom was stuck to him like a plaster, giving him no opportunity to disengage.
"Mamamamamama! Rockefeller did a good job!" Charlotte Linlin laughed heartily, seeing the rivers of blood flowing from the slaughtered Marines. She never expected the situation to turn so quickly. No one had imagined that the first to collapse would be the hundred-thousand-strong Marine force. The Rockefeller Pirates' frenzied assault had wiped out their assigned Marine division in just a single day. Then, by supporting the Big Mom Pirates, they had caught the next Marine force completely off guard. Attacked from the rear, they routed instantly.
Of course, their low numbers were also a factor. Even though the Rockefeller Pirates had been worn down to just over twenty thousand, they were facing less than ten thousand Marines. With such a huge advantage in numbers, and with a top-tier fighter like Esdeath leading them, the Marines' defeat was inevitable.
However, this rout did allow the Marines to preserve some of their strength. While many of the rank-and-file soldiers were killed, not a single one of the mid-to-high-ranking officers was lost. Seeing that the situation had turned, they had decisively retreated, preserving their command structure. They all fled towards the Whitebeard Pirates' front.
"Get off me!" Sengoku roared, throwing a powerful palm strike.
The blow landed on Charlotte Linlin. Even with her tight defense, she could still have moments of carelessness. And right now, she was in a state of elation. The sudden blow sent her stumbling back a dozen steps.
That small distance was all Sengoku needed. He immediately broke away and ran towards Whitebeard.
"Waaaaah! Sengoku, you get back here!" Linlin shrieked in anger, immediately giving chase. Her massive, heavy body thundered across the ice.
But Sengoku was in no mood to continue the fight. The brats from the Rockefeller and Big Mom crews were working together, slaughtering his Marines like they were cutting vegetables. If he let them continue, the Marines would suffer a catastrophic break in their chain of command.
Sengoku didn't run towards the younger pirates; he knew it would be useless. At best, he would only draw their attention until Linlin arrived, and then it would be another endless battle. The most important thing now was to regroup with the Fleet Admiral and the others, and then go support the troops together. Alone, he couldn't stop them.
Soon, Charlotte, who had been focused on his fight with Kong, saw a flash in his mind's eye. He immediately retreated, moving back several dozen meters in an instant, creating distance between himself and Kong.
A golden palm wave landed where he had just been standing.
Boom!
An explosion rocked the ice, sending shards flying everywhere.
Charlotte immediately turned to see who had launched the attack.
"Sengoku!"
Seeing that it was a sneak attack from Sengoku, Charlotte was furious and swung his sword.
Sengoku raised a palm to block the blow, then moved to the Fleet Admiral's side.
"Fleet Admiral, the Marines are about to break!" Sengoku's shout brought Kong back to his senses. He looked at Sengoku, then surveyed the battlefield.
That one glance was enough to make his heart, the heart of the Fleet Admiral of the Marines, turn half-cold.
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