The only breach had been sealed shut by Maude using Little Oars Jr.'s corpse.
Along with it, the Whitebeard Pirates' last remaining hope of victory was also cut off.
Though their positions were different...
Maude's presence had indeed brought immense trouble to the Whitebeard Pirates.
As the countless magma fists rained down from above, many pirates still glared at Maude with fury.
The existence of this man was like a nail driven into their hearts, causing unbearable pain.
The massive corpse of Little Oars Jr., blocking the gap, was no different from the encircling walls.
The icebreaker ship that had carried the Whitebeard Pirates' hopes of breaking through was ultimately forced to a halt.
Standing on Little Oars Jr.'s shoulder, Maude gazed down calmly at the pirates below, including Whitebeard himself.
Countless magma fists fell diagonally from the sky ahead, followed closely by three massive meteors wreathed in searing flames.
The bright firelight was the first to illuminate Maude's face and body.
His eyes, locked onto the Whitebeard Pirates below, were instantly dyed a blood-red hue by the flames.
Like the color of fresh blood...
Once the ground beneath them was destroyed, the pirates—including Whitebeard—would become nothing more than sitting ducks.
At that moment, under the cover of the Marines' firepower, Maude would systematically eliminate every target listed in his Hunter's Notebook with his gun.
"..."
In this eerie silence, Whitebeard and his crew finally tore their gaze away from Maude, turning instead toward the looming threats descending from above.
"Boom! Boom—!"
The countless magma fists slammed into the frozen harbor one after another.
Violent explosions, accompanied by searing heat, swept across the battlefield.
The thick, solid ice was instantly shattered into gaping holes, and the four Whitebeard pirate ships that had been frozen in place were no exception—each bombarded with molten destruction.
The immense heat from the magma ignited the Moby Dick and the other ships, engulfing them in flames.
"Our ship!!!"
"..."
Aboard the icebreaker, Whitebeard and his crew watched in sorrow as the Moby Dick was reduced to wreckage by the magma bombardment.
Under this apocalyptic assault, not even their ships could survive—let alone the people.
Countless Marines and pirates, sprawled across the ice, were either obliterated by the magma fists or plunged into the boiling sea.
Death was inevitable.
The pirates who had failed to board the icebreaker scrambled desperately, like ants on a hot pan, as the molten onslaught forced them to flee in all directions.
But they could only run for so long.
As the ice melted on a massive scale, those with nowhere left to escape eventually plunged into the scalding ocean.
Screams and cries of terror echoed across the bay.
The Marine's Meteor Volcano attack, covering nearly the entire harbor, made it clear that Akainu had never considered the lives of his own wounded before launching his strike.
A war without sacrifices or casualties—could it still be called a war?
Akainu's conviction was simple: to burn all evil to ashes, to bury the Whitebeard Pirates here at any cost.
For that goal, any sacrifice was justified.
The sheer number of magma fists made it impossible to intercept them all.
However—
With Whitebeard and his division commanders' abilities, they could still neutralize a significant portion of the attack.
But the arrival of the three meteors drastically limited their ability to respond.
Compared to the widespread Meteor Volcano, these three meteors were aimed with pinpoint accuracy—falling directly on them.
Summoning meteors alone was already an absurd feat, but the precision of their impact locations sent chills down the spines of the Whitebeard Pirates.
"Since when did the Marines have a monster like this?!"
The crew members gaped in shock, though not in panic.
Because...
They turned to Whitebeard and the division commanders.
As the meteors descended,
Whitebeard took the lead.
He clenched his fist and struck the air.
Crack—!
The atmosphere fractured with glowing fissures, extending directly toward one of the meteors.
Deep cracks spread across the meteor's surface, and in an instant, it shattered into countless fragments, blasted back into the sky by the impact.
"Jozu!"
Fifth Division Commander Flower Sword Vista called to Jozu beside him.
Jozu understood immediately, raising both hands in a stance akin to throwing an iron ball.
"Over here!"
Vista was the first to step forward, lightly leaping onto Jozu's open palms.
The moment Vista's feet touched Jozu's hands, Jozu's arms thrust powerfully skyward.
A sharp burst of air echoed!
Vista's body shot toward the meteor like a bullet.
Following suit, the other commanders, except for the dual-pistol-wielding Izo, mimicked Vista's approach and leapt onto Jozu's hands.
Jozu, using both hands like a machine gun, launched each commander into the sky with impeccable speed and efficiency.
"Rose Thorns!"
Vista was the first to strike at the meteors.
Wielding his twin swords, he unleashed two flying slashes that pierced through the remaining meteors, severely weakening their structural integrity.
With that opening, the airborne commanders unleashed their own attacks—be it cannon fire, flying sword strikes, or sheer physical might.
A dazzling barrage of attacks rained down on the meteors, reducing them into countless fist-sized fragments within moments.
Immediately, countless stone shards plummeted from the sky like torrential rain.
And with them, the Whitebeard commanders descended.
By shattering the meteors, they had minimized the devastation they would have caused.
On Little Oars Jr.'s shoulder, Maude lifted his head, watching the airborne Whitebeard commanders.
An opportunity!
Without hesitation, Maude drew his twin guns, transformed from Bailey.
Armament Haki—
With a sharp hiss, bullets within the chambers were coated in Haki.
As the triggers were pulled, gunpowder ignited, releasing acrid smoke while propelling the Haki-infused bullets skyward.
Bang! Bang…!
Maude fired.
With monstrous precision, he unleashed twelve consecutive shots, each targeting the commanders mid-air.
"?!"
Still descending, the commanders immediately sensed the Haki-coated bullets aimed at their vital points, their expressions shifting drastically.
Suspended in midair with no footholds, they were prime targets.
"That bastard again!"
One commander gritted his teeth in frustration as the bullets closed in.
At the same moment Maude fired, gunfire erupted from the icebreaker's deck.
Twelve gunshots rang out in rapid succession.
Twelve bullets, also coated in Armament Haki, streaked upwards from the icebreaker, leaving behind dazzling trails of light.
At the end of those trails—were the twelve bullets Maude had fired.
Twelve shots from different angles met perfectly in the air.
Under everyone's gaze, the Haki-coated bullets collided midair, triggering shockwaves visible to the naked eye, blooming like fireworks in broad daylight…
And just like fireworks, the gunmen's display of skill was fleeting in this war dominated by cold steel.