"This… my dear brother Wilder will know in a moment. If you have nothing else to do for now, how about you join me in dealing with Big Mom? I'm having a bit of a hard time on my own."
Wilder's mouth twitched. This old geezer is just used to slacking off. Still, he was curious about who the reinforcements would be.
"Get ready, my dear brother Wilder. Big Mom is coming," Kizaru said, his body already beginning to emit a golden glow, his tone a few shades more serious.
"I know." Wilder took a step forward, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Kizaru.
By now, the tide of the battle was no longer one-sided. Several of Big Mom's key combatants had been incapacitated or tied down. Daifuku, who had been fighting Vice further and further away, was also clearly showing signs of fatigue. It was believed that he would be defeated by Vice before long.
So now, all they had to do was hold back Big Mom and prevent her from influencing the rest of the battle.
Kizaru alone could actually accomplish this. The reason Wilder agreed to face Big Mom with him was simply because… he also wanted to trade blows with the Yonko who was on his own kill list!
Big Mom's heavy footsteps echoed across the entire battlefield. In several of the combat zones, both sides tacitly stopped fighting and focused their attention here.
Big Mom vs. Kizaru + Wilder.
This was not a common sight. Excitement, thrill, and other emotions surged in the hearts of the onlookers.
"Here she comes." Kizaru was the first to move, his body instantly turning into intangible light and shooting out!
"Yasakani no Magatama!" High above Big Mom, the golden light converged. The moment Kizaru's body formed, countless light bullets also shot out, all pouring down on Big Mom below!
SWISH SWISH SWISH!
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The sonic booms from the speed and the explosions from the impact sounded in a dense, rapid succession that was overwhelming. The ground around Big Mom was enveloped in a brilliant golden firelight, and the violent explosions sent a terrifying shockwave radiating across the entire battlefield.
This was the power of Kizaru!
A single move created a scene of disaster!
At the same time, Wilder also moved. His figure shot out at extreme speed, and in the blink of an eye, he had reached the outskirts of the area where Big Mom was. The moment he stopped, Wilder slapped his palm on the ground. The ground immediately began to ripple with a strange wave, rising and falling like the gentle waves of the sea.
"Swamp—Earth's Mouth!" A cold voice transmitted out, and then a scene so shocking it was impossible to calm down from appeared!
The earth—collapsed!
Like an avalanche, but different. An avalanche slides down a mountain slope, but the land where Big Mom stood seemed to have had a piece dug out from directly beneath it. A square, pitch-black, deep hole appeared, its bottom nowhere in sight!
"It's even bigger than last time. How terrifying," Kizaru said, his expression unusually grave as he looked at the black hole below.
"If nothing unexpected happens, Big Mom should have fallen in. Hey! Old man Kizaru, smash your light into it!" Wilder looked up at Kizaru above and gave him a wicked smile.
"You're quite the one for giving orders," Kizaru grumbled casually, but he also knew this was a good opportunity. With Big Mom fallen into a hole of unknown depth, she was a living target. As long as he bombarded it, she definitely couldn't dodge. So, Kizaru once again struck that tried-and-true pose, pursed his lips, and with a twist of his brow, shouted:
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
A dense barrage of light bullets poured down. The sky seemed to rain light, so bright that people had to squint their eyes.
After the wave of light bullets had finished, thick smoke billowed from the hole, rising straight into the sky like a giant chimney level with the ground.
"How was it? Is Charlotte Linlin dead?" a rookie marine asked, looking toward the hole with a mix of hesitation and anticipation.
"I don't know. Maybe," a higher-ranking veteran marine said, swallowing hard, his eyes also fixed on the hole.
"Hey, hey… are you kidding me? She's still fine after all that?" Suddenly, Wilder's deep voice cut in. Everyone's expression changed drastically upon hearing this.
"What a monster," Kizaru said, descending from the sky and landing beside Wilder, a trace of disbelief on his face. He too had already perceived the situation inside with his Observation Haki.
Big Mom… was completely unharmed!
"No, that would be too exaggerated. I knew it…" Wilder's expression suddenly changed, and a wicked smile spread across his face.
"Oh? You can see the situation inside, Wilder-kun?" Kizaru turned his head slightly, giving Wilder a curious glance.
"Mm, it is a hole I created, after all, nyahahaha!" Wilder laughed, his eyes fixed on the location of the hole. It was as if his gaze could penetrate the thick smoke and deep darkness to see the truth within.
"What's the situation inside?" Seeing Wilder's expression, and combined with his previous words, Kizaru's interest was piqued. Although Observation Haki could perceive, it wasn't omnipotent. It was more about capturing ethereal things like presence, and it didn't allow the user to see a clear "picture," with some special exceptions, of course.
"Pfft, Big Mom is bleeding. She has many shallow wounds on her arms. I told you it couldn't be that exaggerated," Wilder said with a broad smile, as if seeing Big Mom injured was something particularly praiseworthy.
"Is this something to be happy about, my dear brother Wilder? Shouldn't we be lamenting that the attack just now only caused her some minor injuries?" Kizaru was speechless and confused by Wilder's excitement.
"Heheheh…" Wilder laughed and shook his head. "No, no, no, we should look at it from a different angle. For example… we finally managed to injure someone who was previously thought to be invulnerable. And… my dear brother Kizaru, shouldn't you be a little more confident in yourself? The attack just now didn't hit her completely. Otherwise, the result wouldn't have been just this. Maybe Big Mom would have really died from that blow."
As Wilder was speaking, his expression changed slightly, and his smile grew wider. "Enough idle talk. That woman is about to come up. We can't let her come up so easily." With that, Wilder squatted down slightly, his palm touching the ground.
"Do you have another trick up your sleeve, my dear brother Wilder?" Kizaru asked, turning his head to look at him with interest.
"I told you, this is a hole I created. I have to have some control over it." As Wilder's voice fell, the surrounding people clearly felt the ground begin to tremble slightly.
"Oh? I see. Is this your backup plan, my dear brother Wilder? How cunning," Kizaru said, looking at the ground beneath his feet, then turning his gaze to the hole, an inexplicable light flashing in his glasses.
"What's happening?"
The tremors became more and more obvious. The surrounding people looked around in confusion, then tacitly turned their gazes to the hole.
"The… the ground is actually healing!?" A cry of surprise rang out. All eyes staring at the hole were filled with shock.
The hole was closing at what could be described as a very fast speed. The opening was getting smaller and smaller, and it was closing from the top down, with the four sides pushing inward. The tremors grew stronger, and it seemed as if some kind of shifting movement was happening inside the hole.
The four walls of the hole continuously squeezed inward, and the opening gradually shrank. Finally, the ten-meter-wide opening was only a person's width, and it was still closing inward at an even faster speed.
In the blink of an eye.
The last sliver of the opening closed up.
"This…" The whole process was so shocking it left people speechless.
"Is this really something a human can do?"
"It's simply a miracle."
"Has Lucifer Wilder become this strong?"
"Mama!" Unlike the elation of the Morass army and the Marines, the people of the Big Mom Pirates were completely stunned by this scene, unable to believe it. The pirates who came to their senses charged toward them in a frenzy.
And Smoothie, who was originally seriously injured, also forced herself to draw her longsword and charged at Wilder with anger and hatred. "You bastard…! Die!"
"A defeated foe dares to dance?" Wilder turned his head and said coldly to the approaching Smoothie.
As his voice fell, a torrent of swamp erupted from his body, shooting straight into the sky. It twisted and converged into a ferocious serpent, which opened its blood-red mouth and lunged at the charging Smoothie!
BAM!
A loud bang, accompanied by a cloud of smoke and dust, and the scene fell silent enough to hear a pin drop.
The swamp serpent's head slammed into the distant ground. Its body, as if lifeless, twitched a few times and then collapsed.
In the dust cloud, a terrifyingly obese figure still held the posture of having just swung her palm, her body exuding a terrifying aura that seemed to freeze life itself.
Gulp! It's not clear who took a step back first, but the sound of someone swallowing was heard.
Then, as if it were a signal, a horrified cry rang out across the battlefield: "Big… Big Mom!"
The dust also dispersed with this sound, revealing Big Mom's clearly visible figure.
"That woman, when did she…" Wilder's expression was ugly. He moved his gaze to that area and saw that the closed hole had been forcibly torn open at some unknown point. Wilder's pupils contracted sharply.
If one were to ask which of the Four Emperors was the weakest, many people would probably say Charlotte Linlin. But these people only judge by the flashiness or shock value of her fighting style. The main reason Big Mom was able to stand as one of the Four Emperors, the reason she could make the seas tremble, was her body!
A body that could be called the strongest in terms of defense, like a steel balloon. No matter how terrifying the attack, it was difficult to injure her! This was Big Mom's most terrifying aspect!
And besides this incredibly durable physique, Big Mom's strength was also terrifyingly immense. At the age of five, she could shatter a giant's weapon with a single slap and throw a giant to his death. And at this time, she hadn't even obtained her Devil Fruit ability! At five years old, without relying on any external power, just by herself, she had nearly slaughtered the entire nation of giants! Who among the other three Emperors could achieve such a feat?
Tough defense, immense strength—with just these two things, Big Mom was enough to stand at the pinnacle of the world.
Now, Wilder finally had a direct experience of this power.
It was heart-stopping.
"Be careful, my dear brother Wilder. It looks like you've been targeted," Kizaru's voice entered Wilder's ears, making him narrow his eyes and nod slightly in acknowledgment.
"Lucifer Wilder…" Big Mom's massive body moved, and the ground rumbled as she walked. Her aura was cold and bloodthirsty, like a mixture of the suppressed anger and killing intent of a volcano before an eruption, creating a cold, oppressive, and gloomy feeling.
THUMP THUMP THUMP! Her steps grew faster, and her figure drew closer and closer to Wilder and Kizaru. At the last moment, just before reaching them, Big Mom suddenly leaped up with an explosive burst of power, clenched her fist, and brought it down!
"Get out of the way!" Kizaru's body turned into a flash of golden light and instantly flew high into the sky. "Yasakani no Magatama!"
SWISH SWISH SWISH! The familiar light bullets once again rained down from the sky! But by now, Big Mom's fist and body had already crashed heavily to the ground, sending up a cloud of dust!
WHOOSH! A figure shot out from the dust cloud and crashed to the ground in the distance.
"Cough, cough, cough!" Wilder stood up, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes a mixture of shock and excitement as he stared at Big Mom.
"Wi…l…der!" Big Mom let out a strange cry, her body leaping high into the air again. Her seemingly sluggish body, however, displayed flight-like speed under the explosion of that terrifying power. In the blink of an eye, her figure flashed and she was once again in front of Wilder. Her giant fist, coated in Armament Haki, descended in a single blow!
The speed was so great that even after Wilder reacted, he had no time to meet it. And the massive range of the fist made it impossible for him to dodge. In his slightly dazed state from the previous punch, he was sent flying again!
"Gah!" In mid-air, Wilder spat out a mouthful of blood. Big Mom completely exposed her back to Kizaru's attack, seemingly fixated on Wilder. Her eyes were blood-red, and her body flashed again. Before Wilder could even get up from this blow, she brought another punch down!
VMMMM…!
"Ama no Murakumo Sword!" A figure made of condensed light blocked in front of Wilder. A longsword made of condensed golden light collided heavily with Big Mom's fist!
CLANG!
BOOM! First came the sound of metal clashing, sparks flying. Then, a roar exploded out. Kizaru's body was sent flying backward directly in the form of light, crashing into a building in the distance and causing it to collapse!
Big Mom's fist continued on with undiminished force, heading straight for Wilder, who was lying on his back on the ground, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"Gah!" This punch landed squarely on his abdomen. But because the fist was so huge, it wasn't just his abdomen; more than half of Wilder's torso was completely engulfed by it.
One punch made Wilder's body involuntarily arch, his eyes bulging, and large mouthfuls of blood gushing from his mouth. The scene was extremely tragic.
"Lightspeed Kick!" A golden light shot from the distance. In an instant, a kick struck the fist that Big Mom had raised again, directly knocking her off balance and sending her toppling backward!
Kizaru's body landed beside Wilder. He pushed up his askew glasses. At this moment, he also looked slightly disheveled, his golden suit torn.
"Are you alright, my dear brother Wilder?"
"Cough, cough, cough, nyahahaha! I'm fine, I won't die." Wilder coughed violently a few times and staggered to his feet.
His eyes were now completely blood-red. Even more strangely, after taking those two or three punches, Wilder was now laughing, laughing like a maniac.
BOOM!
An aura of bloodlust, excitement, and a mix of multiple negative emotions manifested. Wilder's lips split into a wide grin, the madness in his eyes and the raw violence of someone who had been provoked and now wanted to kill everyone to vent his anger was terrifying.
"Nyahahaha! Interesting! Interesting! This is what makes it interesting! Big Mom!!"
_______
patreon.com/Shinobi_Scrolls