A flying pirate ship, its exterior covered in gold, appeared in everyone's line of sight. The Marines were stunned, while the members of the Donquixote Pirates were overjoyed.
"We're saved!"
"The Ark Maxim is here!"
A wave of joy and the relief of surviving a near-death experience spread through the ranks of the Donquixote family.
"Dammit! How could this be!" Vice Admirals Doberman and Onigumo watched the Donquixote Pirates' celebration, their anger flaring.
The Ark descended with an air of finality, stopping before the members of the Donquixote family.
"Get on board, quickly!" Enel's figure appeared on the Ark's deck.
"Yes!"
"Everyone, hurry!"
The members of the Donquixote family scrambled to board the Ark.
"As if we'd let you leave so easily! You want to escape? Have you asked us for permission?" Onigumo and Doberman closed in rapidly, unleashing a furious, full-power assault on the Ark.
"Damn Marines!" Enel's expression turned grim as he saw the two Vice Admirals approaching.
"I'll hold them off! You all get on the ship!" Enel leaped from the Ark, moving to intercept their attack.
"I'll block him! Doberman, you go destroy that pirate ship! That way, they won't be able to escape!" Onigumo, seeing Enel, immediately made a decision.
"Alright! Be careful!" Doberman didn't hesitate for a second. He ignored the approaching Enel and made a beeline for the Ark.
Onigumo charged directly at Enel, his multiple longswords striking out.
"Cloud Stream Whip!"
Before Onigumo could even get close, Enel lashed out with a long whip of clouds, sending him flying. He had no time to deal with him; right now, retreating was the priority.
But Onigumo was not so easily dealt with. Though he was knocked back by the attack, he didn't give up and came at Enel once again.
"Annoying pest!" Enel's face darkened.
Just as he was about to teach Onigumo a lesson, the ground where the Vice Admiral was running began to collapse.
Pica had arrived. He should have been here earlier, having left before Onigumo, but he had been worried about Diamante's injuries and had gone to tend to him and the others first. Only after helping them board the ship did he rush over.
"Dammit! I was careless!" Onigumo lost his footing and, unable to stop his fall, plummeted into the deep pit Pica had created.
"Cover!"
Pica's figure appeared at the edge of the pit. Two giant stone hands reached down, intending to seal the pit completely.
"Break!"
Of course, Vice Admiral Onigumo wouldn't be captured so easily. Several waves of sword energy shot out, trying to shatter Pica's giant hands.
The stone hands were sliced into several pieces, but it didn't stop their descent. A massive amount of earth and rock rained down on Onigumo, threatening to bury him.
"This is trouble!" Onigumo quickly plunged his swords into the side of the pit to halt his fall. The swords controlled by his Life Return ability continuously battered away the falling debris.
"Geppo!" Onigumo kicked off the air, clearing the path of rocks and dirt as he flew towards the surface.
"Bury!"
Onigumo was still too slow. Pica was a step ahead of him, completely blocking the exit with earth and stone, burying the Vice Admiral alive.
"Go!"
Pica glanced at Enel and said the single word.
Enel understood, and the two of them headed for the Ark Maxim.
Doberman, who had already gotten close to the Ark, was once again blocked by Monet.
"Great Snowfall: Blizzard!"
Monet knew that without her Devil Fruit, she was no match for him. Seeing Doberman approach, she didn't hesitate and unleashed her strongest attack.
"Damn pirate! Are you trying to fight to the death?!" Doberman looked at the snow tornado Monet had created, the X-shaped scar on his face twitching as he spoke, his expression grim.
He gripped his sword with his left hand, coated it in Armament Haki, and slashed at the tornado. "Slash! Break for me!"
A cold light flashed in Monet's eyes. Doberman's figure appeared before her; he had already shattered her snow tornado.
"Snow Woman!"
Monet, facing a great enemy, attacked Doberman relentlessly with both hands.
Doberman knew that if he didn't deal with the woman before him, he would never be able to destroy the Ark. Thus, his attacks became even more ruthless and decisive. As a believer in Absolute Justice, he wouldn't spare Monet just because she was a woman.
"Snow Rabbit!"
Monet used all her strength, doing her best to hold Doberman back.
"This is the end, pirate! Slash!"
Doberman's merciless voice echoed in Monet's mind. A bright light flashed before her eyes, and Doberman's figure sped past her.
"Young Master... I'm sorry. I couldn't protect our ship," Monet gazed in the direction of Doflamingo, her mind in a daze. She hadn't expected to be defeated in a single exchange. She suspected that he hadn't even been serious before.
With a thud, Monet collapsed. A gruesome scar now marred the curvaceous body wrapped in her grass-green shirt, blood flowing freely. Her already pale face grew even paler from blood loss, and her green hair splayed out around her, adding a touch of morbid beauty.
"Monet!"
Enel and Pica, who had just arrived, saw Monet fall and cried out, their attacks immediately directed at Doberman.
Doberman had no intention of letting Monet off. Compared to him, she was still far too weak. Her fate was already sealed. The priority now was to destroy the enemy's hope. As for the barely breathing Monet, she was already a turtle in a jar.
Doberman saw Enel and Pica coming. He had intended to kill them, but they were too fast. He dodged their attacks and sent a powerful slash of sword energy directly at the Ark.
"Dammit! Stop! How dare you!" Enel's eyes widened in panic. Doflamingo had entrusted the Donquixote Pirates to him. Not only were many of the officers injured, but now even the Ark was in danger.
Doberman paid no mind to Enel's threats. Unfortunately, he had not yet reached Mihawk's level of swordsmanship, and his single slash couldn't cut the Ark cleanly in two.
But it was enough. Doberman's attack heavily damaged the Ark, destroying several of its surrounding oars.
Not satisfied with the result, he prepared to strike again.
Enel and Pica arrived before him. Enel took the full force of Doberman's slash, shielding the Ark with his own body.
"Didn't I tell you to stop?" Enel glared at Doberman, his voice cold, his usual arrogance gone.
Doberman ignored his question. Their paths were different; why would he care about a pirate's threat?
Nearby, Pica rushed to check on Monet's condition.
"Monet! Monet? Are you still alive?" he asked nervously, carefully checking for her breath.
"Dammit! What do we do?! If only Law were here!" Pica let out a sigh of relief when he felt her breathing, but his relief quickly turned to worry.
At that moment, the battle between Enel and Doberman began.
"Cloud Stream Whip!"
"Slash!"
Enel was furious. He unleashed a killing move right from the start, giving Doberman no room to breathe.
Doberman took him seriously. The man before him was no rookie like the young woman from before. If he wasn't careful, he could be killed.
"Cloud Dragon Annihilation!"
A great white dragon shot toward Doberman, trying to entangle him.
Doberman swung his sword, giving the dragon no opportunity.
"Explode!" Seeing his cloud dragon cut apart, Enel immediately made it self-destruct.
The force of the explosion slammed into Doberman, sending him flying uncontrollably. He crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. He quickly got to his feet, coughing violently, a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth.
It seemed the explosion had injured him slightly.
But it was a minor wound. In this world of monsters, a small injury was nothing to speak of. Everyone had massive amounts of health and could take a beating.
"Long-ears, stop fighting! We need to retreat!" Pica lifted Monet's body with a platform of stone and headed for the Ark, calling out to Enel.
"I'll spare your life for today!" Hearing the advice, Enel calmed down and didn't lose his head.
He quickly turned and left, leaving Doberman to wipe the blood from his mouth.
On the other side, the surrounded Doflamingo finally released the domain he had spread across the island. The range was too large, and the stamina consumption was immense.
"Alalala, Doflamingo, aren't you just doing this so your pirate crew can escape? But this isn't a place you can just come and go as you please," Aokiji said lazily, his words laced with ice.
"You're at the end of your rope, Doflamingo," Kizaru said, looking at him with a lecherous expression, his words a direct attack on Doflamingo's spirit.
"Ice Age!"
Aokiji struck quickly, a powerful wave of cold air spreading from his body to every corner of the island.
"Inazuma!"
Doflamingo understood Aokiji's plan and tried to stop him.
But Kizaru wouldn't let him interfere, blocking his attack for Aokiji.
Mihawk's slash followed immediately after, giving Doflamingo no time to breathe.
The members of the Donquixote family, having boarded the Ark, were preparing to ascend and leave. But before they could take off, a powerful wave of cold froze the Ark solid, bonding it to the ground and rendering it immobile.
"Lord Enel! Our ship is frozen! We can't take off!"
Hearing his subordinate's report, Enel understood it was the Navy's doing.
"What do we do?" Enel was now deeply worried. Of the family's officers, only he and Pica were still able to fight. Doflamingo was trapped and couldn't escape. The Marines were closing in. Breaking the ice would take time, and there were several wounded crew members in need of treatment.
This was truly a moment of life and death.
Enel was desperate. Pica was desperate.