All the sights from every direction across the battlefield formed a three-dimensional map and poured into Ares's mind.
In an instant, he grasped seventy to eighty percent of the situation.
Right now
Shiki and Kaido were both trapped in encirclement, barely holding on under relentless pressure.
But what made Ares's heart clench even harder was this…
He could sense Slardar.
Severely wounded. Covered in cuts. Drenched in blood. Already unconscious.
That loyal…
Fish-Man guardian.
He had protected Ares's body the whole time, enduring Sengoku's repeated, brutal blows, refusing to fall, standing like a wall until his body simply could not bear it anymore.
In that split second
Ares's huge, bell-like eyes turned blood-red.
A signal of pure danger burst from him, like a savage beast ready to tear someone apart.
And deep in his gaze, something crystalline flickered.
Inside the gigantic crater shaped like an hourglass
Ares, soaked in blood after taking Sengoku's shockwaves again and again, strode to Slardar's side. He forced down the fury in his chest and spoke as if to calm the man.
"Slardar…"
"I'm awake."
"I'll get you out of here."
"From this moment on…"
"I'm the one protecting you!!"
As he spoke, blue diamond-shaped dragon scale armor spread across his body. Those scales were stained with blood, the slick crimson tracing horrifying lines between them.
It made Ares look even more vicious.
More terrifying.
Like a hell-blooded demon god returning from mountains of corpses and seas of gore.
"Sengoku our fight isn't over!"
Ares's roar was like a great bell struck in a temple, rattling the eardrums of everyone on the battlefield until they buzzed.
Faces turned pale.
Up on the iron fortress wall of G1, Staff Officer Tsuru's expression changed sharply.
"He took that many hits from Sengoku… and that monster still isn't dead…"
"His body really is monstrous…"
A normal powerhouse would be coughing blood and crippled from a single shockwave.
But Ares
He had taken dozens, maybe even over a hundred shockwaves head-on with his own body, and he was still
Vivid. Ferocious. Alive.
And worse, he still carried terrifying fighting power.
Even Tsuru couldn't help but marvel, forced to admit
Ares was the most monstrous pirate she had ever seen.
In sheer physical strength…
He was worthy of being called number one in the world!
For the "newcomer" Gion, it was the same.
Before today, she had never had the chance to come face to face with a sea-devil like Bloodhand Ares.
But after seeing him once
She finally understood what those pirates people called "monsters" truly meant.
Ares, now awake, radiated a sky-shaking aura. His violent presence swept across the battlefield like floodwaters and feral beasts crashing through the world.
Countless hearts trembled.
The wind raised by his pressure snapped Justice cloaks like banners, flapping wildly in the storm.
From the command center, Fleet Admiral Kong frowned. A trace of surprise flashed in his eyes as he muttered under his breath,
"This kid's spirit… it's risen again?"
"Don't tell me he grew during the fight?"
Kong had studied Ares's file for a long time.
He knew this man possessed an outrageous talent for learning, the kind that could steal techniques in the middle of battle and turn them into his own strength.
Garp, Zephyr, and others had all suffered under Ares's hands.
Each of them carried a shadow in their minds from fighting him.
A humiliation that wouldn't fade.
And now
Kong was seeing that terrifying growth with his own eyes.
"If we don't eliminate Ares… with that talent, he'll become a true monster rampaging across the sea!"
On the battlefield
"Azure Dragon Claw Slashwave!"
Cold light flashed across Ares's razor-sharp dragon claws. They were like the sharpest Meito in the world, tearing through the air with ease.
Shhk! Shhk!
Brilliant green slashes streaked forward like meteors cutting through the night sky, appearing in front of Sengoku's golden Buddha form in a blink.
Despite his massive, heavy frame, Sengoku moved like a breeze, drifting back and to the side.
The bladeless slashes missed and carved deep trenches into the ground.
Sengoku's face sank.
"So the worst outcome still happened…"
"That monster… woke up."
"If we want to take them down, we can't do it without paying a price."
As long as Ares fell, Shiki and Kaido would be nothing more than waves the Navy could crush.
The only thing Sengoku worried about was
Rocks appearing in person.
But so much time had passed, and the main force of the Rocks Pirates still hadn't shown.
It was as if they weren't here at all.
Seeing Ares awaken, Shiki's eyes lit up. He laughed with relief.
"Shihahahaha…"
"Ares! I knew you wouldn't fall like that!"
"You're the monster all of us 인정 인정 we all recognize!"
"How could you die in a place like this?!"
He stood in midair with his twin swords, a golden-haired war god looming against the sky, though the blood at the corner of his mouth showed he wasn't unscathed.
Before Ares woke
Shiki had fought Sengoku and Garp alone.
He had burned everything he had to hold them back, to protect Ares's body.
There was no way he would come out of that without paying for it.
Ares, looking like a hell-blooded demon god, stepped on orange flame clouds and shot upward, appearing beside Shiki.
But this time was different.
When Ares looked at Shiki, there was a trace of regret in his eyes.
His memories had fully returned, and he understood clearly
This Shiki, so proud and radiant today…
Would meet a brutally miserable end years from now.
Ares forced his focus back.
He was no longer the "half-asleep" Ares from before.
He spoke calmly.
"I'll take Sengoku."
"You take Garp."
"How's that?"
"Hey " Shiki's brow furrowed. "Ares, something's wrong here. It's not just the Navy's top monsters… CP0 is here too!"
"This is a trap aimed at us."
"We can't keep fighting. We have to leave, now."
Ares's heart sank, the blood-red in his eyes slowly clearing.
His mind moved fast too fast.
He pieced everything together in an instant, the speed of that thinking making even him feel a flicker of shock.
As if his mind had become sharper than ever before.
But before he could dig deeper
"Trying to run?!"
Golden light burst from Sengoku's fist, solemn and overwhelming.
"None of you are escaping today!!"
"Buddha Fist!"
Sengoku shot into the air like a cannon, his golden Buddha fist blazing like a small sun as it smashed down toward Ares.
At the same moment, not far away, Garp lunged like a tiger, charging straight for Shiki.
Gulp !
Ares's blood surged like a roaring river, his thick, brutal arms turning blood-red in an instant.
At the same time
Black-and-red lightning crackled around his arm, arcs snapping like blades and slicing the air with every jump.
When Ares threw his punch, it was like a demon god's spear thrust, piercing the sky as it met Sengoku's Buddha fist head-on.
"Blood Armament Red Dragon Chant!!"
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