Chapter 199: Aiming for the Strongest
Tens of thousands of pirates had instantly lost their ability to fight. Everyone present froze, staring in horror at the scene unfolding in the distance.
"What happened?!"
"Was that Conqueror's Haki?"
"That's thirty thousand people! They just fell silent just like that?!"
For a moment, the fear of the unknown surged up, enveloping the hearts of the surviving pirates and suppressing their fighting spirit.
Many of the pirates who had just joined the Archangel Pirates, and the Buccaneer warriors, were equally dumbfounded, not understanding what was going on.
Only Kuina and the several giant warriors knew the truth of this situation. But knowing was one thing; even they were deeply shocked. Although they all knew that Uta could pull people into an illusion with her singing, and had even witnessed her do it, this was the first time they had seen her apply her ability on such a massive scale.
Only the Lunarians surrounding Uta quickly recovered. Leaving Asmodai and Artemis to guard her, the rest charged out, manipulating their flames to quickly cover the pirates on the ground.
BOOM!
The power of a great earthquake erupted violently, directly shattering a third of the stone forest. The miasma that had shrouded this place for years was instantly blown away by the shockwave. The surface of the earth collapsed, and everything as far as the eye could see was destroyed.
From within the sky-blotting smoke and dust, Louis, clad in gold and red armor with flawless white wings on his back, was sent flying.
Whitebeard, with several hideous wounds on his face and chest, stood holding his bisento. While panting slightly, he frowned and looked in the direction of the distant battlefield.
"What happened over there?"
"Why did so many people fall?"
A searing white flash of lightning tore out of the sky-blotting smoke and dust, blasting toward Whitebeard's face at a speed the naked eye could barely follow.
"..."
Whitebeard turned his head, raised his bisento, and, following the guidance of his Observation Haki, met the terrifying lightning head-on and cut it down. He split it in two, and the bolts landed in the stone forest behind him, blasting two searing-hot tunnels straight through it.
The smoke and dust gradually dissipated. Louis stepped out of the tunnel, which had been pierced by lightning and burned into magma by the high temperature, and unhurriedly returned to stand before Whitebeard.
In just a moment, the blasted-away Louis had reappeared in front of him, completely unharmed. Only his golden hair and flawless white wings were slightly dirty, which made Whitebeard frown slightly.
"Gurararara..."
"You're far more ridiculous than that brat Linlin."
One blow after another, combining Conqueror's Haki with the awakened power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, had landed on his opponent, yet had failed to cause the slightest bit of damage. This man known as the Archangel had not even once used Armament Haki to protect himself. This situation, even for the battle-hardened Whitebeard, was a first.
Louis paid no mind to Whitebeard's words. Instead, he quietly extended his Observation Haki, taking in every detail of the distant battlefield. Then, with a thought, he controlled the golden sun, formed from life force, that was hovering ten thousand meters in the sky. Countless beams of light rained down, heading straight for his severely injured subordinates.
The rain of golden light fell, merging directly into the bodies of the giant dogs, the Buccaneer warriors, and Hajrudin and the others, healing them and restoring the spirit and stamina of the exhausted clansmen.
Some of the pirates on Whitebeard's side, seeing this, had a particularly bold idea and rushed forward to intercept the scattered golden rain. The next moment, under everyone's watchful eyes, the wounds on these people's bodies healed at a rate visible to the naked eye.
"Look! We're healing if we receive this rain of light too!"
"Haha! The so-called Archangel is blind! I'll gladly accept this blessing!"
The rest of the Whitebeard Pirates saw this, and joyous expressions appeared on their faces as they rushed toward the other scattered beams of light.
On the other side, the pirates who had just recently joined the Archangel Pirates saw this, and their faces changed as they rushed forward to stop them.
On the other side, the Lunarians merely glanced over, looks of pity on their faces.
"These guys... they're so pitiful—"
The next moment, another bizarre change occurred.
"Hngh-hnngh, AARGH!!!" The pirates who had accepted the rain of light showed expressions of unbearable pain. They froze in place and let out piercing, mournful cries. One by one, their bodies turned blue-black, their flesh swelling up like a giant corpse, their skin rapidly decaying. Their abdomens burst open, and their intestines and organs were exposed.
"..."
The pirates who had just been about to receive the rain of light shrank back, their faces filled with relief.
On the other side, the Buccaneers and the newly joined members were dumbfounded, subconsciously touching their own bodies where the light rain had merged.
In front of Louis, Whitebeard, who had sensed the commotion in the distance with his Observation Haki, had his expression change. He abruptly raised his bisento, wreathed it in Conqueror's Haki, and slashed at the quietly standing Louis.
His sons were already at a disadvantage, and their opponents, the members of the Archangel Pirates, had been restored to their peak condition. He didn't even need to think to know what would happen next.
A massacre targeting his sons!
Louis did not dodge. He also raised his Seven Star Sword, wreathed it in Conqueror's Haki, and slashed back.
CRACK!
A black and red giant web instantly enveloped the entire stone forest, raining down and destroying one towering stone mountain after another. The already collapsed ground was torn apart again, revealing the surging river beneath.
The two were locked in a brief stalemate, their eyes firmly locked on each other, arcs of lightning clashing between them in mid-air. After a brief stalemate, they both retreated, then clashed again, tearing apart the surging underground river beneath their feet.
Whitebeard's face was grim. He held his bisento in one hand, pulled back his other muscular arm, wreathed it in Conqueror's Haki and the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, and smashed it toward Louis.
And Louis, naturally, did not dodge. The Seven Star Sword, glowing with a gloomy green light, trembled slightly, and he slashed back with it wreathed in black and red arcs of electricity.
CRACK—
A similar scene repeated itself. The already broken ground sent up a large amount of debris, which, along with the violent shockwave, flew into the open sea, kicking up tsunami-like waves.
Whitebeard and Louis moved rapidly across the ground, which was now split open with countless canyon-like fissures. The two of them rampaged through the tens-of-miles-long stone forest. As their weapons clashed and their fists and feet met, everything in their path was destroyed. One stone forest after another was directly shattered by the two, who made no effort to dodge, and both of them were covered in dust.
Under Louis's repeated fierce attacks, hideous wounds were blasted open on Whitebeard's body. Whitebeard, relying on the combat experience he had gained from countless bloody battles over the decades, launched one attack after another at Louis, each powerful enough to shatter mountains. But in the end, apart from briefly knocking Louis back and adding more dust to his body, they had no other effect.
The world's number one defense was on full display by Louis at this moment.
BOOM! Another giant roar erupted. The battle between the two had chiseled through the entire stone forest, completely destroying it and turning it into countless fragments of rock scattered over a radius of nearly a hundred kilometers.
SWOOSH—
With a sharp sound of tearing air, Whitebeard's body was sent flying backward. He pierced through a small, densely vegetated mountain and was deeply embedded in the earth. Whitebeard gasped for air, then coughed violently, spitting out a large mouthful of blood.
The next second, Whitebeard's face, which had not shown the slightest bit of weakness even after such a long battle, turned pale at a rate visible to the naked eye.
"To think, at a time like this—"
But soon, Whitebeard abruptly pulled his body out of the rock, stood firmly on the ground, his bisento in hand. He frowned and looked at the body that had, at some unknown point, landed in front of him, and asked with a frown, "Kid, are you pitying me?"
To this, Louis lightly raised the Seven Star Sword, which was now glowing brightly green from having absorbed the blood of the strong, and was continuously sending feedback of excitement. He expressionlessly spoke his first words in this battle.
"Although I wouldn't call myself a good person, most of the time, I still consider myself to be honorable."
Louis had already spread his special Observation Haki, taking in the full condition of Whitebeard's body, and was aware of his illness.
"Honorable?" Whitebeard's grim face revealed an extremely angry expression, as if he had heard the world's biggest joke. "Your people brutally murdered Squard and nailed him to a wooden cross, and you have the nerve to say you're honorable?!"
To this, Louis gave Whitebeard a rather surprised look. "Did you bring those tens of thousands of people to Dressrosa as guests?" he said meaningfully. "Since it's a war, why can't he be killed?" As his words fell, Louis slowly raised his Seven Star Sword and, after wreathing it in Conqueror's Haki, slashed it out.
Whitebeard tilted his body slightly, letting the slash, which was wreathed in black and red arcs of electricity, graze past his shoulder, instantly splitting the mountain range behind him and disappearing at the end of the horizon. Then, he swung his bisento, wreathed it in Conqueror's Haki, and met the sharp spear that was wrapped in a sun and black and red arcs of electricity.
BOOM! The bisento, wrapped in a milky-white halo, and the spear, wrapped in a sun, collided. Countless faint cracks appeared in the atmosphere, spreading to the horizon. Black and red arcs of electricity exploded, and the impact shattered mountain ranges from a distance. Countless giant rocks were thrown up like fallen leaves under the impact.
The sun exploded violently, the light overwhelming the sky and making the world's original colors dim. Rolling heatwaves radiated out, directly igniting the mountain ranges. As far as the eye could see, a golden sea of fire spread at a rate visible to the naked eye, spreading the scorched earth to the horizon.
Sparks from the flames scattered, and a scorching high temperature spread. At the edge of the molten, high-temperature land, Whitebeard, his entire body covered in powerful Haki, stood tall. He looked at his arm, which had been scorched black, his brow tightly furrowed.
Opposite him, Louis turned his head to look to the side. His eyes pierced through the burned-out jungle and landed on the distant beach. In his Observation Haki, a new fleet was slowly docking.
Louis's brow furrowed slightly, and his voice gradually became cold. "More have come."
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