Sakazuki and Whitebeard had both noticed the change in Roger.
Hovering in midair, Whitebeard naturally understood what had happened.
A trace of guilt flickered in his eyes.
Then, he locked his gaze firmly on Sakazuki.
Sakazuki, meanwhile, had finally recovered a bit.
Reforming his body, he looked at Whitebeard with a mocking smile.
Neither of them made a move, instead recovering their strength and waiting for the right moment.
Be it brutal attacks or desperate duels,
It was all under the premise of confidence.
In their current states, one wrong move could lead to mutual destruction.
No one truly wanted to die.
Sakazuki was now standing atop the ruins of the Cliff Edge, right by the sea's surface.
One misstep, and even rescue would be impossible if he fell into the water.
Whitebeard wasn't much better—his injuries were even more severe than Sakazuki's.
Recovery took time. If Sakazuki dragged him into the sea with him, it wouldn't be worth it.
Time passed slowly.
As the last crack beneath Whitebeard's foot in midair disappeared, both men moved simultaneously.
Sakazuki thrust both hands into the solidified magma ground.
His powers activated, continuously drawing magma from beneath the surface, causing it to surge upward:
"Lava Land Creation!"
At that moment, Whitebeard, with his feet clad in vibration rings, descended from above.
He drew back both hands and flashed away in an instant.
Whitebeard stomped down exactly where Sakazuki had just activated his ability.
Crack!
Power burst forth, and vibration waves surged downward.
The cracks in the ground widened, rumbling and shaking violently.
It was as if something beneath was pushing upward, slightly lifting the surface.
But magma didn't erupt from the ground.
Instead, all around the hardened Cliff Edge, magma began gushing outward and spreading.
Within moments,The entire landmass had tripled in area.
From afar, facing off against Whitebeard, Sakazuki clenched his fists and yanked upward.A magma greatsword over three meters long took shape in his grasp, instantly coated in Armament Haki.
Holding it in one hand, he twirled the blade and stabbed it into the ground, then looked coldly at Whitebeard.
He and the sword sank into the ground.
Moments later, countless magma giants erupted from the earth.
Each of them stood over four meters tall.
In their hands, they wielded identical magma greatswords like Sakazuki's.
All of them charged toward Whitebeard.
Seeing himself surrounded by magma giants, Whitebeard activated his powers and swung forward.
Crack!
Boom boom boom boom!!!
Countless magma giants shattered ahead, but new ones formed just as quickly.
They had no will of their own—under Sakazuki's control, they charged forward endlessly.
With each punch Whitebeard threw,
Large swathes of magma giants fell like wheat to a sickle—but the distance between them kept shrinking.
And using his power so frequently took a toll on Whitebeard's heavily wounded body.
His eyes narrowed.
"Trying to wear me down, huh..."
Whitebeard spun his naginata and stabbed it into the ground.
He drew back both fists to his abdomen, ready to shatter the terrain and end it all at once.
Whoosh!
A sharp sound of something tearing through the air came flying. Whitebeard's pupils constricted.
He didn't have time to activate his power—he simply coated his entire body in Armament Haki.
BOOM!!!
A deafening explosion.
One of the magma giants, holding a greatsword, had silently crept close to Whitebeard.
Its pitch-black blade, wrapped in Conqueror's Haki, slashed hard at Whitebeard's neck.
Then came an explosive force like a volcanic eruption, blasting Whitebeard away.
Like a meteor, he crashed into a pile of shattered rocks before finally stopping.
Boom!
Debris scattered as Whitebeard emerged.
A long gash on his neck bled profusely. He looked toward the magma giant.
"You sneaky brat."
That magma giant slowly reformed into Sakazuki's shape.
The shattered blade in his hand reformed.
He took a deep breath.
Hoo!!!
Compressed black smoke and volcanic ash formed an air bullet.
With a roaring blast of wind, it shot from his mouth straight toward Whitebeard.
Seeing the black air bullet, Whitebeard snorted coldly.
He drew back both fists to his abdomen, then thrust them outward with force.
Crack—!
The air around him shattered, and the ground shook wildly.On both sides of the island, water rose into towering swells hundreds of meters high.
BOOM!
As the air bullet exploded and thick smoke engulfed the island—
Those irregular water bulges also burst apart, transforming into towering waves crashing toward the center of the island.
Activating his power beneath his feet, Whitebeard shot into the sky, surveying the battlefield.
He had also discovered a flaw in Sakazuki's ability.
Sakazuki could command so much magma primarily because of the deep underground reserves.
If the island surface sank beneath the sea, it would be difficult for Sakazuki to manipulate magma through seawater.
And if he was forced to burn through his own body—
Whitebeard was confident he could drag Sakazuki down with him.
On the ground, Sakazuki frowned as he saw Whitebeard repeating the same tactic. He clapped his hands together.
A Cliff Edge pillar shot straight into the sky.
At the same time, Whitebeard took several steps in the air, appearing atop the stone pillar.
Activating his ability, he stomped down—shattering the atmosphere.
The whole structure began descending with tremendous force under Whitebeard's weight.
Sakazuki instantly understood what Whitebeard intended and immediately deactivated his power, merging with the ground.
He transformed into a molten red line, streaking toward the planet's core.
Up in the sky, Whitebeard ascended once more.
Giant waves swallowed the island.
Under the power of Whitebeard's Quake-Quake Fruit, the island shattered and was engulfed by seawater.
Standing in midair and surveying the sea below, Whitebeard frowned.
He didn't believe that magma brat had died so easily.
Suddenly, a red glow appeared on the sea's surface, growing rapidly until it filled Whitebeard's vision.
Alarms blared in his mind. He dodged away into the distance midair.
Then, from where the island had just sunk, the sea swelled into a massive dome of water.
Unlike the irregular bulges caused by Whitebeard's power,
This one looked like something had exploded beneath the ocean, forcing it upward. The sea surged violently.
BOOM!!!
As the water dome burst, a hundred-meter-high tsunami spread in all directions, crashing toward the others in battle.
Magma many times thicker than the island itself erupted from the sea.
Dark red magma, wreathed in black smoke, shot into the heavens.
At the very center of the eruption stood Sakazuki.
Rising with the burst of magma, he finally reformed his body after breaking through the surface.
Then, activating his ability again, countless magma fists—each tens of meters wide—formed in the sky.
They rained down on Whitebeard like a meteor shower.
Thousands of blazing trails streaked across the sky, as if heralding the end of the world...
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