The River Styx functioned differently from the River of Death; it was not designed for direct, physical assault on an enemy and typically required specialized means to manifest combat effectiveness.
However, against someone like Charlotte Linlin, it was devastatingly simple.
The spirits released from the River Styx would devour the souls she had meticulously harvested and stored within Totto Land for decades, effectively stripping away her greatest tactical advantage.
"If you're unable to fight once you lose these, then your strength is truly a pathetic sight," Alucard said, looking down with disdain at the panicked Charlotte Linlin.
"I told you to STAY YOUR HAND!!" Linlin shrieked.
She swung her arms, commanding Zeus and Prometheus to launch a fierce counterattack against the vengeful spirits that were consuming her soul incarnations. Because her own powers were soul-based, she was capable of making "true contact" with them, unlike the soldiers and pirates at Marineford who had been utterly helpless against the spirits.
"So you've switched to hunting souls?"
Alucard spread his arms wide. The vengeful spirits began to take solid form. Originally, they were a nameless, uniform mass, but under Alucard's control, they began to manifest their original appearances from when they were alive.
Charlotte Linlin, mid-attack, froze. She began to recognize the translucent figures emerging from the mist.
Beyond legendary pirates like Shiki the Golden Lion, Dragon, and Whitebeard, there was a newer addition, her own daughter, Charlotte Smoothie, whom she had just watched die at Alucard's hand.
Their bodies were semi-transparent and ghostly, but as Alucard exerted his will, they dropped into familiar combat stances.
Whitebeard gripped his naginata, the Murakumogiri, leveling its blade at Charlotte Linlin. Shiki's leg-swords glinted with a murderous light. Dragon held his hand in a claw-like posture. Even Smoothie unsheathed the longsword from her back.
"Their Devil Fruit powers remain within the River of Death, but they retain every ounce of the combat techniques they possessed in life."
Alucard stood atop the gathering of souls. Beneath his feet, the buildings and the ground, freed from the influence of Linlin's Soul-Soul Fruit, reverted to inanimate matter once more.
Alucard raised his left index and middle fingers. "Shall we test them?"
Swish!!
In the next instant, Shiki's soul struck first. Being a spirit without a physical body, he couldn't generate true flying slashes, and without his Devil Fruit, he moved by sprinting rather than flying.
Yet his speed and destructive intent remained. He closed the gap in a heartbeat, throwing a high kick that swept past Linlin's left hand, leaving a jagged spiritual scar across the face of the Thundercloud Zeus.
Zip!
The other souls swarmed forward. Seeing this, Charlotte Linlin abandoned all restraint, pushing her soul-force to its absolute limit.
In her other hand, the Sun Prometheus flared with intensity, warping the very space around them. Even Alucard, standing a significant distance away, felt a wave of scorching heat wash over his face.
"But you would do well not to underestimate these 'puppets.'"
Alucard stood back to observe the spectacle of the soul battle.
"What!?"
Just as Prometheus's power reached its zenith and Linlin prepared to strike, she felt her arm locked in place. She found herself unable to move. Glancing down, she gasped, "Whitebeard..."
The soul of Whitebeard had clamped a single hand onto Linlin's arm. Like the other spirits, his eyes were hollow and void of light. While his left hand pinned her, his right hand thrust the naginata forward, aiming straight for the center of her brow.
"You're nothing more than soul-food for me! Don't you dare get cocky just because you're dead, Whitebeard!"
In a fit of titanic rage, Linlin's strength surged again. Since Whitebeard was currently only a soul-form without a physical vessel, he was slightly disadvantaged against a full-powered Charlotte Linlin. He was blasted back dozens of meters by Zeus's lightning.
"Their power is reduced in this form, but no matter."
At Alucard's command, the souls of Shiki, Smoothie, Zephyr, and a host of other great pirates swarmed forward, encircling Linlin's massive frame.
Even in a weakened spiritual state, no one, not even Charlotte Linlin, could face so many elite powerhouses at once without feeling a surge of dread. Several of these souls had belonged to individuals whose fame and strength rivaled her own when they were alive.
Crucially, Linlin could not focus on two fronts. While she fought these legendary ghosts, the other vengeful spirits continued to devour the rest of the souls in Totto Land. If this continued, her power base would erode until it vanished entirely.
By then, she wouldn't even need Alucard to finish her; Kaido or a couple of Marine Admirals could easily take her down.
Whoosh!
The sound of flames dying out echoed as the rampaging twin gods in Linlin's hands gradually calmed. The fury on their faces settled into a grim stillness.
"What is the meaning of this?" Alucard asked, tilting his head.
"This time... I admit defeat," Linlin spat through gritted teeth.
Alucard's eyes darkened. "Seriously...?"
First Kaido, now Big Mom. Was it becoming this difficult to find a proper opponent?
Charlotte Linlin had thought it through. Even if she could temporarily repel Alucard today, the news of her massive loss of soul-power and diminished strength would reach Kaido and the Navy in no time. Would they let her recover?
Yielding to Alucard was her only chance at survival.
"Tch."
Alucard's face darkened with dissatisfaction. The River Styx retracted the souls, and the darkness shrouding the world gave way to light once more.
"Palom-Polom and Barbaricia. Withdraw your soul fragments from these two islands," Alucard commanded in a tone of absolute authority.
It was a supreme humiliation.
Yet, she had no choice but to accept. From beneath that massive head, she muttered a single word: "Fine."
———————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over here ——— pa-tre-on.c-om/AlexandrusTL [remove the hyphen for normal access]