No matter when, never underestimate a top-tier fighter's resilience.
Although the Giant King could not do what Silas did, directly using Life Return to heal his injuries, after consuming large amounts of food, recovering some stamina in a short time was still possible.
Thus came this current strike.
"Hakoku!"
This was Elbaf's strongest combat technique. Even in all of Elbaf, the number of giants who could learn this technique did not exceed ten fingers.
As the Giant King, Harald naturally could not possibly not know it.
"Run quickly!"
"Dodge!"
"Too late!"
The strong fighters among the Marines and CP0 watched Harald's attack with terrified eyes. Even though Harald did not even have a weapon now, just by swinging a large tree, Harald demonstrated the power that only the strongest batch of fighters on these seas possessed.
Wild winds arose suddenly.
Even Kong, Rona, and Grindelwald, who were fighting Silas, changed expressions. Though they had captured Harald through a calculated surprise attack, they simply had not given Harald the chance to use this strongest strike.
Because during the chaotic battle then, if Harald had used this move, not only would the Marines have suffered heavy losses, but the surrounding royal guards would have died countless deaths too.
But now, Harald had no more concerns.
Under his earth-shaking, heaven-moving giant strength, the surrounding air seemed to be sucked away. Newgate and others standing nearby could barely keep their footing.
Rocks even thought he would be swatted away by the Giant King's tree like air itself.
This was a completely different sensation.
Though Silas's Hakoku was also very powerful, it incorporated more of his understanding of swordsmanship, emphasizing penetration over range.
Harald's Hakoku was different.
Executing the giants' ultimate technique in giant form, visibly, it was a vast, boundless, massive shockwave carrying an unmatched storm, shooting out like a mountain collapse and tsunami.
Everything blocking its path was completely destroyed.
Some Marines who could not dodge in time and happened to be in the impact's center could not even resist before being torn apart by the shockwave.
No one could withstand it.
Even the top-tier fighters present, including Silas, could not guarantee they would emerge unscathed from taking this strike head-on.
This was the giants' fury, Elbaf's fury!
From Elbaf's northwest to the coast, Harald's strike swept over twenty kilometers of land. Mountains and hills along the way were forcibly blasted through, creating a huge groove in the earth.
All of Elbaf seemed to emit angry roars from this one strike.
"So... so strong!"
Seeing a top-tier fighter's full-power attack for the first time, Newgate watched with surging emotions, wishing he could be the one delivering such an attack.
"Hmph, our Captain can do this level too!"
Though he argued almost instinctively, Rocks was still very clear that Silas was not a pure power-type fighter. Even Silas could not deliver such a terrifying attack.
But he had not expected that after hearing his words, the Giant King would actually nod in acknowledgment.
"I just have the advantage of greater strength. The current me is no longer your Captain's match."
Harald's eyes carried deep fatigue.
If before this battle Harald still had thoughts of surpassing Silas, after this battle, he had basically abandoned that notion.
Physical disability's impact on a strong fighter was simply too great.
Especially for a strength-type fighter like him.
A broken leg meant an unstable foundation, meaning an inability to unleash full power, with speed severely affected too.
Even if his strength remained at the top-tier fighter level, in actual combat, perhaps even against someone like Grindelwald, who was only one step away from their level, he would need a hard-fought battle to win.
Not to mention, when his leg was not broken, in sparring with Silas, he was the one who lost.
Harald felt somewhat disheartened.
Though he favored peace, he equally understood that only by possessing powerful strength could one deter others. The foundation of equal exchange was strength.
For example, was the World Government not invading them precisely because they were not strong enough?
But Harald knew he could not fall.
He was Elbaf's King, the giants' King. He still had to lead the giants through difficulties and defeat their enemies!
After Harald's strike, the earth was devastated everywhere.
Without top-tier fighters to counter him, Harald had destroyed the Marines and CP0's pursuit formation with just this one strike.
Facing Harald, the Marines and CP0 felt despair.
Though they knew Harald likely only had strength for this one strike, who dared bet whether Harald had another strike left?
Many Marines recalled their nightmare from Sphinx.
Clearly their side had more top-tier combat power.
Why could they not step forward when needed?
Because Kong, Rona, and Grindelwald could not break away.
Giant King Harald's rescue was already set in stone. Even though the Giant King was very weak now, any Marine Vice Admiral could defeat him.
But under the desperate protection of the White Wolf Pirates' rookies and the giants, the Marines simply had no way to recapture the Giant King.
But it was not without good news.
Until now, Kong, Rona, and Grindelwald were all in good condition. Three against one; if Silas could still counter-kill one of them, then they need not continue in the Marines and CP0.
They might as well go home and farm.
"He is almost done for. Seems that recovery just now was his final trump card!"
Grindelwald admitted he had been bluffed earlier.
Clearly already severely wounded by them, yet in the blink of an eye he had recovered to peak condition and could temporarily hold his own against two opponents.
Where was the old man in this?
This was simply a monster!
Fortunately, after that recovery and fighting them intensely for several more minutes, Silas's condition began visibly declining.
From holding his own against two without disadvantage, to being unable to gain advantage against any of them in direct confrontation, and being overwhelmed when surrounded.
Life Return had healed his injuries but could not restore stamina.
Over half an hour of intense battle, if Silas were not a Zoan fruit user with sufficiently tenacious vitality, he would have been taken down by Kong, Rona, and Grindelwald's combined assault long ago.
But even Zoan users' thick skin and tough flesh had limits.
About time.
Silas's breathing became somewhat disordered. His condition was worse than Kong, Rona, and Grindelwald had imagined.
Fighting three opponents alone was originally risking life.
Now seeing Ripley and the others successfully rescue Harald, as long as they infiltrated Elbaf's interior, relying on the Adam Tree's intricate root system, even Admiral-level fighters would not find them quickly.
Silas felt he should also retreat.
But the moment Silas's thought arose and his fighting spirit weakened, the other three detected it.
"Silas, do you want to escape? Having come this far, do you think I will let you get away?"
Kong's eyes carried anger.
"If I let you escape, everything we have done until now will be wasted. How could I face those dead Marine officers and soldiers?"
But Kong not speaking would have been better. Once he opened his mouth, Silas's fury was equally ignited.
"Kong, did I make you invade Elbaf? Did I command the Marines to attack the giant nation?"
"You damn brat, stop acting innocent there!"
"Get this straight. You are the ones who should die. You are the invaders!"
Silas had originally thought his previous words could make Kong properly consider what his justice really was. But in the end, while shouting about justice and order, he simultaneously attacked as an invader.
"As expected, saying even one more word to you Celestial Dragon lackeys is a waste of breath. Since you want my head, then come take it!"
Silas's roar echoed across the island's sky.
"If you can manage it, then try!"
"Hypocritical invaders!!"