Shimotsuki Ryuma didn't know how he'd "come back to life," but he knew the man called Silas before him had awakened him. He could feel a sharp, focused momentum radiating from Silas—the aura of a truly strong fighter!
Unfortunately, as Silas said, if this were anywhere else, they might have had an unprecedented duel. But on this chaotic battlefield, Ryuma's Observation Haki briefly swept across the scene, sensing many auras comparable to Wano's great swordsmen. He couldn't distinguish friend from foe.
Shimotsuki Ryuma gripped his longsword, assuming his signature drawing stance. Legend said the dragon-slaying samurai could defeat any enemy in a single flash. Silas had seen similar techniques in Wano—that Shimotsuki family head had used this very move, though compared to Ryuma, it was like comparing a candle to the sun.
"Flash!"
The blade moved as swift as lightning. Even with Silas's vision, he could only catch an afterimage. If this move had been aimed at him, Silas couldn't guarantee his Observation Haki could fully track it.
However, Observation Haki not catching something didn't mean the body couldn't react. For top-tier fighters, their tempered bodies were their greatest weapon when facing enemies.
The Figarland family was no different. Though arrogant, as the family had long held leadership of the Holy Knights, three Admiral-level fighters formed the foundation of their pride.
Ryuma's blade was impossibly fast, but the three Figarland family elites were also top-tier swordsmen. They almost simultaneously counterattacked.
Seeing this, Ryuma's eyes became incomparably bright. "Good!" To be unmatched in life, then after death meet opponents who forced him to fight with full strength—how fortunate!
Facing four Admiral-level fighters, Ryuma didn't retreat but surged forward. Drawing again—a cross-shaped slash wrapped in Conqueror's Haki!
"Second Flash!"
A cross-shaped slash spanning dozens of meters charged toward Saint Lucas and his companions at blinding speed. Saint Lucas's expression darkened. From Ryuma, he felt invincible momentum, not inferior to Silas's own.
"Damn!" Saint Lucas called out, "I'll block him—you go handle Silas!"
Speaking, he took the lead, meeting Ryuma's unleashed slash head-on.
"Father!"
"Go quickly!"
Saint Lucas didn't dare use a two-versus-one configuration against Silas, because that meant prolonged battle time, and they might not even win. Silas's undead summoning had completely disrupted Saint Lucas's deployment.
He'd originally thought their four could definitely handle Silas alone, but now he had to face Ryuma, while his two sons plus that CP organization relic—could they really defeat Silas? Would they actually lose?
Saint Lucas had this absurd thought. But immediately after, he saw that under the other Holy Knights members' assault, the Marines and CP organizations had stabilized their footing and begun dismantling the White Wolf Pirates' top-tier combat power.
Even Glyndwr, previously suppressed by those three White Wolf Pirates brats, had escaped Newgate and Ripley's entanglement with one Holy Knights member's help.
"I think your strength hasn't reached the level where you can afford to be distracted while facing me!"
"Third Flash!"
Black-purple blade light, like three crescent moons wrapped in crimson lightning tearing through everything, attacked Saint Lucas at nearly teleporting speed.
Saint Lucas showed genuine fear for the first time. "Damned samurai!"
He'd always relied on his immortality for his aggressive fighting style, but the moment Ryuma acted, Saint Lucas realized this samurai, like Silas, possessed the ability to break through his immortality.
"Figarland Style: Divine Grace!"
He pushed his family's heirloom swordsmanship to its absolute limit, yet one slash still penetrated his defenses, tearing through his shoulder. Within a heartbeat, he abandoned his initial assumptions.
"Granreid, come help me!"
In his urgency, Saint Lucas even dropped the noble "Saint" from his son's title, because his severed shoulder was wrapped in powerful Haki and wasn't recovering at all.
"Bastard!" Seeing his father unable to hold the line, Saint Granreid glared hatefully at Silas, who was forced to turn and help his father.
"Haha." Seeing Saint Lucas's desperate state, Silas couldn't help laughing heartily. "Noble Lord Saint Lucas, didn't you say you'd block that samurai alone? How are you calling for help so quickly?"
Honestly, if Saint Lucas hadn't been distracted glancing at the surrounding battlefield, he wouldn't have been caught by Ryuma and lost an arm. Ryuma was a swordsman famous for blinding attack speed. Even Silas didn't dare show carelessness facing Ryuma, let alone Saint Lucas, whose strength fell short.
Moreover...
"Come when you want, leave when you want—did you ask me?" Silas roared.
With an earth-shaking wolf howl, the white giant wolf whose form exploded to over ten meters extended two massive paws, simultaneously slamming both Saint Claude and Stephens into the ground. At the same time, freezing breath erupted from his jaws.
"ROAR!"
Silas's single breath attack forcibly interrupted Saint Granreid's steps toward his father, simultaneously suppressing three Admiral-level fighters. What Silas displayed now was clearly the form shown after Zoan fruit awakening failure—while size increased dramatically, strength and destructive power would also surge.
The cost was supposedly losing reason, but Silas showed no signs of that whatsoever.
"Damn, damn, DAMN!!!" Seeing this, Saint Lucas immediately panicked.
Silas's current form was completely disadvantageous for top-tier combat. Though short-term size and strength increased, comprehensive performance was far inferior to his normal beast-form state. But Silas didn't care—suppressing the three below for even a moment bought Ryuma precious time. Maybe if he held on just a bit longer, Ryuma would cut down Saint Lucas?
But Saint Lucas wasn't stupid either. Knowing calling his two sons for rescue was hopeless, he immediately found the battlefield's only free Admiral-level fighter.
"Glyndwr, come help me!"
Saint Lucas's one order nearly made the distant falcon-form Glyndwr spit blood.
"What!?"
With one Holy Knights member's help, he'd completely escaped Newgate, Ripley, and Linlin's three-person suppression, actually turning the tables until they couldn't breathe. Three-on-one was still manageable, but adding another Holy Knights member, Newgate's group couldn't hold out.
Just when they'd suppressed these three White Wolf Pirates brats, Saint Lucas actually called him to abandon his advantage and risk his life with those top-tier monsters?
How could Glyndwr possibly be willing?
"GLYNDWR!!!"
But seeing Saint Lucas's current dire state, however unwilling Glyndwr was, he had to grit his teeth and fly toward Saint Lucas and Ryuma's location.
"Lord Saint Lucas, I'm coming!"
However, Glyndwr saw Saint Lucas's desperate situation—and so did Newgate and Ripley. Instantly, Ripley returned to giant size.
"Newgate, block the other one!"
"Got it!"
Coming to support Glyndwr was precisely that Celestial Dragon with the Command Fruit whom Newgate had met at Sabaody Archipelago. Two years ago, Newgate had no resistance capability facing Saint Kurt, but now it was different.
"Tremor!"
With extremely sharp battle wisdom, Newgate used just a few exchanges to completely crack Saint Kurt's fruit ability. Sound transmission relied on vibration, which meant his Tremor-Tremor Fruit was naturally superior to these sound-based abilities.
The battlefield was already extremely chaotic. Adding Newgate's Tremor-Tremor Fruit ability, Saint Kurt's full strength was basically seventy to eighty percent wasted. He'd initially helped Glyndwr with thoughts of revenge against the White Wolf Pirates members, and with Glyndwr's help, he could display some effectiveness.
But just as Glyndwr prepared to leave, Newgate targeted him. His inherently weak physical strength was exposed immediately.
Of course, "weak" was relative. The Holy Knights members' physical abilities, however lacking, still matched ordinary great pirates. But he faced Newgate—not the kid from two years ago who couldn't withstand one move, but a grown warrior who'd already touched the peak tier of these seas' strongest fighters!
Saint Kurt just wanted to stop Newgate and Ripley from pursuing Glyndwr, but then he saw Newgate approaching him directly. A milky-white halo bloomed in Newgate's hand—a devastating strike capable of matching Admiral-level fighters. Though not yet Newgate's peak power, it was more than sufficient for defeating an ordinary Holy Knights member.
"This is for—" Newgate looked at Saint Kurt, remembering the departed Rocks.
"LIE DOWN!"
Having completely matured, standing over six meters tall, Newgate's massive veins bulged like pythons, driving all his body's power into this strike.
Saint Kurt couldn't dodge, couldn't avoid. He could only watch that fist wrapped in a milky-white halo descend.
BOOM!
The terrifying strike nearly shook all of Acropolis Port. Even the most elite fighters glanced over, seeing this scene. Simultaneously, giant-sized Ripley actually grabbed the mid-air Glyndwr in one massive grip.
"How is this possible!?" Glyndwr couldn't believe it—with his Observation Haki level, how could he fail to react to Ripley's attack?
"Hehe, Captain told me that though I haven't completely mastered future sight, combined with my fruit ability, even ordinary future sight might not predict my movements!"
"Damned pirate!" Hearing Ripley's words, Glyndwr became furious with embarrassment. "You think grabbing me is useful?"
Countless feathers on Glyndwr's body cut like razors at Ripley's palm—even with Armament Haki, Ripley couldn't fully defend against the assault.
At this moment, Linlin's voice rang out. "Sister Ripley, let me!"
Seeing Glyndwr actually injuring Ripley's hand, Linlin immediately got angry. In the White Wolf Pirates, besides Silas, the person best to her was Ripley. And recently Silas had become strict, making Linlin want to avoid him.
"Good!" Knowing Linlin's physique was even stronger than hers, Ripley didn't hesitate.
Glyndwr still wanted to struggle, but before he could move, his neck was gripped in Linlin's hand.
"Mere giant brat..." Glyndwr's voice stopped halfway. A terrifying force that even he found horrifying slammed him violently into the ground.
"Pff!" Though possessing immortality, Linlin's throw still made his internal organs feel displaced, painfully coughing up a large mouthful of blood.
"Die!" Glyndwr again unleashed his feather attack, but completely different from attacking Ripley—his strikes could only leave faint white scratches on Linlin's hands.
How is this possible!? Glyndwr couldn't believe it. Though this wasn't his strongest attack, how could it have absolutely zero effect?
But his body was gripped tightly by both of Linlin's hands, all his bones creaking under the pressure. Just releasing Haki to resist took all his strength—no chance to exert force offensively, let alone use the only potentially effective internal destruction technique.
Glyndwr falling to this end wasn't strange at all. Though his comprehensive strength crushed any single one of Newgate, Ripley, or Linlin, unfortunately two among the three were specialized fighters. Newgate's offensive strength reached Admiral-level standards, though his defensive power and Observation Haki levels were still slightly lacking. Linlin's defensive power was completely Admiral-level—even Admiral-level fighters wanting to break Linlin's defense had to use advanced Armament Haki.
Unfortunately, in his carelessness, Glyndwr had been caught by Ripley, who most effectively countered future sight among the three, then fell into monstrous-strength, top-tier defense Linlin's grip.
Though unable to kill Glyndwr, short-term suppression was completely manageable. Moreover, the three Holy Knights leaders, led by Saint Lucas, couldn't be controlled by conventional methods, but Devil Fruit users like Glyndwr and Saint Kurt had no such protection.
Though Newgate's one punch had shattered almost Saint Kurt's entire body, with immortality's help, he recovered with barely any effort. But before he could feel smug, he saw a swordsman holding a Seastone-forged collar, snapping it around his neck like a dog.
Now even his prized immortality couldn't help him. Immortality only prevented death, but as a Devil Fruit user, he had no way to resist the ocean's power. Seastone worked on the same principle.
Not just him—Glyndwr beside him suffered the same fate. In this instant, Silas's laughter echoed across the entire battlefield.
"Puhahahahaha, this is the CP organization's leader? These are Celestial Dragons? I think they look more like DOGS!"