As his wounds multiplied, King's defense completely collapsed. His figure wavered unsteadily amidst the blade lights.
"Final strike!"
Vista roared, his voice like a snarl from the depths of hell, filled with boundless resolve and killing intent.
He brought his twin blades together, and under the sunlight, they gleamed with a dazzling radiance.
Then, with a sudden upward slash!
"Shiiing—!" This strike contained all of Vista's strength and fury, descending upon King like divine punishment.
King's body was sent flying backward by the blow, crashing heavily to the ground like a cannonball.
His long sword slipped from his grasp, tracing an arc through the air before embedding itself deeply into the earth.
His black wings lay spread out weakly.
Blood gushed from his numerous wounds, spreading into a stark, crimson pool on the ground.
The thick scent of blood filled the air, nauseating to anyone who caught a whiff.
He struggled to rise, his hands pushing against the ground, trying to muster his last ounce of strength to stand.
But his body no longer obeyed him; each attempt only brought deeper helplessness.
In the end, he could only lie on his back, his breathing as faint as a candle flickering in the wind. His consciousness gradually blurred, his vision swallowed by encroaching darkness.
Before the darkness fully took him, he murmured under his breath, "Kai... Kaido-sama, I... I won't be able to see you become the King of the Pirates..."
Vista slowly sheathed his blades, his movements calm and composed.
He coldly watched the once-arrogant "Calamity," now lying in a pool of blood like a dying black crow, never to rise again.
"The Lunarians truly are an extraordinary race."
....
On other battlefields,
The atmosphere felt shrouded by an invisible gloom, so oppressive it was almost suffocating.
The members of the Flying Six all wore grim, iron-like expressions, their eyes fixed intently on the man in the black coat—Crocodile.
Crocodile's figure stood out starkly amidst the chaos of the battlefield.
The corners of his lips curled slightly, carrying a trace of contemptuous sneer.
In his eyes, these opponents before him were nothing more than insignificant ants.
Slowly, he raised his right hand.
In an instant, his palm transformed into fine sand, flowing like a murmuring stream, shimmering with an eerie and mysterious glow.
His left hand was coated in an ink-black layer of Armament Haki, so dense it seemed almost tangible, faintly exuding an aura that sent chills down one's spine.
The very air around him seemed to stagnate under the weight of this immense power.
He stood there quietly, yet radiated a suffocating pressure, like an insurmountable mountain looming before the members of the Flying Six.
"Logia Sand-Sand Fruit, plus a Mythical Zoan... Azure Dragon.." Black Maria gritted her teeth, forcing the words out through clenched jaws, her voice tinged with despair and resentment.
Her gaze remained fixed on Crocodile, her eyes filled with apprehension.
"Ordinary attacks can't even touch him! What are we supposed to do...?"
"Then we'll use Haki to take him down!" Page One roared, his voice echoing across the silent battlefield.
With his furious shout, his muscles instantly swelled like balloons filled with power, every inch tensed as pitch-black Armament Haki rapidly enveloped his arms.
The dense Haki burned like black flames, making his arms appear as hard as steel.
He suddenly kicked off the ground, charging toward Crocodile like an enraged bull, kicking up clouds of dust in his wake.
"Heh..." Crocodile chuckled disdainfully, his smile dripping with mockery and arrogance.
Facing Page One's ferocious assault, he didn't even bother to dodge, standing perfectly still with absolute confidence in his defenses.
"Thud—!"
A dull impact shattered the battlefield's silence, ringing in everyone's ears like thunder.
Page One's powerful fist slammed hard into Crocodile's chest, the force of the punch whipping up swirling clouds of sand around them.
Yet, shockingly, Crocodile didn't budge an inch, standing firm like an unshakable mountain weathering the fiercest storm.
Instead, it was Page One whose pupils contracted instantly upon impact, his face twisting in disbelief.
His fist felt as if it had struck the hardest steel imaginable.
A tremendous recoil shot through his entire arm, yet his opponent's body didn't even tremble.
His punch had been as futile as an ant trying to shake a tree.
"Is that all you've got?"
Crocodile sneered coldly, his laughter seeming to emanate from an icehouse, sending shivers down the spine.
Before Page One could react, Crocodile's left arm instantly became enveloped in the more advanced Haki.
The Haki coiled around his arm like a nimble serpent, radiating an even more terrifying aura.
Then, he threw a lightning-fast punch—so swift it was nearly invisible to the naked eye.
A black streak shot through the air, carrying overwhelming force as it hurtled toward Page One.
"Thump—!" The punch pierced straight through Page One's Armament Haki defense.
The seemingly impenetrable Haki shattered like paper against Crocodile's devastating strike.
The terrifying impact surged through Page One's body like a raging tide, wreaking havoc on his internal organs and subjecting him to excruciating agony.
Page One's eyes bulged as a torrent of blood gushed from his mouth, splattering through the air like blooming crimson flowers.
He was sent flying backward like a cannonball, tracing a tragic arc through the sky before crashing heavily into the distant ruins.
The impact kicked up a cloud of dust, shrouding Page One's figure in a gray haze.
"Page One!" Ulti roared.
Instantly, her body underwent a bizarre transformation, shifting into a terrifying human-beast hybrid form.
Her muscles tensed, each fiber brimming with explosive power, while pitch-black Armament Haki surged like a tidal wave, rapidly coating her forehead.
The Armament Haki was so dense it seemed tangible, gleaming with an eerie luster under the light.
Ulti's gaze locked onto Crocodile ahead, her eyes burning with searing killing intent and hatred!
"Hurt my Page One, and no matter who you are, you're dead!"