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The Donquixote officers' assault crashed down on the Nachthrone. Diamante hit first. His grotesque "flight" with his rigid firecracker clo
The Donquixote officers' assault crashed down on the Nachthrone.
Diamante hit first. His grotesque "flight" with his rigid firecracker cloak propelled him toward the bridge with surprising speed. His flail-sword, the "Devil's Dagger," whistled in a deadly arc, infused with virulent Armament Haki, aiming to cleave Mihawk in two. "Your time's up, Hawk-Eyes!"
Trebol, clinging to the hull, pointed his pudgy hands at Mihawk. "Sticky-sticky stick!" Torrents of thick, corrosive green mucus shot out, targeting not just the swordsman but the bridge controls and nearby side cannons, aiming to immobilize and dissolve.
Gladius, landing at the rear, transformed instantly. His arms swelled, taking on a reddish, grainy texture—living bombs. "Objective: propulsion. Immediate neutralization." He aimed his explosive palms at the rear superstructures where the Nachthrone's engine vibrations emanated.
Lao G, arriving through sheer strength by climbing the grappling rope, leaped onto the main deck with a roar. "Youth explodes!" His fist, wrapped in Armament Haki dense as steel, tore through the air toward Mihawk's chest in a devastating karate strike.
Doflamingo, perched on his aerial web, made a dismissive gesture. Zzzzip! Nearly invisible threads, sharp as razors and infused with piercing Armament Haki, darted silently through the chaos, aiming for Mihawk's hamstrings, his eyes behind his glasses, and the ship's vital points around him. A sneaky, omnidirectional attack. "Fufufu… Crush him!"
Mihawk didn't dodge. He absorbed the moment.
A dome of obsidian-black Armament Haki, almost liquid in its intensity, erupted around him and the Nachthrone's core—the bridge and engines.
At the same moment, Yoru rose, serene, then became a black lightning bolt.
CLANG! A titanic clash shook the air. Diamante's flail-sword, despite its Haki, was deflected with brutal force that vibrated through the officer's arm to his shoulder. Mihawk hadn't even moved his feet. His gaze met Diamante's, laced with icy contempt. "Too loud."
The Haki dome deflected the mucus jets. The corrosive substance splattered against the black barrier, sizzling uselessly, unable to pierce or stick. Some ricocheted onto Donquixote pirates attempting to board, trapping them in their own screams.
As explosions were about to erupt from Gladius's palms, Mihawk subtly turned his wrist. Yoru, still raised after parrying Diamante, swung down in a fluid, impossibly fast motion. A compressed air wave, invisible but shredding, shot toward Gladius.
FWOOOOSH-CRACK! The slashing gust struck the explosive officer before he could trigger his bombs, hurling him back against a cannon turret, dazing him and breaking his focus.
Without blinking, Mihawk pivoted on his left heel, dodging Lao G's shattering fist with unnerving grace. The punch missed his coat by inches, striking the air with a dull thud. In the same spinning motion, Yoru's pommel slammed into Lao G's solar plexus. WHUMPF! The old warrior doubled over, eyes bulging, air forced from his lungs, before collapsing to his knees, gasping.
Doflamingo's deadly threads met the Haki dome. Some bounced off with sparks, others dulled and fell harmlessly.
Mihawk raised his gaze to the aerial web. Not a word. Just a moment of contact through pink lenses and golden eyes.
A silence more eloquent than a declaration of war.
The exchange lasted mere seconds, but the steel deluge continued.
BOOM! KRAAAK! A cannonball hit the Nachthrone's bow, shaking the ship. The black armor held, but a spray of incandescent shrapnel swept the deck.
Kiku, at the controls, was a blur over the consoles. The Nachthrone veered on the edge of imbalance, dodging entire salvos with impossible maneuvers. Its side cannons spat their blue-white thunder.
FWOOOSH-KABOOM! A Donquixote ship, already damaged, saw its bow explode, starting to sink in a geyser of foam and screams.
Meanwhile, Perona, on the enemy ship, mad with rage and humiliation, unleashed her psychic arsenal. "Hollows! Attack!"
Dozens of her small, negative ghosts dove through the decks of the Donquixote ship she'd crashed onto. Pirates and gunners were suddenly gripped by crushing suicidal apathy.
"What's the point… It's all meaningless… I want to die…"
Cannons fell silent, crews collapsed in tears, disarmed by absolute despair.
Perona, standing amid the chaos she sowed, laughed hysterically. "See?! See what that feels like?!"
The first assaults repelled, the Donquixote officers regrouped, more cautious but still determined.
Diamante stepped back, his arm numb, but his eyes burned with murderous fury. He spun his flail-sword, his cloak vibrating, ready to turn the deck into a forest of animated blades.
Trebol, frustrated, gurgled with rage. He began coating a wide area of the deck around Mihawk with mucus, aiming to trap his feet, limit his movements, turning the battlefield into a sticky, dangerous quagmire. "Stuck stuck stuck!"
Gladius stood, bleeding from a gash on his temple from his impact against the turret. He focused his power into his feet. PAM! PAM! Propulsive explosions sent him zigzagging at breakneck speed around Mihawk, launching salvos of small explosive projectiles from his fingers, no longer aiming for propulsion but the man himself, seeking to distract and unbalance him.
Lao G, catching his breath, roared. "Age… is an illusion!" He leaped again, not in a straight line but using the ship's structure, striking metal supports with Haki-charged punches to shake the deck under Mihawk, creating openings for the others.
Doflamingo, still smiling but with narrowed eyes, intensified his attack. Zzzzip! Zzzzip! He no longer sent just cutting threads but wove nets of Haki-infused threads. Others attacked the Nachthrone's cannons, trying to jam them, or targeted visible control cables, aiming to cripple the ship.
"You can't parry forever, Mihawk! Even monsters tire!"
Hawk-Eyes was a controlled whirlwind. His Observation Haki let him perceive every threat, projectile, and intent as if in terrifying slow motion. His Armament Haki, of unreal density, reinforced Yoru and his protective dome.
He danced between Trebol's mucus jets, his feet barely grazing the sticky deck where he had to move.
Yoru was everywhere: a black wall deflecting Gladius's explosive projectiles (PING! PING!), a hammer striking Lao G's wrists to break his assaults (CRACK!), a slashing fan dispersing Doflamingo's thread nets before they could close (SHIIING!).
He parried Diamante's furious blows with frightening economy, each clash grinding the deck's metal. Sometimes, a lightning-fast counterattack forced Diam Growns to retreat hastily, his cloak torn in places by near-misses.
The Haki dome flickered, focusing to withstand the heaviest cannonballs (BOOM! the ship lurched violently), protecting Kiku in her armored helm, deflecting direct hits on the engines.
But cracks now appeared in the Nachthrone's black armor, smoking scars where shots were too numerous or powerful. The acrid smoke mingled with cannon fumes.
A particularly brutal salvo from the flagship made the Nachthrone stagger, forcing Mihawk to focus his protective Haki rearward for a split second.
Diamante saw an opening.
"NOW!" he screamed, ignoring strategy, consumed by wounded pride. He poured all his Armament Haki into his flail-sword, making it vibrate and glow with malevolent light. Instead of striking from afar, he charged straight at Mihawk, a bestial cry on his lips, his weapon whirling overhead in a final move. "Die, old relic! Die in pain!"
Mihawk, tracking a massive cannonball's trajectory toward the stern, simply turned his head toward Diamante. No anger. No displayed contempt. Just absolute coldness. In the same motion of turning his head, his right arm, holding Yoru, moved.
It wasn't a spectacular strike, no giant Haki slash. It was a disarmingly simple gesture, mathematically precise, and so fast it tore the air with a supersonic CRACK.
A black flash, almost invisible, crossed the space between them.
Diamante froze mid-charge. His cry choked in his throat. His raised flail-sword trembled. A perfectly straight line, bright red then deep black, appeared across his torso, from left shoulder to right hip.
He stared at Mihawk, eyes wide with absolute disbelief and the horror of sudden realization.
The upper half of his body began sliding slowly, with macabre fluidity, from the lower. No immediate gush of blood—the blade had been too fast, too hot. Then, like two poorly cut pieces of wood, the halves parted. An obscene flood of crimson sprayed the sticky deck. Diamante's upper body, face frozen in rage and shock, fell heavily into Trebol's green mucus with a wet thud. His legs stood for a grotesque moment before collapsing.
A deathly silence fell, louder than the cannons' thunder. Trebol stopped giggling, his dripping face turning ashen. Gladius froze, his goggles reflecting horror. Lao G, catching his breath, stood petrified, his martial pose suddenly ridiculous. Even Doflamingo, on his web, saw his smile vanish, replaced by icy shock.
The cannons, roaring moments before, hesitated. The battle's roar seemed to hold its breath.
At the center of the carnage, Mihawk slowly lowered Yoru. The black blade's edge bore not a drop of blood. His impassive golden eyes rose to Doflamingo, presiding over the chaos from above.
"One down, Doflamingo."