Watching his Marine comrades being brutally cut down one after another along the coastline, Smoker's eyes filled with bloodshot fury. He despised his own weakness—why hadn't he trained his Haki harder, developed his fruit abilities further? Then he wouldn't be so powerless in this critical moment.
"Buggy the Clown, stop this!" Smoker roared with unprecedented intensity.
This time felt different from before. Conqueror's Haki bloomed from within his body, and every person present could feel the overwhelming pressure radiating outward.
Originally, Kaito had been toying with the elite Marines like a cat playing with mice. He'd been savoring this one-sided slaughter of the weak, deliberately avoiding a quick execution of the Marine forces before him.
"Smoker, so you've awakened Conqueror's Haki as well," Buggy observed with dark amusement. "Seems the Sky Screen was correct—you really do have potential to become an Admiral someday. Better to eliminate you here and avoid future trouble on the seas."
"Ichijigen Bunkatsu!" (One-Dimensional Split)
The splitting ability compressed into a single point and launched at tremendous velocity. Even with Smoker's ability to transform into his elemental state, he couldn't withstand such a concentrated attack.
The future Admiral was not yet an Admiral. Smoker felt the splitting technique lock onto his position and realized escape was impossible. The elemental power of his Moku Moku no Mi bloomed to its fullest extent.
"Captain Smoker, get out of the way!"
A Marine Admiral had already fallen in this battle—they couldn't accept losing another future Admiral as well. The Marines present felt their resolve crumbling toward complete despair.
Buggy's lethal splitting ability continuously disintegrated Smoker's elemental form. The Marine Captain made his final desperate struggle, refusing to believe he would die here as he pushed his fruit power to its absolute limits.
"Hammer of the Wind King!"
Powerful sword energy accompanied by hurricane-force winds instantly shattered Buggy's technique. Another figure appeared on the battlefield between the warring forces.
A blonde girl with snow-white skin gripped an invisible weapon in both hands, her emerald eyes revealing an intense desire for combat. Were it not for her gleaming silver armor, this beautiful figure would resemble a noble lady more than a warrior.
"Thank you for the rescue," Smoker gasped gratefully.
The female swordsman's intervention had saved his life. He'd been losing the Devil Fruit power contest badly—without her appearance, he would have been torn apart on the spot.
"How could a backwater like East Blue produce such a powerful female swordsman?" Kaito controlling Buggy acted warily. "Why are you interfering with my business today?"
"My name is Artoria Pendragon," the blonde girl declared with unwavering determination, "and I am the one who will claim your life today."
Gripping her invisible weapon, she instantly charged toward the shoreline where Buggy stood, as though they shared some ancient hatred and she couldn't wait to eliminate her enemy.
"Tanshō Bunkai!" (Singular Decomposition)
Amid the Marines' shocked exclamations, the blonde girl who called herself Artoria withstood Buggy's decomposition ability without any visible Armament Haki coating. How was such a thing possible?
"You can resist my power without Haki?" Buggy revealed a momentary flaw in his surprise, while the girl's invisible weapon left him utterly puzzled.
"Barrier of the Wind King!"
Her sword blade was actually wrapped in concentrated wind currents, and it sliced through Buggy's body in a single strike, leaving a long gash across his chest.
The Bara Bara no Mi's original passive immunity to slashing attacks had no effect against this girl. The invisible sword made it impossible to judge attack distance or timing.
Even though he was coated in Armament Haki, he'd still been wounded by this blonde swordsman's blade. Her weapon had to be exceptional quality to penetrate his defenses so easily.
Buggy retreated, seeking distance from the female swordsman. His opponent was immune to Devil Fruit abilities and would completely dominate him in close-quarters combat. How could such a monster have appeared in East Blue?
The rescued Marines on shore called out in amazement: "What an incredible swordsman! She can actually wound Buggy the Clown! Why aren't you affected by Devil Fruit powers?"
"This represents one of my developed abilities," Artoria explained calmly. "It can negate most Devil Fruit effects and my own negative status conditions without consuming physical energy. Consider it a passive skill."
Everyone was stunned by the blonde girl's explanation. This ability seemed even more impressive than Armament Haki. These elite Marines had never heard of such an incredible technique—it was truly humbling to compare themselves to others.
"What a terrifying woman," Buggy declared with obvious frustration. "I'm done playing games here."
Buggy fled the scene at tremendous speed, flying toward his own pirate crew. Only an Admiral could hope to match such velocity.
The sudden reversal of battle conditions caught everyone present completely off-guard. The pirates who had been so arrogant moments before were actually driven away by a single female swordsman, leaving the Marines momentarily speechless.
Suddenly a voice echoed from the ocean: "Someone help me!"
Vice Admiral Onigumo used Seimei Kikan (Life Return) to transform his hair into eight arms, gripping a massive chunk of blackened lava. Enduring the scorching temperature, he had fished out what appeared to be a human figure—none other than Admiral Sakazuki.
The Marines worked together to drag both men ashore. Vice Admiral Onigumo, having lost both legs, collapsed on the shoreline gasping for fresh air. He had nearly suffocated beneath the waves.
The huge block of darkened lava soon began spurting molten rock from its interior, and Admiral Sakazuki emerged once again. His skull bore a gaping wound from Buggy's attack and continued bleeding. Without Armament Haki's protection, his head had taken the full force of Conqueror's Haki infusion, briefly knocking him unconscious.
At the moment he was about to fall into the sea, Sakazuki had used his fruit ability to encase his entire body in magma. After plunging into the ocean, the molten rock was cooled and hardened by seawater into a dark volcanic shell.
It had become a tailor-made coffin. Though he hadn't lost his strength completely underwater, his small amount of lava could only continue sinking helplessly before the ocean's power, while oxygen inside was gradually consumed.
If Vice Admiral Onigumo hadn't sacrificed his legs to save him, Sakazuki would have had to wait until reaching the seafloor before tunneling through underwater magma flows to escape. He might have emerged from some distant volcanic crater, but by then Buggy would have massacred all his subordinates.
Admiral Sakazuki glanced around, noting that several familiar faces were no longer visible. He realized the Marines had suffered severe casualties. Buggy the Clown was nowhere to be seen, and there was also this mysterious blonde girl to consider.
To avoid misunderstandings, Smoker proactively explained the situation. He didn't want his savior suspected without cause. She possessed the ability to repel Buggy the Clown—the Marines couldn't afford to create a powerful enemy unnecessarily.
After hearing about the battlefield developments following his defeat, Sakazuki nodded toward the blonde girl. This represented the greatest courtesy he could demonstrate.
However, her seemingly casual words raised question marks in every present Marine's mind:
"If this island gets destroyed, don't expect me to pay for damages."
Artoria's golden hair fluttered in the wind, her emerald eyes focused on something beyond the horizon...
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