The wind blew across the western edge of the clearing. Dirt lifted into the air and settled over the ruined grass. Noise from the center of the island echoed through the trees.
Yamato stood in the dirt, holding the wooden club with both hands. Frost gathered on the wood. Cold air escaped with every breath. Black lightning sparked around the club, leaving scorch marks on the ground. A grin spread across Yamato's face. The battle was exciting.
A few paces away, Robin watched the tree line. The archaeologist stood relaxed. Her dark leather jacket shifted in the wind, while dust coated the edges of her boots. Robin breathed steadily. Her heartbeat remained calm.
Behind them, Oimo and Kashii waited. The warriors of Elbaf gripped their weapons. Oimo held a club, while Kashii rested an axe on one shoulder.
A low rumble shook the dirt.
Pebbles bounced across the ground.
Topman Warcury stepped from the shadows.
The Elder had taken the form of a giant boar. Thick, dark hide covered his body like armor. Four curved tusks extended from his snout, scraping the ground and cutting lines into the bedrock. The beast snorted, releasing a cloud of steam.
Warcury did not wait.
The boar lowered his head and charged.
The ground buckled beneath his hooves. Dirt and grass flew behind him as the tusks aimed toward the center of the group.
"I will stop the charge!" Oimo yelled.
The giant stepped forward and tightened his grip on the club. Armament Haki flowed into the weapon, turning the wood and metal black. Oimo planted both feet and swung in a horizontal arc.
The club struck the front of Warcury's tusks.
A clang rang across the clearing. Sparks scattered through the grass. The impact pushed Oimo backward, his boots carving two trenches into the dirt. He gritted his teeth as the boar continued pushing.
Kashii moved beside him.
The second giant coated his axe in Armament Haki. The steel turned black as he swung at the side of Warcury's head.
The axe struck the hide.
It did not cut.
The armored skin deflected the blow. A shockwave passed through the air, but Warcury did not bleed. The boar pushed harder.
Oimo and Kashii slid farther back.
Yamato jumped.
The Oni kicked the air and rose above the struggle. She spun the club as frost gathered around it. Black lightning cracked through the sky.
Yamato brought the club down toward Warcury's skull.
Warcury shifted his head. His tusks jerked upward, throwing Oimo and Kashii to the side. The boar met Yamato's strike with his forehead.
Club met bone.
Black lightning exploded outward. Cold air swept across the clearing, freezing the damaged grass.
Yamato remained suspended for a moment as the two forces collided.
Warcury pushed upward.
The clash broke.
Yamato was thrown backward, flipping through the air before landing on the dirt and sliding a few feet.
"Tough skin!" Yamato laughed, wiping dirt from her cheek. "A good challenge."
Robin watched.
The strikes had little effect. Warcury's hide resisted the weapons, while his charge carried too much weight. A different approach was needed.
Robin stepped forward.
She crossed the distance and stopped several paces from the boar.
Warcury noticed the new target.
He turned and charged.
Robin did not move.
She raised both hands and crossed her index and middle fingers.
"Cien Fleur," Robin said softly.
Pink petals appeared in the air.
Arms sprouted across the nearby trees, rocks, and ground.
The arms did not grab Warcury.
The sprouted hands moved together. Their fingers traced lines through the air, forming glowing purple glyphs. The symbols connected into a large circle beneath Warcury's hooves.
"Bounded Field," Robin said. "Temple of the Sinking Earth."
The circle flared.
The space inside it changed.
Warcury entered the field.
His charge slowed immediately. His hooves sank into the dirt. Pressure pushed down on his back, making the air feel like a swamp.
The boar struggled to move.
Robin kept her hands crossed. The field required concentration. It did not injure Warcury, but it restricted his movement.
"Now!" Robin called.
Yamato sprinted forward.
The Bounded Field did not affect her.
She entered the circle, reached the struggling beast, and coated her club in black lightning. Frost gathered around the wood.
"Narikabura Arrow!" Yamato shouted.
She swung upward.
The club struck beneath Warcury's jaw.
Black lightning passed through the hide as advanced Conqueror's Haki drove the force into the beast's head.
Warcury's head snapped backward. His front hooves lifted from the ground, and the boar released a squeal.
Oimo and Kashii rushed forward.
The giants recovered and coated their weapons in Haki.
Oimo struck the left side of Warcury's ribs.
Kashii struck the right.
The two impacts struck at the same time.
Warcury fell onto his side.
The ground shook beneath him.
The Bounded Field faded. The purple circle disappeared, and the sprouted arms became petals that scattered through the wind.
Robin lowered her hands.
She brushed a strand of dark hair behind her ear. Her breathing remained steady.
The group watched the fallen Elder.
Warcury did not stay down.
The boar rolled over and pushed himself upright. A dark aura leaked from his hide. The damage from the attacks vanished. The dent in his jaw repaired itself, while the bruises along his ribs faded.
Warcury stood again.
His eyes fixed on the group.
He opened his mouth.
A vibration built in his throat.
The sound grew louder until it became a roar.
A shockwave erupted from his mouth.
The roar ripped grass from the ground and broke the trunks of nearby trees. The wave rushed toward Yamato, Robin, Oimo, and Kashii.
Yamato planted her feet and raised the club.
Oimo and Kashii braced themselves.
Robin stepped forward.
She reached into a pocket and pulled out a small wooden wand.
Ben had provided the wand and taught her the spells of the wizarding world.
Robin pointed the wand at the incoming shockwave.
"Rho Aias."
Seven concentric layers of translucent pink petals bloomed from the tip of the wand, expanding into a massive flower-shaped barrier. Each petal layer overlapped the next, forming a solid wall of defensive energy.
The roar struck the outermost layer.
The first petal shattered under the impact, scattering pink light. The second layer cracked and broke a moment later. The shockwave continued driving forward, tearing through the third and fourth petals in rapid succession.
Robin held the wand steady, her arm unmoving.
The fifth layer fractured. The sixth held for a heartbeat longer before splintering.
Only the seventh and final petal remained.
The roar crashed against it and finally broke apart, its force spent. The last petal faded into drifting sparks of pink light and vanished.
Yamato lowered her club.
"Good block," she said. "The sound hurt the ears."
Robin gave a small smile and returned the wand to her pocket.
"The wand is a useful tool. The words carry a specific intent. The intent creates the result."
Warcury shook his head.
The roar had failed.
The boar scraped a hoof against the dirt. His aura gathered around his tusks.
"The beast heals fast," Kashii said, resting the axe against the ground. "The strikes land. The damage disappears."
"The beast is an Elder," Yamato said. "Ben warned us. Normal rules do not work here. We need patience."
Robin studied Warcury.
The Bounded Field restricted his movement. The shield could stop his ranged attack. What they needed was a sustained attack that tested the limits of his regeneration.
Robin raised her hands again.
"Mil Fleur."
A thousand arms appeared above the clearing, forming a mass of hands.
Her knowledge of history gave her countless images of weapons: swords from fallen kingdoms, spears from forgotten wars, and weapons lost to time.
She combined the concept with her Devil Fruit.
The hands opened their palms.
"Projection," Robin said.
Magic gathered in each palm.
Blue light took shape.
Weapons appeared in the air.
Swords.
Broadswords.
Spears.
Lances.
The flower petals wrapped around their handles.
Robin pointed toward Warcury.
"Floral Armory. Rain."
The thousand hands released their weapons.
Swords and spears fell toward the clearing.
Warcury looked upward.
The weapons struck.
Each sword and spear detonated on contact.
Blue-white explosions bloomed across Warcury's hide in rapid succession. The air filled with overlapping blasts that shook the clearing and kicked up clouds of dirt and shattered grass.
Fragments of magical steel vanished in the bursts, replaced by raw concussive force that hammered the Elder's body from every angle.
Warcury staggered under the barrage, forced to plant his hooves as the continuous detonations battered him in place.
Yamato's eyes widened as the first wave of blasts lit the clearing. "They explode?!" she shouted over the roar, grinning wider. "Robin, that's beautiful!"
Oimo raised an arm against the shockwaves. "The weapons are bombs now?!"
Kashii tightened his grip on the axe, watching the blue detonations roll across the boar's body. "The archaeologist turned her projections into artillery."
Yamato laughed and charged through the falling weapons.
Her club was covered in black lightning.
"Ice Fang!"
She swung at Warcury's leg.
The strike hit his joint.
The Haki passed through the hide while cold spread across the leg, freezing the knee.
Oimo and Kashii followed.
The giants charged through the falling weapons and struck the other leg.
Their attacks forced Warcury backward.
Robin lowered her hands.
The floating arms vanished into petals.
The rain of weapons stopped. The remaining swords and spears faded into blue light and disappeared.
Robin breathed out.
The spell had required concentration. Her body provided the strength, but her mind needed a moment to recover.
Warcury shook his leg.
The ice shattered.
The cuts from the magical weapons healed. The bruises from the giants disappeared.
The boar remained standing.
Yamato stepped back and rested the club on her shoulder.
"The healing is annoying," she said.
Oimo nodded.
"The strikes do not last. The beast simply resets the damage."
Kashii leaned on his axe.
"A war of waiting. A test of endurance."
Robin walked forward and joined them.
She looked at Warcury.
"The beast cannot defeat us. We cannot defeat the beast. The defensive magic holds the line. Our attacks push the beast back. The healing prevents a victory."
Yamato grinned.
"A stalemate."
Robin nodded.
"A stalemate. The goal changes. The goal is time. We must hold the beast here and prevent it from reaching the others."
Warcury stared at them.
The boar scraped the dirt again. His tusks lowered, and the dark aura spread into the air.
Yamato lowered her club.
Black lightning sparked around it.
Oimo raised his club.
Haki coated the weapon.
Kashii lifted his axe.
The steel turned black.
Robin crossed her arms.
Pink petals swirled around her boots as the magic gathered again.
The wind moved through the clearing.
The standoff resumed.
The ancient beast and the pirates held their positions.
The battle for the western edge became a test of time and endurance.