"Ugh…"
Sakazuki stirred, vision blurry.
As he cracked his eyes open, the first thing he saw was Kaido's kanabo looming above him, wreathed in crackling black lightning.
"Take one last good look at this world, Marine admiral," Kaido grinned.
"Worororororo…"
"Damn it—!"
Garp tried again to break off and rush to Akainu, but Whitebeard was no Kaido. The old man's Conqueror's-infused slashes were nothing to take lightly.
"Gurararara… Garp, give it up. If you think you're saving him, you're dreaming!"
SWISH—!
Murakumogiri sliced past, forcing Garp to defend rather than retreat.
Aokiji also wanted to disengage, but Big Mom stuck to him like a curse.
"Ma-ma-ma-ma! Enough dawdling, Kaido! Just do it already!"
Elsewhere, everyone was pinned down—the Marines simply couldn't spare anyone.
"Pirates…"
Sakazuki tried to shift into magma, to slip away.
"Die."
Kaido's kanabo began its deadly arc downward—
And then a pillar of lightning slammed into him from above.
BOOOOOM—CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
Kaido was blasted sideways, tumbling across the ice in a shower of shards.
"Who—?!"
Every head on the battlefield snapped toward the source of the light.
High above, a golden dragon with massive wings was streaking straight toward the battlefield.
Doflamingo tilted his head, a mocking smile tugging at his lips.
"Fuffuffuffu… looks like that admiral isn't going to die so easily after all."
"Did fate just change?" Mihawk murmured, watching that golden form.
"Who is that?!"
Kaido climbed to his feet and glared at the newcomer circling above.
It wasn't just that his kill had been stolen—the aura pouring off that dragon made him deeply uncomfortable.
Irritated.
Threatened.
Down below, Akainu seized the brief window, fully melting into magma and slipping away across the ice.
"Hey, hey… what's all this? I fly in, and the first thing I see is Kaido trying to execute a marine? Talk about walking into a drama halfway."
White Ghost looked down at Kaido from above, amusement clear in his draconic eyes.
From his dragon claws, one after another, Marine vice admirals dropped lightly to the ice, Haki and killing intent flaring.
"That's… Vice Admiral Gion, Vice Admiral Chaton, Vice Admiral Momonga, Vice Admiral Doberman, Vice Admiral Onigumo… and… Fire Fist, Dalmatian, Strawberry…"
"The reinforcements are here!"
Hope flared through the ranks of weary marines.
"Hahahaha! That brat really picked the perfect time to show up!" Garp roared, driving Whitebeard back with a heavy punch to Murakumogiri.
"Gurararara… looks like the Marines brought quite the monster with them," Whitebeard chuckled, eyes fixed on the golden dragon. "But what's with that form…?"
"Ararara… good timing," Aokiji exhaled.
With Akainu no longer about to be executed, he could fully focus on Big Mom again.
"Then allow me to be your opponent," a relaxed voice called. "Charlotte Katakuri of the Big Mom Pirates."
Chaton flashed forward as he spoke, yanking Ghost Spider out of the line of fire and intercepting Katakuri's thrust.
"Headquarters Vice Admiral Tea Pig, Chaton, huh?" Katakuri noted, and immediately drove his trident at him without further small talk.
King sliced a flying slash apart with one swing and looked at the newcomer standing in his path.
"Headquarters Vice Admiral Gion… 'Peach Rabbit.' A Great Swordsman, they say?"
Doberman, panting heavily, managed a grim smile.
"You're late, Gion."
"Go fall back and get treated," she replied, gold saber Konpira in hand, eyes locked on King. "I'll handle this one."
"Finally decided to show up?" Kuro called from above, mantis blades clashing with phoenix fire.
He kicked Marco away and glanced at the golden dragon.
"First time I've seen you go full dragon. That's… pretty damn excessive."
"Who is that?" Marco muttered, sky-blue flames licking at his feet as he stabilized. "Did the marines always have someone like that?"
He shook his head.
"Doesn't matter. I'll finish this guy off first!"
He dove at Kuro again, blue flames streaking across the sky.
Overall, Kuro was still being pressed—Marco's regeneration was simply too troublesome. The mantis could only weave constantly, avoiding as many fire blasts as he could while Marco played hit-and-run.
Underneath the flames, Marco was frowning.
My Haki's lacking. If I get through this, I'm going to have to train it seriously…
Swish!
Vista dodged another of Ain's wind slashes.
"Looks like your side brought quite a big shot, Marine. Never heard of him before—has he been hiding this whole time?"
"Why don't you guess?" Ain smiled and came at him again, swords flashing.
"I'll guess your—!" Vista swore internally, parrying for his life.
Earlier he'd had the clear advantage.
Then he'd nearly walked into a nasty surprise and realized the truth: the girl was a Devil Fruit user too.
He glanced at the cluster of children behind her and sighed inwardly.
A swordswoman with strong technique, solid Haki, and an ability…
No wonder she's holding me to a draw.
Damn it… looks like we in the Whitebeard Pirates got complacent about Haki. Our blind spot's being exposed all at once…
Up above, Kaido stared as the golden dragon shrank in midair, landing lightly on the ice.
What stood there now was a dragon-man.
He was around three meters tall, with golden eyes, golden scales covering his body, wings folded behind him, and a pair of horns sweeping back from his forehead.
Smaller than Kaido—but the pressure rolling off him was undeniable.
"Hey, Kaido," White Ghost said, hefting the massive greatsword in his hand.
Black lightning crackled along its edge—Armament and Conqueror's mixed together.
"This really isn't the best time to zone out, y'know?"
"Wororororo… damn little bastard. You dare ruin my fun!"
Kaido raised his kanabo high.
"Thunder Bagua!"
"Great Miracle Slash!"
BOOOOM!
Their weapons never even touched.
Between them, a spherical shockwave formed, space and air compressing as black lightning snapped around their faces, both of them baring their teeth at the other.
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!
"The sky—look at the sky!"
"It's splitting again!"
"Who is that guy?! He's clashing with one of the Four Emperors, Kaido!"
White Ghost laughed, pouring more power into the clash.
"Hahahaha! Kaido, your Azure Dragon still hasn't awakened? Looks like you're not a real 'Beast' yet."
Kaido snarled and pushed back.
"Wororororo! Big talk for someone whose own fruit isn't awakened either! You're not that impressive yourself, brat!"
They both ramped up their strength again.
Another shockwave exploded outward. Marines and pirates alike quietly backed away from their clash point—just the spillover from that collision was enough to kill ordinary fighters.
Far off, Doflamingo crushed the stem of his wine glass in his hand, red dripping between his fingers.
"Fuffuffuffuffu… that damned man… he's reached that level too."
"W-who is that, Doffy?" Diamante stammered, staring at the split sky in horror.
"Look at his face," Doflamingo growled. "You really can't tell?"
His officers looked again, squinting at the dragon-man's features.
After a moment, Buffalo's face went pale.
"Y-you don't mean… that marine… White Ghost?"
Doflamingo's expression shifted through jealousy, annoyance, and dark amusement.
"Fuffuffuffu… as much as I don't want to admit it… yeah. That's him."
They watched the ice crumble, the sky tear apart, and the sea swell under the force of the clash.
"The marine called White Ghost… can actually collide head-on with Kaido… Just how strong is he?" Doffy's officers shivered.
Anyone with Observation Haki could feel it—the deadly danger at that epicenter.
If they'd really gone after that guy earlier…
How long would we have lasted?
"Tch… White Ghost, huh?" Mihawk's eyes gleamed as he looked at the dragon-man.
"I went looking for you once and didn't find you. Heard you'd slipped into the New World. Didn't expect our first meeting to be… like this."
He rested a hand on the hilt of Yoru.
"Not yet… Now's not the time. I'll watch a bit longer. Let's see what kind of swordsmanship a man even Shanks praised can wield…"
In the distance, Morgans was practically vibrating.
"Wahahahahaha! Get this! Film everything! Marine supernova vs. Emperor Kaido—this is huge! Big news! HUGE NEWS!"
"Somebody dig up everything we've got on that guy—that 'White Ghost'!"
BOOM!
The two combatants broke apart, sliding back across the ice.
"Ararara… the collateral damage really is something."
Aokiji sighed as he refroze another chunk of raging sea, trying to keep the battlefield from collapsing entirely.
The pressure on him had eased slightly; Akainu, though gravely wounded, was still alive and now tearing through the weaker pirates.
That let Aokiji focus completely on Big Mom.
Damn that Kaido… couldn't you have finished him earlier? Big Mom seethed inwardly.
"Ma-ma-ma-ma… since that magma brat isn't dead… I guess you'll have to die instead, ice boy!"
"Ararara… talk about a violent pirate…" Aokiji muttered, ice blade at the ready as another round of gods-and-monsters warfare began.
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