The forces of the Whitebeard Pirates, the Big Mom Pirates, and the Revolutionary Army gathered together, forming a massive alliance numbering in the tens of thousands.
At that moment, Lloyd's situation resembled what Rocks D. Xebec once faced at God Valley Incident.
But for Lloyd, facing three Emperor-level fighters along with their elite subordinates was far from desperate.
To the people before him, however, it was personal.
Every one of them carried hatred. Lloyd's hands were stained with the blood of their comrades, their brothers.
Among them, Sabo burned with the deepest rage. In his heart, he had already sworn to avenge Portgas D. Ace.
Lloyd noticed him immediately.
He raised a hand casually and waved.
"Hey, you're Sabo, right? Heard you were close with Ace. Still thinking about him? I can send you to him."
The words hit exactly where it hurt.
Sabo's eyes turned bloodshot as his anger erupted.
"Bastard! Don't you dare say his name!"
He lunged forward without hesitation, only to be grabbed and pulled back by Monkey D. Dragon.
"Sabo, get a grip."
Charging in like that would have been suicide.
Sabo's chest rose and fell sharply, but unlike Ace, he had more restraint. After being stopped, he forced himself to hold back.
Dragon let out a quiet breath.
With three major forces united against one man, the advantage should have been theirs. No matter how strong Lloyd was, he could not fight all of them at once without risking everything.
Yet no one moved.
Each side waited for the others to act first. Whoever made the first move would take the heaviest losses.
This fragile alliance lacked trust.
Lloyd tilted his head, clearly unimpressed.
"No one's coming? Fine, I'll start."
The Demon Blade Muramasa in his hand pulsed with a dark glow. The blade trembled slightly, almost eager.
Then he vanished.
In the next instant, he appeared in the middle of the crowd.
He did not use any large-scale abilities.
Just the sword.
A flash of black steel, and blood followed.
Lloyd moved through them like a storm, cutting down enemies with effortless precision. Each swing left bodies falling, each step painted the ground red.
He was not rushing.
He was enjoying it.
Whitebeard and the others had not expected him to charge in so recklessly. By the time they reacted, Lloyd had already carved out a field of corpses.
A faint smile rested on his lips.
At that moment, he looked less like a man and more like death itself.
These soldiers were not weak. Many were veterans from the Four Seas, warriors capable of taking on dozens alone, some even wielding Haki.
It made no difference.
Against Lloyd, they were nothing.
The slaughter was almost silent. Most died before they could even scream. Bodies split apart cleanly, some reduced to tools for the next strike, their remains driven through others without pause.
Then, suddenly, a flock of crows filled the sky.
They dove straight toward him.
Lloyd flicked his wrist, tossing aside the severed head in his hand. From behind him, a swarm of black bats surged forward, colliding with the crows and turning them into fine black powder.
The powder did not scatter.
Instead, it condensed, forming countless massive black swords that hung in the air, radiating a cold, sharp presence.
Above them stood Karasu, commander of the Revolutionary Army's North Army.
He swung his arm down violently.
"Obelisk Coal!"
The giant swords rained down.
Lloyd's body split apart into a swarm of bats, avoiding the attack entirely.
Karasu frowned.
"Sabo! Be careful!"
The warning came too late.
Before Karasu could react, his body jerked violently. His eyes widened as he slowly looked down.
A black blade had pierced through his chest.
In the next instant, it moved upward, slicing cleanly through his body. Blood sprayed into the air as his upper half split apart.
His body fell.
Sabo rushed forward and caught him, but it was already too late.
Karasu was dead.
For a moment, everything froze.
Then Sabo roared, his voice tearing through the battlefield.
High above, a massive fireball descended.
"Flame Emperor!"
Boom!
The explosion swallowed the area in flames. A blazing inferno spread outward, turning the battlefield into a sea of fire.
Moments later, a powerful gust erupted from the center, blowing the flames apart.
Dragon emerged, dragging Sabo out of the scorched ground.
Sabo coughed violently, black smoke pouring from his mouth.
Lloyd moved to follow up, but his Observation Haki flared with warning.
Without hesitation, his body turned intangible.
A thick blue beam slammed into where he had been, crashing into the distance and erupting into a massive explosion. A mushroom cloud rose into the sky.
When the light faded, Lloyd hovered unharmed.
He looked down.
Big Mom stood below, Napoleon raised high, its blade still glowing with blue energy.
At the tail end of the sword, a new flame burned.
After losing Prometheus, she had created a new homie.
"Hera."
Originally a thundercloud, now reborn as fire.
The brief pause gave the surrounding forces time to recover. They regrouped quickly, launching a coordinated wave of attacks toward Lloyd.
Techniques of every kind surged upward.
Lloyd pushed through them, his intangible form slipping past each strike. He dropped straight into the battlefield again.
This time, he was met head-on.
Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Dragon led the charge.
With their presence anchoring the battlefield, Lloyd could no longer cut through enemies as freely. The pressure increased instantly as countless fighters closed in around him.
His figure disappeared into the mass.
Lloyd laughed.
From the shadows beneath him, a clone rose and joined the fight, moving in perfect sync with him.
Across from him, Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Dragon wore hardened expressions.
No matter what, Lloyd had to be stopped here.
Now they understood what Kaido must have faced.
Even with three Emperor-level forces gathered, dealing with one Lloyd was this difficult.
And Kaido had faced Lloyd alongside six Admirals.
Just imagining it sent a chill through them.
Then, in the middle of the chaos, something changed.
While fighting, Whitebeard and the others saw Lloyd suddenly reach into his pocket and pull something out.
A golden Den Den Mushi.
And it was already awake.
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