Just as the battle fell into a stalemate, a loud boom suddenly erupted from the pirate ship. Luffy shouted excitedly to everyone, "Hera, your ability is too strong! When I go out to sea, I definitely want to go with you!"
The pirate ship was filled with gunpowder meant to set the Gray Terminal ablaze; this explosion made the entire island seem to tremble.
The massive sound reached Dadan not far away, who was grumbling, "Those three brats run so fast. I don't know if the shore is dangerous or not, and they didn't even wait for an old woman like me."
Hearing the loud noise, Dadan realized the explosion came from the direction the three had run toward. She immediately realized enemies had arrived and called out to the Bandits, chasing after the sound of the explosion.
Dadan wasn't the only one who noticed the noise. Within the Revolutionary Army fleet at sea, the leader Dragon also heard it. After giving orders to his subordinates, he said, "I heard an explosion at the beach. You all continue on course; I'm going to check the situation."
Then, Dragon used the wind to fly toward the source of the massive sound.
Back at the battlefield, Brujam saw his pirate ship explode and instantly flew into a rage, charging toward Luffy's direction like a madman.
Luffy was startled when he saw him. "Why is this old guy so excited to see me?"
Seeing this, Ace hurriedly said, "Luffy, don't worry about that, get closer to me first!"
On the battlefield at this moment, the Grunt Soldiers were all down. Over on Beljam's side, he was being suppressed by Ace and Sabo, but Beljam was trading blows recklessly. Combined with the gunshot wounds Sabo already had, Ace couldn't leave that part of the battlefield for the time being.
Brujam noticed that when Hera accelerated, she first used the short gun, the Hour Hand, to shoot herself. Thus, he deliberately blocked the path between Hera and Luffy to prevent her from accelerating him. Luffy tried to run toward Ace, but it was almost too late.
In his enraged state, Brujam's speed increased. He swung his blade at the running Luffy. Luffy felt the killing intent behind him and hurriedly turned to block, but he was struck to the ground by Brujam's blade. A deep scar appeared on his blocking arm as blood sprayed out, and he collapsed.
Just as Brujam was about to deliver a finishing blow to the fallen Luffy, Hera finally arrived. Seeing that Luffy was still breathing, she hurriedly blocked the blade with her long gun, the minute hand, and quickly controlled the City of Devouring Time to hide the heavily injured Luffy in the shadow space.
Ace and Sabo, who didn't yet know that Hera's City of Devouring Time could store living people, only saw Luffy get cut down by Brujam and then disappear.
At this moment, Hera was also secretly suffering. Without being able to keep her distance, she couldn't hold out for long. After all, she was still just a child. Although she had the enhancement of her spirit dress for strength and stamina, Zafkiel itself specialized in manipulating time mechanics; its help regarding physical stats was better than nothing, but only just.
Moreover, this enhancement was percentage-based. Since Hera's base strength was insufficient, it was still a bit difficult to fight against Brujam.
Seeing one of their companions missing and the other struggling, Ace and Sabo's hearts were filled with worry for their friend, hatred for their own lack of strength, and rage toward the enemies before them.
"I won't allow it... I won't allow you to lay a hand on my friend right in front of me!"
With Ace's roar, an astonishing pressure erupted from his body, enveloping the entire battlefield. A violent force blew away Beljam, who was fighting them. Even the City of Devouring Time shook under this pressure, as if it would dissipate at any moment.
This Haki, as violent as a volcanic eruption, forced Brujam—the one Ace was focused on—to his knees. His head felt dizzy as if struck by a steel pipe, and two trails of blood leaked from his nose.
Hera didn't feel pressure from this Haki; instead, she felt Ace's brotherly affection for her and Luffy, and his fury over Luffy's unknown fate.
Ace's black hair danced wildly in the Haki's wind, and a raging fire burned in his dark eyes. His already sharp gaze now held the aura of a king. A natural-born king had awakened at this moment.
Feeling Ace's anger and worry, Hera hurriedly said, "Luffy isn't dead! I put him in the shadow space to protect him!"
Ace breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that Luffy wasn't dead, but his anger toward Brujam for hurting Luffy didn't diminish at all. Carrying his Conqueror's Haki aura, he attacked Brujam.
Not far away, Dadan and Dragon felt this pressure and both increased their speed.
On the battlefield, Ace was fighting Brujam while Sabo tangled with Beljam. Hera took this opportunity to quickly release Luffy from the shadows and check his injuries.
Dadan, being closer, arrived first. Seeing the situation, she immediately said to Hera, "Our people are behind us. Hand Luffy over to them to be looked after. I'll go help Ace; you go finish off Beljam!"
Seeing that reinforcements had arrived, Hera also breathed a sigh of relief. Using the First Bullet to speed herself up, she handed Luffy to the arriving Bandits. She stabilized the City of Devouring Time, which had been shaken by the Conqueror's Haki, and teleported through the shadows to Sabo. Sabo felt some self-reproach seeing Hera come to help him.
"It's all my fault. I was stalled by him for so long, and it led to Luffy getting hurt."
"It's okay. Beljam is at his limit. It's mainly because your previous injuries haven't healed, otherwise he wouldn't have lasted this long."
Under their combined efforts, Beljam's body was soon riddled with bullet holes, and he collapsed in a pool of blood.
A sudden gust of wind blew across the battlefield, blowing Ace and Dadan away from the fight.