The temperature of Whole Cake Island soared in an instant, the scorching heat twisting the very air above the island into wavering distortions.
Aside from those Charlotte Brûlée had taken into the mirror dimension, everyone else had long since evacuated Whole Cake Island.
Ship after ship had anchored at a great distance from the island.
Even from so far away, it could hardly be called safe.
But the scene that was about to unfold might never be witnessed again in their lifetimes.
For the sake of seeing it with their own eyes, taking a little risk was worth it.
And yet, the wave of blistering heat that swept over them even at such a distance left everyone who felt it visibly shaken.
"From this far away? Looks like Cyrus has made his move."
Morgans stood atop the lookout platform of his ship, raising his eyes toward Whole Cake Island.
Beside him, Stussy sat on the railing of the lookout, also gazing in the island's direction.
"It really is unbelievable. To affect things this much from so far away… the degree to which he's developed his Devil Fruit is nothing short of absurd," Stussy said softly.
On the other ships surrounding Whole Cake Island, those who felt that scorching aura were thinking much the same thing.
Logia-type Devil Fruits were powerful, of course, but even that power should have had limits.
Especially in a situation like this, where they could not even see any flames, yet could still feel that searing heat.
It was difficult to imagine just how terrifying the temperature around Cyrus himself had become.
On the Rose Hunter, Katakuri looked toward Whole Cake Island, his expression calm and unreadable.
His Observation Haki could not see what was about to happen on the island.
Even so, that aura, together with the expressions on Issho, Robin, and the others' faces, gave Katakuri the feeling that Cyrus had a very high chance of succeeding.
Even with unexpected opponents appearing, that had not changed.
"Cyrus is getting serious and so soon, too," Robin said.
She knew Cyrus well.
The moment she felt that scorching presence, she immediately understood what state he was in.
"It seems the opponents this time are formidable. Stronger than even he expected," Issho said after hearing her words.
"Don't worry. If necessary, I can also step in."
Although he could not deal with all four people on Whole Cake Island by himself, holding back one or two of them would not be a problem.
Robin nodded and said nothing more.
…
On the island.
The Golden Lion and the other three stared at Cyrus, whose surrounding space was warping from the heat.
Their expressions had turned extremely grave.
"How outrageous."
Wang Zhi placed a hand on the sword at his waist, his voice heavy.
Something about this situation felt wrong.
If they did not take this seriously, they might actually die here.
The Golden Lion crossed the blades in both hands before him.
Charlotte Linlin stood atop Zeus, floating in midair, while black lightning from her Conqueror's Haki coating crackled around Napoleon in her grip.
Silver Axe's entire body was wrapped in Armament Haki.
The gleaming giant axe in his hands had darkened in color, covered with both Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki.
Clearly, all four of them had felt immense pressure from Cyrus.
Cyrus looked at the four guarded figures before him, feeling the tremendous energy flowing through his body.
Activating full power in his normal state had already become second nature to him.
The stronger he became, the harsher the conditions for activating Undying Will became.
Because of that, Cyrus had prepared for this long ago.
He had always been working toward the ability to match the top-tier monsters of the sea even in his normal state.
His health was bouncing back and forth between one hundred and ninety-nine.
In other words, under the current consumption of full-power output in his normal state, his damage output and recovery had just barely reached equilibrium.
This was exactly what he had always wanted.
As his constitution improved and his body grew stronger, it also brought him an incomparable level of recovery.
Unfortunately, he did not possess a spatial Devil Fruit ability.
If he did, he could store a massive amount of food in that space and achieve effectively endless endurance.
Once flame-like patterns had filled the long blade of En, Cyrus's body abruptly vanished.
There was no sonic boom from his body tearing through the air.
He simply disappeared in an instant.
Then Cyrus appeared beside Charlotte Linlin, En in his hand cutting diagonally downward.
Every trace of light along the space crossed by the blade was swallowed completely.
Cyrus's teleportation had clearly exceeded Charlotte Linlin's expectations.
It was already too late to swing her sword, so she directly threw a backhanded punch, seemingly trying to imitate what Cyrus had done earlier.
But Cyrus's blade was not something that could be taken so easily.
The sword in Cyrus's hand collided with Charlotte Linlin's fist, and the two separated the instant they made contact.
Charlotte Linlin's mouth flew wide open. Her enormous body suddenly bent backward atop Zeus before tumbling down from the cloud.
The long blade continued its slanting descent and swept across Zeus.
Boom!
Under Zeus's terrified gaze, Cyrus's blade landed on its body. In the next instant, more than half of Zeus's body vanished outright.
Charlotte Linlin crashed to the ground with a deafening impact.
Then came her cry of pain.
Wisps of black smoke rose from her left hand, which had been wrapped in Armament Haki, and the stench of charred flesh grew thicker.
As an "iron balloon," Charlotte Linlin was rarely injured.
But now, the sensation of being burned by such intense heat was clearly something she was not used to.
She could not help rolling across the ground, crying out in pain.
"Slash Wave!"
A cross-shaped flying slash tore through the air toward Cyrus.
Swish!
The intersecting slash cut straight through Cyrus's body.
The places that had been severed ignited with flame, then closed back together again.
Immediately afterward, a thunderous boom rang out.
Silver Axe's burly figure stomped hard against the ground and shot high into the air, gripping his giant axe with both hands.
The weapon, wrapped in two types of Haki, came cleaving down toward Cyrus's head.
"Torch!"
Cyrus's figure flickered and vanished.
When he reappeared, he was already behind Silver Axe in midair.
A fire tornado erupted, swallowing Silver Axe whole.
Clang!
Cyrus tilted his head slightly and looked out of the corner of his eye at Wang Zhi, who had suddenly appeared at his side.
'A familiar-looking longsword.'
A thrust.
Cyrus narrowed his eyes slightly.
Wang Zhi's pupils contracted sharply.
He had chosen the exact instant after Cyrus launched his attack to make his move.
But although his Armament Haki-wrapped sword had struck Cyrus's cheek, it had failed to injure him in the slightest.
Cyrus had not even used Armament Haki hardening to defend himself.
Flames abruptly appeared.
Several clusters of incandescent white fire suddenly emerged around Wang Zhi, completely surrounding him.
Cyrus's figure leaned out from within one of those flames.
Only then did the figure left behind in Cyrus's original position abruptly vanish.
"One-Sword Cremation!"
The sword in Cyrus's hand descended lightly.
But in Wang Zhi's Observation Haki perception, that one falling slash brought with it a sea of fire that filled the heavens.
"Returning Wind Sword—Thrust!"
Conqueror's Haki wrapped around the sword in his hand. His sudden thrust caused the air itself to explode with a violent boom.
The tip of the sword collided with Cyrus's descending blade.
Then Wang Zhi plummeted like a meteor, smashing into the ground below.
The strike failed to finish him, but Cyrus's expression did not change.
The incandescent flames around him faded back into the air. Suspended in midair, Cyrus looked down below.
Silver Axe split the fire tornado apart with the blade of his axe and landed on the ground, waves of heat rising from his body as he raised his head to look at Cyrus.
Charlotte Linlin, who had been rolling and crying out in pain, also sat up and lifted her head.
In the first round of exchanges, Cyrus had gained the slight upper hand.
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