That thought seemed to freeze all the blood in Aus's body.
A chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to his skull, more terrifying than the roar of the cannons.
Jack gave him no time to think.
Boom—boom, boom, boom, boom!
At his command, the pirate ships sealing the bay opened fire at the same time.
More than a hundred heavy cannons roared together, the sound so loud it seemed ready to tear the sky apart.
Aus suddenly raised his head, his pupils filled with countless black dots.
The cannonballs screamed through the air, covering the entire inlet as they came crashing down toward the last remaining defensive positions and the wreckage of the Marine warships in the harbor.
Only one thought remained in the minds of every surviving Marine.
It was over.
A bombardment on this scale was enough to flatten the entire harbor several times over.
"Bastards!"
Aus roared, his voice cutting through the chaos around him.
His eyes were bloodshot as he drew the sword at his waist, the blade flashing coldly in the firelight.
He could not retreat. Behind him lay the final core area of the G-18 Branch.
"One-Sword Style: Stacking Waves!"
Aus advanced instead of retreating, charging straight toward the storm of cannonballs filling the sky.
The long sword in his hand instantly swung out dozens of afterimages, and the slashes layered upon one another, forming a massive wave of cutting force that surged forward.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The cannonballs at the front slammed into the wave of slashes and exploded into clusters of fireballs in midair.
But there were simply too many. The layered slash wave held for less than three seconds before it was torn apart by the following barrage.
Aus grunted as the blast wave forced him back step after step.
The webbing between his thumb and forefinger split open, and blood ran down the sword hilt.
Just as Aus prepared to face death, a huge shadow covered him from above.
A heavy pressure descended from the sky, making every bone in his body groan.
Aus raised his head with difficulty and saw Jack the Drought had already leapt from the deck of the Mammoth, crashing down toward his position from the air.
The eyes beneath the metal jaw guard glinted with savage light, and his entire body looked like a falling meteor.
Too fast.
Aus had no time to think. His body moved on instinct, pouring all his strength into both arms as he raised his sword horizontally above his head to block.
In the next instant, Jack's enormous foot, coated in Armament Haki, collided with Aus's blade.
There was no crisp metallic ring, only a dull, heavy impact.
Dong!
The earth beneath Aus's feet cracked like a spiderweb, spreading outward in every direction.
He felt as if he were blocking a collapsing mountain.
A tremendous force surged through the blade and into his body. His arms instantly went numb, and the blood in his chest churned violently.
But that was only the beginning.
"Too weak."
Jack's low murmur clearly entered Aus's ears.
Then Aus watched helplessly as Jack's other massive foot slammed into his chest.
Pfft!
Aus spat out a mouthful of blood, his body flying backward like a broken sack. He smashed through two walls before being buried beneath the rolling ruins.
His vision spun, and his consciousness began to blur.
'So this was... the power of a Four Emperor's highest officer?'
Just as Aus's awareness was about to sink into darkness, his blurred vision caught sight of Jack walking toward him step by step, ready to deliver the final blow.
But then, a figure silently appeared in Jack's path.
The man wore a pink Japanese-style yukata, sunglasses, and wooden geta.
He looked completely out of place on this hellish battlefield, more like someone who had come here on vacation.
Chaton had been dispatched from the nearest relay route after Marineford confirmed Jack's movement, but even at full speed, he had only barely arrived in time.
Jack paused for a moment, then could not even be bothered to speak.
The shotel-like blade in his hand whistled down toward the man's head.
Facing that strike, the man merely raised his right hand at an unhurried pace.
Clang!
A loud metallic clash exploded.
A ring-shaped shockwave spread outward with the two of them at the center, grinding the surrounding rubble and debris into powder and even blowing away the ruins that had buried Aus.
Aus coughed up a mouthful of blood mixed with dirt and desperately opened his eyes to look.
The sight before him was something he would never forget for the rest of his life.
Jack the Drought's slash had been blocked single-handedly by that man using an ordinary Marine-issue sword.
As the smoke and dust scattered, the man's figure became completely clear.
"T-That's..." A surviving Marine soldier rubbed his eyes, his voice trembling.
"Pink yukata... sunglasses... it's him from Headquarters!"
"Chaton! It's Vice Admiral Chaton!"
Disbelieving cries rose one after another.
Light returned to Aus's eyes.
Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, Admiral candidate, Tokikake, codename Chaton.
He had come!
The G-18 Branch still had a chance!
Jack slowly withdrew his weapon and narrowed his eyes, sizing up the troublesome man before him.
Chaton casually rested his sword on his shoulder, pushed up his sunglasses, and spread his mouth into a carefree smile before speaking in a frivolous tone.
"Hey, hey, come on now, Jack the Drought. Finishing off someone who's already half dead isn't exactly a good hobby."
"Get out of my way trash!" Jack's voice was rough and piercing. "Otherwise, I'll crush you too!"
Before his words had even finished, Jack erupted into motion again, sweeping the shotel-like blade in his hand across.
The smile on Chaton's face did not change. He even tilted his head slightly, as if trying to avoid the dust splashing toward him.
Clang!
Another loud impact rang out.
He still held his sword with one hand, his block seemingly casual, yet he received every bit of Jack's violent force without missing the slightest margin.
"Seriously, you've got no sense of humor at all."
Chaton complained, "I'm in a hurry, you know. I need to deal with you first before I can go find the lovely Gion-chan."
When he mentioned Gion, that frivolous tone carried a trace of firmness.
Those words completely enraged Jack.
"You're dead!"
Crack... crack, crack...
A burst of bone-popping sounds rang out as Jack's body began expanding and transforming rapidly.
His muscles bulged, his skin grew rough, and two enormous tusks extended from his head while a long trunk swung down with a thunderous roar.
Ancient Zoan, Zou Zou no Mi, Model: Mammoth.
"Roar!"
Having transformed into an ancient beast, Jack's body swelled several times larger, and the pressure he gave off made the air seem to solidify.
He suddenly reared up, and two massive forelegs coated in jet-black Armament Haki came smashing down toward Chaton's head, as though a mountain itself were collapsing.
The smile on Chaton's face faded, and the eyes beneath his sunglasses turned solemn.
'Tch. This is troublesome.'
He bent his knees slightly, gripped his sword with both hands, and met the attack from below.
Boom!
This collision was no longer a crisp clash of metal. It was a brutally heavy impact.
The ground beneath Chaton's feet collapsed, forming a huge crater more than ten meters wide.
His entire body was smashed into the earth by the immense force, the muscles in his arms swelling as veins bulged across them.
'So heavy!'
'This guy was practically the embodiment of raw strength.'
"Die! Die! Die!"
Jack had completely fallen into a frenzy. His tusks, trunk, and massive forelegs moved wildly, every strike heavy enough to flatten a hill.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The dense sounds of collision connected into a single roar. Sparks scattered everywhere, and shockwaves swept through the battlefield.
Under the ferocious assault, Chaton continued blocking while being forced back, looking increasingly battered.
Finally, during a clash where Jack's strength reached an extreme, the force exceeded the limit Chaton could withstand.
Clang!
With a wail, the sword in Chaton's hand was knocked out of his grip and sent flying, stabbing into the distant ruins.
Jack's trunk, wrapped in Haki like a black python, lashed toward the unarmed Chaton's chest.
He could not dodge.
Chaton's pupils shrank. He could only cross his arms in front of his chest, pushing his Armament Haki to the limit to forcefully endure the blow.
This might really break him.
Just then, the entire world seemed to fall silent for an instant.
Then—
Boom!
A thunderclap exploded in the cloudless sky.
The sound was vast and violent.
Everyone present, Marine or pirate, felt dizzy, their ears ringing sharply.
Even Jack's certain strike paused involuntarily.
He, Chaton, and everyone still capable of moving instinctively looked up at the sky.
Above the battlefield, the smoke and clouds had been torn open at some unknown point.
A black shadow was descending through that gap like a falling meteor, wrapped in dark-gold arcs of Reiatsu that crackled like lightning!