The All-Devouring Narwhal had only dropped out of the sky from its initial downward momentum.
Failing to register any real pain from the combined assault of the Marines and pirates, it naturally didn't care to fight back. Its entire focus remained fixed on that terrifying shadow that had been relentlessly pursuing it beneath the waves just moments ago. It had simply wanted to flee the ocean floor and had accidentally picked Marineford as a landing zone, nothing more.
At this exact moment, the All-Devouring Narwhal writhed its massive body continuously, attempting to take flight once more to escape this place.
Its colossal form shuddered violently, sending billowing clouds of dust scattering in all directions as it prepared to ascend back into the sky. However, its sudden movements were completely misconstrued by those below as the harbinger of a second attack.
"Oh my? Here it comes again."
"Fell this Sea King first! Otherwise, everyone is going to get caught in the crossfire!" Garp ordered from high up on the platform, his fists tightly clenched.
He cast an inadvertent, fleeting glance toward the figure kneeling on the execution stand. Perhaps this distraction was for the best; at the very least, it delayed the arrival of a brutal reality.
The man scheduled for execution, Portgas D. Ace, was the direct descendant that his old rival, the Pirate King Gol D. Roger, had entrusted to him on his deathbed. Ace had only chosen the path of piracy because their ideals differed. Garp had watched him grow up with his own two eyes.
A Marine soldier took the initiative and charged at the absolute front of the vanguard, throwing himself straight toward the All-Devouring Narwhal.
He looked remarkably confident, bellowing at the top of his lungs: "Iron Body!"
With that, he smashed blindly toward the Narwhal's tail, colliding directly with the creature's twisting torso. He flew backward at the impact, hitting the deck and predictably passing out cold.
Up on the platform, Sengoku's colossal form roared: "This is a battlefield! We have no room for a Sea King to interfere!"
In his giant Buddha form, golden light radiated from his entire body. Yet, even so, he still looked far too small when compared to the sheer size of the All-Devouring Narwhal.
With a sound resembling a resonant, echoing bell, he slammed a massive fist violently down upon the Narwhal.
"Yasakani no Magatama." Kizaru stuck to his signature technique, standing a great distance away as a continuous stream of golden light spheres shot toward the beast.
Another Marine Admiral, Akainu, first shot a cold glare toward the distant, rigidly upright figure of Whitebeard. Letting out a sharp scoff, he raised his arms and unleashed one molten fist of crimson magma after another. It was quite obvious that he was exerting a great deal of effort.
"Pops? Should we join in?" a pirate alongside Whitebeard inquired.
"I have absolutely no desire to see my sons screaming in agony beneath the backside of a Sea King!"
Step by step, Whitebeard strode majestically toward the All-Devouring Narwhal. He extended his thick, muscular arms into the air and yanked downward with immense force, causing several fractures that resembled cracks in space to materialize around his palms.
In an instant, every single person on the battlefield collectively designated the All-Devouring Narwhal as a common enemy.
There was no other alternative; the sheer destructive capability of this interloper was simply far too immense. Its hide was incredibly thick, and the combined might of their previous assault didn't seem to have inflicted a single shred of damage upon it.
It was strong to a degree that it didn't even seem like a Sea King anymore. It felt like something else entirely.
A relentless barrage of attacks rained down upon the All-Devouring Narwhal as countless offensive measures were unleashed in a full-scale crusade against it. Its colossal body had just been about to lift off when it suddenly stalled, suspended mid-air just off the ground.
Sengoku bellowed a battle cry, hammering both fists downward as golden light exploded across the area! Under the weight of the continuous, unyielding onslaught, the All-Devouring Narwhal was forcefully brought crashing back down to earth.
"Marineford truly is a land plagued by endless calamities," someone muttered amidst the brief lull in the chaos.
The All-Devouring Narwhal slammed heavily into the dirt, causing the entirety of Marineford to shudder violently once more. This time, the Narwhal did not emit a low hum.
It was genuinely angry now.
Initially, it had only desired to flee, yet it had been repeatedly obstructed by a bunch of humans who were barely larger than ants. One had to remember that even in Zoran's hands, it had only been subjected to a brief period of solitary confinement. Even an entity as terrifying as Zoran in its eyes had never actually attacked it. Yet these insects had the audacity to provoke it time and time again.
With rage flooding its small brain, the Narwhal grew utterly incensed. It lay flat against the ground, completely disregarding Bai Tza, who was highly likely to catch up to it at any moment.
It violently forced its mouth open, the gargantuan cavity appearing pitch-black as a monumental force of attraction suddenly erupted from within. A fierce hurricane instantly whipped across Marineford.
It intended to swallow these insects whole in a single gulp.
Every single person present found themselves shifting uncontrollably toward the open maw of the All-Devouring Narwhal.
At the closest proximity, Sengoku in his giant Buddha form exerted every ounce of his strength to hold the front line, his massive hands gripping tightly onto the edge of the Narwhal's gaping jaws. If he relaxed for even a fraction of a second, he would be sucked right in.
At the exact same time, he confirmed one absolute certainty. This thing was absolutely, positively not a normal Sea King. Based on this raw power alone, not a single pirate or Marine present could withstand it individually.
Afforded no time to ponder further, he gripped the edge of the Narwhal's mouth with a death lock. Not far away, two figures in white capes were charging straight toward him.
Garp arrived in front of the All-Devouring Narwhal almost instantaneously via Soru. Cloaked in Conqueror's Haki, he unleashed an iron fist.
On the other side, Akainu's arms dissolved into rolling, churning flows of lava. The scorching magma shot straight into the sky before raining heavily back down toward the Narwhal on the ground.
"Meteor Volcano!" he growled low. In the next instant, he took a violent step forward, utilizing the Narwhal's own suction force to close the distance as his heavily magma-fied arm unleashed a blistering punch.
A colossal torrent of boiling magma shot straight into the Narwhal's mouth like a massive fist.
"Great Eruption!" he roared at the top of his lungs.
Simultaneously, the shockwaves of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power rippled outward to join the fray. The strongest men on the battlefield had unleashed their might in unison, determined to completely pulverize this foreign entity.
The All-Devouring Narwhal emitted a low, pained groan and finally snapped its mouth shut. It had registered a genuine sting of pain.
Its colossal body began to twist and squirm continuously, thrashing against everything around it as it desperately sought to flee this location. Of course, the entity capable of inducing such immense panic within it was definitely not the group of individuals standing right before it.
"Hmm... I can't help but feel that something is distinctly off here. I wonder what it is?"
In the distance, Kizaru stroked his chin in deep contemplation. This marine organism was powerful to an absurd degree; the joint assault from Garp, Sengoku, and the others moments ago had clearly failed to produce any significant effect. Furthermore, this aquatic creature had clearly been enraged just a moment ago, yet at this exact juncture, it had suddenly reined in its hostility and was trying its absolute best to escape.
Up in the sky, the First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Marco the Phoenix, soared through the air. His gaze swept over Marineford before ultimately locking onto the ocean.
Suddenly, his countenance underwent a drastic shift.
The seawater was trembling. A magnificent, ancient aura, one he had never encountered in his entire life, was radiating outward, as if something monumental was actively brewing beneath the surface.
"Something's wrong! There's something in the sea!" he screamed at the top of his lungs from mid-air.
Everyone's attention was immediately captured by his warning, and numerous eyes shifted in unison toward the ocean's surface. There was no shortage of intelligent individuals present on this battlefield, and they immediately deduced a terrifying possibility.
Several gazes shifted back toward the All-Devouring Narwhal.
"Could it be... that this Sea King was actually fleeing from something else, and only crashed into us by sheer coincidence?"
"How is that possible?! What kind of monster would it take to make a beast like that run?"
Countless pairs of eyes converged entirely upon the waters of the crescent-shaped bay as the majestic, primordial aura finally exploded into the open.
A portion of the deep blue seawater detached itself entirely from the ocean surface, sculpting and molding itself into the physical manifestation of Bai Tza.
Her unvarnished, predatory gaze swept across the entirety of Marineford, the tendrils flanking her cheeks writhing and dancing relentlessly in perfect tandem with her euphoric state of mind.
Bai Tza's slightly raspy voice reverberated completely across the entire territory, laced with absolute ecstasy:
"It seems... my Atlantis has returned to me!"
Taking the entire scene in with a single glance, she uttered a sigh of pure satisfaction:
"So many subjects... and they are all quite the lively little crawlers!"
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