A tall figure dropped from the air with a heavy 'whoosh'. His muscular upper body was completely bare, radiating a fierce, intimidating presence.
A bloody hole pierced his cheek, blood streamed from a deep wound on his shoulder, and countless tiny cuts covered his body where the strings had sliced him. Yet Liam didn't seem to care in the slightest. With the Golden Iron Rod resting casually on his shoulder, he pinched one nostril shut, blew hard, and spat out a spray of bloody foam.
"Phew!" He exhaled, grinning at the Stand beside him. "Haha, that felt pretty damn good."
『B.I.B.』stood with its arms crossed, glancing toward Doflamingo, who lay sprawled in the blood-filled crater.
"Ugh… ngh… 'cough, cough'…" Doflamingo lay in a pool of blood, his breathing faint and ragged. He looked as though he barely had a few breaths left in him.
"Still alive?"
Liam jumped down into the crater and walked over, Golden Iron Rod resting across his shoulder. His Black Battle Armor floated along beside him. Master and Stand stood on either side of Doflamingo, looking down at the broken man on the verge of death.
"Most of the bones in his body and his internal organs must be shattered by now," Liam muttered.
『But he can temporarily stitch his internal injuries together with his strings…』the Stand added. 『He might already be doing it…』
They looked at the most obvious wound on Doflamingo's body. Countless fine threads crisscrossed through it, binding the torn flesh together. It was easy to imagine what his insides must look like right now.
"Then let's finish the job."
Liam weighed the Golden Iron Rod in his hand, tightened his grip, and raised it high…
The shadow of the heavy rod reflected in Doflamingo's sunglasses right before it came crashing down.
'Bam!'
Liam smashed the rod into the blood-splattered earth, but Doflamingo was already gone.
"…" 『…』
Liam and 『B.I.B.』 looked up simultaneously. A blood-soaked figure was skimming rapidly across the ground.
"'Cough, cough!'" Doflamingo spat blood, letting out a low, sinister laugh. "You think that's enough to kill me?! Do you know who I am? I'm a descendant of the 'Gods'! 'Cough, cough…'"
Both Liam and 『B.I.B.』 could see thin strings attached to the back of Doflamingo's neck and the top of his head, dragging him along the ground to dodge the fatal strike.
"Hey," Liam muttered, resting the Golden Iron Rod back on his shoulder with a sidelong glance. "Think he's about to say that line?"
『B.I.B.』's narrow eyes glimmered faintly as it calmly replied, 『Given the current situation, there's a pretty good chance he will…』
"You think this is just any ordinary place? This is my 'Birdcage,' created by my power!" Doflamingo continued skimming across the ground, blood pouring from his wounds as he grew increasingly frantic. "The entire space here is covered with 'bridges' I can attach my strings to… Didn't see that coming, did you, Giorno Giovanna? This is my escape route!!"
Liam slapped the Golden Iron Rod against his palm and grinned. "Oh, he actually said it!"
『Incredible…』 the Stand marveled.
The string pulling Doflamingo by the neck was anchored to the Birdcage. Under his control, the attachment point rapidly shifted upward along the wire dome, suddenly yanking Doflamingo into the air.
"Trying to escape over the top of the cage? Dream on!"
Liam was about to use Geppo to give chase when he suddenly stopped and smiled. "Looks like I don't even need to move…"
'What the hell! What the hell!!'
Doflamingo shot upward after making a sharp right-angle turn. His body was practically paralyzed, forcing him to use Parasite String on himself just to keep moving. He was seething with rage. This was supposed to be nothing more than an operation to seize the Ope Ope no Mi and clean up a traitor within the family. How had it spiraled into this?!
'Giorno Giovanna! Giorno Giovanna!!'
He cursed Giorno furiously in his mind as he looked up at the Birdcage's framework high above. As long as he could break out of this cage, he could trap Giorno inside it…
'If only I can get out… If only…'
"......?!"
Doflamingo suddenly realized something was wrong. The Birdcage above him was no longer getting any closer. He wasn't actually moving upward anymore!
His expression darkened as he looked down. His pupils shrank to pinpricks when he saw a gigantic hand gripping his foot.
Had his body gone so numb that even his senses were dulled?
What shocked Doflamingo even more was the figure standing on the ground, reaching into the sky to snag his leg. The man was tall and powerfully built, radiating an imposing presence, and, most notably, sporting an unmistakable, hook-shaped white mustache…
What the hell was going on? How had 'Whitebeard' gotten here?!!!!!
"Whitebeard" gripped Doflamingo's foot and yanked hard, slamming him face-first straight into the earth.
BOOM!
The impact blasted another crater into the ground. Doflamingo bounced a few inches into the air, screaming and coughing up another mouthful of blood as dark waves washed over his vision.
"Looks like it's over…" Robin walked over to Liam, lowering her raised hand.
"Why did another one follow us?" Liam pointed in the direction Robin had come from. A gigantic rock monster over a hundred meters tall, bearing Pica's likeness, was rumbling toward them.
Robin sighed. "He's hiding inside the stone titan. My Observation Haki couldn't pinpoint his real body…"
"Doffy!!!!!" The rock giant bellowed in Pica's shrill voice. He had pursued Jolyne Cujoh here, and seeing Doflamingo lying broken on the ground sent him into a fury so intense his voice sounded deeper than usual.
'Rumble…'
The stone titan reached out with an enormous hand, grabbing toward them as he roared, "I'll kill every last one of you!!!"
His presence was terrifying, as if the sky were collapsing and the earth splitting open. Yet Liam and Robin remained completely unfazed. Liam detached 『B.I.B.』's faceplate and handed it to Robin.
"Here. Use this."
Robin offered a faint smile and fitted the black faceplate over her eyes. Through the faint glow of its narrow slits, she tapped directly into 『B.I.B.』's Observation Haki. Looking up at the stone titan and its house-sized hand crashing down, she instantly locked onto Pica's true location.
Robin's hands moved fluidly as she manipulated 'Hana Jizai: Whitebeard'.
The giant "Whitebeard" who had yanked Doflamingo out of the sky raised his hand. Petals burst from his palm, condensing into a massive naginata over a dozen meters long.
Expressionless, "Whitebeard" swung the weapon horizontally across the approaching titan.
'Whoosh.'
A flash of sword light swept across the battlefield as though cleaving heaven and earth in two…
The hundred-meter-tall rock giant was sliced cleanly across the chest, its upper body shifting out of alignment. Behind it, houses, hills, and distant mountain slopes were cleaved at the exact same angle, neatly bisected…
…
'Rumble…'
Outside the Birdcage, the Marines stared in stunned silence as the hundred-meter-tall stone titan collapsed inside the dome with an earth-shaking crash.
"What kind of battle is happening in there…?"
Everyone was left speechless until a calm voice spoke from behind them.
"Looks like Doflamingo has lost…"
The Marines snapped around and saluted in unison. "Vice Admiral Tsuru!"
Tsuru nodded, crossing her arms as she peered into the Birdcage. "That's the rock ability of a Donquixote Family officer named Pica… It seems this strange cage won't last much longer."
Over a hundred meters away on the coast, two figures, one tall, one short, had been arguing in hushed tones. At that moment, both turned toward the massive destruction inside the cage, staring in shock.
The short young man in the fur hat pointed mischievously toward Tsuru's warship. The tall man with clown greasepaint glared at him as if to say, 'Are you insane?' before grabbing him to pull him back…
…
With a soft thud, Pica's body tumbled out of the shattering rock giant, disappearing beneath the rubble and rising dust.
Robin removed the faceplate and clicked it back onto 『B.I.B.』's face.
The "Whitebeard" who had delivered that monumental slash burst into countless petals, scattering in the rising wind and swirling snow before fluttering against Doflamingo's pale, bloodstained face. No one knew when Doflamingo had dragged himself back onto his feet.
"Fuf fuf fuf fuf…"
Giorno and Jolyne Cujoh reflected in his sunglasses. A streak of light flashed across the lenses as his gaze locked onto Jolyne.
Doflamingo let out a low laugh. "Jolyne Cujoh? Fuf fuf fuf fuf… That floral Whitebeard just now… I don't know how you pulled it off, but that's the Flower-Flower Fruit from the Devil Fruit encyclopedia, isn't it?"
Without waiting for Liam or Robin to answer, his laughter grew darker. "I see… Fuf fuf fuf fuf… I see… Do you have any idea what kind of retaliation you'll face for making such a mockery of the World Government? Fuf fuf fuf fuf…"
Liam stashed the Golden Iron Rod back into the City Fortress inside Vane in Robin's bag, then walked toward Doflamingo with a magnanimous smile. "Since you're about to die anyway, I'll let you have your little villain monologue. I won't hold it against you."
"Giorno… Nico Robin… You have no idea what kind of monsters stand at the top of this world… Fuf fuf fuf fuf…" Doflamingo's body was completely broken. Even speaking drained the last of his strength, yet he grinned with spiteful satisfaction.
Liam picked his nose. "Oh."
"…" Doflamingo's grin wavered. "What about the others? What happened to the rest of my family…?"
Robin thought for a moment before replying mildly, "I wouldn't say they're doing very well."
Back in the ruined town where they had cornered her, Trebol was decapitated. Diamante lay in a pool of blood, pierced through the heart as if by a storm of blades. Machvise's limbs were twisted, his skull crushed by a heavy impact, and his corpse hung from a tree…
"…"
Doflamingo stood rigidly silent. After a long pause, he let out another low, eerie laugh.
"Fuf fuf fuf fuf… One day, you'll pay for this…"
Liam asked, "Finished?"
Liam and Robin were reflected in Doflamingo's lenses. His gaze settled on Liam as he asked quietly, "Let me ask you… Could it be… that you're a 'D' too? A 'Natural Enemy of the Gods'…"
A D? Robin was taken aback. And what did he mean by "Natural Enemy of the Gods"…?
She turned toward Liam, only to catch him staring directly at her chest. 'Seriously? That's definitely not what he meant!'
Robin rolled her eyes, grabbed his head, shoved it back toward Doflamingo, and gave him an annoyed glare.
Liam pointed at Doflamingo and said flatly, "Don't flatter yourself. D or no D, Natural Enemy of the Gods or whatever, you lost to me. So you're going to die. That's all there is to it."
"…" The smile slowly faded from Doflamingo's lips.
"…"
Robin suddenly heard the metallic click of weapons being cocked behind her. She turned around to see a black-haired little girl glaring at them through red, tear-filled eyes, both of her arms transformed into gun barrels.
Baby 5 shouted through her tears, "Don't you dare kill him!"
Far in the distance, Buffalo was too terrified to even step closer, his face deathly pale and trembling like a leaf.
"B-B-B-Baby 5, d-d-don't…"
'Bang! Bang! Bang!'
The pistols formed from Baby 5's arms spat fire, sending a dozen bullets flying toward Liam and Robin.
『B.I.B.』's hands blurred as it snatched every single bullet out of the air, letting the flattened lead clatter harmlessly onto the ground.
"Ah, Baby 5… Fuf fuf fuf fuf…" Doflamingo laughed softly. "Did you know? This poor little thing can't refuse anyone's request. Her mother abandoned her like trash, so as long as someone needs her, she'll happily do anything, even die for them…"
Robin stared at Doflamingo expressionlessly.
Doflamingo grinned. "Baby 5, come here…"
"Okay!" A happy blush flushed across Baby 5's face at the thought of being useful. "Doffy…"
Liam said quietly, "Don't make me look down on you, Doflamingo."
Baby 5 walked past Liam and Robin, stopping in front of Doflamingo. She tilted her face up, her eyes bright with anticipation.
"......"
Doflamingo curled the corner of his mouth into a sneer. "Fuf fuf fuf fuf… You stupid brat. Nobody could ever need a useless girl like you… Now get lost…"
The smile vanished from Baby 5's face, leaving her deathly pale, as if struck by lightning. Her eyes slowly filled with tears.
"You're going to abandon me too?"
She stumbled backward, stepping back again and again until she bumped into something. Turning around, she saw a woman's leg. She looked up and recoiled a few more steps.
It was this woman and this man who had beaten Doflamingo so mercilessly…
With no one left who needed her, a icy chill washed over Baby 5. She remembered this feeling all too well.
Despair.
Liam placed a hand on Baby 5's head, making her flinch.
Then she heard him say softly, "Don't worry. I don't bully little girls."
…
After wandering toward the edge of the Birdcage in a daze, Baby 5 looked back. Two streams of hot tears spilled uncontrollably down her cheeks.
Once again… she was all alone…
…
Doflamingo stood motionless, his face expressionless. He looked dead, yet somehow still standing.
Liam clenched his right fist and stepped toward Doflamingo, then paused. He looked back at Robin, his eyes full of anticipation.
Robin looked puzzled for a second before realizing what he wanted, letting out a helpless smile. With a quiet sigh, she raised her right fist toward Liam and said, "Use Fire Fist on him."
Liam burst out laughing. He clenched his right fist, and with a loud 'BANG', a burst of orange-red flames erupted out of nowhere, engulfing his entire right arm. He swung the burning fist straight toward the standing Doflamingo…
Through the roaring fire, the fist drew closer…
Within Doflamingo's fading consciousness, the approaching blaze seemed to swallow the world whole…
'"They're a family of Celestial Dragons!"'
'"They're not Celestial Dragons anymore! The Marines won't do anything even if we kill them!"'
'"Yes! We finally have our chance for revenge! I thought I'd spend the rest of my life crying under a blanket… Smash every bone in their bodies with hammers! Shoot a thousand arrows into them!"'
'"Don't kill them! Keep them alive and make them suffer!!"'
'"Don't you call yourselves gods? Aren't you different from ordinary humans? Then you shouldn't be able to die, right?!"'
'"Hahaha… It's finally time for you to get what you deserve! Hahaha…"'
'"Burn! Burn! Burn! Burn!…"'
…
(End of Chapter)
You can read ahead up to 30 chapters on my patreon https://www.patreon.com/marvel6395