"That's..."
Katakuri's pupils constricted violently as he stared at the massive "black cloud" looming above.
It was no cloud at all. It was an inexhaustible legion of giant birds, eagles, gargoyles, demons, and dragons, all animate beings crafted from stone or metal.
Worse still, countless other animate warriors, knights, savage beasts, and multi-armed monstrosities, were perched atop these flying constructs. They clustered together in such dense numbers that they cast a sprawling shadow over the entire island.
"You bastard! Golden Ring brat... how dare you!" Charlotte Linlin roared, her rage boiling over as she glared at the sky.
He had brought an entire legion of animate beings. He intended to turn her territory into a full-scale battlefield!
"It was originally just a precaution, but I didn't expect it to actually come in handy." Aeridar shook his head and beckoned a giant stone bird. He placed Pudding on its back and commanded it to fly toward the small island floating high above the clouds.
"Give Pudding back!"
Seeing Pudding being ferried away, Charlotte Linlin let out a furious cry. Riding Zeus, she shot upward like a lethal arrow.
Seeing Big Mom on the move, Prometheus immediately followed suit.
"The Master said to stop everyone! Keke!"
Zhurong let out a strange cackle and opened his mouth, spitting out five or six gargantuan fireballs. Each was several meters in diameter and radiated intense, searing heat as they tore toward Big Mom.
"Don't you dare touch Mama! Haaa!"
Prometheus was forced to halt, exhaling a concentrated stream of fire that shot upward to intercept the falling spheres.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The fireballs were detonated almost simultaneously, erupting into a hundred-meter-wide sea of flames. The sky warped under the extreme heat, and the air itself became parched and suffocating.
"Don't think it'll be that easy!"
"Look closely, Big Mom. I'm still here!"
Seeing her try to ignore him to pursue Pudding, Aeridar blurred into motion, blocking her path once again.
"Get out of my way!"
Enraged, Charlotte Linlin delivered a horizontal slash with Napoleon. The blade shrieked as it tore through the friction of the air.
In that instant, Aeridar's frame expanded, swelling into a twelve-meter-tall giant. His massive hand, coated in coal-black Armament Haki, slammed directly into the side of the giant blade.
CLANG—!
Terrifying physical force exploded from Aeridar's palm. The strike didn't just parry the blade; it forcibly knocked Napoleon aside with a bone-shaking ring of vibrating metal.
"Nani? This... this is..."
Linlin's eyes went wide. She stared in disbelief at Aeridar, who now loomed over her like a small mountain.
For a split second, the Empress was genuinely stunned.
Aeridar, however, didn't hesitate. Seeing her momentum stall, he drove a massive fist forward, slamming it squarely into Big Mom's face.
WHAM—!
A dull thud echoed as a shockwave of wind rippled outward.
Big Mom hadn't even had time to react. She felt a sensation of pain she hadn't experienced in years before she was sent hurtling downward like a cannonball. She moved so fast that even Zeus couldn't dive in time to catch her.
CRASH!!!
Big Mom struck the town of Whole Cake Island like a fallen meteor. The earth convulsed violently, and a pillar of dust exploded into the air. A circular shockwave swept outward, flipping people off their feet and leveling every building within a hundred-meter radius.
"Mama!"
"Impossible!"
The members of the Big Mom Pirates watched in horror, their screams of disbelief echoing through the ruins.
Whoosh—!
A sudden gale swept through the crater, clearing the dust.
Charlotte Linlin stood at the center of a ten-meter-deep pit, still gripping Napoleon. She was physically unharmed, but her expression was deathly grim. The ground around her was a spiderweb of deep fissures, surrounded by the wreckage of collapsed buildings.
"Big Mom, I'll be taking your head!"
Enel roared from above. Lightning flared in his hands as the high-temperature current melted his golden staff, reshaping it into a glowing, three-pronged golden trident.
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Don't you touch Mama!"
"Enel, take this!"
Smoothie, Baron Tamago, and Pekoms, who had been watching Enel like hawks, charged at him simultaneously.
KABOOM!
But Enel was lightning itself. With a thunderous crack, he turned into a blinding bolt and streaked through the air, bypassing the three officers' pincer attack and appearing directly above Big Mom's head as if by teleportation.
"Oh no!" Smoothie cried out in alarm.
"Die, old hag!"
Bathed in arcs of electricity and wearing a savage grin, Enel lunged downward, thrusting the golden trident toward her.
Suddenly, a wisp of pale blue smoke materialized out of nowhere, quickly solidifying above Big Mom into a massive Lamp Genie wielding a long-handled blade.
"Genie-uine Rage Split!!!"
CLASH—!
The blade and trident collided with a violent tremor, sending ripples through the air.
In the next heartbeat, blinding lightning erupted. The high-voltage current surged along the metal weapon and through the Genie's body, causing it to dissipate back into a cloud of blue smoke.
"Enel brat!"
Charlotte Linlin suddenly spun around with a roar, swinging Napoleon in a massive arc intended to bisect Enel at the waist.
"Damn!"
Enel's eyes widened as his body began to crackle and pop with electricity.
Sshhhht—
The giant blade passed clean through Enel's torso, separating his upper and lower halves in mid-air.
However, no blood sprayed from the wound. Only sparks and dancing bolts of lightning remained at the seam. He had elementalized his body just in time, narrowly evading the Haki-infused strike.
BOOM!!!
Suddenly, a massive pillar of lightning lanced down from the sky, striking Enel directly. The ground beneath him was blasted into a scorched, deep crater as debris flew in every direction.
Within the lightning pillar, Enel remained completely unaffected. Instead, his bifurcated body quickly fused back together.
"Are you stupid? I am the Thunder God!!!"
Enel's body began to swell rapidly, inflating like a balloon until he transformed into a gargantuan, pot-bellied giant made of pure electricity.
200 Million Volts: Amaru!!!
"Zeus, stand down!" Charlotte Linlin barked, her brow furrowed.
Seeing the unharmed Enel in his "Amaru" form and hearing Big Mom's command, the thundercloud Zeus immediately ceased its useless bombardment.
But while Zeus stopped, Enel had no intention of doing the same.
"You're just a measly cloud... Get out of my way!"
Enel let out a muffled roar and threw a massive punch downward. A concentrated bolt of lightning erupted from his fist, slamming directly into Zeus.
To everyone's shock, the bolt didn't just pass through Zeus, it carried enough physical force to send the thundercloud tumbling backward through the sky!