The translucent green barrier cast an eerie glow over Delta Island, dimming the sunlight and bathing everything in its faint jade light.
Blackbeard Teach stared up at the massive dome covering the island, his sinister chuckle echoing through the air.
"Zehaha~! Quite the spectacle, Sephiroth! Looks like you've been busy," he sneered.
Blackbeard raised his right hand, black mist swirling around it, preparing to unleash the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit. He intended to pull Sephiroth from afar, suppress his Devil Fruit abilities, and shatter the barrier.
But before he could act—
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three clay spears, each cloaked in Armament Haki, shot toward him in a deadly triangular formation, aimed at his head and chest. Blackbeard barely managed to dodge sideways, his plan interrupted.
"Teach, your opponent is me!" Ace's voice rang out.
Before Blackbeard could regain his footing, Ace materialized in front of him. His right fist crackled with dark red lightning as he drove it squarely into Blackbeard's chest.
The force sent Blackbeard flying backward, tumbling across the ground before skidding to a halt.
Though the punch landed solidly, Blackbeard wasn't seriously injured. The Dark-Dark Fruit's pain-amplifying effect made him grimace, but he soon climbed to his feet, brushing dust from his coat. His cold laughter echoed across the battlefield.
"Zehaha~! Ace, you've already lost to me twice. Are you trying to die again?"
As he spoke, a white translucent energy condensed in his left hand, while his right remained shrouded in black mist.
Ace's eyes burned like daggers, his voice firm and resonant.
"Today's different! I'll crush you and end this once and for all!"
......
Marco, in his human-beast form, descended from the sky, his wings ablaze with blue flames. He slammed a powerful kick into Burgess, who stood like a diamond statue.
The impact sent Burgess staggering back several steps.
"Hahaha! Your attacks don't hurt at all. Can't you hit harder?" Burgess taunted.
He raised his diamond-hard right arm and pounded his chest twice, his laughter booming.
Marco hovered in the air, his voice icy.
"Hmph! You don't deserve to wield Jozu's ability."
"So what? If you've got the guts, come take it back!" Burgess shot back with a sneer. "Two years ago, if it weren't for Jozu fighting tooth and nail to hold us off, you'd both be dead!"
Marco's face darkened, his teeth clenched. "Then I'll grant your wish today!"
Phoenix Seal!
A shockwave of blue flames erupted from Marco's foot, blasting Burgess backward and slamming him into a nearby mountain.
......
Bullet narrowly sidestepped the black blade slicing toward him, the sharp flash of steel whistling past his face. The sword's energy cleaved through a mountaintop hundreds of meters behind him, splitting it cleanly in two.
"It's laughable that someone as strong as you would stoop to being a Shichibukai, groveling for the World Government," Bullet scoffed.
Hawkeye chuckled lightly, his black blade dancing as he launched a relentless assault. "I dislike troublesome things. The reason I became a Shichibukai is simple—to avoid pointless fights and focus on what truly matters."
"I can get intel on strong fighters like you from the World Government sometimes. Fighting you helps sharpen my swordsmanship—and it's pretty damn good already."
......
Luffy's eyes lit up with excitement. A fierce grin spread across his face as he squared up to Doflamingo, standing tall and unflinching.
"You're one of the Four Emperors, huh?"
"So what?" Doflamingo sneered.
"I'm gonna beat you. That'll put me one step closer to being Pirate King!"
Doflamingo threw his head back and let out a deranged laugh. "Fufufufufu! What a joke. I'm the one who'll be Pirate King!"
"No way. That's my title!"
Luffy's right arm bulged as he inflated his body, his Haki flaring to its peak. He shifted into Gear Fourth: Boundman.
"Arrogant brat." Doflamingo flicked his wrist, pulling dozens—no, hundreds—of razor-sharp threads from his palm. He twisted them into a thick column and lashed it forward. "Overheat!"
The whip whistled through the air.
Luffy lunged, grabbing the threads mid-swing with his left hand. Despite their sharpness, he clenched them tight, his right fist already compressing and gathering power.
"Gum-Gum King Kong Gun!"
The massive fist slammed into Doflamingo's face with a resounding crack. His sunglasses shattered, spiderwebbing across the lenses. The force drove him deep into the ground, carving a crater in his shape.
The island shook as explosions rocked the battlefield, sword energy slicing through the air in every direction.
Pirates knocked out by Haoshoku never stood a chance. Still unconscious, they were obliterated by the clashes of the island's strongest fighters.
Even those who managed to wake found no escape—caught in the Seraphim's explosive lasers or cut down by Hawkeye's Seraphim's sudden blade strikes.
Luffy, Hawkeye, Bullet—the island was a gathering of legends, a chaotic war unlike anything the world had seen.
Fifty Seraphim prowled the outskirts, systematically wiping out any Pirates who dared linger. Survival was a luxury reserved only for the strongest.
Desperate Pirates fled to the island's edges, hoping for a stroke of luck. Instead, they found themselves trapped by an impenetrable barrier, a cage they couldn't break.
Their only fate was to wait for death inside its confines.
The Marine warships had set up a blockade around the island, sealing off any chance of escape. Even if someone managed to breach the barrier, they'd face the Marines' relentless siege.