Smoke from the battlefield still hung heavy in the air. After Marco cut down another Marine Rear Admiral, he beat his wings and rose high above the war-torn island. His sharp eyes scanned the chaos below, searching for his next target.
He ignored the ordinary soldiers. His focus remained on the strong, the Vice Admirals and Rear Admirals who still held the Marine forces together.
Not far away, Sak, Fossa, Blenheim, Izo, and Kingdew were fighting together against Admiral Fujitora. Meanwhile, Ace and Yamato stood back to back as they clashed with Admiral Aramaki.
The Admirals' strength was truly formidable. Aramaki used the power of the Woods Woods Fruit to sink into the ground and reemerge elsewhere, evading attacks with unsettling ease. Fujitora's Observation Haki was so refined that even Marco found it nearly impossible to launch a successful surprise assault against him.
Even for Marco, defeating an Admiral quickly was unrealistic. That was why he chose a more strategic path, eliminating the Vice Admirals and Rear Admirals to weaken the Marine command structure first.
His gaze shifted briefly toward the Seven Warlords of the Sea. The Shichibukai had positioned themselves at the edge of the battlefield, neither advancing nor retreating. They appeared almost like spectators observing a war that did not concern them.
Both the Big Mom Pirates and the Phoenix Pirates understood the situation. None of them moved to provoke the Shichibukai. For now, a fragile balance held.
Then Marco felt it.
A terrifying presence surged through the sky, descending with overwhelming pressure.
He looked up.
High above the clouds, a colossal silhouette emerged. It had the head, wings, and talons of a bird, yet its body stretched long and serpentine like a massive snake. Black flame-like clouds coiled around it. Its enormous form surpassed even that of the ancient giants.
Marco's pupils contracted.
One of the Five Elders.
He had not expected the Marines to deploy such a force.
"Damn it," Marco muttered under his breath. Only one had appeared so far, but he knew the Five Elders possessed a strange summoning method involving mysterious circles. If one had come, the others could follow.
A sense of foreboding gripped him.
"Sak!" Marco called out sharply.
Locked in combat with Fujitora, Sak immediately turned toward him. Fujitora, sensing the shift in atmosphere, momentarily paused. He understood that striking now could provoke a coordinated retaliation from multiple commanders, especially Sak, whose strength surpassed that of most division captains. Even an Admiral had to be cautious under such pressure.
At that same moment, Fujitora also sensed the approaching presence.
"Captain Marco, what is it?" Sak asked urgently.
Marco's expression darkened. "Where are the Beasts Pirates? We have been fighting for an hour. Why have they not arrived?"
Sak grimaced. "They were intercepted. Sengoku and Garp stopped them before they could advance."
Marco clicked his tongue in frustration. So much for external reinforcements.
More and more combatants began to notice the creature in the sky.
"Look up!"
"What is that thing?"
"A giant bird? No… its body looks like a snake!"
Before the whispers could settle, the monstrous being descended above Whole Cake Island, its immense shadow swallowing the battlefield below. Marines and pirates alike found their attention seized by its presence.
The serpent-bird's body stretched hundreds of meters long. Its wings blotted out the sun as it circled once before fixing its gaze on the island beneath.
Marco stepped forward into the air, placing himself directly in its path.
"It seems we cannot rely on anyone else," he said calmly. "We handle this ourselves."
Big Mom also stared upward, her eyes narrowing. "What kind of creature is that?"
Even she could feel the immense power radiating from it.
The monstrous figure's voice echoed across the sky, cold and disdainful.
"Insects who dare stand before gods… you invite death."
Flames gathered in its beak, condensing into a concentrated blaze before erupting into a searing beam that shot toward Marco.
Marco scowled. "You could at least greet someone before attacking."
Instead of dodging, he allowed dense black flames to envelop his body. He met the incoming blaze head on, his own power roaring against the assault.
Then four massive summoning circles flared into existence around the sky-bound creature.
From each circle, an overwhelming aura surged.
In the next instant, four more monstrous forms emerged. One possessed a spider-like lower body with the head of a bull. Another took the shape of a gigantic skeletal horse. A third resembled a monstrous sandworm with an enormous gaping maw. The last was a massive warthog with four tusks and a spotted hide.
With thunderous crashes, they descended onto Whole Cake Island, shaking the land itself.
The battle froze.
Marines and pirates alike stared in stunned silence at the towering monsters that now stood upon the island. Each was enormous, rivaling or exceeding the size of giants.
Before anyone could react further, a surge of Conqueror's Haki exploded outward from all five entities at once.
The pressure was suffocating.
Like a tidal wave, their combined Conqueror's Haki swept across the island. Marines and pirates collapsed in droves, their bodies giving way under the crushing willpower.
Kingdew's face turned pale. "Conqueror's Haki…"
He watched comrades fall unconscious around him as the overwhelming force washed over the battlefield.
From the very start, the Five Elders had asserted dominance.
Though their Conqueror's Haki did not rival the terrifying intensity of Red Haired Shanks, the combined force of five users was more than enough to shatter morale and spread fear through every corner of Whole Cake Island.
Marco hovered in the air, eyes fixed on them, his expression growing colder.
Five beings, each wielding Conqueror's Haki.