Just a single strike... such power!??
On the icy platform, Doflamingo stared blankly, stunned.
He raised his hand to block the aftershock, his heart trembling profoundly.
No wonder Kaido wanted to collect Devil Fruits—just by unlocking the seals, he already displayed such strength—completely at the level of a Yonko in combat power.
"I need to get farther away, or I'll be caught in the blast!"
Thinking of this, Doflamingo lightly leapt into the air, stepping on air and swiftly retreating, pulling back several hundred meters before barely stopping.
After a long while, the white light filling the world dissipated.
The scene revealed below caused the surviving pirates to show horrified expressions.
In front of the iceberg, in the area where pirates were most densely gathered, nearly two to three thousand New World pirates were turned to ash by the explosion of the Holy Light Lance.
Those people were evaporated directly by the holy light, leaving not even a fragment of clothing.
Where those pirates had stood, a huge crater now loomed.
Hiss!
Someone inhaled sharply, voice trembling: "Did I see that wrong?! Is this an illusion?"
They couldn't see with the naked eye, only perceiving it with Observation Haki.
In that perception, in an instant, over two thousand breaths vanished. Among these vanished pirates, there were countless experts, even capable individuals.
Near the foot of the iceberg, the thirteen members of the Lans Pirates' expressions changed drastically.
"It's him!" Barbor, wielding a giant hammer, said in shock: "I remember now! That's the guy we met in the snow forest a few days ago!"
Without light, he couldn't see Vladimir's appearance, but at this moment, the familiar power of the holy light finally brought that mysterious strongman back to his mind.
Suddenly, the world brightened, light returning.
The surviving pirates found they could see the world clearly again.
But before they could rejoice, they were shocked by what they saw.
A mighty force forcibly gouged out a huge pit in the earth—so deep that it could bury countless giants.
"Huh?"
Above the sky, Vladimir let out a faint doubt as he noticed the pirates had regained their light, and after a moment's thought, he reacted.
"Ah, I see. Maintaining the deprivation of light consumes a huge amount of holy light energy. I fired a Holy Light Lance, so I overexerted myself."
This divine move was indeed powerful—under the cover of holy light, words and spells could be freely cast. But sustaining it required a large consumption of holy light energy.
He was using the ability through the holy clouds in the sky, which caused the clouds to overload, so he actively canceled it.
"Looks vast, but in reality, it doesn't have much holy light energy left. It's not even as much as what I have inside myself…"
Vladimir rolled his eyes, reminiscing about when the Archangel first appeared—the vast cloud of holy light that shrouded half the world. That was truly the form a great angel should have.
Of course, Vladimir also knew that was formed from the faith accumulated over countless years by countless believers worldwide.
When Vladimir transformed into an archangel, he borrowed that power just enough, absorbing a tiny fraction of it.
But now that it's gone, to regain such enormous power again would require an opportunity.
"Better focus on suppressing the pirates first."
Thinking this, Vladimir flapped his wings and slowly descended from the sky.
He floated lightly, as if weightless, not bound by gravity.
Thud.
Landing softly, Vladimir retracted the three pairs of wings behind him, then looked up at the remaining pirates. His previous strike had wiped out at least a quarter of them.
Now, seeing Vladimir land, the nearby pirates all screamed as if they saw a ghost, turning and fleeing.
But some, with furious expressions, stared wide-eyed.
"You damn bastard! You killed my crew!"
That person roared, drew his weapon, and charged at Vladimir.
They didn't care about angels or divine punishment. All he knew was that the entire pirate crew under his command had been wiped out in one breath by this man in front of him.
He had personally gathered each of these crew members. Though not many, he had spent countless effort. Now that they were gone, his pirate group was completely buried.
He was now alone. His only thought was revenge!
"That person is... Captain Phoenix of the Phoenix Pirates, a bounty of 500 million! A great pirate!"
Someone exclaimed, but what happened next immediately chilled everyone's hearts.
"Kneel!"
Vladimir looked calmly at him, whispering softly.
Clang!!
Suddenly, a vast amount of holy light force rained down like a shower, covering all the pirates' heads.
It was as if a mountain suddenly pressed down on their bodies, causing them to kneel involuntarily.
Captain Phoenix couldn't even get close. At ten meters from Vladimir, he already couldn't withstand the enormous pressure.
Bang!
He was crushed as if by an invisible giant palm, collapsing to the ground and unable to move.
"What?!" Captain Phoenix stared with wide eyes, face full of disbelief.
He couldn't believe that in front of this person, he couldn't even stand.
Clack, clack, clack...
Footsteps sounded.
Vladimir stepped forward. The closer he got to Captain Phoenix, the greater the pressure he endured. He couldn't even attack or seek revenge—only looked up at the approaching figure.
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