Kuzan gritted his teeth and endured the inhuman pain tearing through his body, never once looking back as he continued fleeing.
His battered figure transformed into an unsteady stream of ice, gleaming with an eerie blue-white light as it raced through the air. His movements were no longer completely stable, yet his speed remained astonishing.
Within only a few flashes, he had already put a great distance between himself and the battlefield.
Without hesitation, Kuzan plunged into the Marine fleet that was already retreating in chaos and quickly disappeared among the disorderly ranks.
"Tch! Damn, he's fast!"
Bullet frowned as he slowly retracted his enormous fist, magma still burning across its surface.
His eyes remained fixed on the direction in which Kuzan had vanished, frustration and annoyance flickering across his face.
He spat heavily onto the ground.
"I thought that punch would keep him here for good. Didn't expect the bastard to actually get away."
That attack had contained practically everything Bullet had.
He had gathered his full strength into a single devastating blow and landed it cleanly.
Even if Kuzan had managed to escape, the damage was severe enough that he would be unable to fight at anywhere near his full strength for quite some time. Even with his tremendous endurance and recovery, completely healing from those injuries would require a great deal of time.
Kuzan's wounded retreat became the final blow to whatever fragile balance still remained on the battlefield.
The Marines' supposedly supreme fighting forces had once seemed untouchable.
Now one Admiral had been captured, while another had fled after suffering serious injuries.
With developments like these, the outcome of the war was no longer in doubt.
The remaining Marines had reached rock bottom.
Fear and despair were written across their faces as their officers shouted hoarse, urgent orders.
Like a defeated army desperate only to survive, they scrambled aboard their warships and fled the waters where they had suffered an unprecedented defeat.
The once-disciplined fleet had completely lost its formation.
Warships cut across one another's paths in their rush to escape, throwing white spray across the sea as the remnants of the Marine force withdrew in confusion.
...
Momousagi had long since lost the fierce confidence and effortless composure she had displayed when she first entered the battle.
Her elegant pink kimono, once immaculate and perfectly suited to her graceful appearance, was now torn and battered.
The hem had been sliced apart in several places by razor-sharp blades of sand. Dust covered large sections of the fabric, while dark, dried blood stained it in scattered patches.
Her breathing had become rapid and uneven.
Her chest rose and fell violently as though every breath required her to force the last traces of oxygen into exhausted lungs.
Even the hand gripping her famed sword, Konpira, had begun to tremble after the prolonged battle.
Her knuckles had turned white from the strength of her grip, as though her fingers might give out at any moment.
Crocodile, meanwhile, had only gained a few shallow sword wounds.
They barely seemed to matter.
He still had his cigar between his teeth, its ember glowing faintly through the dim haze and illuminating the cold indifference in his eyes.
His breathing remained long and steady.
There was no obvious fatigue in his posture at all.
The brutal battle they had just fought seemed to have been little more than a warm-up to him.
The tremendous vitality and endurance granted by the Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Azure Dragon had made exhaustion almost meaningless to Crocodile.
He seemed like a fortress built for endless battle.
"What's wrong, Marine girl?"
Crocodile's rough, deep voice carried open mockery.
"Hasn't even been that long, and you're already out of breath?"
He made no attempt to immediately continue his assault.
Instead, he leisurely exhaled a thick ring of smoke and watched it drift through the air, his relaxed confidence giving the confrontation the unmistakable feel of a cat toying with a cornered mouse.
Momousagi clenched her teeth so tightly that she nearly bit through her lip.
Her beautiful eyes burned with frustration and stubborn defiance.
But she understood the truth perfectly well.
Crocodile was one of the most troublesome opponents she had ever faced.
His top-tier Armament Haki alone was enough to meet her head-on without giving an inch. Every direct collision left her feeling as though she had struck a mountain.
And that was only one part of the problem.
First came the Sand-Sand Fruit.
Its elemental transformation and ability to control the surrounding terrain made Crocodile infuriatingly difficult to pin down.
He could merge freely with the sand around him, becoming almost ghostlike whenever he dispersed his body.
Inside a raging sandstorm, he appeared and disappeared so rapidly that it was practically indistinguishable from teleportation.
As a result, many of Momousagi's normally deadly sword strikes cut through nothing but empty air.
Worse still, Crocodile could turn seemingly harmless ground into quicksand traps without warning.
One moment the sand beneath her feet would appear completely stable, and the next it would become a deadly pit dragging her downward.
It severely restricted her mobility and forced her to think carefully about every step she took.
Then there was the monstrous physique granted by his Mythical Zoan.
Crocodile's defenses were simply inhuman.
Even when Momousagi managed to land a clean hit, inflicting meaningful damage was extremely difficult.
His regenerative ability was even more discouraging.
Minor wounds she had struggled to inflict could heal again in remarkably little time.
Combined with stamina that seemed almost inexhaustible, Crocodile could maintain the same aggressive pressure throughout the entire battle.
Momousagi, on the other hand, had to endure punishing counterattacks every time one of her own attacks was neutralized.
Each heavy impact sent her blood surging violently through her body, leaving her organs feeling as though they had been shaken out of place.
The combination of those abilities in the hands of a veteran fighter as experienced and skilled as Crocodile produced something far more dangerous than the sum of its parts.
Under these circumstances, defeating Momousagi was no longer a question of whether Crocodile could do it.
It was only a question of how long it would take.
"I can't drag this out any longer!"
Urgency and determination entered Momousagi's clear voice.
She knew perfectly well that if the battle continued like this, the Marines were certain to lose.
A trace of resolve flashed deep within her eyes, bright and fleeting like a meteor cutting across the night sky.
She had made her decision.
...
Momousagi gritted her teeth and forced one last breath into lungs that were already close to their limit. Then she poured every remaining trace of Haki in her body into Konpira.
In an instant, the blade seemed to come alive.
A brilliant, almost tragic light bloomed along its edge, piercing through the gloom as though embodying its wielder's final stubborn refusal to yield.
"Life Return Secret Art: Soul-Severing Dance!"
With a sharp cry, Momousagi became one with her sword and transformed into a dazzling streak of pink light.
Her speed pushed beyond its previous limits, moving so fast that her path was almost impossible to follow as she drove Konpira straight toward Crocodile's heart.
This strike contained everything she had left—strength, spirit, Haki, and determination.
It was her final gamble.
But Crocodile had spent far too many years surviving deadly battles to be intimidated by desperation alone.
He had already seen through her intent.
The corner of his mouth curled into a mocking smile.
"Too naive."
He did not move aside.
Instead, Crocodile remained firmly planted where he stood and raised his golden hook. Top-tier Armament Haki coated its surface like an impenetrable layer of armor.
At the last possible instant, the hook met Konpira's point with perfect precision.
CLANG—!
The piercing metallic impact rang across the battlefield.
Sparks erupted between them like fireworks, scattering bright trails through the dusty air.
The deadlock lasted only an instant.
Momousagi was already running on fumes.
Crocodile was not.
The tremendous power contained within his hook erupted together with the seemingly endless strength behind it, violently knocking Konpira aside.
And Crocodile's counterattack came immediately.
His left palm shot forward like lightning, wrapped in a raging sandstorm and dense Armament Haki.
BOOM!
The strike slammed directly into Momousagi's unguarded abdomen.
"Guh—!"
Her entire body convulsed.
Her eyes widened in agony as a mouthful of blood, mixed with fragments from her internal injuries, burst from her lips.
The crimson spray stood out starkly against the dust-filled battlefield.
Momousagi was launched backward like a kite with its string cut.
She crashed heavily into a distant heap of ruins.
Konpira flew from her hand and struck the ground with a clear, lonely clang.
Momousagi struggled twice, desperately trying to force herself back onto her feet.
Her body refused.
At last, she collapsed against the rubble, completely incapable of continuing the fight.
Despair slowly crept into her eyes.
Crocodile approached at an unhurried pace.
Step by step.
Loose stones crunched beneath his boots, and each sound seemed to carry an invisible weight.
Eventually, he stopped directly in front of her.
He stood over the critically wounded Admiral candidate without the slightest trace of sympathy, casually brushing the dust from his coat as though he had merely finished some mildly inconvenient task.
"Looks like your time is up."
His rough, low voice sounded almost like a sentence being handed down.
Momousagi still tried to move.
Like a bird with broken wings, she forced one trembling hand toward Konpira, desperate to use the sword to support herself.
It was the last fragment of dignity she could cling to as a warrior.
But before her fingers could reach it, Crocodile planted one Haki-coated foot firmly on the blade.
Her last hope of standing was pinned beneath his boot.
Sand swirled lazily around him like a beast circling its prey, obscuring the edges of his figure and making his presence even more ominous.
"Still want to continue, Vice Admiral Gion?"
His voice drifted through the howling sand, carrying unmistakable mockery.
The golden hook in his hand gleamed dangerously beneath the fading light.
Momousagi stubbornly raised her head.
Her body had nearly reached its limit, but defiance still burned in her eyes.
Blood ran steadily from a wound at her temple, tracing a vivid crimson line down her pale cheek.
"Justice… will never…"
She forced the words through clenched teeth.
Before she could finish, a violent coughing fit seized her.
Blood sprayed from her mouth with every convulsion, unmistakable evidence of the severe injuries inside her body.
"Justice?"
Crocodile gave a cold laugh.
He bent down, wrapped one rough hand around Momousagi's slender throat, and lifted her effortlessly from the ground.
Contempt filled his eyes.
"Your so-called justice can't even protect your own comrades."
At that moment, two members of the Divine Kingdom's Guard Corps hurried forward.
Their movements were practiced and efficient.
They immediately produced restraints and bound Momousagi's wrists securely behind her back.
The instant the cold chains touched her skin, her body trembled involuntarily.
Whatever strength she still had seemed to disappear with them.