Fujitora still made no attempt to resist.
In fact, he deliberately withdrew the powerful Haki that had previously radiated from his body, leaving himself completely unguarded.
His blind eyes calmly faced forward, as though they could pierce through the darkness and see something far beyond the battlefield.
There was no humiliation on his face.
No anger.
Only an almost detached serenity.
The faint trace of relief hidden between his brows was the only sign that complicated emotions were still stirring beneath that calm exterior.
Seeing this, Katakuri raised one hand and motioned for the soldiers to step back slightly.
Then he walked forward with steady, confident steps and stopped directly in front of Fujitora.
Still in his towering hybrid dragon form, Katakuri cast a massive shadow over the Admiral.
Yet rather than looking down upon his defeated opponent with the arrogance of a victor, he lowered his head slightly and leaned closer.
His voice dropped until only the two of them could hear.
"Mr. Issho… you didn't truly lose this fight."
Katakuri's voice was calm and certain.
Those razor-sharp eyes, capable of glimpsing the future itself, had already seen through Fujitora's subtle decision to hold back at the very end.
It was not pity.
Nor was it sympathy.
Katakuri simply understood the choice his opponent had made—and respected it.
For a moment, the chaos of the battlefield seemed to fade away.
There was only a silent understanding between two warriors.
Fujitora remained still.
At Katakuri's words, the corner of his weathered, normally stern mouth shifted almost imperceptibly.
It was such a tiny movement that anyone not watching closely would have missed it entirely.
His eyes remained closed.
Yet even without sight, Fujitora turned his face perfectly toward Katakuri.
Then he gave the slightest nod.
The gesture was almost negligible.
But its meaning was unmistakable.
It acknowledged that Katakuri had understood what happened.
It accepted that understanding without embarrassment.
And, more than anything else, it seemed to carry a silent promise—
Next time, they would fight properly.
Katakuri slowly straightened.
He said nothing more.
Instead, he raised one arm and gave the escorting soldiers a simple wave.
As Fujitora was led toward the Divine Kingdom's forces, Katakuri watched his retreating figure with a clear understanding in his heart.
The career of the man who had upheld his own unique interpretation of justice as a Marine Admiral might very well have ended here.
But Katakuri knew their paths would not end with this battlefield.
They had crossed once.
Someday, they would cross again.
'Next time, I look forward to fighting you at full strength.'
Katakuri kept the thought to himself.
Then he turned away and looked toward the enormous battlefield, where the war was rapidly approaching its conclusion.
Smoke filled the sky.
Battle cries still echoed everywhere.
Katakuri's gaze sharpened once more as he prepared to rejoin the fighting.
...
By the time the main Marine fleet began fleeing in panic, the outcome of the war had already been decided.
The balance of victory had completely tipped to one side.
The Marines, once so confident in their overwhelming strength, were now covered by the shadow of defeat.
And at that very moment—
The six Seraphim that had been locked in fierce battles against the three Emperors suddenly froze.
All six stopped at almost exactly the same time.
The cold red lights inside their eyes began flashing rapidly, as though they were receiving some kind of emergency command.
Then, without hesitation, tremendous energy erupted from their bodies.
The force surged outward like a violent tide, momentarily blasting their opponents away and creating enough space for them to retreat.
Their white wings spread wide.
Powerful gusts tore through the surrounding air with every beat.
Then—
The six Seraphim transformed into streaks of light and shot away from the battlefield, racing toward the retreating Marine fleet.
They intended to escape.
"GURARARARA!"
A tremendous laugh exploded across the sea like thunder.
"You think you can come and go whenever you damn well please?!"
Whitebeard stood like an enormous mountain amid the battlefield.
His huge body was already covered in wounds, blood steadily soaking through his clothes, yet the aura radiating from him remained as overwhelming as ever.
Both hands tightened around Murakumogiri.
Veins bulged across his arms as he gathered strength.
His eyes locked onto S-Hawk, S-Bear, and S-Shark as they attempted to flee.
There was no mercy in his gaze.
Whitebeard swung his legendary blade.
"Seaquake: Air Wall!"
BOOOOM!!!
The world itself seemed to tremble beneath the blow.
...
The air shattered layer by layer in front of Whitebeard's slash, like fragile glass struck by an enormous hammer.
A visible wall of violently distorted, trembling space suddenly appeared before the three Seraphim, stretching across their path like an impassable barrier.
Caught completely off guard, the Seraphim slammed straight into the quake wall and abruptly stopped, as though some gigantic force had seized them in midair.
The energy shields surrounding their bodies flickered violently, their light flashing erratically beneath the tremendous impact.
"Mamamama! The Queen Mama Chanter isn't a hotel for you hunks of metal!"
Big Mom's shrill, arrogant voice pierced through the layers of thunderclouds.
She stood proudly atop Zeus like a queen from hell, her face twisted with manic excitement as she bared a mouthful of sharp white teeth in a terrifying grin.
Napoleon gleamed ominously in her hand.
Conqueror's Haki wrapped around the Emperor Sword in dense black currents, almost tangible as they writhed madly across the blade.
Big Mom swung.
"Ikoku Sovereignty!"
An enormous flying slash erupted from Napoleon, resembling a silver bolt of lightning ripping through space as it swept across S-Snake's escape route.
The sheer force of the attack distorted the surrounding air, filling the sky with a piercing roar.
At the same time, Prometheus erupted into a blazing inferno.
Flames surged outward like a raging tide before soaring into the heavens and dyeing the entire sky crimson.
The heat was so intense that the seawater below began evaporating rapidly, filling the area with dense clouds of steam.
The flames spread overhead like an enormous net, completely sealing off any attempt to escape through the sky.
"Wororororo! You've been using me as a punching bag all this time, and now you think you can run?! At least leave me a souvenir first!"
Kaido's wild laughter thundered from the distance.
Now transformed into his enormous Azure Dragon form, his colossal body twisted above the sea, every movement stirring up towering waves.
Kaido raised his massive head, fury blazing in his eyes.
"Bolo Breath!"
A scorching torrent erupted from his jaws like a river of magma and blasted directly toward S-Flamingo and S-Crocodile as they attempted to flee.
The seawater beneath the attack instantly began boiling, bubbles surging violently across the surface as though the entire area were about to be cooked dry.
At the same time, Kaido's enormous scaled tail swept horizontally like a mountain range being hurled through the air.
The tremendous swing kicked up violent winds and waves, sealing off their flank and leaving them no room to escape sideways.
At that moment, the coordination between the three Emperors was displayed perfectly.
Their relationship might have been complicated, but when it came to preventing the Seraphim from escaping, all three understood exactly what needed to be done.
They knew the technological value these artificial weapons represented.
They also understood the threat they would pose if they were allowed to return safely to the Marines and appear on another battlefield in the future.
There was no chance the three Emperors would simply let them leave.
If possible, they would destroy—or capture—the Seraphim here and eliminate the problem for good.
Every movement and attack overlapped with the others almost perfectly, turning the battlefield into an elaborate performance of destruction.
The six Seraphim suddenly found themselves in a situation far more dangerous than the battles they had just escaped.
Ahead of them stood Whitebeard's immense, constantly vibrating wall of distorted space, its energy powerful enough to twist everything around it.
Behind them, Big Mom's razor-sharp Ikoku Sovereignty surged forward like a raging flood.
Above, Prometheus' flames formed a seamless burning net.
And from the side, Kaido's gigantic dragon tail swept across with enough force to flatten everything in its path.
Completely surrounded, the six Seraphim were forced to abandon their retreat.
The strange red lights inside their eyes began flashing at tremendous speed, apparently performing complex calculations.
Then all six rapidly adjusted their positions and returned to full defensive combat posture.
Yet now they resembled wild beasts caught in a carefully prepared trap.
Their bodies still radiated immense power, but the overwhelming presences of the three Emperors had locked firmly onto them.
Escaping as easily as before was no longer possible.
These were, after all, the ultimate weapons created through the full effort of the Marine Science Unit.
Every aspect of their construction embodied countless researchers' work and some of the most advanced technology in the world.
And now, amid this disastrous war, they were on the verge of becoming some of the Divine Kingdom alliance's most valuable spoils.
The three Emperors were already beginning to believe the outcome was decided.
With just a little more effort, these powerful living weapons would be theirs.
Then—
Something changed.
S-Shark, the Seraphim that had previously suffered the brunt of Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit, was already covered in intersecting cracks.
Its damaged body resembled a porcelain statue on the verge of shattering.
Among all six Seraphim, it was clearly the one in the worst condition.
Just as everyone assumed the situation had been settled, the red light in S-Shark's eyes suddenly changed.
The orderly flashes disappeared.
In their place came a rapid, continuous, violently pulsing crimson glow.
Dangerously bright.
The abrupt change immediately shattered the sense that victory had already been secured.
An electronic voice rang out.
"WARNING! Structural damage has exceeded the critical threshold!"
"Executing Final Purge Protocol!"
...