Even some of the normally composed and battle-hardened Marine officers could no longer keep their fear off their faces.
Their voices trembled as they stared upward.
"Is… is that really something humans can fight?"
These were men who had survived countless battles and witnessed more death than most people could imagine. They had long believed themselves accustomed to the terror of war.
But the sight before them shattered everything they thought they understood about power.
In their experience, no matter how strong an enemy was, there was always some weakness to exploit, some possibility of victory.
Bullet's current form did not feel like that.
The pressure did not come merely from his enormous size.
It was the sheer absurdity of his ability.
Everything inorganic around him could be fused, reshaped, and turned into part of his body as easily as clay in the hands of a master craftsman.
Walls.
Warships.
Weapons.
Stone.
Steel.
Even Marineford itself.
It felt less like a Devil Fruit ability and more like some law of the world had bent itself around him.
Calling it the power of a god almost seemed appropriate.
No—
a god of destruction.
Onigumo, Doberman, and several other Vice Admirals were still sprawled amid the ruins after Kaido's relentless assault.
Their bodies were covered in wounds.
Blood soaked their uniforms.
They struggled to raise their heads and look at the towering figure looming over Marineford.
They had already gambled their health and lifespan on the Super Green Blood serum.
They had pushed themselves far beyond their limits simply to stand against Kaido.
And yet, compared with this mountain-sized monster, all the power they had sacrificed so much to obtain suddenly seemed laughably small.
Like ants trying to bring down a giant tree.
Even Kuzan, normally one of the calmest men on the battlefield, could no longer maintain his usual composure.
His lips tightened.
Cold air began leaking uncontrollably from his body, spreading a thin mist around him.
He could feel it.
The energy contained within that colossal body was overwhelming.
And the Haki radiating from it cut through the air like countless invisible blades.
This had already gone beyond the level of an ordinary Emperor.
Bullet himself was a monster even before using his Devil Fruit.
His combat experience and physical strength were both among the highest on the sea.
Then there was the Clank-Clank Fruit, pushed to an extreme level.
And now he had incorporated an enormous quantity of fortified materials into his body while combining that power with magma.
All of it had stacked together into something far more terrifying than any single factor alone.
"This is…"
Sengoku stood before the enormous windows of the Fleet Admiral's office, staring at the giant in the distance.
"…the kind of power Ron has under his command?"
His fists tightened unconsciously.
The knuckles creaked beneath the pressure.
For the first time in a very long while, Sengoku felt utterly powerless.
The Marines had barely survived one catastrophic defeat.
Their morale had not yet recovered.
And now they were facing something that could no longer be measured by normal standards.
What were they supposed to do against this?
Bullet's colossal destroyer stood in the center of Marineford like the statue of some ancient war god.
Its enormous body seemed to occupy half the sky.
It did not even need to move.
Its mere existence was enough to crush what remained of Marine morale.
Soldiers stared upward with fear and despair.
Their legs weakened.
Weapons suddenly felt unbearably heavy in their hands.
Some could barely convince themselves that fighting was still possible.
At this point, calling it a battle seemed almost generous.
There was no longer any sense of balance between the two sides.
What awaited them looked increasingly like a one-sided massacre.
Then Bullet's voice emerged from the giant's mountain-like head.
"Heh…"
The sound was a disturbing mixture of grinding metal and bubbling magma.
It rolled across Marineford like something rising from beneath the earth.
Bullet grinned.
"Now…"
His voice deepened.
"Burn!"
The roar exploded across the battlefield.
The enormous arms of the destroyer—constructed from the shattered Gate of Justice, warship armor, and countless tons of stone—suddenly began glowing from within.
At first, the light was faint.
A dark red gleam appeared beneath the surface.
Then it spread.
Brighter.
Hotter.
More violent.
It looked as though molten rock from the center of the earth had been ignited inside the giant's arms and was now surging through them in search of a way out.
BOOM!
A deep explosion shook the air.
The outer layers of Bullet's enormous arms suddenly burst apart.
Metal plating and massive slabs of rock that had seemed nearly indestructible only moments earlier cracked open and peeled away like fragile shells beneath the pressure building inside.
And from beneath them—
a far more terrifying power was beginning to emerge.
...
In an instant, the shattered outer layers peeled away to reveal Bullet's true arms beneath.
They were no longer made of stone or metal.
They were composed entirely of boiling, dark-red magma.
The molten substance churned violently, writhing like some living beast as unbearable heat poured from it in waves. The surrounding air warped and twisted, hissing under the temperature as though the world itself were struggling to endure the presence of those arms.
Thick magma crawled slowly down the colossal limbs like enormous serpents dragged up from the depths of hell.
Every movement radiated destructive heat.
Steel would melt in moments beneath temperatures like these.
Dense black smoke rolled upward from the arms, spreading across the sky like the signal fires of an ancient battlefield.
The air quickly filled with the harsh stench of sulfur.
Breathing became difficult.
Even before Bullet attacked, the aura of destruction surrounding him was enough to grip every Marine's chest with fear.
Sssssss—!
Drops of magma fell from the raised arms.
Each one struck the stone plaza below like a burning cannonball.
BOOM!
The paving stones melted through almost instantly, leaving behind deep, blackened holes that continued hissing long after the magma had sunk into them.
White vapor rose in thick clouds.
Then the heat spread.
Within moments, the entire plaza felt like an enormous furnace.
Marines standing dozens of meters away were already suffering.
Hair curled beneath the heat.
Skin began to sting.
Every breath burned their throats and lungs.
"Fall back!"
Someone finally screamed.
"Fall back! Hurry!"
"It's too hot!"
"Don't get close! You'll melt!"
The formation collapsed immediately.
The Marines who had still been trying to maintain disciplined ranks could no longer hold their ground beneath the overwhelming heat.
Soldiers stumbled backward in panic.
Some shoved past one another.
Others tripped and fell, only to be swallowed by the crowd surging behind them.
Whatever order had remained disappeared in seconds.
The terror caused by Bullet's overwhelming physical form had not even faded yet.
Now came something worse.
Elemental destruction layered on top of it.
The Clank-Clank Fruit had given Bullet an almost limitless supply of material.
The Magma-Magma Fruit had turned that material into something far more terrifying.
What stood in Marineford now was no longer simply a combat form.
It was a moving natural disaster.
Even with both magma arms hanging casually at its sides, molten rock continued dripping onto the ground.
Wherever it fell, stone melted and black smoke rose.
The heat radiating from the giant distorted the air for dozens of meters around him, creating a shimmering boundary that no ordinary soldier could safely cross.
A death zone had formed around Bullet without him even needing to attack.
High above, Kaido circled through the sky.
His massive dragon eyes watched the chaos below with obvious delight.
Marine formations had collapsed.
Soldiers were retreating in fear.
Morale was falling apart before his eyes.
Kaido threw his head back and laughed even harder.
"WORORORORORO!"
The sound rolled across Marineford like thunder.
At the center of the battlefield, Bullet remained fully focused on controlling the colossal magma giant.
Slowly, he raised one enormous arm.
The limb was so hot that it looked capable of melting a mountain into glass.
Higher.
Higher.
Until it loomed over Marineford like an executioner's blade.
Then Bullet turned it toward his target.
The most imposing structure in Marine Headquarters.
The Fleet Admiral's building.
The symbol of Marine authority.
Under the shadow of Bullet's raised magma arm, even that massive structure suddenly looked fragile.
And the arm began to move.