The massive mushroom cloud rising in the air brought with it a ring of vacuum visible to the naked eye, rapidly churning everything it passed into powder. Under the enormous tremor, the entire island began to crack and disperse outward from the center.
Waves surged up continuously from the cracked earth, submerging most of the island and forming tsunamis that pushed toward the remaining parts of the island, shattering its edges with a mere collision.
The island is going to sink...
Amidst the huge wave of air, two figures flew out from the sky, crashing into a port city that had been half-destroyed by the residual waves of combat.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
As one of the figures descended, several icy glints were drawn, slashing through the buildings about to be hit. Upon landing heavily, the glints expanded again, slicing the surrounding ruins completely away.
Lily, with blood trickling from the corner of her mouth and carrying the already unconscious Suleiman, walked out of the debris. She glanced around, dropped Suleiman, and looked up at the mushroom cloud roiling in the sky.
Evacuating the entire island in two days is absolutely impossible!
There, the battle had reached such an extent that the overflowing Supreme King's aura could barely be resisted by her to protect her subordinates. Yet, as the intensity increased, its waves and air gusts became ever more powerful, rendering her unable to move. The intense aftermath even killed her subordinates outright!
Let alone rescuing anyone, it was already a struggle just for them to be standing here alive.
Initially, Lily was hesitating whether to retreat. But with the onset of the aftermath, there was no need to hesitate anymore; if they didn't leave now, no one would survive except for a few.
But before she could retreat to the port city, an even larger residual wave of battle rose, forming a double-layered mushroom cloud!
Though it seemed not as large as the one blasted by Sage's artillery, the aftermath unleashed was of a completely different magnitude, even containing the impact of Supreme King and Haki!
This was an aftermath condensed to the extreme and then exploded open!
Under this shock, Lily was the first to mount a defense, but it was useless; just the slightest touch would send someone flying, and those subordinates who remained alive completely crumbled under this aftermath.
If it weren't for her quick eyes and hands managing to grab Suleiman's collar at the last moment, she would probably have been the only one left among those who exited the city.
"Lily!"
On the Death Star docked at the port, Marika's once-smiling face had turned grave and slightly dazed, her eyes filled with gravity. She held onto the ship's rail to steady herself.
"Can't hold on, they're all down!"
"What about Lady?!" Lily exclaimed in shock.
"Still conscious, but not in a good state," Marika called out.
"Retreat!"
Lily said, "Have Lady hang on a bit, we must sail the ship..."
Boom!!!
She hadn't even finished the word "go" when a meteor fell from the sky, explosively crashing near Lily's location, thoroughly smashing the remaining half side of the port city into debris, raising dust.
Lily shielded her face with one hand against the blast, instinctively looking forward. Her pupils shrunk, and a bolt of lightning leapt from her body, rushing forward, blowing away the surrounding dust. In that bolt, her panicked voice rang out:
"Sage!!"
A huge indentation formed at the landing site, with a humanoid mark imprinted within it. Sage was embedded inside, lying in a reclined position, still in his form swathed in black and red supreme hide. This stance made Lily halt at first, but soon her expression grew increasingly grave.
He was bleeding profusely, with blood staining his entire chest. The area above his abdomen looked as if explosions had occurred, with several large holes appearing.
"Cough, cough cough!"
Sage opened his mouth and spurted a few mouthfuls of blood. Right as Lily was about to rush to his side, he stumbled to his feet, his body swaying until he steadied himself, his eyes locked onto the distant sky, as if trying to see through the storm clouds.
"Sage, how are you?!" Lily asked anxiously.
"Alive... How long has it been?" Sage rasped out.
"Half a day."
Lily replied, "It's hopeless now, the island's gone, Sage, let's retreat first, Kaido he..."
"Can't come."
The red glow in Sage's eyes never ceased as he stared at the sky for a good while before speaking, "I blasted him away."
That final move, 'Azure Heaven Fist,' was his full strength.
Because he no longer had enough stamina.
This form consumed vast amounts of energy and couldn't be sustained for long. A prolonged battle would inevitably lead to defeat sooner or later.
Thus, Sage unleashed the 'Heaven-Breaking Fist,' using all his strength and the Union of Supreme King's Entanglement to launch a new 'Azure Heaven Fist.'
It worked, but Kaido's swing was formidable as well.
If he comes again, Sage was ready to use the Brake Hole technique and burn life to battle.
For now, he couldn't sense Kaido's presence...
Was he blasted too far?
"Cough!"
Sage spat out another mouthful of blood, as the burning white flame of his hair lost its glow and drooped down, becoming ordinary white hair. The burning spiral flame of his brow also relaxed, turning into ordinary black eyebrows.
The black and red, fur-like augmentation of his Haki entirely faded away, reverting to its usual state.
He was completely exhausted...
"Sage, retreat is the only option now, Sage? Sage!"
Lily was speaking when she suddenly saw Sage stop moving, panic gripping her voice as she trembled and checked his breathing. Then, her body relaxed, and she let out a sigh of relief.