"You brat…"
Faced with the faint trace of mockery and disdain laced within Katakuri's words, Zephyr's expression remained entirely unfazed. Instead, a wide grin split across his face as he barked a laugh. "Every man has his own freedom, the freedom to choose his own path. Being a Marine is just one of many roads in this world. If you find yourself at a dead end, you simply change direction. There will always be a path that fits you!"
Furthermore, during his time with the Chris Pirates, the pirate life, so starkly different from his decades as a Marine, had proven to be far from tedious or agonizing. In fact, he had rediscovered a long-lost sense of exhilaration, open-mindedness, and an indescribable feeling of absolute freedom.
At the very least, his departure from the Marines was because the Marines and the World Government had failed him first, not the other way around. He had a completely clear conscience.
As for Kuzan failing to attain the rank of Marine Fleet Admiral, Zephyr did feel a pang of disappointment. After all, compared to Sakazuki's relentless extremism and Borsalino's slippery indifference, Kuzan's lazy demeanor might have grated on him, but the boy's brand of justice had always aligned best with his own temperament.
He simply hadn't expected Kuzan to abandon the Marines entirely, choose to cooperate with pirates, and form an alliance with Blackbeard in the New World.
To be perfectly honest, when he first caught wind of the news, he was thoroughly shaken.
"A man's freedom, huh... What an enlightened old man. It seems the older you get, the more broad-minded you become," Katakuri muttered, his voice a low, gravelly rasp as his imposing aura condensed sharply around him.
Zephyr grinned dismissively, waving a hand. "It's nothing more than the earned perspective of an old man who has lived a little longer!"
"Old man Zephyr, what's the point of wasting so many damn words on him? Right now, I just want to slaughter him!"
Diego Backan waved his hand impatiently. Reaching behind his back, he unstrapped his colossal Mountain Axe and leaped straight down from the third floor. His massive, muscular frame slammed heavily into the earth, the sheer weight of his impact instantly shattering the stone pavers beneath his boots.
Without a moment's hesitation, Backan hit the ground running. Gripping his giant axe, he charged forward, a suffocating wave of pure bloodlust radiating from his body as he locked his sights onto Katakuri.
Not a single shred of fear flickered in Katakuri's eyes. He replied in a deep, resonant rumble, "I am not someone who is easily killed!"
Even if his opponents were a gathering of literal monsters, including one capable of matching his mother blow for blow, he didn't need to defeat them. His sole objective was to buy time.
"Die!"
Backan let out a primal roar, leaping high into the air. He raised his colossal axe overhead with both hands and brought it hacking downward toward Katakuri with terrifying, split-second velocity.
Instantly, the flesh of Katakuri's wrist liquefied into mochi and split open, thrusting out a gleaming, razor-sharp trident, the very weapon Aeridar had blasted out of his hands earlier.
CLANG—
With a deafening, metallic shriek of colliding steel, Katakuri raised his trident, cleanly parrying the descending weight of Backan's giant axe.
The violent impact unleashed a fierce shockwave that whipped outward like a localized tempest, instantly kicking up a massive storm of swirling dust and debris.
"Corrosive Hand!"
With his weapon locked, Backan freed one hand, driving it forward like a flash of lightning to seize Katakuri.
As long as he could make direct physical contact, his unique ability would allow him to corrode the man's flesh into nothingness, just like rusting metal.
However, Katakuri was already fully aware of Backan's treacherous ability. Stepping back in a fluid motion, he brought his foot down hard against the earth, shouting in a low, commanding tone, "Flowing Mochi!"
In an instant, the solid ground beneath their feet converted into a churning, yellowish-white sea of viscous mochi. The terrain rippled like ocean waves, rapidly sprouting several thick mochi ropes, each as thick as an adult's arm, that coiled tightly around Backan's torso and limbs.
Entangled by the incredibly resilient, rubbery mochi ropes, Backan's explosive movements ground to a halt. Even as he thrashed with violent, muscle-bound fury, he failed to snap the bindings immediately.
A chilling flash of lethal intent erupted within Katakuri's eyes. Raising his trident high, he said coldly, "It's my turn to say those words. Die!"
The moment the sentence ended, the trident thrust forward like a striking viper.
"Soru!"
Suddenly, Zephyr stomped the ground, vanishing in a blur and reappearing instantly in front of Katakuri. His hand shot out like a whip, and with a resounding SMACK, he accurately and powerfully clamped his fingers around the shaft of the thrusting trident.
"Black Arm: Firepower!"
With a low grunt, Zephyr's right fist instantly hardened, coated in a sleek layer of pitch-black Armament Haki, and tore through the air straight toward Katakuri's face.
Startled, Katakuri reacted instantly, throwing a counterpunch of his own to meet the strike head-on.
BOOM!
A pitch-black iron fist collided violently with a dark-blue, block-shaped fist. The raw kinetic energy rippled through the atmosphere, sending a visible wave of distorted air warping outward from the epicenter.
In the next fraction of a second, a colossal pressure wave erupted. The earth buckled, shattering and cratering beneath the immense force to form a depression several meters wide, lined with a dense web of spiderweb-like fissures.
Both of their frames shuddered violently from the feedback. Zephyr's feet sank deep into the cracked earth, burying him up to his ankles. Katakuri, on the other hand, was forced backward by several paces, each of his heavy steps burning a deep footprint into the rock, clear enough to see the tread of his boots.
"Ngh—"
Katakuri inhaled sharply as a dull throbbing radiated through the bones of his knuckles. He couldn't help but marvel internally, As expected of 'Black Arm' Zephyr... What terrifyingly powerful Armament Haki!
The legends were entirely true.
The man who had ascended to the rank of Marine Admiral solely on the merit of his peerless martial arts and Haki truly lived up to his reputation. It was clear that Zephyr had fully restored his strength back to his absolute prime!
Suddenly, Katakuri's eyes flared with a brilliant crimson light. Reacting instantly to a vision of the immediate future, he swung his arm outward. A thick pillar of stone, completely converted into fluid mochi, erupted from the earth beside him and thrust violently toward his right flank.
Right at that exact microsecond, Myles Dimitri drew an exquisitely crafted, ivory flintlock pistol, locking his sights onto Katakuri and pulling the trigger.
"More-More: 100x Gun!"
BANG!
A sharp report rang out as a bright muzzle flash erupted. Propelled by the expanding gunpowder, a pitch-black lead ball shot out from the barrel at terminal velocity.
The instant the lead ball cleared the muzzle, its size magnified a hundredfold, instantly transforming into a colossal, building-sized cannonball that screamed through the air toward Katakuri.
In the span of a single heartbeat, the thick, thrusting pillar of mochi slammed violently into the giant projectile mid-flight.
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion tore the air apart as a blinding flash of fire and dense, black smoke erupted. The mochi pillar was blown into absolute oblivion on impact, sending countless stone shards erupting outward in all directions. The shrapnel flew with the velocity of real bullets, peppering the surrounding ground and buildings with a matrix of small, deep puncture holes.
"He predicted it again!"
Dimitri's eyes narrowed into thin slits as he murmured under his breath. Without pausing, his finger continuously squeezed the trigger, emptying the remaining rounds in a rapid, rhythmic succession of cracks.
"More-More: 10x Gun!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A salvo of compact cannonballs streaked through the air with piercing shrieks, completely carpeting the entire zone in a blanket of devastation. Amidst the chain-reaction of concussive blasts, endless jagged shards of stone rained down, scorching flames engulfed the earth, and billowing plumes of black smoke rolled toward the sky.
WHOOSH—
A sudden, violent gust of wind swept across the battlefield, tearing through the dense smoke. A dark silhouette burst out from the sea of fire at terminal velocity, charging directly toward Dimitri.
Katakuri had targeted him intentionally, determined to eliminate Dimitri first, recognizing him as one of the most hazardous marksmen on the field.
Yet, at that very moment, Backan, who had already torn himself free from the mochi restraints, and Zephyr moved in perfect unison, closing in on Katakuri from both sides like a crushing vice.
"Grounded Shatter!"
"Black Arm: Firepower!"
BOOOOM!!!
In that split second, a massive ring of white shockwaves exploded outward, expanding like an incoming tidal wave. Caught in the crushing convergence, Katakuri's frame was sent hurtling backward through the air like a broken doll, tearing through the thick curtain of rising dust.
CRASH—
Mid-air, Katakuri forcefully contorted his torso, managing to plant his feet and land heavily on the ground dozens of meters away. A metallic sweetness surged up his throat as a mouthful of blood welled up, instantly staining his snow-white scarf a deep, crimson red.
Before Katakuri could even raise a hand to wipe the blood from his lips, Aeridar appeared like a phantom, materializing out of thin air directly on his right flank.
Simultaneously, a brilliant arc of blue lightning zipped across a distance of nearly a hundred meters to his left. As if in perfect harmony with Aeridar's arrival, the bolt condensed into a figure, completing a flawless, inescapable pincer movement.
"Iron Fist!"
"Takemikazuchi: God's Hand!"