At the island's center, any garrison troops with a shred of common sense had already fled.
The remaining members of the deranged guilty jury also collapsed under the onslaught of rampant Conqueror's Haki.
From the side, on the massive battleship, Akainu stared towards the area where dark lightning churned.
"Finally, I've found you again, Haruno Sakura!"
Twelve years prior, during the Ohara Incident, Akainu first crossed paths with Sakura.
After that failure, he had always viewed it as a personal disgrace… his mistake allowing another formidable pirate to rise on the seas.
Fortunately, all mistakes could be rectified today!
Akainu flung off his cape and blasted forward in the next instant.
"Wait, Sakazuki!"
Tsuru behind him tried to intervene. Such a reckless charge shattered their original plan to drain the Higanbana crew's stamina with a sustained artillery barrage.
"Do not stop the bombardment! I'm a Logia! I will not be harmed!"
His voice, already being swallowed by distant explosions, carried back his order.
Seeing the commander's decision was final, Tsuru abandoned her protest. She gave Zephyr a subtle signal, and the intensity of the cannon fire increased.
Meanwhile, Sakura's group, having pushed to the island's southern edge, was already weathering a storm of massive shells.
These projectiles, carried by the hundred-meter-class battleships, were all specially designed, packed with powerful explosives developed by military scientists.
A single impact could obliterate entire streets and buildings in a cataclysmic blast.
"The shells are coming down!" Iceburg yelled, looking up in terror as he ran.
However, Sakura, right behind him, pressed a hand on his head. The Kumotsuna in her grasp coalesced into a katana, which she swung with immense force.
"Divine Departure-!"
A blazing arc of sword light, sheathed in Armament Haki, swept across the sky. It carved a burning path of explosions and flame directly through the rain-like curtain of falling shells.
"One Sword Style: Maha Slash!" "Fish-Man Jujutsu: Water Heart - Ocean Current Over-the-Shoulder Throw!"
Kuina and Tiger joined the defense. A flying slash crackling with Lightning Release and a colossal, solidified wave of Water Release surged into the sky.
The majestic shockwaves erupted in expanding rings of light, violently blowing a huge swath of the incoming shells off course.
"These shells aren't even a threat!" Kuina declared smugly, resting Muramasa on her shoulder. "They can't even touch us."
"Do not get overconfident!" Tiger warned, shaking water from his frame. "This is a standard Marine tactic to exhaust a powerful opponent's energy!"
"Is that so..." Kuina mused, thoughtfully stroking her chin.
After more than ten minutes of running, they had reached the connecting point of the Judgement Island.
As long as they crossed the narrow strip of land ahead, they could reach Enies Lobby's main gate and escape the range of the World Government's spatial interference device.
"Haruno Sakura!!!"
Just as they were about to step onto the narrow land bridge, a scorching magma ball accompanied by a furious roar descended from the sky, erupting dead center in their only path forward.
Instantly, the ground beneath the blast shattered and collapsed, plunging into the unfathomable abyss below.
A man in a crimson suit and a baseball cap now stood blocking their escape route.
"Marine Headquarters Admiral, Akainu!"
Iceburg, who had stumbled into the backs of those who stopped, fell to the ground. Peering through the gap between bodies, he clearly saw the figure and couldn't stifle a gasp.
"Hey, hey, hey, Sakura-nee! The situation just got a lot worse!" Kuina whispered urgently.
Tiger leaned close to Sakura's ear, his voice low. "Should we signal Leviathan for an extraction?"
"We can't rush it. Calling her now would make her an easy target."
Sakura closed her eyes, extending her Observation Haki out over the sea. She perceived over twenty massive battleships, their cannons still flashing with fire.
She opened her eyes again, glancing upward at the dark, thickening clouds.
"So, our only choice is to fight, is it?"
Kuina drew her twin swords, lightning dancing at their razor edges.
"But this fight... it won't be easy."
Tiger's expression was grave as he watched more Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals approaching from the distant shoreline, and the former Marine Admiral, with gold epaulettes on his shoulders, hovering in the air.
"I'll take the two strongest. The rest are up to you all. Hahahaha!"
Sakura laughed as she charged straight at Akainu. In the same motion, she drew Kumotsuna and sent a flying slash slicing towards Zephyr in the sky.
"Geez, Sakura-nee is so mean!"
Gritting her teeth, Kuina lunged towards the two sword-wielding Vice Admirals, Gion and Onigumo.
"Ah, I have to handle everyone else?"
Tiger was taken aback, turning to look at Vice Admiral Tsuru, who stood calmly on the Front Gate Island, with Yamakaji and Doberman flanking her.
"Yahahaha! You see? You people really can't do anything without me!"
A strange laugh, intertwined with a streak of lightning, slammed into the earth. Enel landed directly on Enies Lobby's Front Gate Island.
Opposite Sakura and her crew, Akainu, who had been waiting, clenched his fist.
"Higanbana Pirates! In the name of justice, we will eradicate you scum from the seas today!!!"
"Then come and do it, Marine!!!"
In a surreal moment, dark lightning, branching like a colossal tree, soared into the firmament. A savage, overwhelming presence, carrying with it the psychic screams of countless souls, illuminated the entire seascape.
"Fall back! All ranks below Commodore, return to the ship cabins immediately! Do not look directly at Higanbana!"
On dozens of vessels, Vice Admiral Dalmatian, the field commander for the stationed fleet, bellowed orders.
But even for disciplined Marines, the gap between receiving an order and executing it took precious seconds. In that brief window, the tsunami of Conqueror's Haki struck.
Many officers blacked out instantly. Shell carriers collapsed where they stood, causing live ammunition to detonate on deck. Four or five battleships erupted in flames, plunging the fleet into greater disarray.
"Don't get too arrogant, Higanbana!"
Zephyr, walking on air, spun his body. Razor-sharp Rankyaku slashes, imbued with Internal Destruction Armament Haki, sliced towards her.
Sakura simply raised a fist and smashed the attacks apart. "That won't work, Zephyr-sensei."
"So you've mastered Internal Destruction." Zephyr's pupils constricted, then veins bulged on his forehead. "And who said I was your 'sensei'?!"
"Hmph. Truly, your students are everywhere."
Akainu, magma fist raised as he charged, glanced back at Zephyr with a sarcastic remark.
"You damn brat!"
Zephyr clenched a single fist, dense Armament Haki coiling around it, and launched a powerful punch.
Facing the two-pronged assault, Sakura gripped Kumotsuna with both hands. The air around the blade superheated, ionizing and injecting the sword with crackling lightning.
Sheathing it in Armament Haki, she swung the blade with immense force at both opponents.
-Ikoku: Roaring Light Sword!
Clang!
Zephyr's fist met Sakura's sword. The resulting shockwave was so violent it scoured the ground, blowing dust into perfect rings.
Beside them, Akainu seized the opening to attack Sakura.
His arm liquefied into magma, then the molten mass reshaped into the form of a snarling dog's head, elongating as it shot forward.
"Meteor Volcano!"
The magma canine, glowing with hellish crimson light, opened its maw wide, intent on devouring both Zephyr and Sakura. Scorching, earth-shaking magma swallowed the two figures, and a tremendous explosion erupted.
The extreme heat instantly turned the ground to scorched glass. Thick, toxic fumes billowed forth, transforming a patch of ordinary land into an uninhabitable wasteland in mere moments.
"Damn you, Sakazuki! Were you trying to take me out too?!"
Zephyr's voice was a cold snarl as he emerged from the magma, his body sheathed in jet-black Haki.
"What about her?"
Akainu paid no attention to Zephyr's complaint, his focus entirely on the enemy.
"A Haki master of her caliber wouldn't be defeated so easily!"
Zephyr crossed his arms, shaking off the clinging magma and allowing his Armament Haki hardening to fade.
From the center of the magma pool, a girl's figure slowly rose to her feet.
"Not a bad hot bath~, but I can't let you keep setting everything on fire."
Sakura rolled her shoulders, glancing briefly at where Kuina, Tiger, and the others were locked in their own battles.
"Alright then. Time to get serious for the first time in a while!"
A terrifying chill radiated outwards from her. Her vibrant pink hair and emerald eyes lost their color, bleaching to a pure, icy white.
[Low Temperature Mode: Snowy Battle Form!]