The air in Grove 13 suddenly felt bitterly cold. The usually calm atmosphere had been replaced by the thick, murderous intent of the hundreds of pirates surrounding them.
After the first clash was easily broken by the Blue Flame Sword, Jack the Scythe and Scarface the Tiger realized that the Young Admiral before them was no ordinary target. Especially for the Masked Pirate, who was now being stared at intently by terrifying red eyes.
"Don't think you can act all high and mighty just because you parried our attacks, Navy brat!" roared Jack the Scythe to mask his nervousness. Thick veins bulged on his neck. His hands twisted the two chained scythes, which slowly began to be infused with Weapon Haki until they turned black.
"KILL HIM!" shouted one of the grunts, immediately triggering bloodthirsty cheers from hundreds of other pirates.
Seeing that Seven was focusing his gaze solely on the masked man, Jack and Scarface wasted no time. Both of them shot forward like cannonballs, shattering the hard ground beneath their feet due to the extreme force of their thrust. Jack swung his chained scythe at Seven's neck, while Scarface leaped high and slammed his spiked fist down from above.
The Masked Pirate, not wanting to lose momentum from his two comrades, tensed his leg muscles once more and used Soru. He darted into the blind spot behind Seven, aiming his dagger straight for the young man's heart.
"Die!" they shouted in unison. Three attacks layered with Armament Haki sealed off all of Seven's escape routes.
However, in the midst of that deadly encirclement, Quentin Seven didn't even shift his feet an inch. He let his Blue Flame Sword fade and lowered it, his posture returning to a state of complete relaxation.
WUSHHH!
The terrifying sound of tearing wind echoed as the Haki-coated scythe, fist, and dagger struck Seven's body simultaneously.
Yet, no sound of flesh being torn was heard. The three pirate captains' eyes widened so wide they nearly popped out of their sockets. Their weapons, which should have torn Seven to shreds, simply passed right through the young man's body as if he were nothing but a ghost.
No blood. No physical impact. Jack's scythe chain actually got caught in the tree roots as it pierced through Seven's body.
"What?! A Logia Devil Fruit?!" Jack shouted in panic.
"Impossible! My attack is coated in Haki! Even a Logia should have been hit!" the Masked Pirate exclaimed, his voice trembling with fear. Cold sweat drenched the man's back. The law of this world—that Haki can affect Devil Fruit users—had just been shattered right before his eyes.
"You talk too much," Seven whispered, her voice as cold as ice.
Before they could draw their weapons, Seven's physical form solidified once more. With a single spin of her heel, Seven unleashed a sweeping kick coated in Armament Haki that struck Scarface in the ribs. A horrifying sound of breaking bones echoed as the pirate's body was flung through a row of auction houses.
A fierce battle erupted instantly. Hundreds of pirate crew members didn't stand idly by. They bombarded Seven's position with cannon fire, bazookas, and machine guns.
Responding to the attack, Seven let the lead bullets pierce his body using Kamui, then quickly formed several hand seals with his fingers.
"Katon: Gouka Mekkyaku!"
A colossal burst of flame, as massive as a skyscraper, erupted from Seven's mouth, sweeping away the crowd of pirates before him like a tsunami of fire. The extreme heat melted their weapons and incinerated dozens of pirates into ash in a matter of seconds.
However, Jack the Scythe and the masked man charged through the flames once more, using their Haki. Explosions erupted one after another every time their Haki attacks collided with Seven's parries or the waves of fire he unleashed.
The scale of the battle expanded rapidly. The three formidable fighters traded blows, alternating between Haki and Ninjutsu, until they destroyed every building in Grove 13, uprooted the giant mangrove roots, and the battle shifted across to Grove 12.
This chaos triggered mass panic. Thousands of pirates, fugitives, and slave traders who had been hiding were now forced out of their lairs. The ground shook violently from their battle. Screams of terror echoed everywhere as they trampled over one another, running toward the harbor to immediately set sail and flee this island that was slowly beginning to crumble.
Amid the rubble of Grove 12, Jack the Scythe tried to swing his chain from a distance, but Seven suddenly appeared right in front of him from the Kamui dimension. Seven's right hand gripped Jack the Scythe's face. With terrifying force, Seven slammed his body into the ground.
BONK!
A crater dozens of meters wide formed in the ground. Jack the Scythe's skull shattered into pieces. He was dead instantly.
Watching the execution, the remaining pirates and the Masked Man stood frozen in place. They were gasping for breath.
Seven slowly rose from the crater, gently brushing the dust off his young admiral's cloak.
"Attack together! No matter how strong he is, he's just one man!" roared Scarface, rising from the rubble, his body covered in blood. "We'll be destroyed if we don't kill him now!"
Hearing the roar of thousands of remaining pirates charging forward recklessly once more, Seven merely let out a long sigh. The intricate patterns of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan in his eyes swirled slowly.
"If you really want to fight on a massive scale..." Seven's voice echoed throughout the grove. "...then I'll oblige you."
BOOOOOOOOOM!
A purple energy explosion erupted from within Seven's body. A hurricane-like gale, colored by waves of Conqueror's Haki, swept everything away. Hundreds of low-ranking pirates in the front lines immediately spat fresh blood and collapsed to the ground, instantly knocked unconscious by the pressure of Conqueror's Haki before they even had a chance to touch Seven's body.
From within that vortex of energy, a gigantic skeleton emerged, woven from neural networks and muscle fibers into a thick layer of armor. Within five seconds, a 30-meter-tall purple humanoid giant stood towering over everyone, blocking their view.
The air suddenly felt incredibly heavy as Armament Haki coated the Purple Giant. A humanoid Susanoo coated in Armament Haki.
Survival instinct drove the remaining fugitives in the Lawless Zone to desperate measures. Hundreds of cannon shots and waves of slashes were launched toward Susanoo.
BONK! BLAAAR!
A series of explosions shook the land. However, as the smoke cleared, Susanoo wasn't even scratched.
From within Susanoo, Seven's red eyes glared at the crowd. Susanoo drew a gigantic energy sword from his waist. The blade of the colossal sword was not only blackened by Armament Haki, but began spewing flashes of crimson-black lightning that streaked wildly through the air.
The giant arm swung the sword horizontally.
SWUUUUSHH! BOOOOOOOOM!
Space and time seemed to split apart. The effect of the Conqueror's Haki coating incinerated everything. Even before the giant blade touched its physical target, the waves of destructive power radiating from it pulverized everything without making contact.
Thousands of pirates who dared to attack, including Scarface the Tiger, were blown to smithereens by that invisible explosive force. The roots of the giant mangroves and the remains of buildings exploded and were swept away by the storm of black lightning slashes.
Extreme panic erupted. Thousands of pirates turned around, trampling over one another as they fled toward the harbor.
Seeing the chaos, the masked man pushed his leg muscles beyond their limits and triggered Soru. His figure shot forward like lightning.
"Do you think you can survive?" Seven's deadly whisper echoed in the masked man's ears.
The colossal sword, rumbling with black lightning, was brought down vertically straight toward the masked man's escape route.
"TEKKAI! KAMI-E!" the masked man screamed in panic.
BLAAAR!
His Tekkai defense shattered like paper. Without even touching his body directly, the pure shockwave from the sword coated in Conqueror's Haki crushed every inch of the man's bones, obliterating his body until it was charred to a crisp.
The momentum of the vertical slash did not stop. The black energy continued to cleave the ground, streaking straight through dozens of groves, splitting the fleeing crowd of pirates.
In Grove 1, the chaos of the pirates' escape was reaching its peak. Amidst the panic, three figures in elegant military attire were strolling casually, exuding an unmatched aura of arrogance. Figarland Garling, Shepherd Sommers, and Satchel Maffey.
A wave of pirates, blinded by panic, crashed into their path. Some pirates even brutally swung their swords at the three men, simply to clear anyone blocking their way.
"Get out of my way, you bastards!" shouted a pirate.
In the blink of an eye, Garling's sword sliced the pirate in two without even breaking his stride. "Sea scum daring to soil my path," Garling hissed coldly.
However, before Garling could lower his sword, the remaining vertical slash of Seven's Susanoo streaked through Grove 1. The colossal slash struck the ground right beside the path where they stood, creating a massive explosion that swept the three of them off their feet.
The thick smoke slowly cleared. Garling, Maffey, and Sommers came to a halt. They brushed the dirt and dust from their uniforms.
Maffey brushed the dust off his satchel with a deeply annoyed expression. Beside him, Shepherd Sommers clenched his jaw, holding back his anger at his torn clothing.
And between them, Figarland Garling's eyes glared sharply toward the horizon, immediately locking onto the figure of a pitch-black giant in the distance. An immense killing intent surged from within him.