A/N: Thank you so much @Zarassa van Cresh for joining our Patreon gang! I'm so glad you enjoyed the story and thought it was good! Happy+!
Enjoy!
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"Yasakani no... Magatama."
P-P-P-P-P-PEW! PEW! PEW!
The blinding sphere of light surrounding the Admiral violently erupted.
Thousands of deadly, highly concentrated particles of light shot outward, expanding into a devastating meteor shower of lasers.
They rained down in a massive, sweeping arc, specifically targeting the tiny, desperate knot of pirates trying to carve a path through the white-coated swarm.
Down on the ice, the shadows of the Straw Hats and the Marines vanished, entirely washed out by the blinding yellow glow descending upon them.
Thud.
Luffy stumbled, his rubbery legs giving out for a fraction of a second as the Seastone shackles accidentally touched his neck violently sapped his remaining strength. He looked up, his dark eyes widening as he saw the sky falling.
"Haaa.... An Admiral, huh?"
Luffy prepared to put Ace down and fight!
"Luffy, keep your head down!" Zoro roared.
The green-haired swordsman violently shoved himself in front of his captain.
"If you stop, it's over! Luffy!"
"That's why!"
"You will not stop!"
He raised all three of his blades, channeling every last drop of his basic Armament Haki into the chipped steel.
If the Admiral wanted to play like that, he would stay here and stop him!
"Santouryo..."
"Damn it, Marimo!" Sanji cursed, skidding to a halt beside Zoro.
"You had your turn at Thriller Bark! It's my turn now!"
"Who do you think you are?!"
"Don't be stupid! Cook!" Zoro growled.
"Diable... JAMBE!"
FLARE!
"Shut up!"
The cook ignited his Diable Jambe to its absolute maximum, his leg burning with a fierce, demonic heat. He raised his guard, intending to kick as many of the lasers out of the air as humanly possible.
The Marimo had sneak attacked him last time but he won't have the opportunity today.
The truth was, both commanders knew the grim reality.
They were exhausted and injured. And an Admiral was attacking with hundreds of Pacifista-like lasers.
They could hardly block a fraction of them. But they would make sure it would be enough.
"ARR!"
Thrash! Thrash!
"You idiots, get out of the way!"
Ace screamed, thrashing against Luffy's grip.
"Let... me... go... Luffyy!" The Fire Fist tried to throw his own body over his little brother to shield him from the barrage, but the Seastone anchored him down.
"They're aiming for me! I said let me go! IDIOT!"
"SHUT UP!" Luffy shouted back right at Ace's face, wrapping his arms fiercely around Ace and squeezing his eyes shut.
"GRRRR!"
"I'M NOT LETTING GO!"
"Argggh! YOU IDIOT-" Ace could only watch as the lasers got bigger in his vision.
The first volley of light struck the ice.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! KRA-KOOM!
The lasers violently detonated upon impact. The thick permafrost of the bay exploded, sending massive geysers of frozen water and vaporized ice hundreds of feet into the air.
The surrounding Marine infantrymen, caught in the Admiral's indiscriminate crossfire, screamed as they were blown away like ragdolls.
"RAHHH! ORRYAAAA!!!"
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Zoro swung his Armament blades in a frantic, desperate blur, deflecting two lasers that threatened to pierce Luffy's back. The kinetic impact sent a violent tremor up the swordsman's arms, threatening to dislocate his shoulders.
"UOOOOO!"
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Sanji spun, his Armament black flaming leg intercepting a beam of light. The resulting explosion threw the cook backward, his suit smoking as he crashed hard onto the slick ice.
"Geu-!"
"Cook!" Zoro yelled, immediately forced to parry another incoming beam.
There were simply too many.
'NO!'
A cluster of six blinding lasers bypassed Zoro's frantic guard, aimed directly at the center of Luffy and Ace's intertwined bodies.
Ace squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the burning agony that would finally end his life.
But the agony never came.
SHIIING!
A blinding flash of silver and pitch-black Haki tore through the yellow-tinted air.
Zoom!
A figure materialized directly above the Straw Hats, suspended in the air between the brothers and the falling rain of light.
"STAY IN ONE PLACE, YOU SLIPPERY MONKEY!"
Rayleigh was also frustrated.
"He sneaked past me there. Sorry kids."
They didn't reply.
The people in question were still silently accepting they were alive.
'Tch.'
He had almost let them get done for.
No, he had to guard them for close. This couldn't go on.
Rayleigh did not try to block every individual laser.
VROOM!
He drew his simple, straight sword and channeled a massive, overwhelming surge of Advanced Armament Haki—Internal Destruction—directly into the steel.
CRACKLE!
And suddenly, lighting danced around the blade.
"HYAAAAAA!!!"
CRACKLE-SLASHH!!!!
KRA-BOOOOOOOOOOM!
With a single, devastating, horizontal sweep of his black blade, the Dark King literally cut the atmosphere in half.
A colossal, crescent-shaped shockwave of pure, black-and-red Haki erupted upward. It met the descending shower of Yasakani no Magatama head-on.
The whole war hit a pause button, and for a few seconds, nobody moved.
They unanimously halted their battles and silently appreciated what they were witnessing.
Silvers Rayleigh had retired, yes, but he was still the Dark King!
He couldn't be underestimated!
SKRRRRRRRRRRRR! CHEW! CHEW! CHEW!
The collision did not create an explosion. Rayleigh's Advanced Haki actively crushed and absorbed the Admiral's light particles, neutralizing the Devil Fruit attack with absolute, overwhelming Will.
The thousands of deadly lasers simply fizzled out against the invisible wall of the Dark King's slash, scattering into harmless, glowing embers that drifted down like snow.
The devastating barrage was completely, utterly halted.
SLIDEEEE.... THUD.
Rayleigh landed softly on the ice directly in front of the Monster Trio, his long, silver cloak billowing majestically in the freezing wind.
"Ha..."
He did not look back at the boys, keeping his eyes locked firmly on the glowing Admiral in the sky. He held his black sword loosely at his side, his posture relaxed, but his aura radiating an impenetrable, terrifying lethality.
"Don't play too unfair now, Borsalino..."
"The next era cannot be so easily snuffed." Rayleigh's voice rang out, calm and carrying the undeniable authority of a legend.
"Then I have to try harder, ne~"
Kizaru made a face that was unanimously acknowledged as disgusting by both his peers and adversaries.
COUGH. COUGH!
Luffy opened his eyes, blinking through the smoke and floating embers of light. He stared at the broad back of the old man standing in front of him.
"Old man Rayleigh!"
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A/N: See, there's a change you all might've missed. Since Rayleigh was with Whitebeard and they both soon stepped into the fighting one after another... can you guess now?
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