"Impressive! You've already blocked two of my strikes! Even Kaido-sensei couldn't do that!"
Ian laughed heartily and swung his third sword.
The gryphon had lost both hands by now and could only peck at Ian with its beak.
Scrape!
Again, sparks flew in all directions.
"What a pity."
Ian sighed as he looked at the slowly collapsing headless corpse. "It seems your mouth didn't have any special ability after all."
"..."
Kong's eyes trembled.
How could this be?
How could he be so strong?!
Though it was already known that this guy's flame form was nearly invincible, no one had imagined he could be this overwhelmingly powerful!
The plan had been: even if we couldn't hurt him, we could at least prevent him from doing anything.
But now, the situation was completely different from what was intended!
"Next…"
Just then, Ian turned and looked at the commander of the entire World Government army.
"It's your turn."
Attacking the Five Elders was pointless. They were practically immortal. It made more sense to deal with those who could actually be killed first.
"You bastard!!"
Ian's blatant disregard infuriated the Five Elders.
But it didn't matter—their attacks had no effect on him at all.
Against opponents who wouldn't even use Observation Kill, Ian didn't even need to maintain his flame form constantly; he only needed to shift into flames at the exact moment an attack would land.
Seeing that none of their attacks affected Ian, Mars panicked slightly. "Kong! Get out of here!!"
Numbers meant nothing to Ian.
Run!
For now, the only option was to let Kong run!
"Run?"
Emerging from the intense explosions, Ian's face still half-shrouded in flames, he wore a dazzling smile. "Where do you plan to run?"
To Kong, that radiant smile was nothing short of a terrifying demon's snarl.
Having commanded the Navy for many years, Kong felt a genuine, visceral fear at that moment.
It wasn't fear of a human opponent—it was as if his very soul recoiled before something incomprehensibly powerful.
He instinctively wanted to retreat, but the flames were already too close.
"Rising Sun Slash!"
The Crimson Sword tore across the sky.
The Supreme Commander only had time to instinctively raise his hands, trying to shield his body and hide himself.
"..."
Behind Ian, the five monsters could only watch in shock as Ian's sword split the air in two.
"Phew—"
Ian slowly exhaled, a brilliant smile spreading across his lips. "That feels good."
Then.
He turned his gaze back.
Before these five monsters, each over a hundred meters tall, his Human-Beast Form looked as tiny as an ant.
Yet.
At this moment, the Five Elders unconsciously took a step back.
"I'm really curious,"
Ian stepped forward slowly, while the Five Elders instinctively tensed. "What exactly is the principle behind your immortality?"
"Time is precious, so let's just test it."
"Ian!!"
His tone, as if treating the Five Elders as mere lab mice, only fueled the rage of the five old men further.
Warcury roared, "Don't be so full of yourself—"
Before his words could finish, a dazzling golden light flickered down, landing directly above his head.
Ian drew his pistol and fired a shot straight at Warcury's head.
Why this pistol had survived all the previous bombardments, including the Dyna Stones, was no mystery.
As everyone knew, when using abilities, the items carried are also altered by the ability itself, just like a Logia user's clothes can transform with their element.
The pistol Ian carried naturally transformed along with him into flames.
Warcury's body shuddered violently as the bullet struck.
He should have had an impenetrable body, impervious to blades or spears, yet in an instant, his massive frame shrank, reverting to his humanoid form as he collapsed to the ground.
Because the bullet Ian loaded was coated with Sea-Prism Stone.
Ian planted his foot on the back of Warcury's head.
"Ian!"
Warcury's body trembled.
He was being stepped on!
"Deep breath. Feeling dizzy is normal… I think," Ian said, and with a swing of his sword, he severed Warcury's head in humanoid form.
"Ian!!"
Saturn charged again, several spider-like legs stabbing forward like spears.
"Quiet."
Ian swung his sword back, slicing through Saturn's spider-like legs and his body in one clean strike.
But just as Saturn was split apart, the head of the fallen Warcury had already begun to regrow.
"Tch, as expected," Ian sighed, "Isn't immortality supposed to come from Devil Fruits?"
Or rather, it would be strange if it did.
It's impossible for five Devil Fruits to all carry the power of immortality at the same time, right?
"In that case…"
Ian grabbed Warcury and hurled him into the sky with all his might.
His strength was overwhelming. Warcury shot up like a cannonball, rising until he was almost out of sight before finally crashing into the sea.
"Then…"
Ian chuckled lightly, "Will you drown now?"
However, his plan clearly did not work.
A massive black magic circle appeared again, and in the next second, Warcury was back at its center.
The agile Nusjuro had already run over and helped him dig out the Sea-Prism Stone.
"Tch."
Ian clicked his tongue.
This was just unreasonable.
"Retreat!!"
Mars shouted at the top of his lungs, "The operation failed! Garling! Take everyone back!!"
We can't win!
Now that they truly engaged, it was clear—Ian was absurdly strong!
Only the legendary Joy Boy or the great Imu-sama could hope to defeat him!
No!
Even Lord Imu couldn't kill him!
His flame form was just too outrageous!
A monster!
How could a monster like this exist in the world?!
And he was only seventeen!
For the first time,
The Five Elders understood what fear truly was.
"Ah?"
Ian raised an eyebrow, "Who said you could retreat?"
With just a slight stomp on the ground, his body launched forward like a cannonball.
The Crimson Sword slashed through the sandworm's body, cutting it in half, and then shot upward, cleaving the floating Itsumade in the sky into two.
His body twisted, right hand charging, and with a mighty swing, the massive Crimson Crescent fell. Saturn, who had just recovered, was once again split in two.
But somehow, it seemed meaningless.
As expected.
Ian turned his head, looking toward the other side of the battlefield. He would deal with those guys over there as well.
But then.
"Don't even think about it!!"
A massive wild boar and a skeletal horse suddenly blocked Ian's path.
Weak as they were, they were incredibly annoying.
At the same time.
"What the hell?"
Garling, who had just sent Mihawk flying with a single slash, turned toward the battlefield near the Five Elders.
Only a few minutes had passed—how did it end up like this?
He gritted his teeth.
There was no time to hesitate now.
That guy called Ian… what kind of monster is he?!
The next moment, his body suddenly swelled!
Mihawk, already battered and struggling, instinctively stepped back.
Then came the raging wind.
"Ugh!"
Mihawk's sharp eyes narrowed. "A dragon?"
Before him, a massive black dragon flapped its wings!
Its form was somewhat gaunt, emanating a sinister black aura!
The black dragon, formed from Garling, paid no attention to Mihawk and crashed straight into Blue Dragon Kaido, sending Ian's most respected teacher flying.
Then, Sengoku leapt onto its back.
Garling spewed another black breath.
Bullet quickly jumped to dodge, and taking advantage of the moment, Garp landed behind the black dragon.
Next came Akainu and Kizaru. Yamato and Hancock, though strong, were still weaker and could not withstand it.
Finally, the black dragon flapped its wings and soared straight into the distant sky.
**********
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