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"Ice Age!"
The moment Arthur was pinned down by Fujitora's gravity suppression, his movements stuttering to a halt, Aokiji—who was supposed to be the target of Arthur's assault—reacted instantly.
A bone-chilling cold descended, freezing everything it touched. Already struggling under the immense gravity, Arthur found his situation growing worse by the second.
The ice sealed off his escape routes, and the extreme cold seemed to slow even his neural responses, as if he had been hit by Foxy's Slow-Slow Beam.
With Fujitora's Gravity-Gravity Fruit and Aokiji's Ice-Ice Fruit pinning him down, Kong, Sengoku, Garp, Akainu, and Stussy weren't going to stand idly by.
These five represented the absolute peak of power on the seas, and they seized this golden opportunity without hesitation.
"Bwahahahahaha! Let's see you run now, brat!"
The more intense the battle, the wilder Garp became. He threw his head back and roared, the sound wave alone nearly deafening. Due to his colossal Titan form, his agility wasn't on par with the others, but he was closest to Aokiji. His massive fist, like a falling meteor, came crashing down first.
BOOOOM!!
A thunderous explosion shook the heavens and the earth!
Garp, already famous for his iron fists—using mountains as punching bags and shattering them with ease—was now amplified by the Titan-Titan Fruit. The punch he unleashed was unstoppable, a strike of pure, domineering brutality!
The gale force winds stung the eyes, and the shockwave rolled out like a tsunami.
BANG!!
Arthur had absolutely no room to dodge. He took the terrifying punch head-on. The monstrous force punched straight through his iron-wall-like Demon Avatar, instantly rattling his internal organs.
A flush of red rose to his face as blood surged up his throat, but he swallowed it back down.
However, before he could recover, Commander-in-Chief Kong's steel fist followed close behind. His arm, wrapped in pinnacle Armament Haki, slammed ruthlessly into Arthur's chest.
BANG!!
Fleet Admiral Sengoku, in his Great Buddha form, radiated golden light that filled the sky. Like a deity descending from myth, his imposing figure raised a massive palm and slammed it down as if to suppress all demons and monsters. A white halo of energy converged into a shockwave that blasted out in all directions.
"Buddha Impact Wave!!"
"Finger Pistol: Flying!!"
Stussy wasn't far behind. Following closely after the two Fleet Admirals, she stabbed a finger through the air—a strike as smooth and delicate as jade.
This Flying Finger Pistol was several times stronger than the playful poke she had used back in the Thunder God Sea. She was the cream of the crop, the elite of the elite within CP0.
BOOM!! CRACK—
Amidst the roaring explosion, a faint shattering sound could be heard. Arthur's Demon Avatar, composed of lightning, had endured Garp's heavy, fatal punch, only to be struck again by the tyrannical attacks of Kong, Sengoku, and Stussy.
Overwhelmed, the lightning armor was forcibly shattered, scattering into sparks. Arthur was actually beaten out of his strongest Thunder God form.
His expression grew even colder. As he calculated his next move, Akainu's magma finally erupted. The explosive force of a volcanic eruption carried a massive wave of lava that completely engulfed Arthur's position.
"No matter how much you underestimate the justice of this world, there will always be those who stand firm to protect it. Thunder Emperor Arthur, your end is today! We're giving you the most luxurious funeral on the seas!!" Akainu roared, his face dark with fury.
"Great Eruption—"
Searing, suffocating heat and choking volcanic ash rushed toward him. Arthur's wild hair began to curl and singe in the intense temperature.
Arthur's physique was the strongest in the world aside from Kaido, but even he couldn't completely withstand the incineration of Akainu's magma.
With his Demon Avatar shattered, the rolling magma poured in through every opening...
Is there truly no such thing as invincible in this cruel sea?
Arthur's expression turned utterly maniacal. The feeling of helplessness while being besieged taught him a harsh lesson: no one in this world could ignore the combined assault of so many top-tier powerhouses. He could never tear through the entire world with his strength alone. At this moment, he had truly reached his limit.
Even if he blocked the siege, he would eventually be killed by their combined efforts due to excessive stamina drain.
This feeling of powerlessness only intensified his hunger for the Op-Op Fruit!
The bone-chilling cold that slowed his neural responses was driven away by the searing magma. The powerful gravity field restricting his movement was relaxed by Fujitora to avoid hitting his four allies who had charged in.
In that split second, Arthur saw his chance.
ZZZZZZZZZT~
A flash of lightning vanished in an instant. The blinding light forced everyone to squint, and Arthur seized that fleeting gap to break out of the encirclement.
Facing a seven-person siege, he flew straight up into the open sky, trying to turn the passive situation back into an active one.
However...
Garp's hundred-meter-tall body was colossal, blotting out the sun. To attack Arthur on the ground, he had to bend down. But now that Arthur had flown into the sky on his own initiative, he had flown straight into Garp's attack range.
"Bwahahahahahaha! The brat delivered himself to me—"
Garp laughed loudly. His obsidian-like hands opened wide and then slammed together from both sides. He wanted to crush Arthur between his palms like a fly.
There was no safe zone in any direction.
WHOOSH!!
The wind howled as Garp's massive palms whipped up a gale, catching Arthur like a turtle in a jar...
"You relentless old man again!!"
Arthur watched the palms closing in above his head, threatening to envelop him completely. His shattered ultimate form erupted once more. Purple-red lightning surged from his eyes, and the berserk electricity on his body instantly condensed. Demon markings spread across his skin, and hideous, terrified horns grew from his forehead.
"One Billion Volts: Thunder God Descent!"
As the Demon Avatar covered him, a terrifying surge of one billion volts exploded outward. Garp's hands, about to close, jerked back as if an ordinary person had touched a live wire. The blue sky appeared above Arthur's head once more.
Arthur's figure flickered past, escaping the encirclement.
"Go up together! Knock him down!!"
Kong roared. Using the Marine Six Powers technique Geppo (Moonwalk), he stepped on the air and chased after Arthur.
They had finally trapped Arthur in a seven-man encirclement; they absolutely could not let him walk away safely.
Sengoku and Akainu followed closely behind him, ascending into the sky from two other directions.
"NO!!! Don't use Moonwalk to go up there! The Thunder Emperor has—" Stussy remembered what she had seen happen to Kaido on Punk Hazard just days ago. Her charming face went pale with terror.
But before she could finish, she was cut off by Arthur's maniacal laughter!
"Hahahahahahahaha! You dare chase me into the sky, where you can barely move? Do you want to die that badly?!"
Arthur spun around, stopping abruptly in mid-air. He raised a finger, and an aura of extreme terror finished coalescing at its tip.
"Turn to ash! Positron Cannon!!"
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