"All of you coming at me?"
Caelan swung his spear with interest.
Although he wasn't afraid of being attacked by everyone at once, now wasn't the time for a final showdown. Some people couldn't die just yet.
"So even the famous God Slayer is afraid!" Saint Jaygarcia Saturn laughed wildly. "Too bad being afraid won't save you. You're alone, and you'll die here!"
Caelan looked at Saturn, chuckled, and said, "Afraid? No matter how many of you there are, you're just more corpses."
The Five Elders and Akainu clenched their teeth, furious at Caelan's disdain.
Saint Warcury sneered and said, "Anyone can talk big. Say whatever you want. But you're still alone, and you'll still die here."
"Haha." Caelan let out two laughs, then looked at Aokiji, Sengoku, and Kizaru. "You three, remember this. I think you're decent, so I'll give you a chance to join the Neo Navy. Not killing you today is my first gesture of goodwill."
The three admirals and Sengoku were all stunned, looking at Caelan in disbelief.
To try and recruit them at a moment like this, he was either too bold or completely insane.
He kept saying he wouldn't kill anyone. Did he really think he was guaranteed to win?
Whether or not what he said was true, that overbearing attitude of "no one else can match me" left them deeply shaken.
"I would never join a rebel like you!"
Akainu was the first to jump out, making his position clear.
"Don't flatter yourself. I wasn't talking to you," Caelan glanced at him and said casually. "But keeping you around makes it easier to deal with the Navy, so I'll spare your life today."
"You...!"
Akainu's face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot. He hadn't expected Caelan to completely look down on him.
Saying that keeping him alive would make it easier to handle the Navy—that was a direct mockery of his incompetence.
Damn it. Now he just looked like a clown.
Aokiji's eyes flickered. He'd already been invited by Caelan several times. Now the Navy was a mess. Maybe joining the Neo Navy wasn't such a bad idea.
Kizaru also had his own thoughts.
He had witnessed Caelan come back to life twice during the battle at the Sabaody Archipelago. His strength was terrifying.
If even the Navy Headquarters couldn't stop Caelan today, then siding with the Neo Navy might not be a bad move.
Even if he didn't join, Caelan had said he wouldn't kill him. As long as he dragged things out and played it safe, he might get through this battle unscathed.
When Sengoku thought about the thriving Neo Navy and his old friend Zephyr, he felt conflicted.
Although the Five Elders didn't know exactly what Sengoku, Aokiji, and Kizaru were thinking, they were clever enough to sense it and shouted, "Sengoku, Aokiji, you two lead the charge. Let's destroy him together!"
Saint Saturn looked at Caelan proudly. "I want to see how you'll hold your own against all of us!"
"I'm not someone who spares lives just for show," Caelan said calmly. "Kaido, by the power of my Command Spell, use ten times your power. Fight the three admirals and Sengoku with everything you've got."
The power of the Command Spells didn't just force Heroic Spirits to follow orders, it could also temporarily boost their combat strength.
Holding off the three admirals and Sengoku while he dealt with the Five Elders wouldn't be a problem.
"Roar!"
The Azure Dragon let out an earth-shaking roar. In the next moment, it dropped to the ground and transformed into a ferocious, seven-meter-tall oni.
With the power of the Command Spell, Kaido's spiritual power surged, making him 30% stronger than when he was alive.
His base stats in strength and speed also rose by 30%.
If a Yonko's strength increased by 30%, he would have combat power on par with the Pirate King or even Rocks. That was enough to dominate an era.
"What!?"
The Five Elders and the three admirals widened their eyes in shock when they saw Kaido appear.
"The blue dragon he was riding... was Kaido?! He actually subdued Kaido!"
They had thought that after defeating the Beasts Pirates, Caelan either killed Kaido or let him escape.
But it never crossed their minds that Kaido had become Caelan's mount.
This meant that after fighting the Beasts Pirates, not only did Caelan's strength not decline, it had actually grown stronger.
They never anticipated this outcome. One of the Yonko had become someone else's mount, that was unbelievable.
This was Kaido of the Beasts. All of the Yonko had their pride, and Kaido was a battle maniac who was always seeking death.
For such a Kaido to be subdued, what kind of sorcery did Caelan use?
Saturn realized the situation was spiraling out of control. He had originally wanted to use this moment to tarnish Caelan's name and strike a blow to the Neo Navy's reputation.
"Caelan, the justice you keep preaching is no different from ours if you're cooperating with the Yonko!"
From his perspective, there was no other explanation for Kaido's loyalty.
Since Caelan worked with pirates, the justice he claimed to uphold was a lie.
Even with Kaido on his side, it only meant two admirals would be held back. The outcome would still be the same.
For this, Caelan sacrificed his principles. Truly foolish.
"I'm not cooperating with Kaido. He's just a war servant," Caelan said flatly.
"War servant? That's impossible!"
The Five Elders refused to believe it.
With Kaido's personality, cooperating was already unheard of. Becoming someone's war servant? Completely impossible.
If the Yonko were willing to be enslaved, the World Government wouldn't have needed the Seven Warlords. They could've just recruited the Yonko.
"Caelan, stop talking nonsense. I'll kill you sooner or later!"
Kaido's eyes turned red with fury when he heard Caelan's words and he let out a furious roar.
He wasn't a war servant, he was just temporarily under control.
"Don't talk back."
Caelan gave him a calm glance and issued the order through the Command Spell.
That was the downside of the Command Spells. Heroic Spirits could only follow the orders given. They still retained their own will.
Kaido let out a furious growl. He was angry but helpless.
Since yelling didn't change anything, he had no choice but to give up.
He shifted his anger onto the three admirals and Sengoku and launched a fierce assault.
His giant kanabo, Hassaikai, had been left in Wano. He didn't have his usual weapon.
But that didn't matter. Kaido picked up the naginata left behind by Whitebeard and wielded it with the same ferocity.
Kaido raised the naginata and roared, pouring all his strength into the swing.
The blade was wrapped in jet-black Armament Haki, crashing down toward the three admirals.
The sharp and heavy pressure pressed down from above.
Though Kaido's main weapon was the kanabo, he wasn't unfamiliar with using Whitebeard's naginata.
Compared to the sheer power of the club, the naginata's sharpness brought even more deadly force.
"Ice Blade."
Aokiji exhaled a breath of frost, forming a solid ice sword in his hand.
Though created from his Devil Fruit powers, its hardness was just slightly inferior to a famous blade.
He coated it in Armament Haki and met Kaido's strike head-on.
But as soon as he clashed with Kaido's blade, Aokiji sensed something was off.
The force was all wrong. He couldn't hold it.
Compared to the Kaido he had fought before, this version was far stronger. He had ascended to a new level.
Realizing the danger, Aokiji immediately turned into ice, splitting himself like a sculpture down the middle.
The next moment, the ice blade shattered, and Aokiji's frozen body was split in half by the naginata.
Crack.
The shattered ice quickly reformed into Aokiji at a distance, who now stared at Kaido with a serious expression.
If he hadn't predicted the attack and turned into his element, the outcome could've been disastrous.
"Aokiji, what's wrong with you?" Akainu questioned with a dark expression. "Do you really plan to surrender to the enemy?"
It's not like they'd never fought Kaido before. Even if they couldn't beat him, they could still hold their ground for days.
And Aokiji, who was nearly equal in strength, lost that quickly?
It was like he was pretending just to surrender.
"Why don't you try it and see for yourself?"
Aokiji said coldly.
He hadn't surrendered yet. How could Akainu accuse him like that?
Besides, something was wrong with this Kaido. He was so old, yet his strength had suddenly increased so much.
"Then I'll give it a shot!"
Akainu rushed toward Kaido in disbelief.
"Hellhound!"
His arms turned into molten lava.
The burning, dark-red magma shaped into a fierce dog's head.
Using his magma fists, Akainu struck hard at Kaido.
"Lava brat, you rely too much on your Devil Fruit!" Kaido sneered. "On this sea, only Haki stands above all else!"
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)