"Roar!"
"Cry!"
"Screech!"
The three giant beasts, opened their mouths and roared at the same time, releasing terrifying soundwaves.
Evil purple-black lightning surged out from their bodies.
The aura of Conqueror's Haki spread along with the soundwaves. The soundwaves became more majestic, while the Haki increased their destructive power.
This was the roar of a true hegemon.
The triple layering of Conqueror's Haki and triple soundwaves erupted with horrifying force.
Visible ripples tore through the air, spreading outward in waves.
The already-crumbling buildings around them were completely shattered by the soundwaves.
"Ah! Aah!"
Tens of thousands of Marines immediately began bleeding from every orifice under the pressure and collapsed unconscious on the ground.
Even the officers and vice admirals who remained conscious dropped to their knees, struggling to breathe.
"You're trying to suppress me with Conqueror's Haki? That's exactly what I want!"
Caelan didn't retreat. Instead, he laughed.
His own Conqueror's Haki surged out in a burst. Endless black and purple lightning burst forth and instantly began to overwhelm the aura of the Elders.
The oppressive force was immense.
Those generals who had barely held on now fell one after another.
Across the entire battlefield, only those of vice admiral rank or higher could remain standing.
Caelan's Haki collided with that of the three-headed beast. After being pushed back a few meters, it stabilized.
No matter how violently the three-headed beast's Haki surged, Caelan's aura never backed down.
In fact, the stronger the pressure from the three beasts, the more tempered and resilient Caelan's Conqueror's Haki became, as if it was being forged and strengthened under the pressure.
With the fusion of two mythical Heroic Spirit templates, Caelan's willpower and strength had already become the undisputed peak in the pirate world.
His Conqueror's Haki was as vast as the sea but still lacked in sheer density and strength.
All he needed now was refinement.
And the Conqueror's Haki of the Five Elders was the perfect whetstone.
"Too strong, this Conqueror's Haki is way too strong!"
The Elders all showed increasingly savage expressions.
The weight of Caelan's Haki was so tremendous that even the combined power of the three of them couldn't suppress it.
"What is going on? Does a human really possess such willpower?"
Saint Warcury stared at Caelan's aura, stunned.
The power was endless, and he couldn't even feel a boundary.
It was as vast as the sea, as deep as the abyss.
"Let's do it too. I don't believe we can't crush him!"
The fatal wounds on Saint Nusjuro and Saint Jaygarcia Saturn were quickly healed by the black energy surrounding their bodies.
The centaur-form Nusjuro and the ox-demon Saturn released their own Conqueror's Haki and joined in to suppress Caelan.
Boom!
Five overlapping waves of Conqueror's Haki crushed down toward Caelan's aura.
Under the joint assault of all five elders, Caelan's aura rapidly retreated.
"Pin him down! He can't take on all five of us!"
Saturn shouted with excitement.
"No matter how strong you are, you still have a limit."
Saint Mars exhaled in relief.
"Wait, do you feel that? His aura... it's slowing down. It stopped retreating!"
Nusjuro's voice turned serious.
Clearly, they should have crushed Caelan's Haki in one overwhelming sweep.
But now, even with five combined Conqueror's Haki, they could only force his aura back inch by inch. And every inch required immense effort.
Though the five combined auras blanketed the sky, there was still a portion that Caelan's aura refused to yield.
It held firm without giving up a single step.
...
On board the Red Force.
The members of the Red Hair Pirates were stunned as they observed the terrifying clash of Haki at Marineford.
They had not expected all five of the Five Elders to possess Conqueror's Haki.
The Five Elders, Kaido, Caelan, Shanks, Whitebeard... There were too many users of Conqueror's Haki gathered at Marineford today. It almost made the rare seem commonplace.
But when they thought about it more carefully, it made sense.
The Five Elders were the highest rulers of the World Government, the pinnacle of the Celestial Dragons, holding power over the fate of countless nations.
It would be more shocking if these old monsters didn't have Conqueror's Haki.
But the most eye-catching of them all was Caelan.
He was facing the Conqueror's Haki of all five elders at once with his own.
"What a terrifying Conqueror's Haki."
Shanks stared silently at the figure standing alone against five others.
He had never witnessed such vast and overwhelming will before.
"Shanks, can you do that?"
Beckman asked, smoking his pipe.
"No. Not even close."
Shanks shook his head, his tone solemn.
He had always been known as the man with the strongest Conqueror's Haki, standing at the very peak of this generation.
Even he had believed that he alone had reached the level where he could suppress Observation Haki with Conqueror's Haki.
But compared to Caelan, who was using his Haki to take on five top-tier powerhouses, Shanks admitted he was no match.
That kind of will...
"In the face of a will that grand, like the vastness of the universe or a sea of stars, even the world feels small." Shanks muttered.
It felt as though Caelan stood above the world itself. Perhaps even more than one world.
What kind of mindset must one have to have such a Haki?
"Shanks, aren't you exaggerating a bit?" Lucky Roux said with disbelief. "That Haki doesn't look stronger than yours."
"I'm not exaggerating. As for how strong it is..." Shanks narrowed his eyes. "A block of iron is harder than seawater, but even a chunk of iron the size of Marineford can't compare to the sea."
"Didn't you notice? His Conqueror's Haki is evolving. From a vast ocean of will to a block of iron as vast as that same ocean."
In his perception, Caelan's Haki was becoming stronger at an absurd pace. In other words, the immense pressure from the Five Elders was tempering it, helping it reach its true peak.
"Shanks is right. The God Slayer's Conqueror's Haki is undergoing a qualitative transformation."
Yasopp, who possessed the strongest Observation Haki among the crew, stared at the clash in amazement and echoed Shanks' words.
"So that's how it is." Lucky Roux finally understood and then said, "Doesn't that mean he's now the most domineering man in the world?"
"You're wrong."
Shanks' face held a bitter expression.
"..."
The crew members turned to look at him in confusion.
Shanks took a deep breath and slowly said, "The moment he broke into Marineford with two corpses and declared war on the world, he had already become the most domineering man alive."
The Red Hair Pirates wanted to offer words of comfort, but in the face of that truth, they remained silent.
(To be continued.)