After a long time, everything settled down.
The entire Micity Port was virtually reduced to ruins. Not a single high-rise building remained intact; they had either collapsed or were left dangerously broken and teetering like condemned structures.
The initial strike had caused catastrophic casualties among the people who were still inside the port and unable to escape. Swept up by the hurricane of force, the edges of the Birdcage were strewn with shattered corpses and wounded people.
"Aargh! My hand!"
"It hurts so much! It hurts!"
"S-save me! Please save me!"
"Why? Why can't I see? No—"
Screams of agony and cries of despair constantly rang out. Blood stained the ground and the sharp threads of the Birdcage. Limbs, flesh, and organs were scattered everywhere, making for a truly gruesome sight.
"Where is this place?"
"N-no way?!"
"That's too much!"
"M-monsters!"
Marines emerged from under the covering of bricks and the wreckage of buildings, looking around in confusion at the scene, but soon all their faces were blank with shock.
"Those monsters! Those bastards!"
Gion clenched her teeth, her face betraying her sorrow as she looked at the devastated city and the carnage along the Birdcage's edge.
"Casualties! Start rescuing people!"
At the urging and command of Vice Admiral Momousagi, the Marine officers snapped out of their daze and scrambled into action, tending to the wounded.
With Micity Port enclosed by the Birdcage, outsiders couldn't enter, and those inside couldn't escape. The injured could only be sheltered in the various depressions and hollows in the ruined ground.
Meanwhile, in the center of Micity Port's inner city.
The massive, awe-inspiring Amaru figure knelt on the ground, a huge hole in its abdomen, and the Tengu armor on its body penetrated.
The giant Thunder God rapidly shrunk, and within a few breaths, Enel reverted to his normal size.
"D-damn it!"
Enel knelt on the ground, his face twisted in pain. He used one hand to prop himself up, the other clutching the bloody hole in his abdomen. Blood incessantly seeped out between his fingers.
In that collision, the opponent's sword wave was coated with powerful Armament Haki. If not for the formidable defensive power of the plasma energy in his True Amaru state, he would have been cleaved in half.
Dozens of meters away, Redfield was on his knees, his entire body charred black like coal, with sizzling electrical arcs still flickering on him. He trembled occasionally.
Similarly, even in his prime, Redfield could not have withstood a direct hit from 400 million volts of materialized lightning, much less in his current injured state.
Though his Armament Haki managed to deflect some of the terrifying high-temperature electricity, the residual lightning covered his entire body, leaving carbonized marks from the heat and causing a massive amount of cellular necrosis.
"Wow~ Nicely done!"
Aeridar instantly appeared beside Enel, glanced at the wound on his abdomen, and said, "Doffy, lend a hand!"
"Fufufufufu~ Honestly, Enel. You really are a monster!" Doflamingo slowly floated down from the air, stepping on his near-invisible threads.
The power of that strike was truly terrifying. The potential of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was immense, earning its reputation as 'one of the strongest Devil Fruits.' Even the arrogant Doflamingo, a former Celestial Dragon, couldn't help but feel a flicker of jealousy.
"S-shut up," Enel muttered, his face deadly pale as he glared at Doflamingo.
"Fuffuffuffufu~"
Doflamingo chuckled lightly, squatting down uncaringly in front of Enel. He secreted fine thread from his index finger, extending it into Enel's wound, and began to stitch it up bit by bit.
Seeing Enel's bleeding gradually stop, Aeridar secretly sighed in relief. This man was a crucial fighting force under his command, and he couldn't afford to lose him here.
With a single teleportation, Aeridar appeared before the entirely charred Redfield. Looking at the truly miserable state of his opponent, he immediately mocked, "You're still not dead? Truly worthy of the legend!"
"Cough, cough…"
"You... you... are... disappointed!"
Redfield rigidly managed to lift his head, revealing a charred face with only two black holes where his eyes had been.
Eyes are one of the most vulnerable parts of the human body. Clearly, the high-temperature lightning had not only incinerated his eyes but also carbonized the surrounding nerves.
"The strongest Paramecia, and... one of the strongest Logia Fruits, heh heh... I suppose I... I haven't lost for nothing!"
"I just... hate it! If only I could have restored my youth..."
Redfield's smile held a hint of freedom, mixed with that powerful feeling of unwillingness.
Having fought to this extent, an injured man like him had no chance of turning the tide. He had witnessed too many storms in his life; life and death were as commonplace as a daily meal.
This time, it was simply his turn to die. Moreover, as a pirate, he didn't feel any shame in being ganged up on and killed, nor did he feel the opponents' victory was unfair, because 'the victor is justice' is more than just a simple phrase.
"I wouldn't dare claim the title of strongest Paramecia." Aeridar did not let down his guard because of the pirate's words, especially one of this magnitude.
Rumble…
Suddenly, a faint, muffled sound emanated from Redfield's body, like the roar of massive, turbulent waves.
"I think I know the reason for your wound regeneration…"
Redfield muttered to himself, white steam rising from his body. The charred material began to flake off in chunks, revealing pale, rosy skin underneath. Torrents of surging, boiling blood flowed within his body like turbulent ocean waves, creating that rumbling, muffled sound.
"Ah… It feels like a rebirth!"
As if moaning in pleasure, Redfield stood up amidst the clouds of steam, shaking off the charred, necrotic skin. Incredibly, all of his wounds, except for his eyes, had regenerated and healed, and he even looked much younger than before.
The air trembled, making a strange sound. An extremely terrifying aura involuntarily radiated from the pirate's body, making everyone present feel a heavy weight pressed down on their hearts.
"This…"
"Hiss... Such powerful Conqueror's Haki!"
Aeridar's eyes widened. He inhaled sharply, his face full of disbelief.
"Impossible! This is impossible!"
"When did he become a Devil Fruit user?"
"A Paramecia? Or an awakened Zoan?"
"No! Then why did he risk coming here?"
Seeing Redfield's astonishing recovery, everyone was shocked, their faces aghast.
To recover from such severe injuries and regain his youth in a short time, it made no sense unless he was a Devil Fruit user!
Furthermore, if they had to fight a Red Count who had recovered his youth and prime, what immense price would they have to pay to kill him?