Chapter 221: Replenishing Life Force
One after another, iron fists, wreathed in top-tier Armament Haki or Conqueror's Haki, were surrounded by black and red lightning as they fell like a meteor shower, enveloping Louis. The punch-gales, shockwaves, and Haki rained down fiercely.
Facing the combined attack of the master and his disciple, Louis extended his broad wings forward, forming two intersecting shields to block their impenetrable move. Louis's defense was indestructible, but that didn't mean he had to stand there and take a beating.
The halo forged of fire spun. Searing flames erupted from Louis's body, coiling around his giant wings, and a deadly high temperature spread out.
FWOOSH!
A terrifying heatwave swept through, instantly melting the ground beneath the three of them and forming a lake of scorching lava.
"!!!"
Seeing this, a subtle change came over the expressions of Garp and the others. A momentary opening appeared in their punching posture. And Louis seized this opening, abruptly flapping his flame-wreathed wings, which were coated in Conqueror's Haki. They became like two giant golden broadswords coiled with black and red arcs of electricity, tearing through the sound barrier and slashing toward the necks of Garp and Aokiji.
A warning from his Observation Haki made the two of them frown.
Garp, whose body and combat experience were both extremely formidable, instantly leaned back, letting the wing wreathed in Conqueror's Haki graze past the tip of his nose. But Aokiji, who was a beat slower due to his physical condition, had to use Armament Haki to protect himself. He then backhanded an ice spear that extended from his ice-forged arm, stabbing toward the gap in the wings.
CLANG! The wing made contact with his flesh, yet it was met with the sound of clashing metal.
The immense force transmitted from the wing sent Aokiji flying, his feet scraping a track dozens of meters long in the ground before he stopped.
Louis's eyes stared at the ice spear that had stabbed out from the gap in his wings, and he frowned slightly. He could feel that if the chill contained in this ice spear were to erupt, although it couldn't freeze him, it would briefly limit his speed.
Then, the searing flames swelled, instantly spreading forward. The radiant high temperature melted the ice spear, which contained an endless chill.
However, just then, a scarlet light flashed in Louis's eyes. Scene after scene of the future played out rapidly like a slideshow. The next moment, a dazzling lightning flashed from the spear in Louis's left hand. He backhanded it into the lake of lava at his feet. In that instant, a terrifying bolt of lightning extended through the Armament-Haki-wreathed vines, instantly striking the tree-man Ryokugyu not far away.
At the same time, the Seven Star Sword, held tightly in his right arm, was gently lifted. Black and red arcs of electricity jumped and coiled around it as it directly blocked the oncoming iron fist.
BOOM!
The power of the Marine Hero's punch was undeniable. Even Louis, who possessed a monstrous strength far exceeding that of a giant, was sent flying by this punch. After shattering several coral formations, he spread his wings to hover in the air.
Amidst the scattered fresh coral, Louis raised his sword and, with a casual swing, sent out a slash wreathed in black and red arcs of electricity. It tore open the sky, instantly splitting a giant meteorite thousands of meters in size in two, which then fell into the distant sea.
After doing this, Louis gently lowered his head and looked at Aokiji and Ryokugyu. In Ryokugyu, Louis sensed an extremely powerful life force. This life force was so great that it even made him, the user of the Life-Life Fruit, take notice.
Then, under the watchful eyes of the Marines, Louis raised his spear, wreathing it in Conqueror's Haki and a golden light.
Just then, the undisguised voices of Kaido and Big Mom sounded not far away.
"Hey, kid!"
"Let's hit 'em with that!"
"Hmph! Are your legs still working, old hag?!"
"What nonsense are you talking, you stinking brat?!"
Their conversation made Louis and the others frown slightly, and one after another, they looked in the direction of the voices. Big Mom and Kaido were wearing ferocious smiles, their bodies erupting with a majestic Haki as vast as the ocean. The two of them simultaneously raised Napoleon and the Hassaikai, which were wreathed in Conqueror's Haki, adopting a striking posture.
To this, Louis merely glanced at them and then paid them no mind. He ignited the flames between his wings and instantly disappeared.
As the giant meteorite that had been split in two fell into the sea, kicking up waves thousands of meters high, Kaido and Big Mom swung down their blow with twisted smiles.
"HAKAI!!"
The strongest move of the giant race, Hakoku, but a version that far surpassed it, was unleashed by the combined force of Kaido and Big Mom, enveloping Garp and the others. In that instant, an extremely powerful Conqueror's Haki combined with a shockwave, forming a terrifyingly destructive move that spread out, instantly rushing toward the target.
Everything in its path was annihilated, and it left a trail of crimson lava on the ground. The coral, the remaining creatures, everything on the ground—not a single remnant was left.
The Marines' faces changed drastically. Garp, after glancing at the soldiers who were fighting in the line of fire, instantly rushed forward to meet it. Aokiji, Fujitora, and the others also did not hesitate, quickly standing in front of the blow.
Seeing this, Ryokugyu gritted his teeth, attempting to plunge his plant-transformed hands into the ground and weave an almost indestructible high wall in front of everyone, to buy them a moment's time.
However, the sound of undisguised footsteps sounded at his side. Immediately after, Louis, holding his sword and spear, brazenly strode into his line of sight.
"Archangel - Louis!!"
Ryokugyu, transformed into a tree-man, had a tense brow, his eyes firmly locked on the unhurriedly advancing Louis. Seeing the unreadable meaning in Louis's eyes, he flew into a rage. "Even as an Emperor of the Sea, you cannot possibly extinguish the life of an entire forest so easily!"
BOOM! Hakai and the full-force of Garp and the others collided, creating a huge sound that shook the entire land. The ground split open with countless canyon-like fissures, and seawater poured in along them, making the temporary battlefield teeter on the verge of collapse.
And just at this moment, Louis lightly raised his blade, which was wreathed in Conqueror's Haki and the power of the Life-Life Fruit. His gaze was firmly locked on Ryokugyu, making the latter's hair stand on end, his back drenched in sweat.
The next moment, Louis instantly disappeared from the spot. When he reappeared, Louis, in his sword-swinging posture, was instantly reflected in Ryokugyu's eyes.
The horrified Ryokugyu saw this and did not hesitate. He instantly followed the method Aokiji had mentioned, bursting forth with all the Haki in his body to resist the attack that was too fast to dodge.
In that instant, a strange flash of light rose, suppressing the golden world. A giant roar suddenly erupted and, along with the Conqueror's Haki, dissipated, directly knocking out some of the Marines and pirates several nautical miles away.
With the sound of a sharp blade cutting through flesh, a spray of scarlet blood shot high into the air. Ryokugyu, transformed into a tree-man, his massive body leaned back, crashing heavily to the ground.
"How is that possible?! I clearly burst forth with my Haki to resist that—" Ryokugyu coughed up blood. His life force, along with his blood, flowed out, and he gradually lost consciousness.
The next moment, Ryokugyu's eyes rolled back. His life force, which was immeasurably greater than that of a Mythical Zoan user, was stripped away in this one blow. It turned into a rain of golden light that fell from the ground to the sky, merging into the second sun.
Louis ignored the dissipating commotion not far away. Instead, he looked up with an amazed face at his "Healing Formula," which had now expanded to more than double its size. "As expected of the Woods-Woods Fruit. The life force of one person surpasses the sum of countless pirates and sea beasts."
Then, Louis looked down again at Ryokugyu, who had temporarily lost consciousness but still retained a considerable portion of his life force. Although he had lost consciousness in this one blow, Louis knew that it wouldn't be long before he could stand up again. And with the Woods-Woods Fruit, disregarding Haki, his resistance to Louis's life-draining ability also surpassed everyone else's.
After a brief thought, Louis raised his spear, which was wreathed in Armament Haki and the power of the Life-Life Fruit, and without hesitation, pierced it through Ryokugyu's heart.
"!!!"
"You bastard—" Ryokugyu's eyes snapped open. He gripped the spear with both hands, struggling to resist.
In the distance, Fujitora and Aokiji's faces changed, and they quickly rushed in Ryokugyu's direction.
"IKOKU!"
A blow wreathed in Conqueror's Haki streaked across the land, creating a huge path that stretched to the horizon, and blocked Fujitora and Aokiji.
"Ma~ma~mamama."
"Where do you think you're going, Marines—"
Big Mom, in a pink dress, shouldering her broadsword, and with a miniature sun by her side, slowly descended on a thundercloud, her ugly, witch-like face meeting the two.
"Charlotte Linlin! Have you forgotten that it was that guy who threw your two sons into the G-1 branch?! Why aren't you going to take revenge on him?"
Hearing this, a meaningful expression appeared on Big Mom's face. Her cavernous mouth turned up slightly. "After I've killed you, I'll naturally go and take revenge on him! You have to know, the chance to kill a Marine Admiral is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"
To this, Big Mom indicated that Louis's scheme was certainly infuriating. But it was also a fact that the Marines had become stronger. If they were not curbed, if they dared to come to Dressrosa today, they could go to Totto Land for demolition tomorrow!
Hearing this, Fujitora quickly drew his cane-sword, imbued it with the power of his Gravity-Gravity Fruit, and slashed at Big Mom. In that instant, a purple wave of gravity fell, instantly enveloping her, and she sank deep into the earth, temporarily trapped.
After doing this, Fujitora turned his head and said in a deep voice, "Mr. Kuzan, leave this to me!"
Aokiji nodded, and then immediately turned into a cold current, quickly rushing in the direction of Louis and Ryokugyu.
However, the next moment, a cold and heavy war hammer swept over, instantly knocking back the unprepared Aokiji, who retreated dozens of meters before kneeling to steady himself.
"..."
The next moment, Ryokugyu's life signature disappeared from everyone's Observation Haki.