Before these three pentagrams appeared, Ray had sensed another strange presence.
That guy had landed on the central island first, with the three summoning arrays following shortly after.
This meant at least four people had arrived.
...
As the massive, burning pentagrams appeared on the ground, terrifying Conqueror's Haki emanated from them like a physical shockwave.
BOOM!
Everyone in the Straw Hat Grand Fleet except the core officers fainted under this spiritual impact, their eyes rolling back as they collapsed in droves.
Under the Conqueror's Haki shockwave, only about 20 people remained conscious out of the original 1,500.
All 11 core members of the Straw Hat Pirates remained awake, with Brook barely affected due to his Yomi Yomi no Mi (he had no brain to faint with).
Franky, leveraging the special properties of his newly acquired Soul-Soul Fruit, had greatly enhanced his mental strength and didn't faint at all.
From the Floating Artist Pirates: Mikita, Gem, Bon Clay, and Galdino were fine.
Marianne forced herself to stay conscious through sheer willpower while biting her lip.
All other members of the floating artist had collapsed.
From the Barto Club: Bartolomeo and his vice-captain remained conscious.
All other members collapsed.
Flying Fish Riders: Completely wiped out, snoring on the ground.
The remaining conscious individuals were outsiders to the Straw Hat crew.
"Dark King" Silvers Rayleigh.
Shakky, the former Empress of Amazon Lily.
Supernova Jewelry Bonney.
Three seconds later, the dark red Conqueror's Haki lightning dissipated into the vast sky.
All those still conscious wore grave, sweating expressions.
They were all familiar with Haki—this aura was clearly Conqueror's Haki, and it was completely targeted at them to clear the board.
It could only mean enemies of the highest caliber.
Another two seconds later, the dark, swirling light from the pentagrams faded away.
Three monstrous figures revealed themselves from within the smoke.
The First Monster: It had sharp bull horns, with thick white beard hair completely covering its face and neck, resembling a lion's mane.
Standing about 12 meters tall, it wielded a massive wooden staff, but its lower body resembled that of a grotesque, hairy spider.
The Second Monster: It resembled the Celestial Dragons they'd seen before, with a pristine white bubble covering its head.
But its head was shaped like a mythic beast, and like the first monster, it appeared to be a towering human-beast hybrid.
The Third: They expected another grotesque monster, but instead, it made Sanji's heart flutter violently!
A woman wearing a baseball cap with goggles, clad in leather shorts and a black cape, with striking heterochromatic eyes, gradually emerged from the mist.
Sanji stroked his chin, looking at her like she was a work of art.
"Slender figure... leather boots and shorts... Hm? Why is she wrapped in so many bandages on her legs and face?" Sanji muttered, his "knight" instincts kicking in.
"Did she break her legs like Miss Mikita? Not just broken legs, but her face ruined too? How pitiful."
Zoro's mouth twitched at this, glaring at the lovesick cook.
"You really have no sense of self-preservation when your lust takes over, do you? Can't you feel how strong she is?!"
"Take this seriously, you bastard!"
Sanji nearly choked on his cigarette at Zoro's retort.
"I'm just lightening the mood Moss Head! You don't know anything about romance!"
The two glared at each other face-to-face for a moment, actually managing to shake off some of their tension.
Everyone else was struggling to adapt to the current high-pressure environment.
The suffocating pressure emanating from these three mysterious figures was even more intense than when they had faced Admirals earlier that noon.
Back then, they had only confronted one Admiral.
Now, they were simultaneously facing three individuals whose aura intensity was comparable to—or perhaps greater than—that of an Admiral, especially since they had casually released Conqueror's Haki just by appearing.
Ray observed the three and only recognized the first one—the old man with a face full of white curly beard and a spider body.
This was Saint Jaygarcia Saturn, one of the Five Elders.
A Mythical Zoan: Gyuki (Ushi-Oni) form.
As for the other two? Ray had no memory of them.
The One Piece storyline from his previous world hadn't updated to include these two before he transmigrated.
However, since neither of them was one of the Five Elders, they were likely elite members of the God's Knights.
The second individual, like Saturn, had black flame clouds floating behind his neck, confirming that both were Awakened Zoan Devil Fruit users.
This guy's upper body resembled the Qilin from Ray's memories, though it was much uglier and more aggressive than the traditional Chinese Qilin.
Thus, it was highly probable to be a Mythical Zoan: Qilin.
The Qilin in myth was powerful in both physical strength and mystical arts.
Physically, Ray had no fear, but if there were spell-based abilities or elemental control, he would need to be cautious.
The third was the woman.
Judging by the arrow-patterned bandages wrapped around her legs and arms, her abilities were likely related to arrows or piercing attacks.
But the specifics would only be known after fighting her.
This battle was unique—it was the first time since arriving in the One Piece world that Ray faced enemies he knew absolutely nothing about.
In the past, aside from his own overwhelming strength, he had always known his enemies' abilities (like Crocodile, Enel, Big Mom, Kaido) and could prepare countermeasures in advance.
But today was different.
With the mysterious God's Knights appearing, he could only react as the situation unfolded.
Moreover, Ray had already sensed that besides these three... another creature was rapidly approaching.
Sure enough, another monster arrived with a sonic boom.
BOOM!
A raging wave of Conqueror's Haki once again swept across the entire area.
Thud.
Well, Bartolomeo's vice-captain just fainted too.
The newcomer wielded a long sword, with the lower body of a massive horse's skeleton and the upper body of a gaunt, bald human.
He stood about 10 meters tall.
Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro, one of the Five Elders known as Venus.
A Mythical Zoan: Skeletal Horse (Bakotsu) and a master swordsman wielding the legendary Supreme Grade sword, Shodai Kitetsu.
He had probably sprinted or teleported to Sabaody Archipelago first and then used his power to summon the other three via the pentagrams.
...
Seeing another enemy with Conqueror's Haki arrive on the scene, the conscious executives of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet felt their lips go dry.
They involuntarily gulped nervously.
Zoro, Sanji, and Robin finally understood what Ray had meant back at the bar.
'Only after you've relaxed... can you barely handle them.'
Under this absurd pressure, they really did need to relax beforehand.
Otherwise, even they would feel dizzy after being hit by top-tier Conqueror's Haki twice in a row.
Thanks to their earlier relaxation and Ray's warning, they were still holding up fine, with their combat abilities unaffected.
...
Now that the enemies had all arrived, Ray instantly appeared at the forefront of the Straw Hat crew, standing between them and the monsters.
Seeing Ray step up, Luffy instinctively made a request, cracking his knuckles.
"Ray... let us handle three of them."
Even as dense as he was, Luffy knew that the four who had suddenly attacked here were definitely enemies.
Especially the Qilin with a bubble on his head—it was obvious at a glance that he was another disgusting Celestial Dragon.
Luffy really wanted to punch that guy's face in!
Sanji, Zoro, Nami, Robin, Mikita, and the others were also deeply displeased.
The four towering individuals gazed upon their group with an air of absolute disdain.
Looking at them like they were literal insects.
Just like those damned Celestial Dragons.
Without a second thought, it was clear these guys were the absolute peak of the Celestial Dragons' power.
Utterly punchable.
Thus, the others began making requests to Ray, drawing their weapons.
"Ray, trust us." Zoro smirked, drawing Wado Ichimonji.
"We've grown strong enough," Sanji added, his leg bursting into flames.
"That's right, Ray. It's too dangerous for you to face them all alone." Franky pumped his massive cyborg fists.
Listening to their voices, Ray felt somewhat helpless, but a faint smile touched his lips.
'Who said that coming to the front meant I had to take on all of them alone?'
He did have the idea of fighting all four by himself, but that was only if Luffy and the others were completely outmatched.
And today marked the absolute toughest challenge Luffy and the crew had faced since setting sail with him.
Even Ray wasn't entirely confident of a flawless victory without casualties.
The death of four Celestial Dragons was an absolute major event for the World Government that ruled the world.
If mishandled, the consequences could range from a loss of prestige to a total shake-up of their 800-year rule.
The dignity of the Celestial Dragons, as "gods," was not to be violated, let alone their lives.
This was a rule ingrained in the subconscious of most people, the very foundation of the World Government's rule over the world.
So, upon learning that the Marines (Kizaru and Aokiji) couldn't handle Ray, the Five Elders took action themselves.
No matter how strong Ray was, they had to kill him here and now to maintain the balance of the world!
...
Saturn, one of the Five Elders, also known as Warrior God of Science and Defense, looked down at Ray.
He spoke calmly, his grotesque spider body wreathed in black Conqueror's Haki lightning, exuding an intimidating, demonic presence.
"Brat... you have committed a capital offense against the Gods."
But Ray completely ignored the old spider's threatening words.
Standing in place, he calmly said to Luffy and the others behind him.
"Choose your own enemies."
SHING!
With that, Ray instantly drew Tessaiga.
A golden blade aura shook the heavens and the earth, illuminating the darkening sky.
The Wind Scar emitted an annihilating presence, howling like a beast as it charged forward toward the so-called "Gods."
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