At that moment, Sakazuki was truly irritated.
From the start of the fight until now, aside from that strange, troublesome power at the beginning, Erik had not caused him any real difficulty.
Sakazuki, who would one day stand against Whitebeard during the Summit War, was already a monster among monsters even in his younger years.
As for Erik...
Although his talent in swordsmanship was extraordinary, and he had reached the level of a great swordsman before the age of twenty, he was still lacking compared to a natural-born monster like Sakazuki. Even if Erik continued to grow in the future, he might not necessarily surpass him.
Even so, when Yemu arranged the matchups, he still assigned Sakazuki to Erik.
The reason was simple. A matchup was not just about throwing strength against strength. What Yemu needed most was the most suitable opponent.
Any one of the Logia Devil Fruits held by the Marines' three fighters could change the entire battle, and the same was true on the Sky Pirates' side.
Just as the Marines wanted to restrain the Sky Pirates with the three Admirals, Yemu had the same idea.
That was why the Goro Goro no Mi against the Pika Pika no Mi, and the Tori Tori no Mi, Mythical Zoan: Nue Model, which could control flames, against the Hie Hie no Mi, were the most suitable matchups.
Otherwise, if either of those abilities slipped free and moved freely across the battlefield, it would become an enormous problem.
That left Erik against Sakazuki as the final pairing.
To be honest, it was extremely dangerous. Sakazuki's Magu Magu no Mi had terrifying destructive power. If he broke through Erik's Haki defense and landed even one hit, Erik would suffer dreadful injuries.
After all, Erik did not have a monster-like body like Yemu.
But Yemu truly had no other choice. That was also why he had said he did not expect victory in this war.
The gap in combat power was simply too large.
Right now, all the advantages the Sky Pirates held in this war were only on the surface.
A single change could alter the entire battlefield.
So when it came to Erik's fight with Sakazuki, Yemu's advice could be summed up in three words: kite him.
Using Erik's long-range slashes and nimble movement, he had to keep Sakazuki tied down and prevent him from breaking away.
And that was exactly why Sakazuki was so irritated.
What should have been a cat-and-mouse game had turned into the mouse teasing the cat.
But now, he had found his chance.
Huge ships were natural targets, and they were the kind that could not dodge.
There was nothing better than catching the mouse again, destroying the Sky Pirates' plan, and saving the Marines trapped in the encirclement.
So, looking at the pirate ships not far away, Sakazuki's face turned cold as magma flowed across his entire body.
"You're as annoying as a rat. In that case, I'll destroy everything myself."
"Ryusei Kazan!"
The sky turned crimson in that instant. Sakazuki had launched blazing magma high into the air.
As the magma surged through the sky, a dense rain of molten rock came pouring down, and its target was the Sky Pirates' fifteen pirate ships.
After doing this, Sakazuki looked at the falling rain of magma as if admiring a beautiful scene. Then he spoke to Erik with cold, absolute confidence.
"A rat is still a rat. It can never defeat a cat, just as evil pirates can never defeat justice."
"Is that so?"
At that moment, looking up at the crimson, scorching sky, Erik raised Sandai Kitetsu with a seriousness he had never shown before.
"For a swordsman, borrowing outside power is deeply shameful. But to complete the mission my captain gave me, I have no other choice..."
"Haki Enhancement: Tenfold!"
"Oni Aura Enhancement: Tenfold!"
In an instant, pitch-black Armament Haki visibly spread from Erik's body and was drawn into Sandai Kitetsu. At the same time, an utterly terrifying and evil aura poured out from Sandai Kitetsu, surrounding Erik and making him look like a demon god.
Sakazuki froze completely at the sight.
"What is that? A sword that absorbs Haki?"
Even though he had once been a swordsman himself, he could not understand what he was seeing.
Just then, an extremely dangerous sensation flashed through his mind.
At the same time, Erik raised Sandai Kitetsu high.
"Slash Enhancement: Fiftyfold!"
"Shinto Sword Style: Demon Slash!"
"Whoosh!"
In that instant, time seemed to stop.
The sky, filled with magma rain, looked like glass stained with countless red specks.
Then a pitch-black light flashed through like a sweeper, wiping everything clean.
The sky itself was split apart by that slash.
A bead of cold sweat rolled visibly down Sakazuki's forehead.
"What... what kind of ability is that...?"
He was certain that if he had been careless, that strike really could have cut him. It might even have left him badly injured.
Not far away, on the flagship amid the thunder of cannon fire, Sengoku and Garp were also stunned by what they had seen.
"Hey, Sengoku, did I see that right?"
Garp asked in disbelief, his eyes wide.
"You saw it right."
Sengoku's face turned as dark as night.
"The technique of combining Devil Fruits with weapons. I once saw it in Vegapunk's research notes. I always thought it was a fantasy, but I never expected the Sky Pirates to actually pull it off..."
This meant the Sky Pirates had yet another unknown trump card in this war.
But right now, that was no longer important.
Although the sound of cannon fire and the Marines' screams rang endlessly around them, at that moment, neither Sengoku nor Garp intended to act rashly.
Because through their Observation Haki, they could sense that Yemu had completely locked onto them.
And just then, the battlefield changed again.
After several minutes of roaring artillery fire, the fifteen pirate ships finally ran out of cannonballs.
On the glacier, where screams filled the air and shell craters covered the ice, the Marines had not even had time to rejoice over the bombardment ending before countless armed pirates finally appeared on the fifteen ships.
At their head were the captains of the three great fleets.
"So they've finally come?"
The Marine Vice Admirals protecting their subordinates frowned deeply.
If the bombardment from earlier was only the appetizer, then what came next would be the real slaughter.
And as those pirates appeared, the Germa Corps soldiers behind the Marines charged forward once again...
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