Chapter 11 - 12
Unlike Big Mom, Silver Axe wasn't as lucky.
Two powerful slaves held him back, their necks bound by explosive collars. Surrounded on all sides, he had no way to break through.
"Damn it! Gaban! Is Roger really turning against the Rocks Pirates?!"
Gaban grinned but remained silent. His twin axes swung even faster.
Silver Axe staggered under the relentless assault. The two slaves seized the opening, their hands wrapped in Haki.
They lunged from both sides. The moment they locked his arms in place, Gaban's dual axes, infused with Armament Haki, sliced toward the exposed Silver Axe. The blackened blades tore through his armor, pierced both sides of his chest, curved in midair, and returned to his grasp.
"D-damn... ugh…"
The armored figure collapsed. One of the great pirates of the Rocks crew—Silver Axe—had fallen.
With Sengoku, Rayleigh, Gaban, and others joining the battle, Captain John, Ochoku, and the remaining Rocks pirates scattered. Some managed to escape, but many were captured.
……
From a bird's-eye view—
Kaido was fleeing deeper into God Valley. His path happened to intersect with Big Mom, who had also broken away from the main battlefield.
"Huff... Huff... Huff…"
Without a Devil Fruit, Kaido was nowhere near the monster he would become in the future. His body was covered in burns and corrosion wounds. Exhausted, he ran forward with bloodshot eyes, not daring to slow down.
He sensed something ahead—Faster! Faster! Faster!!!
At the same time, Sakazuki also detected a powerful presence entering his perception range. Seeing his target was slipping away, a ruthless glint flashed in his eyes.
Life Absorption.
Crimson Lotus Mode—Activated!
Sakazuki had burned through too much energy with his previous attacks. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have been able to activate Crimson Lotus Mode.
But he forcibly drained his own life force. His body even shrank slightly from the strain. The moment he entered Crimson Lotus Mode, steam erupted around him.
"Hellhound!"
With an explosive burst, Sakazuki closed in behind Kaido and drove his fist straight into the man's back.
Squelch!
With a surge of power, flesh tore apart. A magma-coated arm burst through Kaido's chest from behind!
"AAAAAHHHH!!!!"
Kaido screamed in agony as he was slammed into the ground. His body convulsed, then finally gave out. His eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness.
Just then—
"STOP RIGHT THERE!!!"
A furious roar echoed from the distance.
Along with it, an overwhelming will crashed into Sakazuki's mind, as mighty as a raging storm. His vision wavered, his thoughts momentarily clouded.
"Ikoku Sovereignty!"
A purple, arrow-shaped slash ripped through the sky, hurtling straight at Sakazuki. By the time he shook off the effects of the Conqueror's Haki, the attack was already upon him.
He glanced at Kaido, barely clinging to life beneath him. The lethal power surging toward him left no room for hesitation. In an instant, he made his decision—his aura grew even more menacing.
Pouring every last ounce of energy into his magma-coated arm, he drove it deeper into Kaido's body. At the same time, he forcibly withdrew from Crimson Lotus Mode, his body too drained to sustain it any longer.
The moment the slash reached him, his energy transfer was complete. The searing magma detached from his arm, remaining inside Kaido.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of explosions erupted.
Sakazuki had no time to dodge. The flying slash struck him square in the chest. He reinforced his body with layer upon layer of Armament Haki. His hands, wrapped in Haki, pressed against the incoming attack.
As the slash clashed with his defense, his flesh was instantly torn apart. The force of the impact sent him crashing through countless trees.
Sensing the energy within the slash growing more unstable, he used his Haki-coated hands to forcibly redirect it. The blade of energy veered off, slashing into a small mountain in the distance.
Boom!
A mushroom cloud rose into the sky.
Not far from the explosion, Sakazuki slammed into a large boulder, shattering it before finally coming to a stop. Blood dripped onto the ground as he slowly got up. He had just taken Big Mom's Ikoku Sovereignty head-on.
"Cough… cough… Big Mom, huh."
He spat out blood and looked toward the figure lifting Kaido off the ground.
……
On the other side, Big Mom was seething with rage.
From the time Kaido joined the Rocks Pirates, she had felt an inexplicable bond with him. She had always taken care of him, treating him like a younger brother.
She had even warned him that Rocks wasn't someone he could trust. If he ever found himself in trouble, he was to come to her instead.
Even she wasn't sure how this battle would end. So she had arranged for Kaido to stay on one of the rear ships, keeping him on the outskirts of God Valley.
If they won, he could gain experience and rise through the ranks. If they lost, his strength would make it easier for him to escape. She had thought everything through.
But no matter how much she planned, she hadn't accounted for Sakazuki, a man from another world.
For just a moment, she had looked away, and Kaido had nearly died. Seeing his massive wound and barely breathing body, Big Mom wanted to finish off Sakazuki, but Kaido's condition couldn't wait.
Gritting her teeth, she grabbed him and charged toward Rocks' flagship. She knew that Rocks had recently acquired a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit. If she could get Kaido there in time, he might survive.
As she ran with Kaido in her arms, Sakazuki understood—just like in the original timeline—the Rocks Pirates' assault on God Valley had already begun to collapse.
Betrayal was spreading among the crew. Some were fleeing, others had turned against their captain.
Suddenly—
"Mother's Visit Cannon: 3000 Leagues of Misery!"
Still running, Big Mom channeled her power into Napoleon and swung it backward.
A towering spectral figure of a woman materialized and surged toward Sakazuki.
"Rising Eruption!"
Sakazuki watched the incoming attack, then pressed both hands to the ground.
His Devil Fruit power surged beneath the earth, forming a small volcanic mound that erupted with lava. The molten force sent the ghostly figure flying. A second later, a volcanic blast shot skyward, engulfing it completely.
"What a pain."
Through the magma, he could sense that the spectral figure hadn't weakened much.
Thick smoke suddenly poured from Sakazuki's body. Then he melted into a pool of magma, sinking into the ground and retreating into the depths below.
With Sakazuki no longer sustaining the lava, the giant ghostly figure tore through the eruption with ease. Lacking intelligence beyond simple instincts, it swung wildly at nothing, searching for its target.
But as time passed… it gradually faded away.
……
Meanwhile, Big Mom, carrying Kaido, finally spotted the Rocks Pirates' ship near the battlefield outside God Valley.
A flicker of relief flashed in her eyes.
"Maser Saber!"
A massive laser shot forward indiscriminately, carving a clear path before blasting through the ship's hull.
"Get the hell out of my way!"
She roared, charging straight for the cabin.
But just then, a surge of energy flared beside her.
She looked at Kaido—her pupils shrank—too late!
Armament Haki burst forth, trying to seal his wounds, but she wasn't fast enough.
Boom!
The magma Sakazuki had left inside Kaido erupted. Lava poured from his body in an unstoppable flood.
The situation was dire.
Big Mom could only use Armament Haki to seal Kaido's wound, preventing his condition from worsening. But even that was only a temporary measure.
The relentless surge of magma continued to consume them both, scorching their bodies with searing, agonizing burns.
"Damn marine!!!"
Sakazuki had endured a powerful slash earlier, burying magma inside Kaido's body. Now, it finally erupted.
Kaido, already gravely injured, was pushed to the brink of death. Even though Big Mom reacted in time, coating the wound with Haki to resist the damage, he was barely clinging to life.
Seeing his dying form, Big Mom nearly lost herself in a fit of uncontrollable rage. But for Kaido, she forced herself to stay in control.
A plan formed in her mind. Her eyes turned ruthless as she swept her gaze across the surrounding marines and pirates.
"Offer your lifespan!"
Her thunderous voice shattered the battlefield.
A violent surge of Conqueror's Haki exploded outward, merging with the eerie, soul-reaping power of the Soul-Soul Fruit.
"Life or Slave!"
The moment her power swept across the battlefield, pirates and marines alike visibly aged in an instant.
"Aaaaahhh!"
"Help!"
"Big Sis, we're on the same side!"
"Damn it!"
"Run! Run for your lives!"
"Big Sis has lost her mind!"
"Crazy women!"
"Somebody save me!!!"
Screams of agony and curses filled the air.
They watched in horror as their own bodies, and those around them, withered and decayed before their eyes. And in the end, as their ambitions and dreams slipped away, they closed their eyes in despair—lifeless.
In just moments, countless pirates and marines dropped dead.
The battlefield, once a chaotic war zone, fell into an eerie silence.
All eyes locked onto Big Mom; her body scorched by magma, clutching a barely breathing Kaido in her arms. But she had no time to care about any of them. Gathering the stolen lifespans in her right hand, she pressed them into Kaido's body.
The lifespans of thousands surged into him.
As the energy poured in, his breathing grew stronger, his aura rising. But at the same time, the lifespan in Big Mom's hand was vanishing at an alarming rate.
She couldn't afford to hesitate.
With a grunt, she hoisted Kaido onto her shoulder and rushed toward Rocks' pirate ship. Along the way, she continued her merciless harvest, reaping the lifespans of pirates and marines alike.
Everywhere she passed, only corpses remained, withered and aged beyond recognition.
The battlefield had already been reduced to ruin by Sakazuki's molten destruction. The surviving pirates had barely regrouped, struggling to steady their morale.
But now, under Big Mom's merciless slaughter, that fragile morale completely collapsed. By the time she stormed onto Rocks' ship, chaos had consumed the battlefield.
At first, people hesitated.
Then, some started moving. Then, walking. Then, running.
In the next instant, every surviving pirate was frantically sprinting toward the few remaining ships.
"Bastard! Get off my ship!"
"Screw you! This ship is mine!"
"Please, let me on!"
"I'm a navigator!"
"Die!"
"Get out of the way!"
"I'll kill you!"
A frenzy erupted.
Pirates swarmed toward the ships, desperate to escape. Brotherhood, loyalty—all meant nothing now. They butchered each other without hesitation.
Blood splattered. Limbs were torn apart.
By the time it was over, the ground was littered with corpses.
……
Meanwhile…
Far beneath the battlefield, Sakazuki remained unaware of the chaos above. Through his hazy perception, he could only tell the magma he had left inside Kaido had finally detonated.
Would Kaido die?
With Big Mom's Devil Fruit, it was unlikely. She could easily steal lifespans from others and pour them into Kaido.
Still, some burned organs were inevitable. Kaido had thick skin, but that didn't mean his insides were just as tough.
"Big Mom..." A low, rumbling voice echoed. Then Sakazuki, still in his magma form, continued sinking deeper toward the core of God Valley.
He was about to deliver a grand gift to Rocks and the Celestial Dragons.
……
No one knew how much time had passed.
As Sakazuki descended, the temperature steadily climbed. After plunging thousands of meters below the surface, he finally felt it: the searing heat radiating from the churning magma beneath the earth's crust.
Sakazuki let himself sink into the lava. His lower half dissolved into molten rock, while his upper body remained human-like. Standing on the magma's surface, he closed his eyes, activating his Devil Fruit power.
The endless sea of fire responded. Magma began to swirl around him, flowing in chaotic streams.
For a moment, time itself seemed to freeze. At this instant, Sakazuki was no longer just a man. He was the god of molten destruction.
More and more magma gathered, growing restless. The temperature soared. Countless magma bubbles swelled and exploded in bursts of fire.
Then, after a long while.
"Not yet. Be patient."
Sakazuki slowly opened his eyes, his deep voice breaking the silence.
It was almost like a father comforting his restless child. At the sound of his quiet murmur, the turbulent magma… gradually settled. But only he knew what kind of power lay beneath that eerie calm.
A force that could erase a nation from the map.
A force that could plunge all four seas into eternal winter.
A force… capable of destroying the world.
"I just need the right trigger..."
Sakazuki lifted his gaze, as if his eyes could pierce through thousands of meters of rock.
Far above, he could sense the battle raging on. The titans of destruction tearing the sky and land apart.
Then with a slow, deliberate movement, his body melted into magma. Like a tidal wave of destruction, he surged upward. The ground above him cracked and shattered, giving way to the rising inferno.
A pathway was forming—an escape route for the slumbering disaster beneath.
"Almost there… just a little more."
Sakazuki's deep, rumbling voice echoed through the vast sea of magma.
And as if it understood, the magma began to tremble with excitement. The temperature soared even higher.
*
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