Horror filled every single Marine present as the announcement went out that they had shot, and subsequently killed, the Celestial Dragons.
It was deeply ingrained to each and every one of them that the Celestial Dragons were GODS, with their most sacred of duties being to protect and serve them. If anyone spoke bad about them within earshot, then their entire family would either be killed or enslaved. If they wanted something, or someONE, then they were duty bound to secure it or them for them.
There was no questioning them, as to do so was akin to signing your own execution on the spot.
So the fear that the Marines were feeling was only natural, as they had literally massacred the very gods they were supposed to be protecting.
"IF this is real, then we will host a full investigation of each and every single Marine once this war is over. And every single one who fired the cannons will be tried for conspiracy against the World Government." Warcury declared gravely, his fury just barely being contained in the face of what just happened.
He had already determined execution would be the only course of action needed, and then the guilty would have their bodies ripped to pieces and scattered throughout the world as a warning to any and all foolish enough to challenge the World Government. And of course that also went for Akainu and Kizaru, as they too had participated in the attack.
But all of them needed to live out their usefulness first, as there was a war to fight. And that became even more evident as more ships appeared on the horizon, though they would need to verify their identity first before attacking.
Though he and the other elders couldn't help but to wonder. Just HOW has the Dragon Emperor found the Celestial Dragons after they had been hidden, and without ANY word of it reaching them?
***
Meanwhile, Alex was lounging on the deck of Zenith while enjoying a drink and some treats that Kurumu had made them. As he ate them Alex suspected that she had been purchasing some cooking skills from the Chatroom shop, since they tasted almost as good as Haruna and Mikan's cooking.
Either that, or Kurumu was just that good at making treats.
The only thing marring the good food was the screaming and wailing of one of the Celestial Dragons that apparently had managed to survive the bombardment, before they too disappeared beneath the still boiling sea.
Alex had of course decided to 'prank' the World Government by secretly collecting the Celestial Dragons from the island that they had been hidden on, crucifying each of them on a small fleet of ships, and then sending them ahead of his actual fleet to eat the first bombardment of the other side.
It was wondrously effective if he said so himself, and even several of the people around him and throughout the fleet felt more than little satisfaction seeing the Celestial Dragons being blown to pieces.
"Serves the scum right." Hancock declared savagely, having already settled her own personal vendetta against her and her sister's former master.
"Yesss." Sandersonia hissed, before fixing Alex with a look. "But why did you allow some of them to live?"
"Because not all of them were actually bad. In fact, you could even make the argument that they themselves were victims of their own upbringing, and I was just putting them out of their misery." Alex explained, earning himself numerous incredulous looks.
Of the Celestial Dragons that they had captured, which was all of them that had not stayed to fight with the Marines, there was only one adult and a few children that had been allowed to live. The adult was a man who had been 'corrected' by queen Otohime, Shirahoshi's mother, several years ago, and had come to see the depraved and corrupt nature of the Celestial Dragons for himself.
The children meanwhile were those that had not yet become corrupted by their ways, which was a paltry few compared to how many of them there had been. Alex recalled all too well how Doflamingo turned out despite his father giving up their rights as Celestial Dragons, and he would be damned if he allowed any more of him to grow up within Asora.
Thankfully his divinities over darkness and corruption had paid off here, allowing Alex to determine exactly who had and could actually turn over a new leaf. Though needless to say some people weren't too happy about it.
"The Celestial Dragons 'victims'? Yeah right!" Marigold, Hancock's other sister, sneered in contempt from the mere thought.
"But it's true." Alex said with more than a little exasperation, before pointing at Vivi and saying, "Technically Vivi can be considered a Celestial Dragon too. Should she also be executed?"
"""..."""
"It's not the same..." Marigold said in a quiet voice.
"You're right. But that's because THEY were raised differently from Vivi, who was taught that her status meant responsibility, not privilege." Alex pointed out, making Vivi fidget from the attention she was receiving.
The entire time they were talking Hermione was silent as she saw the reality of another world for herself for the first time. Though normally that would not be the case, as she would be ranting and raving about how disgusting, barbaric and despicable everything about the current situation was, she refused to open her mouth due to the continuous NEED she could feel in her bum to be filled with a thick and long dragon dong. So all she could do was stand there fidgeting while trying to distract herself from the sensation.
Thankfully that became marginally easier when the sound of numerous cannons firing reached them, prompting everyone to look up in time to see a couple hundred cannonballs flying their way.
"Heh. It's about time." Whitebeard snorted from the Moby Dick, which was sailing right beside Zenith.
"They were probably extra cautious after killing their own Celestial Dragons. Wanna deal with those for us, Fleet Admiral?" Alex asked with a smirk, making Whitebeard grumble even as he stepped forward and swung his naginata, Murakumogiri, in the air before him.
Cracks appeared in midair, through which the entire fleet could feel space itself vibrating slightly before each of the cannonballs exploded from the effect.
Once that was done Whitebeard pointed Murakumogiri forward and declared, "take out those cannons!"
As the Fleet Admiral of Asora, the only ones present with higher authority than whitebeard were Alex and his wives, so every single ship prepared to attack at his command. Those with cannons prepared to fire them, while the Nordic ships also had a number of powerful mages on board that readied their spells, before everything was released in one massive bombardment at the Marines.
Metal cannonballs and the elements themselves devastated the Marine lines as numerous ships took irreparable damage, and the alcoves in the cliffs were destroyed.
Even some of the girls got in on the action, with Yue creating massive dragons out of seawater that sucked entire Marine ships into their gaping maws.
Within seconds any semblance of military might the Marines possessed was destroyed, their warships sinking to the bottom of the ocean while the cannoneers stationed throughout the cliffs were systematically destroyed.
"Are you going to participate?" Alex asked Hermione.
"What?! Why would I willingly participate in such barbarism?" She huffed while turning away from him indignantly.
Alex just shrugged at her as he said, "just thought I'd ask since this would be a good chance to practice some of those spells you've been working on."
That made Hermione reconsider slightly, as she wasn't actually against the act of fighting, just the senseless slaughter that seemed to be taking place.
While she was still deliberating though...
"BEHIND US!"
A cry rang out from one of the rear ships to the others, alerting them to numerous figures approaching them from the rear.
***
"All things considered Sengoku, I can't say I disagree with sending half our fleet to surround them in a pincer attack." Warcury said as they watched their ships close in on the Dragon Emperor's fleet.
"Indeed. While all their attention is at us, the warships behind them can take them before they can defend themselves." Sengoku explained, though he was starting to have his doubts after witnessing the destruction the Dragon Emperor's fleet was capable of.
Even with the help of Whitebeard and Big Mom, he had expected that their forces would be able to put much more of a fight and last longer against their combined forces, and when the other half of their fleet appeared they could attack from two sides.
But seeing the casual destruction they were capable of dishing out, to the point that entire ships were being 'eaten' by living water, he was starting to wonder if the cost of victory would even be worth it. IF they even won to begin with.
"Garp, go ahead and cause some chaos." Sengoku ordered the elderly Vice Admiral beside him.
"You sure about that? I can't guarantee that I won't cause some collateral damage!" Garp declared with a predatory grin.
"You have our permission to use your full strength." Warcury affirmed, while the rest of the Elders nodded in agreement from where they were gathered. With the Celestial Dragons wiped out, they didn't care about collateral damage anymore. All that mattered was eliminating the Dragon Emperor.
"Alright!" Garp declared as he took a single step forward, and the earth beneath his foot caved in as an incredible amount of Haki began to radiate from his entire body.
Black lightning began to crackle in every direction around him, carving out deep grooves in the ground while the Marines each began to struggle just to remain conscious. Even the Admirals were taken aback at the show of strength coming from Garp, proving that even if they outranked him, NONE of them would be a match for the elderly Vice Admiral if they were forced to fight.
Sengoku however was stupified for an entirely different reason.
With each step Garp took he caved in the earth beneath him, but what Sengoku noticed was that with each passing second Garp seemed.....younger.
The Haki radiating from Garp's body exploded even more in intensity with each passing second, growing stronger while Garp simultaneously seemed to be growing younger. Even his graying hair and goatee darkened until both were black with occasional strands of white, while the wrinkles around his face began to disappear.
Either not knowing or not caring about the changes to his body(it was both of them), Garp leaped up into the air with enough force that a crater was left behind as he flew out over the open sea. And as he flew, the Haki radiating from his body began to condense completely into his fist.
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! TRY THIS ONE ON FOR SIZE, DRAGON BRAT! GALAXY IMPACT!"
Roaring with laughter as he did so, Garp swung his Haki infused fist right at the lead ship of the fleet that was approaching them, the very same one where he could see the Dragon Emperor sitting there leisurely as everyone else did his fighting for him. Only, nothing happened.
*KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!*
At that exact moment, an explosion sounded behind Garp that prompted him to turn and see untold destruction taking place on the Red Line that looked suspiciously like his Galaxy Impact. Specifically, at Mary Geoise.
"Uhhh..." Garp uttered worriedly as he watched his own attack vaporize the entirety of the Holy City, a cold sweat covering his body as he did so. Well, at least no one had been left in the city when they evacuated it...
However he did NOT like the looks that Sengoku and the Elders were giving him at the moment.
Despite falling right down to the open sea in the middle of an active battlefield, Garp was more worried about the chewing out he was going to receive after this for destroying the Holy City. Though he had technically been given permission to ignore any potential collateral damage...
Just as Garp was wondering how he was going to try and explain this, as he had NO IDEA how his attack got redirected, he landed upon a large glowing surface that appeared out of nowhere below him. A brief examination however showed it was some kind of massive glowing circle, complete with numerous symbols he had never seen before.
Garp barely had any time to wonder if this was from kind of Devil Fruit power when two figures landed in front of him to join him on this floating platform. Figures that Garp immediately recognized, even though he had last seen them literally decades ago.
"What the hell happened to you two!?!" Garp exclaimed as he looked upon two of the remaining Emperors of the Sea, Big Mom and Whitebeard. Except both of them appeared decades younger than they were supposed to be.
""LIKE YOU'RE ONE TO TALK!"" Linlin and Whitebeard both snarled at him in unison, as Garp also appeared decades younger. Something they both had an idea of who was behind it.
"Well, it doesn't matter." Garp suddenly stated, apparently losing interest in the subject as he shoved his pinky finger up his nose.
""YOU'RE DISGUSTING!"" The two former Emperors declared in unison yet again.
Despite the comedy act that was apparently going on, neither Whitebeard or Linlin lowered their guard in the slightest in the presence of the man before them.
Monkey D. Garp was the man known to be a living legend amongst the Marines, and for no small reason. Even now, both Linlin and Whitebeard were unsure if they could take him, especially with Garp also being reverted to his prime.
But they had been given their orders, and both wanted a chance to topple the unstoppable hero of the Marines.
Alex watched from Zenith's deck as the battle began between the trio, which wasn't at all uneven if the first few exchanges were anything to go by. He still couldn't believe just how strong Garp truly was, and wondered if he even needed to revert his age to begin with...
"What about those behind us?" Vivi asked suddenly, stirring Alex's attention as he glance to their rear, where another fleet of Marine ships was approaching them.
"Nah. They're taken care of." Alex said without any concern, making them all wonder what he knew before a sound reached them.
*Dum Dut Da Da~!*
*Dum Dut Da Da~!*
*Dum Dut Da Da~!*
The banging of drums could be heard through the din of battle, though they sounded like cannon fire at first, before their source slowly appeared through the fog that Nami had conjured earlier.
Massive ships.
Three of them to be exact, all large enough to dwarf any other ship in their fleet, and with crews to match.
"BANG THOSE DRUMS!" Roared a voice over the ocean, one that stirred fear within the Marines when they beheld this new enemy.
"GIANTS!"
"WHAT ARE THEY DOING HERE!?!"
These cries and more could be heard coming from the Marines as they displayed no small amount of panic, which was completely unerstandable for any who had seen what a single giant was capable of. A small fleet of them though?
As for why they were here...
"GABABABABA! THEY WANT TO KNOW WHY WE'RE HERE!" One giant roared in amusment.
"GYEGYAGYAGYAGYA! NATURALLY, WE ARE HERE FOR THE SUN GOD!" Another declared, pointing directly at Alex as they closed in on the Marine ships.
"GET RID OF THESE INSECTS." Another giant roared, one who sat upon a throne on the middle and largest of the three ships.
At his command, the army of giants rushed into action as they descended upon the Marines.
"Wow..." Kurumu uttered in awe of the spectacle.
"Right? I couldn't believe it myself when I first felt them approaching." Alex said wryly.
Of course he now knew of EVERYTHING taking place above and below the surface of the ocean around them, due to eating the soul of Poseidon. If he wanted, he could even sink the entire fleet of Marine ships on a whim without having to do more than flexing his pinky, not that he couldn't do so without his newly acquired divinty. But it was an option if he felt like it.
That was also why Alex could feel someone else approaching them, someone who had surprised him more than the giants.
But they were still a ways out yet.
With the giants taking care of their rear for them, Alex turned his attention back to the front where the final bosses were waiting for them.
Even with Garp being distracted by Linlin and Whitebeard, there was still the Admirals, Sengoku, the Five Elders, and the group Alex recently learned of called the God's Knights. Oh yeah, AND there was Imu in hiding somewhere.
"I suppose its about time to start getting a little serious." Alex said as he looked up to where he knew Sengoku was looking down at them.
Of course, Alex planned to participate as little as possible to give the others a chance to get some experience points for their current jobs. And as if to answer that intention...
[NOTICE! The quest 'My Hands Are Tied' has been triggered!
Quest objectives: Do not personally participate in the battle until the timer runs out.
Penalty for failure: ???
Rewards: Chatroom Doorway.(A doorway availible only to the owner of the Chatroom that allows them to travel to other users of the Chatroom)]
Alex blinked in surprise at the sudden quest he received, which was the very same item on the shop he wanted to buy the most. Which was also the most expensive.
Though he wanted to accept the quest right away, Alex hesitated briefly when he saw that there would be a penalty for failing the quest, but it wouldn't show him what it was. That was tricky since it would mean that ANYTHING could happen if he failed the quest, and Alex wasn't sure if he wanted to take that risk.
BUT, the reward was also oh so tempting.
Eventually, after a few seconds of intense deliberation, Alex accepted the quest since, if something went wrong, he would still be able to call in reinforcements to help. After all, he was just unable to intervene himself.
However, the moment after Alex accepted the quest and a timer appeared before him, he sensed several new presences.
"Fuck." Alex swore as he realized he was played by the Chatroom, though not maliciously as numerous figures flew overhead above them.
...
"This is just one massive disaster. Get in there you three, and try not to screw things up this time." Warcury ordered as he looked down at the ongoing battle with disgust, talking to the three Admirals.
"Its about time." Aokiji said while stepping up to the ledge with the other two, being the only one not in hot water since he hadn't participated in the earlier attack.
"Well, first things first~." Kizaru said as he pointed a finger at the battle going on between Garp and the two former Emperors, intending to bring an end to it in an instant. Even if Garp wasn't pleased with the interference, they would be able to remove two of the strongest fighters from the other side.
The tip of Kizaru's finger began to shimmer with intense light as he gathered power to it, enough power to pierce even Big Mom through the heart to kill her. Meanwhile the temperature fluctuated on either side of him by massive margins as both Akainu and Aokiji activated their Devil Fruits, one being magma while the other ice.
Just as Kizaru was about to unleash his attack though, something caught his eye in the sky in front of them.
"Eh?"
"HIYAH!"
The next thing he knew, Kizaru was being sent flying backwards after receiving a kick so fast that even HE couldn't see it, and he moved at the speed of light! He didn't need to wonder long about where the attack came from though, as a woman who looked to be in her late teens landed on the ground before him.
She was an immenesly beautiful young woman, with long flowing golden hair, and matching golden eyes. Her body was garbed in robes of the purest white, depicting a picture of innocence that sharply contrasted just how sinful her body appeared under them. Most curiously about her though, was that she also possessed numerous wings with golden feathers, along with a halo and golden-furred monkey tail.
"Your opponent is me!" The woman declared, planting her foot on the ground between them with enough force that she made the earth itself shake.
"Well this is a surprise~!" Kizaru said, appearing calm on the outside, though he was anything but on the inside.
The same thing could be said of Akainu and Aokiji as well.
The latter was facing another young woman who appeared similarly in age to the one facing Kizaru, except she was dressed in a white martial gi, possessed impossibly beautiful pale skin, and had bushy light-purple hair that was tied into a short ponytail. Curiously, she too had a monkey tail but her's was pure white.
"And who might you be, pretty lady?" Aokiji asked, being taken in by her beauty, though he still remained alert while remembering the force behind her kick.
On the other side, Akainu found himself facing a similarly aged young man, one who had sharp features and blonde hair with orange highlights in it, giving an appearance similar to fire.
"Do you realize the consequences of your actions?" Akainu asked as the magma in his body began to bubble and churn.
"I think I should be asking YOU that." the young man answered as he narrowed his eyes.
"What on earth is going on?!" Sengoku demanded as he looked over the three newcomers, all of which he noted had monkey-like tails. Before he could take even a single step towards them though...
*CRASH!*
ANOTHER figure fell out of the sky right in front of him, which was revealed to be yet another young girl with long white hair, cat-like ears and tail(s), while she was dressed in a white kimono.
"Mama says we should be respectful to Budda-Sama~Nya, but I WILL defeat you~Nya!" She declared in a cute manner, though Sengoku couldn't care less about how cute the girl before him was.
"Whatever is going on, I would say its safe to assume the Dragon Emperor is behind it." One of the Elders, Marcus Mars, declared, before several more figures came out of the sky to stand before him and the other four Elders, as well as the Gods Knights.
Standing before him specifically was another young woman with dark skin that was dressed quite scandalously, though he could feel the wind itself flowing around her curiously.
"Indeed. This has his lunacy written all over it." Warcury said as one of them moved to stand before him, another young woman with pitch-black hair that was dressed in an outrageously frilly and colorful outfit, complete with a scepter in her hands that was topped with a snowflake.
"The scale of these women can't be matched though. So perhaps we can turn this to our favor by capturing them?" Suggested the lord of finance, Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro. Meanwhile the one standing before him was a young man with crimson red hair, though his dress and atmosphere was similar to that of a thug.
"Lets save that talk for after the war." Said Shepard Ju Peter, who was looking what appeared to be his own opponent up and down, an elegant looking young woman with snow-white skin and hair that looked to be white with just the slightest shade of purple.
"Either way, they look like they will make for some interesting specimens to exeriment on." Said Jarcia Saturn, who was facing two opponents compared to the others. Unlike them though, he recognized one of his as none other than one of the pirates known to be a part of the Eleven Supernovas, Jewelry Bonney.
The other however, was the spitting image of the Dragon Emperor himself, just with significantly darker skin tone. And curiously enough, aside from Bonney of course, ALL of them sported monkey-like tails.
"So, who exactly are all of you?" Saturn asked, though the answer was very nearly obvious to anyone with eyes. They just wanted confirmation.
Of them all, the one who stepped forward was the young man who looked just like the Dragon Emperor, who declared with the air of a leader, "I am Alec D. Morningstar, firstborn son of the Dragon Emperor! And these are my brothers and sisters!"
Their suspicions confirmed, the Five Elders smirked confidently as the easiest path to victory showed itself to them.
All the while Alex was sitting on his throne on Zenith's deck, tapping his finger impatiently while alternating his attention between the timer and his children.
"I swear, I'm gonna tan ALL of your hides before the day is over." He muttered to himself, despite the surge of pride that threatened to overwhelm him.