Blood kept seeping from the cracked muscles and skin. Rorschach clenched his fist tightly, pressing down hard on Trebol's sunken face, almost pushing his head and upper body into the deep pit.
The price of excessive use of Life Return was severe physical exhaustion.
His physical strength was already on the verge of exhaustion.
"Huff, huff."
Rorschach panted heavily, looking at Trebol, whose left arm was severed at the elbow, and the left side of his body covered in burns.
"Damn, I should have realized this earlier."
In the massive explosion that occurred earlier, the fate of the Clay Fruit user, Prince Grus, became unknown.
In such an intense explosion, even someone with Armament Haki, if at the center of the explosion, would likely be unable to defend themselves completely.
Baby 5 and Gladius, being akin to human bombs, could use their bodies to cause explosions and naturally wouldn't be harmed by the blast.
But Trebol was different.
Although the mucus he secreted could ignite and explode, his body wasn't like Katakuri's special Paramecia type and couldn't turn into mucus.
Therefore, encountering such a high-intensity explosion at close range caused his left forearm to be blown off.
His body was also burned by the high heat of the explosion.
Thus, during his standoff with Rorschach, he only used his right hand and didn't launch any intense attacks.
Initially, Rorschach thought the opponent was toying with him like a cat with a mouse.
But now, it seemed this guy had been stalling for time from the start, hoping to wait for Gladius to finish off Kujaku and then come to help.
If I had thought of this earlier and sped up my attacks, maybe ...
In the nearby exploded pit, Gladius shook his groggy head and stood up with a gloomy face.
Rorschach looked at him coldly, raised his clenched right fist high, and smashed it down hard on Trebol's sunken face once again.
With a clear cracking sound, Trebol's entire face shattered like a broken porcelain.
Rorschach's mind suddenly buzzed.
"Wait, this sensation!"
Inside Trebol's completely shattered face was another face, with a collapsed nasal bone but much less injured.
"Beh beh beh, mucus shell."
Trebol coughed up some foamy blood but had a smug smile on his face.
Rorschach opened his right fist, his five fingers clawing towards Trebol's eyes.
Boom!
A mass of intense flames suddenly appeared on his body.
Gladius, with a grim expression, had his legs swell and burst, propelling him like a rocket towards Rorschach, punching him in the chest.
Rorschach's body lifted off the ground, turning into a cannonball, flying tens of meters backward, and crashing into a shattered house.
"Even though they're just small bugs, each one added so many variables to this drama that should have had a perfect ending."
Gladius tore off the tattered metal decoration on his body, looked at Trebol's severed left arm, gritted his teeth in anger, and directed a murderous glare towards Ilia at the top of the palace.
"Prince Ilia! When the young master arrives, you better explain this properly!"
After saying this, his legs swelled again, blasting open two large pits in the ground beneath him, and his body shot like an arrowfish in the water towards the shattered house where Rorschach had crashed.
Suddenly, a black whip lashed out in the air, striking his airborne body.
"Get lost! Don't get in my way! Damn woman! Lead Block Explosion!"
Without looking back, Gladius threw out several small lead balls.
The lead balls swelled in midair, exploding one after another upon hitting the blood-soaked Kujaku, turning into numerous small metal fragments like rain, striking Kujaku's body and causing splashes of blood.
Kujaku staggered forward a few steps and fell to the ground.
"Beh beh beh, what a crazy woman."
Trebol still lay on the ground, giving a twisted smile towards the fallen Kujaku.
Kujaku bit her crimson lip, giving him a cold look.
Then she said something that changed the expressions of both Trebol and the charging Gladius.
"Baby 5... I need you to ignite the mucus on your body."
Terror flashed in Trebol's eyes.
"No!"
"Run away! Trebol!" Gladius roared, about to turn back.
The shattered house behind him exploded, and Rorschach rushed out like a demon, grabbing the turning Gladius and crashing into another house together.
In Trebol's terrified gaze, Baby 5 shed tears on her face.
"I am needed again. Mom said that people who are needed by others are the ones who deserve to live, and those needed by others deserve a happy life. I am so... happy."
Her body slowly turned into a black missile.
Then...
Boom! The black missile exploded in the sticky mucus, igniting the flammable liquid, causing an even more terrifying secondary explosion.
Boom! A large amount of mucus exploded, and a mushroom cloud rose into the sky from the edge of the inner sea of the royal city.
"Room."
In the expanding massive fireball, a transparent dome flashed and teleported the prone Kujaku away.
"Look at what you've done?"
Gladius roared, punching Rorschach away, his swollen arm causing an explosive impact, making blood continuously spill from Rorschach's mouth. His clothes were long torn by explosions, his body covered in flame burns.
"As a Marine, do you know what it means to attack a Shichibukai?"
His hair grew crazily, each strand swelling and exploding.
The tips of the hair turned into small steel needles, shooting towards Rorschach's tottering body.
Rorschach's eyes were blood-red, not dodging, allowing the needles to pierce his skin, muscles, and chest.
The Life Return state had long been lifted, his physical strength over-exhausted, his body reaching a critical point, his eyelids heavy as if giants were pulling them down.
Only pain could stimulate his drowsy senses.
He raised his head, his vision reflecting a small black dot.
Gladius's entire body was swelling, a terrifying aura spreading crazily, his eyes full of killing intent.
"It means... that without us intervening, the World Government above you will clean house themselves!"
"Full body... explosion!"
"Law!!"
Rorschach suddenly roared skyward.
The sound was as loud as thunder in the sky above the royal city.
On the roof of a broken house in the distance, Law held Drake's sword.
"B! F! L!"
Three words filled with endless killing intent and anger echoed in the sky of Prince's royal city.
Law's heart trembled, he looked up sharply, not thinking twice, expending all his remaining strength at once.
"ROOM! Slaughterhouse!"
Buzz! A giant hemispherical dome over a hundred meters in diameter instantly covered a large area of the royal city, including the flying Buffalo.
Law held the sword with both hands, slashing towards Buffalo in the sky, who had lowered his flying height slightly out of concern for Trebol and Gladius.
Shing! The atmosphere was split, and Buffalo's body was divided in two.
The two golden treasure chests strapped to his back were neatly cut, dropping two strange fruits with spiral patterns.
At the moment he saw the fruits, there was a boom in Law's mind.
"So this is the turning point Hawkins mentioned!"
Using his last bit of strength, he moved his fingers.
"Command Stick!"
Swish! Swish!
Two spiral fruits disappeared mid-air.
One appeared in the hand of Hawkins, who had just awakened.
Another flashed into Rorschach's open right hand!
Rorschach took a bite.
Crunch!
Boom!
(End of Chapter)
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