"Looks like…"

"We've all been deceived by you!"

Molten magma swirled into form, reshaping itself into Akainu's likeness. His words, laced with malice, echoed through the plaza.

"Deceived us? How is that on me?"

"You were tricked by your own assumptions!"

From behind Akainu, Doflamingo raised an eyebrow and curled his lips into a cold grin.

With a flick of his wrist, streams of transparent strings erupted, slicing toward Akainu.

---

"Bang!"

Akainu's haki-infused magma fist caught the strings in its grasp. His face dark, he roared, his arm igniting with molten fury.

In his eyes burned fierce violence as he spoke with thunderous conviction.

"You scoundrel!"

"The World Government forcibly recruited you pirates—always despised you!"

"You dared to betray us—then you all deserve to die!"

Lava erupted around him, propelling outward with explosive force. In moments, the heat shattered Doflamingo's strings, and his magma fist crashed forward.

---

"Heh heh heh..."

"Incredible power…"

"No hiding left, is there?"

"Besides, I've always been a pirate—so betrayal never applied!"

Doflamingo laughed calmly, stepping backward with finesse.

In the past, he'd never have dared oppose an Admiral. But now…

He needed to prove his worth—to Ghidorah.

With a flourish, he spread his arms. The ground behind him surged with radiant white strings.

---

Sharp filaments cut through the air as they intercepted the magma fist—splitting it into countless tiny orbs of molten rock.

---

"Snap… Boom!"

Akainu's eyes narrowed in shock:

"He even awakened his Devil Fruit power?!"

Few had truly unlocked their awakening—and Doflamingo's sudden power was unexpected and impressive.

---

"Heh heh heh…" the puppet king chuckled.

He recognized the chasm between his strength and Akainu's—but for now, he'd maintained parity.

Akainu roared, eyes blazing beneath his brimmed cap, his arms re-formed into roaring plumes of magma.

---

With cataclysmic intensity:

"Great Eruption!"

Two colossal magma arms twisted upward like towering infernos, barreling into the rising tide of white strings.

---

"Boom! Crash!"

The collision sent fiery shockwaves billowing outward. The magma arms exploded, raining molten bombs that fell with deadly crash.

---

Doflamingo — outmatched, but not defeated — erupted strings again:

"Shoooosh…"

They morphed into a fierce beast-shaped wave, tearing through the sky, slicing each magma bomb into harmless fragments.

Atop the rubble, Sengoku watched with dawning respect for Doflamingo's might.

---

From above, a bone-chilling voice thundered:

"Feeling relaxed, are you? Still looking elsewhere?"

The air tore with a piercing shriek as Ghidorah's tail—each strike like a celestial dragon—smashed the earth around them.

---

Sengoku responded in reflex: gold-tinged Buddha palms met the blow, releasing a torrential counter-shock.

Buildings shattered. Earth quaked. Dust and stone erupted outward.

When the dust settled, Marineford lay in ruins.

Sengoku's heart filled with dread.

The Marine symbol had crumbled. If he didn't evacuate his elite, none would remain. The Navy might lose its place in the world.

---

He straightened, fury and purpose blazing in his eyes.

"I will carry your wrath alone!"

"Release the innocent soldiers!"

---

Ghidorah's huge golden eyes blazed back at him.

"And who made you judge of that?"

Bioluminescent wings crackled with electromagnetic power as they swept toward the Admiral.

Even in his Buddha form, Sengoku stared upward, unflinching. He raised both palms—fighting back with a hurricane-like defensive blast.

"Bang!"

An earth-shaking crash: twisted wind, shards of rubble. Sengoku coughed blood as the ground fractured beneath him.

He gritted his teeth.

They had fallen to the beast—for him to stand down would doom what's left of the Navy.

Gathering every last reserve, he roared:

"BUDDHA'S IMPACT!"

---

"BOOM! BOOM!"

The golden shockwave erupted from beneath him. Ghidorah's wing scraped back by a brutal distance.

Sengoku leapt aside—just in time.

---

"Boom!!"

Ghidorah's wing crushed the plaza, sending tremors through Marineford once again.

Even perched at the top of this disaster, Sengoku stood firm—wounded but unbowed.

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