"Prison Slash!" Hathaway unleashed a sword strike, slicing a nearby warship clean in two. She leapt onto a piece of debris and, with another burst of sword energy, used the recoil to flee at top speed.

"Damn it!" Vice Admiral Doberman clenched his teeth in frustration. With his ship destroyed and reinforcements delayed, there was little he could do.

Wounded, he knew pursuing Queen Hathaway was too dangerous—one mistake, and she could kill him with a single blow. He could only watch helplessly as she escaped.

The Buster Call had essentially wiped out Lantis Island, and most of its people were likely dead. But the queen survived. That alone was a significant threat for the future.

Letting her go was unbearable, yet he had no choice.

Two warships were destroyed here—one on the left flank was sabotaged by a Revolutionary Army officer, and the one on the right lost contact after Crocodile's attack. That left only six operational ships.

At least one of those now had to retrieve Doberman and others, reducing the number available for attack to five. Sending reinforcements would shrink that number even further. This was a huge setback—a disgrace to the Buster Call.

The operation had practically failed. The only hope now was that the threat on Lantis Island had been thoroughly eliminated.

"Looks like this is tougher than I thought." Rosen's sand sword swept through Kizaru's form, but it merely dispersed his light-element body.

"He's an admiral, after all," Sabo muttered. Both were going all out, yet still couldn't do real damage to Kizaru. In fact, they were the ones taking minor hits.

Kizaru's expression was grim. Their combined assault was definitely pressuring him. Neither opponent was weak.

If Marine Vice Admirals arrived and kept one of them busy, Kizaru would gain the upper hand.

"You haven't finished yet? More Marines will be here soon—you're making way too much noise." A slender figure with a sun blade appeared suddenly. It was Queen Hathaway.

She could've fled, but the intense battle nearby caught her attention. Sensing something was off, she returned to help her saviors.

She hadn't expected a three-way battle.

"This is bad," Kizaru muttered. The Queen of Lantis had arrived, and from her tone, she was clearly siding with Crocodile.

"Then we need to end this quickly," Rosen said. Hathaway caught on immediately, closing in on Kizaru in a blur and joining Sabo to attack from both sides.

Their speed and power were intense. Kizaru, though fast himself, had to fend off two skilled opponents at once.

"This woman?" Sabo was stunned by the queen's sword technique—the strikes and aura were incredibly sharp. She matched the description Kuma had given of the Queen of Lantis.

"Go all out! No holding back—kill him!" Rosen spread his arms wide, drawing in a massive amount of sand. This power could wither all things—not just instantly disintegrate, but also unleash devastating techniques.

Kizaru remained composed, though his gaze flicked toward the still-motionless Crocodile.

Boom!

With Queen Hathaway—almost admiral-level and highly skilled in swordsmanship—joining the fray, Rosen's side had a clear advantage.

Three versus one. Kizaru was strong, but not invincible. A lapse in attention, and Sabo's Dragon Claw Breath technique struck him.

His Haki-clad hands pounded Kizaru in rapid, precise bursts, sending him flying.

"Shadow of the Sword Demon!" Hathaway unleashed her strongest attack yet—surpassing her previous limits. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novel·fiɾe·net

A massive crimson sword aura, like a howling demon from hell, surged toward Kizaru at lightning speed.

"Light Kick Barrage!" Recovering midair, Kizaru unleashed a flurry of radiant kicks. His golden legs blurred into a wall of motion, ending in a thunderous stomp.

The golden leg shadows seemed to come alive, unleashing dozens of laser beams that rained down on the trio.

"Careful!" Rosen shouted. Just one of those lasers could be deadly.

Boom boom boom!

Most beams collided with Hathaway's sword aura. Sabo, eyes narrowing, launched a Haki-infused Dragon Claw from afar to deflect several more, though it quickly dimmed.

"Hell Black Hole: Sand Devour!" Rosen exploded into a stream of sand, merging with the ground.

Then, four towering sand walls rose around Kizaru, closing to form a sealed dome of sand.

"Sand doesn't do much to me," Kizaru said calmly, firing lasers from his fingers. They pierced the sand, but it quickly reformed.

Kizaru frowned. Covering his fist in Haki, he punched the wall with full force.

Boom! A massive blast scattered the sand. But as his arm touched it, Rosen's hand emerged and grabbed him, triggering his decay ability.

"Iron Body: Full Armament!" Sensing the withering energy, Kizaru instantly boosted his defenses to the max.

Rosen's ability activated, but Kizaru's strong Haki slowed the process.

One second wasn't enough. Rosen estimated it would take ten to rot him—and Kizaru would never allow that.

Just then, several sand vortexes formed around them. These were made from sand that had been in contact with Rosen's hand, now generating eerie gravitational pull.

Kizaru's expression shifted. The vortexes were drawing moisture and blood from his body—remotely—through Crocodile as the conduit.

Clearly, Rosen had enhanced his decay power using this sealed sand space. The vortexes, while weaker than direct contact, added to the effect.

This cumulative decay posed a real threat—even to Kizaru—especially now that Rosen was physically gripping him.

The vortexes were not true remote attacks; the sand served as the medium. Without it, Rosen couldn't achieve this level of effect.

"Converging Light Explosion!" Kizaru's body suddenly radiated blinding light, like a solar flare. Rosen sensed the danger and immediately retreated.

But Kizaru detonated like a sun.

BOOM!

A cataclysmic explosion engulfed Lantis Island and its surrounding islets.

Everything on the island was obliterated in an instant. The sheer devastation terrified even the Marines aboard the Buster Call warships—and scarred the hearts of countless islanders watching from afar.

The burning island fell silent. Even the warship bombardments ceased. As the smoke cleared, the island was gone—flattened completely.

The explosion even caused a tsunami, rippling out to nearby seas. Emergency tsunami warnings blared across every protective island.

"What was that?!" Vice Admiral Doberman, shaken to the core, couldn't believe what he'd just witnessed.

Even among fellow Marines, few had seen Kizaru's last-resort technique.

"Lantis Island is gone. What happened? Was that still part of the Buster Call?!"

"That whole island... wiped out. This power—no human should possess it!"

(End of Chapter)