At Mariejois, the aftermath of the attack was staggering. Admiral Kizaru finally arrived, his usual unhurried demeanor on full display.
"How terrifying!"
"Did Sanders do all this? Such a powerful... madman!"
"To think he'd dare attack Mariejois!"
Looking at the vast ruins of the Holy Land and the massive crater that scarred its center, Kizaru's sly grin faltered into a rare expression of surprise.
He quickly began directing the Marines to clear the rubble and treat the wounded. After ensuring order, he made his way to the Five Elders, who stood silently, gazing skyward.
At this point, Figarland Garling Saint had already left with the Holy Knights, leaving the remaining four Elders behind.
Kizaru bowed slightly in respect, greeting them, "Elders."
"The attacker—where is Sanders?" asked Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro, casting a displeased glance at Kizaru. His tone carried a trace of blame, clearly frustrated by the Marines' delayed arrival.
"This is no longer your concern," Saint Nusjuro said coldly. "Focus on managing other affairs."
The implicit message was clear: Sanders was out of reach. If he had remained on the ground, Kizaru's speed might have been useful. But in the sky, not even Kizaru could bring him down.
Unperturbed by their dissatisfaction, Kizaru nodded and left without further questions about Mars Saint's whereabouts.
Stopping at a section of the rubble, Kizaru took out a Den Den Mushi to contact Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
At that moment, Sengoku was leading a large fleet of Marines toward Mariejois.
"Kizaru, what's the situation?" Sengoku's voice was urgent. "Can you apprehend Sanders?"
The assault on the Holy Land was a monumental event, but capturing Sanders would mitigate some of the damage. For Sengoku, Sanders—despite his youth—posed a greater threat than most others.
"Sanders is in the sky," Kizaru replied casually, adjusting his sunglasses. "There's no way to catch him."
After a moment of silence, Sengoku sighed. "How is Mariejois?"
"A complete ruin," Kizaru replied nonchalantly, glancing at the devastated city. "There are plenty of casualties too."
Sengoku grimaced, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Understood. I'll be there shortly."
Ending the call, Sengoku stuffed the Den Den Mushi into his coat and muttered under his breath, "What a lunatic!" He urged the fleet to pick up speed, already imagining the chaos this incident would unleash across the world.
In the sky, the battle between Sanders and Mars Saint, in his monstrous Yatagarasu form, raged on.
Since activating the black flames, Mars Saint's power had surged—his speed, offense, and defense all elevated. Yet even with this boost, Sanders maintained the upper hand, dominating the fight with ease.
Sanders soon noticed that Mars Saint seemed unusually fixated on wounding him. At times, the Elder even recklessly exposed himself to danger for a chance to land a blow.
"He's after my blood?" Sanders thought, observing the frantic attacks with narrowed eyes.
While he doubted even Vegapunk could decipher the mysteries of his body, Sanders had no intention of handing the World Government any samples of his blood. The idea of them cloning him—or creating a mini version of himself—was deeply unsettling.
Wrapping himself in an impenetrable layer of Armament Haki, Sanders ensured not even a strand of hair would be left vulnerable.
Mars Saint, meanwhile, was growing desperate.
Sanders' defense far exceeded his expectations. He had assumed that even with the Mythical Zoan Azure Dragon's abilities, Sanders' durability would fall short of Kaido's. Defeating him was out of the question, but drawing a bit of blood? That should've been manageable.
Instead, Sanders' airtight defense left no openings, forcing Mars Saint to reconsider his approach.
The battle continued, each clash sending shockwaves through the sky, as the ruined Holy Land smoldered below.
Who would've thought Sanders' defense felt even stronger than Kaido's?
Mars Saint had attacked relentlessly, enduring countless counterstrikes, yet not a single drop of Sanders' blood had been spilled. What's more, it seemed Sanders had caught on to Mars Saint's intentions.
Instead of brute force clashes, Sanders switched to relying on his overwhelming speed. Even though Mars Saint possessed an undying body and rapid regeneration, he was struggling to keep up with Sanders' relentless blows. Recovery didn't stop the pain, and the damage began to take its toll.
As the fight dragged on, Sanders started feeling irritated. No matter how powerful his attacks, his opponent regenerated in the blink of an eye, making it seem impossible to kill him.
"Perhaps the only way is to kill all five of these old geezers at once..."Sanders mused, considering his options. Or perhaps taking down Imu, the mysterious figure above the Five Elders, was the true key to victory.
He didn't believe in their claims of being truly immortal. If that were the case, the World Government wouldn't need to cover up the Void Century; they could have simply crushed the entire world with brute force.
Realizing it was futile to find a way to kill Mars Saint right now, Sanders decided it was time to leave.
Sanders unleashed his full power. Summoning every ounce of strength, he directed his full assault at Mars Saint.
At that moment, his speed reached an unprecedented level. Using the abilities of his Rumble-Rumble Fruit, the acceleration granted by the Float-Float Fruit, and his own sheer velocity, Sanders became a blur in the sky.
Countless afterimages appeared in an instant, each seemingly real, each launching its own unique attack—lightning strikes, freezing blasts, and sword slashes—trapping Mars Saint with no route of escape.
In the blink of an eye, all the attacks converged on Mars Saint.
"Ahhh!" Mars Saint let out a pained scream.
But the pain wasn't the worst of it. What shocked him more was Sanders' unimaginable speed.Even Mars Saint's advanced Observation Haki couldn't keep up. The afterimages weren't mere illusions—they acted as though they were all Sanders, each capable of delivering a deadly blow.
Within moments, Mars Saint suffered devastating injuries:
His claws and tail were severed.
Both wings were charred and riddled with holes.
A crushing punch landed squarely on his head.
Such injuries would've been enough to kill anyone else.
As Mars Saint began activating his regenerative abilities, he saw Sanders appear far away, standing calmly on a small boat.
Before Mars Saint could react, the boat shot off at incredible speed, disappearing from sight in mere moments.
For a brief moment, Mars Saint forgot about healing his wounds, frozen in place by shock. Only when the pain surged back did he snap out of it, his face dark with frustration.
That speed—too fast!Faster than anything Mars Saint had ever seen, even surpassing Admiral Kizaru's light-speed movements.
With such speed, Sanders could escape any attack the World Government might deploy, even those capable of wiping out an entire island.
In other words, killing Sanders was utterly impossible.
Looking at the destruction Sanders had wrought on Mariejois, Mars Saint's expression turned grim. After regenerating his injuries, he spread his wings and returned to the ruins of the Holy Land.
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T/N:
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