One Piece: A Warlord's Path-Chapter 701: Bivins Kingdom - The War of National Extinction (2)
"B-Bullets aren’t working!"
Terror gripped the soldiers. If their guns were useless, were they supposed to charge these things with blades? Even with cannons, it was impossible for every individual soldier to carry a piece of heavy artillery.
"Ahh! Save me—!"
"No... Please—!"
"Monsters! They’re all monsters!"
"Run! We can’t beat these things!"
Countless soldiers and clergymen were slaughtered by the animated constructs descending from the heavens. Some were snatched up and dropped from terminal heights, others were mauled to death, and some were literally torn limb from limb by swarms of the creatures.
In the face of the massive aerial assault, standard lead shot was ineffective. Even the most basic stone-based constructs were nearly impervious to flintlock fire. Unless a lucky shot clipped a wing or hundreds of rifles focused fire simultaneously, the bullets did little more than pit their rocky hides.
As for the constructs forged from steel and ancient alloys, even bazooka rounds failed to stop their advance.
The Church of the Night’s forces at the harbor had already suffered heavy casualties from the initial bombardment; now, seeing their weapons rendered obsolete, the army’s morale shattered completely. Some cowered in the stone gun batteries, shivering in fear, while others fled in blind panic, desperate to escape the harbor or the castle itself.
"Get lost!"
Mondos Bank roared, his blade flashing like a lightning bolt.
CLANG—!
A sharp ring of metal-on-metal echoed as a shockwave rippled outward. A massive bronze eagle was knocked backward, spinning through the air.
"So hard! What kind of metal is this?"
Bank’s palm went numb. He stared in horror at the shallow nick his blade had left on the bronze bird. That strike should have cleaved a Marine Pacifista in two, yet it hadn’t even crippled this metal hawk.
"SCREECH—!"
Ikou beat its lifelike metallic wings, stabilizing itself in mid-air. Its sharp, predatory eagle eyes locked onto Bank, letting out a piercing cry.
"Its body is clearly metal, but it’s alive. What the hell are these things?" Bank’s expression was grim.
Ikou was a product of the Gamas Kingdom’s peak technology from centuries ago. It was forged from an alloy harder than the new steels developed by the World Government or the Chris Pirates—resistant to heat, cold, and corrosion. Even a swordsman of Mihawk’s caliber would have to strike with serious intent to destroy it.
Aeridar had long coveted this ancient metallurgy; the "Dragonian Alloy" developed by Vade was merely a weakened imitation of this lost art.
"SCREECH—!"
Ikou shrieked again, its heavy wings kicking up a gale as it dove like a ballista bolt toward the ground.
"I don’t believe it! I’m cutting you down today if it’s the last thing I do!"
Incensed, Bank raised his Great Grade Blade, Kurokawa, unleashing a flurry of obsidian sword shadows.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
A rain of black slashes enveloped Ikou, a continuous symphony of metallic chimes ringing out as countless marks appeared on its body. Relying on its near-indestructible frame, Ikou engaged Bank in a frantic melee—one man and one bird locked in a desperate struggle.
Though Ikou was repeatedly knocked back and covered in scratches, it remained as vigorous and aggressive as ever. Bank was constantly harassed by other lesser constructs, but thanks to his Hard-Hard Fruit ability, his body was as tough as steel, allowing him to shatter stone constructs with his bare hands and feet without being pinned down.
...
Elsewhere, Razalo was facing his own nightmare.
"Kee-hee-hee... Die!"
A pair of silver demons, one wielding an octagonal great hammer and the other a massive executioner’s blade, hovered in the air on leathery bat wings. Their ruby eyes glinted with murderous intent.
"Demons? Impossible! Those are mythical creatures... they shouldn’t exist!" Razalo stared at the mocking entities, dumbfounded.
"D-Demons!"
"It can’t be! I must be seeing things!"
"With looks like that, what else could they be?"
"He can command demons... is their captain the King of Hell?!"
The surrounding soldiers and priests were paralyzed with dread; some simply collapsed to the ground, their spirits broken.
"Go!"
At the command of the demon with the executioner’s blade, the two silver horrors lunged at Razalo.
"I don’t care if you’re demons! Die!"
Razalo extended his Arm-Blades, coated them in Armament Haki, and leaped into the air, thrusting toward the demons’ chests.
Puchi—!
The Haki-enhanced blades slid into the silver chests like a knife through butter.
"Kee-hee-hee... Useless!"
"Useless, kee-hee-hee!"
The demons ignored the blades buried in their torsos. Instead, they reached out with metallic strength and seized Razalo’s arms.
"Nani?!"
Before Razalo could react, his movements were sealed.
THUD—!
Both demons drove their knees into Razalo’s chest simultaneously. With a dull thud, he was sent hurtling toward the earth.
WHOOSH—! CRASH—!
He smashed through the ruins of a factory building. Dust and debris exploded as half his body was buried under the rubble.
Rumble...
Razalo shoved the stones aside and stood up, a thin trail of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. As an assassin-type fighter who relied on agility and lethal precision, he had never fought an opponent who simply ignored vital organs. His short Arm-Blades lacked the stopping power needed for such monsters, causing him to lose the first exchange.
"Tch... wrong tactic." He spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm, his face darkening.
Meanwhile, the two demons had waded into the crowd of soldiers, reaping a bloody harvest. The two-meter-long hammer and the executioner’s blade swung with devastating force; a single graze meant a broken limb, and a direct hit meant instant death. In moments, dozens were pulverized or cleaved in two, the silver weapons dripping with thick, visceral gore.
...
Out at sea.
"Only this much resistance? If I’d known, I wouldn’t have held back the main fleet," Aeridar remarked casually from the prow, watching the Church of the Night retreat.
Dimitri lowered his telescope and said gravely, "Captain, the defense line at Valanfort Harbor has been torn open. It is time."
"Then let’s move out!"
Aeridar gave a sharp nod and waved his hand toward the heavens once more.
A few seconds later, the sky suddenly went dark.
One after another, massive warships broke through the cloud layer, appearing in the blue sky like a fleet of levitating fortresses. There were nearly a thousand of them. Even the smallest was over a hundred meters long, creating the terrifying sensation that the sun itself had been extinguished.
High atop their masts, the Golden Ring flag of the Chris Pirates fluttered proudly in the wind.
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