'Boom boom...'

  'Whoosh... Crash...'

  The o roiled, waves surging violently. A thunderous roar echoed across the entire sea. The wind howled with the force of a storm, carrying the sound of wind and thuhe powerful tornado was shredded, torn apart by one fierce attack after another.

  Without losing momentum, the attacks tio strike in rapid succession.

  'Boom... boom...'

  But—

  The fmes behind El’s head extinguished. No longer in his "invincible" defeate, El’s speed and reflexes had peaked. With swift movements, he effortlessly dodged the oning attacks with remarkable agility.

  “Damn it, of all times for them to show up… Mighty Nation!” he cursed.

  Meanwhile, seeing the situation, Linlin gritted her teeth, unwilling to back down as she brandished her massive swripping Napoleon tightly, she focused her Observation Haki on Kong’s position and unched a fierce strike.

  'Whoosh—'

  In an instant—

  A powerful shockwave of sword energy ripped through the air, tearing toward Kong’s location like a onball.

  'Boom... boom...'

  “Linlin, we’re leaving!!” El shouted.

  “Ma-ma-ma-ma! If he survives this, then he’s got some serious luck!” Linlin replied.

  El swiftly hoisted his Great Halberd behind him and fshed forward, moving with lightning speed. He grabbed Linlin—who, at teers tall, was retively "petite" pared to his own huma form—and held her tightly.

  'Whoosh...'

  Sensing several powerful auras rapidly approag from both sides, El’s four wings fpped in unison. Moving with terrifying speed, he took the closest route, charging toward the sky.

  Without hesitation, he opened his enormous mouth: “Golden Reination Burst!!”

  'Crack—chirp—'

  A brilliant light erupted. The forces of storm, lightning, and fire verged, exuding an aura of intense danger.

  'Whoosh—' In an instant—

  It transformed into a dazzling, fiercely intense beam of energy, ripping through the air with unimaginable destructive force. It surged directly toward an approag winged Pegasus, upon whose back a formidable figure stood.

  The beam tore forward, unstoppable.

  “Fallen Angel El, don’t think you escape!!” roared the Navy Admiral Horn, in the form of the Pegasus. Fleet Admiral Hammons William, standing beside him, instantly reacted, his face darkening as he charged forward without hesitation.

  William’s right fist, muscles bulging with visible light energy, was ed in high-level Armament Haki as he tered with: “Justice Impact!!!”

  Meanwhile, the powerful Pegasus raised its Haki-covered hooves high, smashing the air and kig forward fiercely: “Pegasus Meteor!!!”

  'Boom boom!!!'

  The deafening explosion and rolling shockwaves shook the heavens. Massive waves surged across the sea, ing endlessly.

  Caught off guard, the two figures were forced back by the overwhelming power of the attack.

  'Whoosh... whoosh...'

  Almost immediately, oher side of the isnd—

  A massive thunderbird, crag with lightning, charged forward with fiertent. But El, carrying Linlin, had already taken advantage of his incredible speed.

  Like a streak of light, he maneuvered past Pegasus Horn and Hammons William, who were left disoriented on the sea surface after narrowly blog the Golden Reination Burst. The two powerful figures looked slightly disheveled as they broke through the encirclement.

  Accelerating tinuously, El and Linlin swiftly vanished into the distance.

  “Damn it—”

  “That bastard realized things weren’t in his favor and ran?”

  “Curses, we were too careless!”

  One by one, figures leapt down from the back of the thunderbird. They were her thaop-ranking members of the Holy Knights.

  Shortly after, from two other dires—

  A giant vulture and the admiral Pegasus Horn arrived, wings spread.

  Not only was Hammons William, the Navy Fleet Admiral, present, but two former admirals, who had retired due to age, had also joihe pursuit.

  “Kong…”

  “Tch! He’s been wouhis badly!”

  “Hurry, bandage his wounds, don’t let his ans spill out…”

  Realizing they couldn’t stop Fallen Angel El from esg, the enraged and frustrated Hammons William and the others had no time to dwell on it. They immediately located the blood-soaked, severely weakened, and unscious Kong.

  As they observed this admiral, now reverted from his huma form, lying battered and bloodied, they all drew a sharp breath, their scalps tingling.

  The numerous cuts and abrasions were ohing, but—

  His back was a mess of torn flesh, his body curled protectively. A massive, bloody gash sshed diagonally from his right chest to his left abdomen, exposing shattered ribs and even his ans. Only a thin membra his iines from spilling out.

  Fortunately, the situation wasn’t as dire as it could have been. Otherwise, survival itself would have been a miracle.

  “Damn it…”

  “We truly uimated that monster!”

  “Quickly, get his wounds bandaged!”

  Meanwhile—

  Members of the Holy Knights finished surveying the battlefield. One immediately tacted the Five Elders on the Red Line.

  “What!?”

  “They escaped?”

  “ander Howard is missing?”

  “What were you all doing?”

  In the Chamber of Authority at Mariejois, the expressions of the Five Elders shifted dramatically. Shocked and ehey rose from their seats.

  “Honorable Five, we rushed to the se as quickly as possible, but we were still a step too te…”

  the devastation spread across the ravaged isnd, Saint Denis reported with frustration, “If we’d been even a little ter, Admiral Kong might have bee the sed admiral to fall to Fallen Angel El.”

  “Right now, he’s on the verge of death, practically disemboweled. He’s unscious and barely hanging on!”

  Hearing Saint Denis’s report, the Five Elders looked visibly shaken.

  “Even Kong couldn’t handle him?” Saint Mars frowned, almost in disbelief.

  They were well aware of Steelbone Kong’s strength—among Navy Admirals and even past Fleet Admirals, he was sidered one of the best. Under forty, he had already mastered high-level teiques like queror’s Haki infusion.

  Yet even with his strength, he was no match for Fallen Angel El? It was nearly inceivable.

  “We still don’t fully uand what happened,” Saint Denis tinued into the transponder snail. “When we arrived, ander Howard was missing… We only found Admiral Kong, barely holding on uhe relentless assault from Fallen Angel El and the woman Charlotte Linlin!”

  “That Lunarian monster has this level of power?”

  “Damn it, were we too pt?”

  “Or did we uimate him?”

  The Five Elders looked grim.

  They had been uneasy ever since receiving a report from CP that Saint Rhodys’s Vivre Card had buro ashes, and two CP0 senients’ cards were partially burned, indig serious injury or worse.

  Their worst fears were firmed within an hour.

  ander Howard’s Vivre Card had nearly vanished.

  The reinforts had only mao save the critically injured Admiral Kong, who was near death.

  As for ander Howard, the Supreme ander of the Holy Knights, he had vanished without a trace.

  It was almost certain that he’d been captured by the Fallen Angel Pirates.

  To think that a lowly Lunarian remnant could repeatedly challehe dignity of the "Gods," leaving the Wover helpless and enduring signifit losses—

  It was an unbearable humiliation.

  Furious beyond measure.

  “What an utter failure…”

  Saint Mars clutched the sofa, his face dark with anger. “We, who hold the title of ‘Warriod,’ have never faced such a blunder.”

  This time, they’d thought their pns foolproof.

  They believed they had already overestimated Fallen Angel El, or rather, the strength of the entire Fallen Angel Pirate crew, yet it seemed they had still uimated them.

  Grudgingly, they had agreed to El’s demands, intending to exploit the pirates’ predictable greed. Tempted by rare Devil Fruits, they expected El to linger, unwilling to abandon such treasures.

  The pn was for Kong to create the impression of a difficult but manageable fight, encio stay while reinforts approached. With a top-tier Logia, a Mythical Zoan, and other valuable Devil Fruits as bait, they had hoped to trap him.

  Instead, they lost both the treasures and personnel—and even Howard, the powerful ander of the Holy Knights, was now likely captured. Admiral Kong had barely survived.

  It was beyond disbelief. It was an utter, seething e.

  “A disgrace of epic proportions!”

  Saint Saturn's face darkened with fury. He struck his e on the floor, shouting, “Order d the Navy to iigate thhly. We must find them!”

  “As the Supreme ander of the Holy Knights…”

  The blond Elder, Saint Ju Peter, frowned deeply. “Howard’s unique position makes this matter of utmost importance. We ot ig!”

  “Recover him at any cost!”

  “Yes, sir!”