Chapter 255: Retreating & Prime Whitebeard!

Watching Ace, Luffy, and one of the executioners land on the ground before running back toward the group, I smirked while swinging Naga-sa, blocking a marine's sword slash before pushing him backward. All of the Whitebeard pirates focused their efforts on protecting Luffy and Ace, who were constantly being targeted by every marine, including the Admirals and Fleet Admiral themselves; however, while the Admirals were kept busy by Whitebeard, Marco and the dude who could become diamond, Ace was forced to deal with Sengoku by himself, and clearly, it was proving to be too much for him to handle.

Ace was by no means weak; from what Sebas has informed me, he's the second commander of the Whitebeard pirates, so he must've been powerful, not to mention I could sense a great deal of strength from him that was just slightly below that of Marco's; however Sengoku was stronger than the three admirals, who Marco and I were barely able to fight against.

'Heh, a Fleet Admiral is far from enough to frighten me!' Thought Diddy with a feral grin as he crushed the arm of a marine with a mighty swing of his bo-staff before leaping into the sky, using geppo and soru to speedily approach the fleeing Ace and Luffy.

Rapidly nearing the two, I enlarged Naga-sa while passing the brother's overhead before stabbing at the giant golden Sengoku, who thrust his palm forward at my incoming attack.

"Haha, fight me, Sengoku!" Yelled Diddyd loudly with a chaotic smile as their attacks collided, causing a shockwave to erupt from their impact.

Despite my words, Sengoku hardly paid me any heed, and other than a slight glance, he simply pushed down with even more force, causing me to grit my teeth as I summoned every ounce of strength I had to stop him, yet I was only able to hold on a for a few short seconds, before his mighty plam blasted Naga-sa out of my grasp, only for me to be hit with a terrifyingly powerful blast of haki. Coughing out blood while my entire body violently shook from the attack, I was sent flying out of the plaza while skidding across the frozen bay, having been knocked out of my Sulong form.

'T-That was close. I-I thought I was going to die.' Thought Diddy with a feral grin while his body ached in agonizing pain before grunting and rolling onto his side.

"C-C'mon, t-the battle isn't over yet." Muttered Diddy while slowly standing up, staining the frozen ground red in his blood.

My body was probably in an even worse state than when Whitebeard attacked me, and the only reason I'm able to still move is… Well, I don't know why, by all accounts, I don't think I should be able to move at all.

'Well, I've managed to improve my haki somewhat, thanks to all this fighting, but It still shouldn't have been the sole defining factor. Maybe it's because I know if I stay down, I'll fall unconscious in enemy territory? Or maybe it's because of Freyja's Lust Empowerment?' Thought Diddy with a faint smirk as he caught Naga-sa and used it to help prop himself up while glancing back at the war, which was only worsening.

My body was a complete wreck, and my head was a little dizzy; hell, I was even beginning to feel exhaustion, something I rarely ever feel, though that's probably from my excessive use of my Sulong transformation; however, while my body was terrible, my spirit only yearned to fight, and so, I followed my desire and did just that.

"Heh, this should be enough to make up for me spending a month in isolation." Muttered Diddy as he reabsorbed Nimbus into his body, using it as a makeshift skeleton armor that facilitated his movements.

Leaping back into the fray, I caused complete mayhem on the outskirts of the war while I carved my way towards the center, where Ace and Luffy were, which were also where the strongest were. Thanks to the Whitebeard pirates retreating, this was made slightly easier, and when I finally arrived close to the center, I was forced to suddenly come to an immediate halt, as I nearly ran into an invisible string.

'Heh, my dizziness is affecting me more than I thought.' Mused Diddy lightly as he glanced at the invisible strong through his blurry vision before suddenly leaning backward, dodging several more blackened strings that would've otherwise pierced his skull.

Glancing to my right, I looked past the several different battles that were happening before eyeing Doflamingo, who was staring at me with a cold look in his eyes, causing me to faintly smirk as I prepared to engage in my final battle, yet, before I could, I felt the ice beneath my feet violently tremble, only for one of Whitebeards massive ships to charge right into the fray while the pirates, including Ace and Luffy, used this chance to further retreat onto the frozen bay.

Unfortunately for me, while I waited for the ship to pass by me, it was suddenly brought to an immediate halt by Whitebeard.

"Return to the New World, my children! I alone shall remain." Declared Whitebeard solemnly as he stared at Squard while his voice echoed throughout the battlefield, causing every pirate to frown at his blatant intentions.

"POPS!?" Exclaimed Marco, Ace, Squard, and many others as they gazed at Whitebeard, who clenched his fist while a transparent, glowing white sphere enveloped his fist.

"Don't worry about me, I will be fine, for I am… WHITEBEARD!" Stated Whitebeard with a fatherly smile as he gazed upon his many children before punching the air, causing massive cracks to grow while all of Marineford trembled.

Following Whitebeard's attack, the entirety of the Marines's HQ was destroyed as it collapsed on itself, which served to enrage the Marines, though, with the pirates now all focused on retreating, they were having a difficult time. While the pirates, including my own, began to retreat, I, on the other hand, was dashing towards Whitebeard.

"Fucking bastard, what the hell do you think you're doing!?" Yelled Diddy angrily as he violently attacked Whitebeard right after he had punched Akainu away.

"Huh? Who the hell are you to question me, boy!?" Exclaimed Whitebeard in slight anger as he easily blocked Diddy's bo-staff while glaring at him.

"Tsk, I'm the one whose supposed to kill you!" Replied Diddy aggressivly as he landed on the ground while staring at Whitebeard, whose face only further contorted in anger.

"A weak brat like you expects to kill me? Whitebeard!?" Questioned Whitebeard as he narrowed his eyes and glared at Diddy, unleashing his conqueror haki and targeting him.

Using my own conquers haki, I attempted to fight back against his will, yet it was so powerful, that I struggled, never before had I faced against someones whose will was so mighty; though, even so, I refused to be bested by anyone. If I didn't have the strongest will, then I could never achieve my desire to be the strongest, it's as simple as that; though thankfully, this little contest only lasted for a few short moments.

"Tch, I hate those eyes of yours; leave. I don't have time to deal with a snot-nosed brat like yourself. If you hadn't provided my children some help, I would've killed you." Remarked Whitebeard with a scoff as he ignored Diddy before glancing at the marines with a determined look.

Seeing that look on Whitebeard's face thoroughly pissed me off because I knew there was nothing I could do to stop him; he was going to die here, and I'd be forced to watch helplessly.

"ARGHH!! FUCKING DAMMIT!!" Yelled Diddy furiously as he violently slammed Naga-sa onto the frozen ground, breaking a large chunk of the ice and causing even more to crack.

Since I wasn't going to get my desire to prey upon the strongest man, I did the next best thing I could think of. Approaching Whitebeard, I stabbed my bo-staff into the ground before resting my arm on his leg since that was all I could reach, though the instant I did so, his naginata suddenly appeared mere inches away from my neck.

"I can't kill you, and since you're so determined to die, you better shine like a fucking supernova! I want to witness the strength that the strongest man in the world is." Stated Diddy sternly with a feral expression as he ignored the blade beside his neck while transferring his abundant, seemingly limitless life force into Whitebeard, who, like a sponge, readily absorbed it.

As I transferred my vitality to him, I saw his pale expression slowly disappear while his whithering appearance took a complete turn; now his muscles were enlarging, and his skin no longer had any wrinkles to it; hell, I even saw a blonde hair emerge from underneath his bandana. However, by the time I had finished filling Whitebeard with my vitality, for the first time in a long time, I felt genuine exhaustion; I still had a lot of vitality remaining, but having done this while given my current state, it didn't pair well together.

"Heh, now then, Oldman, put that title to use." Remarked Diddy with a ferocious smirk while breathing unevenly as he gestured to the rapidly approaching Kizaru and Aokiji, causing Whitebeard to furrow his brows while clenching his fist, only to punch forward at the two Admirals.

The difference in power was like night and day; with just one of his punches, he caused the two admirals to be forced dead in their tracks as their faces turned grim, followed by them coughing blood as Marineford violently shook like never before while all eyes were drawn towards Whitebeard at his display of incredible power.