Despair, Resolve and Clash of the Strongest

_________ POV Narration _________

'Even though I was expecting this... I can't say that I am happy about it...'

Whitebeard's gaze scanned the fleet that formed on the horizon in front of him.

He didn't even need to see Kaido's ship in order to realize who was the one attacking him.

'Retaliation for not joining him, huh?'

Marco and his other sons had all already warned him of such a thing happening, yet Newgate had still hoped that such a large-scale conflict would be avoided.

Kaido wasn't even done with swallowing up the stray crews in the New World after all... But it seemed that taking down the Whitebeard Pirates was a much greater priority for him.

Edward Newgate could only sigh as he felt the weight of the situation settling on his shoulders...

He was in no state to win against someone like Kaido. And his fleet was not gathered. Most of his sons were actually away, trying to gather the crew.

But it seemed that the Whitebeard pirates had moved too late. Kaido likely prepared to attack the Whitebeard Pirates regardless of how the meeting went...

'As expected, not attending that meeting might've just sealed my fate...'

Regret filled him as he realised that he had also dragged down his hometown with him...

The people of Sphinx Island were all panicking, fear was setting in as the reality of the situation dawned on them... Whitebeard might not be able to protect them.

Even now, Whitebeard stood on the outskirts of his hometown, with only a few doctors scrambling by his side. Many of the Sphinx Islanders looked at him with desperation...

It was then that they realised that there was no fear in Whitebeard's eyes. There was no trepidation in his steps, there was no slouch in his back.

No, he stood tall, his spine was straight, and just as his will, unbendable.

And thanks to his courage, some of the people in Sphinx Island were filled with hope as well. A bit of light breaking through the clouds.

Even in that moment of hopelessness, when their island was essentially surrounded by a fleet of dirty pirates.

Some still managed to find solace when looking at the back of the man that swore to protect them.

Whitebeard had been there for them, even when the World itself had forsaken them.

He had grown up there and had never forgotten his origins, not even after reaching the top of the world.

Still, despite his outward confidence and determined appearance, Whitebeard's thoughts were significantly less positive... Made even worse when he felt the hopes and trust of the people he swore to protect...

'... I feel bad about having to betray their trust... I don't think this is a battle I can win...'

Whitebeard's mind was running different scenarios, all ending in complete failure and absolute despair for the ones he protected...

He didn't fear for his own life, he had already lived a great one. He had the family that he had dreamt of. Most of them would also survive thankfully, as they weren't on the island.

But what of his sons and daughters that were on the island?...

What about all of the people that he had protected over the years, the town he had rose from the ground?

'A father that's unable to even protect his own children... What a pitiful excuse of a man...'

Whitebeard clenched his teeth as he felt a bit of repulsion filling him. He was disgusted by how weak he had become, yet he couldn't do anything about it...

The disease that had been wasting away at him was uncontrollable, incurable...

And because of that, now many of the people he cared about were going to die...

"Grampa Whitebeard!" The voice of a young girl manage to break him out of his depressive thoughts.

Whitebeard's eyes widened as he looked to the side, a small girl riding a Sphinx strolled up to his side.

The Sphinxs was a mix between a few different animals, it was significantly larger than the little girl riding it, but even the Sphinx was small when compared to Newgate's massive stature.

The little girl had blushy cheeks and large, teary eyes, she wore her hair in brown pigtails and had brown eyes. She also wore a short, orange long-sleeved dress and a round wool hat with dots on the brim.

"... What's happening?... Everyone is panicking..." The little girl's confused cries made Whitebeard grit his teeth. It wasn't long before he remembered her name, he knew everyone on the island after all...

"Little Oide..." Whitebeard couldn't help but curse inwardly for a bit.

"Grandpa Whitebeard... Are we going to die?...Ma and Pa were crying earlier... You'll protect us, right?"

The little girl had clearly heard the panicked cries of her fellow villagers and parents. The first time in her life that the fear of death had become a reality.

A sign that Whitebeard had already failed her... The very thought left a sour taste in his mouth.

Slowly, his mind cleared up of any fog and distressing thought. His gaze burned with determination.

"Go back to your parents... You are safe... As long as I'm alive, no one will touch a hair on your head..."

Whitebeard clenched his fist as he grasped Murakumogiri in one hand.

Oida nodded with tears in here eyes as she tapped her Sphinxs on the back. The Sphinxs dashed away immediately, it's instincts telling it to run as far as its legs could carry it...

"What a pathetic sight, Whitebeard!" A displeased voice broke the silence as the ships got closer and closer to the shore, with Kaido's ship at the very front.

The Dragon Emperor's shout seemed to be carrying a lot of power by itself, the seas themselves shaking as larger waves broke out towards the shores.

"You little brat... You really overstepped your boundaries..." Edward Newgate's eyes spoke only of pain as he glared at Kaido, the man that was once beneath him...

"Wororo! Don't you dare look down on me old man! You've no ground to stand on right now... You're nothing more than a relic of the past, I am here to finally bury you!"

Kaido's words broke out like thunder, as his sharp gaze cut through the waves and met Whitebeard's own.

The Dragon Emperor grabbed onto his weapon, Hassaikai, his large and spiked metallic club.

"You've got a lot of nerve! Maybe I should remind you why they call me 'The Strongest Man'!"

"Wororo! The strongest man is nothing in front of 'The Strongest Creature'" Kaido's muscles seemed to expand as he immediately turned into his hybrid form.

Azure scales grew all over his body as his eyes shined in a red light.

Despite his mocking words, he wasn't about to look down Whitebeard. Even sick and on his deathbed, the Strongest Man was still capable enough to do real damage to Kaido.

'But there's no winning this for you, Whitebeard...' Kaido smiled as his fleet also started approaching the island.

"AS IF I'D LET YOU!"

Whitebeard roared with renewed vigour as the doctors behind him screamed in shock. The old man was too immersed in the situation to hear them out however...

The gigantic man impaled the hilt of his naginata on the ground, forming a shockwave large enough to send his doctors flying.

The waves that had been crashing on the shores all stopped as well, too afraid to go on as the old man started exerting his will.

'Shit! Wasn't expecting this much vitality out of him...' Kaido scowled as he watched Whitebeard extended his hands to his sides, his fingers grasping onto the air around him visibly, space bending to his will.

Kaido immediately realised what was about to happen, but he wasn't anywhere near close enough to stop it.

"HOLD ON TIGHT!" Kaido only managed to scream out to his fleet once before the world itself roared in front of them.

Whitebeard brought both of his palms together, his fingers bending almost unnaturally as he dragged across the space between them, almost cracking it in the process...

But it didn't crack... The power was instead expanded in all directions around the island. Gravity itself seemed to shift, tremors spread out all around the oceans.

From the shores around the Island of Sphings, water seemed to burst out outwards, forcibly forming a large, allcompassing tsunami that threatened to swallow up and sink all of Kaido's fleet.

Kaido immediately took on his full dragon form, he was going to try and break the wave with his tail, but he was immediately pushed backwards, as the shockwave of Whitebeard's tremors reached him as well.

Realising that there was no time to recover, he instead filled his throat with flames and blasted them forwards.

"BLAST BREATH!" He fired a powerful fire breath all along the Tsunami in front of him. The flames managed to fight against the waters, steam rising almost instantly as the Tsunami on that side of the island almost died down...

The water and fire fought for a few seconds, ultimately cancelling each other out and leaving behind only a thick cloud of steam.

But the other sides weren't so fortunate.

Kaido's fleet had surrounded the island, prepared to invade from all sides. Cannon fodder mostly, but they were still New World faring pirates... They thought they striked it big, gaining a chance to take down the strongest man...

But now they realized that there was no place for weaklings when facing a man with the power to destroy the world...

The unlucky ones were swallowed up by the gigantic waves, dozens of warships were ruined under the weight of Whitebeard's rage.

Unfortunately for Whitebeard, more ships were pushed far away than destroyed... They were bound to come back, approach once more.

'I'll just push them back agai-'

The old man couldn't even finish his thoughts as pain assaulted his mind.

He cluched his chest with a scowl, blood came out of his lips as his vizion grew blurry. He finally realised why his doctors were screaming at him earlier...

'I'm exerting myself a bit too much, huh...'

Whitebeard could already see it... His ending.

"Worororo! Looking a bit weak there Whitebeard!" Kaido's mocking voice was heard from the clouds, as the gigantic Emperor swung his tail and dispersed the fog that had accumulated.

He didn't care about some weaklings that couldn't even survive the first attack from Whitrebeard.

Instead, he was pleased to see Whitebeard's sorry state, it only meant that his job was easier after all...

"Kaido... I don't care if I die today... I'll either take you down with me, or cripple you right here and let my sons finish the job!"

Whitebeard's mouth curled downward in a cold scowl, as Kaido's eyes shined with malice once more.

"Oh? We'll see about that!"

Kaido immediately opened his mouth, his throat swelling up once more as his breath extended forwards.

"Kaifu!(Demolishing Wind!)" Kaido blew forwards, dozens of flying slashes leaving his mouth and rushing straight for Whitebeard's figure.

The old pirate didn't even flinch as he grabbed his naginata and grasped it with both of his hands.

A white halo covered it in it's entirety as he swoung it with all of his strength.

"BREAK!" The Legendary Pirate's imposing voice shook the clouds as green cracks and lightning sparks broke the air in front of him.

The cracks spread far and wide, covering Whitebeard perfectly just before any of Kaido's flying slashes reached him.

The cracks stopped the slashes in their tracks, as Whitebeard grunted.

He could still taste the blood in his mouth, his vision was still blurry... But he stood tall. And Kaido's attack turned ineffective.

Some were immediately destroyed when coming in contact with the tremors, while some were deflected, slashing away at the seas around them.

Some were also deflected towards the island, but thankfully, some of Whitebeard's children were still present.

"Rose Rondo!" Petals flew out alongside rose-collored flying slashes, intercepting the deflected slashes.

It was none other than Vista of the Flower Swords, the 5th division Commander of the Whitebeard pirates, also the only commander on the island at that time...

Whitebeard smiled when he heard his son's voice, knowing that at least the residents of the Sphinx Island were being protected...

'But not for long...'

Whitebeard knew that he needed to get rid of Kaido, and quick... Or at least keep him occupied enough to not worry about attacking the island.

The old man coughed a bit as he felt his knees weakening.

'Not now...'

Yet, he willed his knees to unbuckle, he will his back to remain straight, even as blood from his mouth poured onto his chin.

"Kaido... Prepare yourself!"

The old man wasn't going to let himself fall so easily...

__________________________________________________________________

Hope you like the chapter!

Sorry for the delays, trying to raise patr_on rewards on both stories, also had a lot of sh irl going on :))

I genuinely had to go to the gym, then a party for the birth of my little cousin, then go to a concert at night after since I double-booked my day

If u want to support me look up VeganMaster(Vegan Cult) on Patre_on, you'd also get 12 chapters in advance (or 10/5 depending on tier)