Cornering Elders, Struggle and Ashes

__________ POV Narration __________ 

Francisco's rage was noticeable as he walked forward towards the three elders who had killed Whitebeard, he truly couldn't find it in himself to keep up his previous role of surveying the battlefield.

In an instant, his blade lashed out, cutting off two of Elder Saturn's legs while his blade whipped upwards and into the gigantic spider demon's stomach.

Saturn grunted as all of his legs moved to close in on Francisco and pierce his body from all sides, but the legendary Swordsman was not that easy to catch.

Without any hesitation, he used the Spider's torso as a foothold to dash into the ground underneath him, crashing into the dirt with his back whilst sending a gigantic flying slash upwards.

It wasn't sharp enough to cut deeply into the Elder, but he was still sent flying upwards, right into Big Mom's gigantic sword, which swung to send him flying back towards the earth.

Francisco immediately dashed to the side, heading for Saint Warcury, who was currently being held back by Kuma and Sabo, who had just arrived on that part of the battlefield. 

"Prometheus!" " Yes Mama!" 

Above Saturn, Linlin had already sent her fiery creation to descend upon him. 

Imbued with the soul and haki of an Emperor that had consumed a piece of a god, the flames seemed to fry the very skin off of Saturn's face as the fire grew bigger and bigger to engulf him. 

Meanwhile, Sabo delivered a heavy claw onto the gigantic Boar Elder's head, shaking the brain inside whilst trying to crack his skull with the shockwaves.

The Blonde Revolutionary's Haki struggled to spread out through the Elder's body, as Warcury was seemingly at a much higher level when it came to all types of Haki. 

Warcury immediately pushed Sabo away, causing him to roll a few times and drag his hand through the ground of the red line underneath their feet.

The Elder then proceeded to dash towards him, but Kuma got in front of them immediately, and extended his hand, stopping the Boar Demon in his tracks.

"Pesky Buccaneer Brat!" The Elder roared, and a crack immediately resounded in their surroundings, as Kuma's wrists seemed to break, causing him to grunt.

But even with his wrists broken, he was not going to fall easily.

"Ursus Shock!" 

With the impact and power absorbed in both of his palms, the Paw Fruit user sent the Elder flying like a tree in a tornado,

Warcury struggled immensely as a translucent gigantic paw print pushed him away with great force, the ground all around them cracking and breaking off just from the dissipating shockwaves. 

The Elder eventually stopped skidding backwards, and shook his head a bit, trying to shake off the dizziness from receiving two strong blows to the head consecutively. 

Francisco immediately took advantage of that, making his presence known by dashing from the side and slashing at the Elder's head, his sabre left a deep scar almost going right through the Boar Demon's tough skull and blowing off one of his tusks. 

Francisco couldn't help but smile when noticing that the Elders seemed to be healing slower than before. 

The Swordsman continued his assault, flying slashes being sent out at the Elder from many angles.Warcury sent out a powerful roar, which caused a shockwave big enough to deflect the slashes.

Francisco then moved into close range, although the Elder seemed to have better Observation Haki than him, they were still rather close when it came to armament, which meant that Francisco was more than capable of dealing good damage to him. 

At this point, Sabo and the others also noticed that the Elders were healing slower, with the worst offender certainly being Saturn.

The Spider Demon had to endure the onslaught of most of the heavy hitters of the entire Marine force of Enel's army. The damage he had taken far surpassed the other Elders present. 

But despite healing slower, he still seemed to be holding on fine, dashing through Big Mom's flaming cloud to deliver a deadly thrust with his stingers, aiming to pierce her head.

Thankfully the Empress had been paying attention, leaning her body backwards in time to let the gigantic stinger slide right in front of her. 

Unfortunately for her, this led to a loss of balance, which was likely what Saturn was aiming for to begin with.

Before she even realized, one of her legs was blown off, another smaller stinger growing out of the one that was still rushing past her.

The Empress's expression soured almost instantly as she immediately lost her balance.

She was forced off of her lighting cloud, which immediately moved on its own to shock the Elder and stop him in his tracks. 

As she was falling, Big Mom took her gigantic sword to Saturn's head once more, splitting it open and crushing him into the ground just as she fell right in front of him.

She then rolled to the side and was immediately picked back up by Zeus, her living cloud. 

'Constant fighting and accumulated injury may also do them in, huh? Still, at this rate we may fall before them, Kuma's hands seem to be unusable already...'

Sabo muttered as he looked at Kuma to the side. The man's arms were completely broken, and the Ursus Shock he had sent out was released too close to his arms, which led to him receiving a lot of the shockwave back at him. 

Even when protecting himself with Haki, his cracked bones were reaching their limits. 

"How many more hits can you block, Kuma?" Sabo muttered as he grasped the pipe on his back. 

"One more... At least one more. After that, I have to fall back and get treated." Kuma's hands shook, his paws slightly bloody, but his spirit was unshaken as always.

Sabo smiled and nodded, turning his attention back to Warcury, who now seemed to be slightly overwhelming Francisco. 

"Shit, where are the marines again?" Sabo asked, and Kuma looked backwards slightly... Only to see a gigantic and domineering tree sticking out of the Holy Land. 

"I think they have their own problems to deal with," Kuma muttered before he walked forward and placed his palm on the ground. 

"Grounded Shock!" 

The former Warlord sent a shock through the ground, one that resonated with his heartbeat, that shock managed to shake the ground underneath Warcury and allowed Francisco to slash off one of his hind legs. 

"Keep that up Kuma!" Sabo rushed in as well, his pipe immediately smashing into the Elder's head once more, as the Blonde Revolutionary tried his best to attack the same spot repeatedly. 

"Oi, revolutionary brat! This thing's a Boar, his skull's particularly tough! Aim for his body!" Francisco shouted from the side, as he strafed around and avoided a kick from the leg that had just regrown. 

Sabo wanted to refute, but he then realized that whatever damage he was dealing, Warcury was likely healing before it could accumulate enough to deal any significant damage.

Of to the side, Saint Peter, the worm, was still being pressed into the ground by Dragon, not being allowed to wriggle away or bite him in any way.

Peter may have been a bad match against Whitebeard, but he was a horrendous match against Dragon.

It was like asking a worm to take down a bird. 

The two were somewhat equivalent in all forms of haki as well, which meant that Dragon's devil fruit gave him a significant advantage. 

But thanks to his endurance and tough skin, the Worm Elder was still able to hold on for now. 

The same could not be said for Nusjuro. The half-transformed Elder tried his best to keep his enemies at bay, but Mihawk and Zoro alone were difficult for him to deal with in the past.

Now that Sanji was also added to the mix?

Well, let's just say that he couldn't really focus on helping any of the other Elders for now.

And certainly, none of them would have ever thought to focus on the body of Marco. 

Whitebeard in his final moments had been the only one to notice the blue flames eating away at Marco's body.

The Elders and their now many enraged opponents couldn't spare a glance at the body of Whitebeard's first mate and oldest son. 

Ace was off fighting against Pacifistas, as his skills were not deemed enough to deal with the elders like Marco, but if he had been nearby, he would have certainly recognized what his older brother was going through. 

Marco's body was being completely turned to ash by the flames that had once made up his transformed phoenix body.

And the moment it fully turned to ash, that was when it happened.

To call it a burst of flames would have been an understatement, no it was more aking to a pillar of blue light. 

It immediately caught the attention of everyone on the battlefield nearby, as many of them couldn't quite grasp what was happening exactly. 

At first, Francisco thought that maybe Enel was giving them a helping hand, and missing...

But that was unlikely, Enel was clearly not doing good for himself since he had to resort to such a destructive attack. 

'Don't tell me...' Nusjuro's eyes widened, his attention slipping from his fight for a moment, which led to him being stabbed in the body twice, and his neck being twisted by a powerful kick. 

But he was the first one to notice it. The strange figure formed within those flames.

It was only when a foreign aura descended onto the battlefield did the others all realised what was happening as well.

The crushing pressure that appeared now was that of a gigantic bird, its body and feathers built of blueish golden flames, its talons and beak built of solid dark blue flame. 

A pair of round, fiery eyes, and a tail built of feathers of all colours... 

All of the people on the battlefield realized who it was. And what his appearance meant. 

'That damned Pheonix Annoyance awakened?!?' Saturn's face twisted in anger, his expression coated in blood as his head was still healing from being split open. 

Marco blinked a few times, unsure of what had happened, of what he had achieved. 

He looked at his wings, much larger than ever before. He looked at his body, feeling much stronger than ever before.

It was almost as if, up to that point, he had merely been a fragment of what he could have been. Nothing more than a fallen feather of a Mythical Beast. 

His mind felt clearer, unbothered... Reborn. 

After all, it was the fate of the Phoenix to always rise from the ashes. 

And when Marco's eyes landed on his father's body, they turned red.

And it was time for the Elders to also experience it. The fiery rage of a real phoenix. 

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Hello there! 

Not much from me, just want to finish uploading and go sleep, bye! Hope you're well tho ;)

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