"Hahaha, I didn't expect a Celestial Dragon like you to have some skill! Come on, let's go again!" Li Yuan laughed excitedly, charging once more at Garlins Saint.
He had assessed that Garlins Saint, still young and not at his peak, hadn't even eaten a Devil Fruit yet. His current strength, weaker than Kong's, made him a feasible target to kill.
"Three Elements Unity Secret: Conqueror's Infusion – Heaven Shattering Earth Destroying Slash!" Li Yuan descended from the sky like a meteor, his sword intent solidifying into the image of Mount Tai.
The destructive aura on his Seven Star Sword promised to collapse the sky and annihilate the earth!
"One Sword Style: Whirlwind Slash!" Garlins Saint retaliated, unleashing a storm of razor-sharp blades that formed a tornado, aiming to shatter the descending meteor with their deadly force.
"Boom, boom, boom!!!" However, the overwhelming presence descending from the sky crushed everything beneath it, obliterating the bladed tornado with invincible might.
The Seven Star Sword, like a mountain, pressed down on Garlins Saint's sword, Rifting Wind Flowing Water. Garlins Saint, holding it, felt intense pain as blood spewed from his mouth.
As Garlins Saint attempted to shake Li Yuan off, Li Yuan deftly shifted his sword's momentum, slicing horizontally towards Garlins Saint's abdomen.
Caught off guard, Garlins Saint's abdomen was slashed by the Seven Star Sword, narrowly avoiding disembowelment by instinctively retreating.
Despite avoiding a fatal blow, a deep, three-centimeter wound spanned his abdomen.
Garlins Saint remained calm, despite the injury, retracting his sword to thrust at Li Yuan's heart.
Unafraid, Li Yuan mirrored the attack, aiming for Garlins Saint's heart.
Both moved with identical speed towards vital points. A retreat by either would prevent injury, but both were relentless, willing to endure injury to strike each other.
At the crucial moment, both dodged aside, covering themselves with Armament Haki for defense, and thrust their swords.
"Slash!!" x2 The Seven Star Sword and Rifting Wind Flowing Water pierced each other's bodies, their supreme-grade blades cutting through Armament Haki's defense.
Li Yuan's sword pierced Garlins Saint, while Rifting Wind Flowing Water was halted by Li Yuan's muscles, unable to penetrate further.
"Impossible!!" Garlins Saint, shocked and angered, spat blood as his strategy failed. His body was pierced, yet Li Yuan suffered only minor injury, rendering his tactic ineffective.
"Bang!!!" x2 Both kicked each other simultaneously, sending one another flying, withdrawing their swords from each other's bodies.
"Cough, cough!!!" Garlins Saint immediately used Life Return to seal his wound, but the intense pain from the three sword intents and the blood loss from the cursed sword hindered recovery.
"Your physique is far inferior to mine!" Li Yuan smirked internally. His body, tempered with advanced Haki, was unmatched by Garlins Saint's, making Garlins Saint's strategy a miscalculation.
"Hahaha, let's go again!!" Seeing Garlins Saint's battered state, Li Yuan laughed heartily, launching a relentless barrage with his Seven Star Sword.
His wild, unpredictable swordsmanship, exploiting every opening, overwhelmed Garlins Saint, a great swordsman.
Garlins Saint's balanced swordsmanship was no match for Li Yuan's monstrous skill.
Li Yuan, leveraging his formidable physique and daring tactics, forced Garlins Saint into exchanges, knowing Garlins Saint wouldn't repeat the mistake of trading blows.
Reluctant to risk injury after realizing Li Yuan's resilience, Garlins Saint retreated, unable to withstand Li Yuan's aggression.
This left Garlins Saint frustrated, his moves countered, his attacks neutralized, his physique and skill outmatched, and injured from the outset.
Li Yuan controlled the battle, dictating its pace.
On the island, Garlins Saint wasn't the only one overwhelmed. CP0 Deputy Chief Segun Kolmi, a mercury Logia user, was countered by Golden Lion's Float-Float powers, steadily losing ground.
Golden Lion, capable of manipulating seawater, islands, and rocks, wielded a flight advantage, making Segun's defeat or death merely a matter of time.
The Five Elders, despite having admiral-level power, were rusty from lack of combat and faltered against Whitebeard and others.
Their mythical Zoan regeneration barely maintained a stalemate.
Science Defense God Saturn Saint faced the worst, Whitebeard's seismic power devastating despite his mythical Zoan healing.
Even with this power, Saturn Saint doubted his endurance against Whitebeard's relentless assault.
Though he healed, the energy cost of regeneration loomed, and once depleted, defeat was certain.
"Gurararara, so this is the Five Elders? Weaker than I imagined!" Whitebeard laughed, blocking Saturn Saint's spider legs with his naginata, then charged a quake in his fist.
"Airquake!" As his fist struck, space fractured, an invisible shockwave engulfing Saturn Saint's demon bull form, bypassing its defenses to rupture internal organs.
"Damn Whitebeard!!" Saturn Saint, flung back hundreds of meters by the quake, was furious, feeling humiliated to be overpowered by a pirate.
Like against Rocks, years ago, he was outmatched, his pride crushed.
Whitebeard, nearing Rocks' power, tormented him.
"Gurararara, the Five Elders are no match!" Whitebeard mocked, charging to continue punishing Saturn Saint.
He held back, not using full strength or delivering lethal blows.
Unlike the ambitious Golden Lion and Li Yuan, Whitebeard had no desire to kill the Five Elders.
Killing an Elder would provoke severe retaliation from the World Government, which the Whitebeard Pirates couldn't withstand.
Their alliance, based on shared interests, was fragile, unlikely to endure the Government's vengeance.
Therefore, despite his capacity to kill Saturn Saint, Whitebeard refrained, unwilling to endanger his sons.
John and others fighting the Elders shared his sentiment.
Though lacking the power to kill an Elder, they focused on delaying tactics, waiting for their crews to seize treasure and retreat safely.
"Hahaha, Celestial Dragons, you're supposed to be so high and mighty. Why are you scared, wetting yourselves at the sight of me?" Wald, finding fleeing Celestial Dragons, laughed after easily dispatching two elite Divine Knights.
"You, you filthy pirate, dare insult and kill the noble Celestial Dragons! You'll pay for this!!" Some defiant Celestial Dragons cursed Wald.
As world rulers, it was a grave insult to be threatened by a mere pirate.
In other times, even a commoner harming them would warrant a vice admiral's response.
Now, this pirate dared kill multiple Celestial Dragons!
Regret filled them for not securing stronger protection, foolishly trusting the Divine Knights and Elders.
Given another chance, they'd demand their families dispatch protectors for their safety.
"Die!!" Wald, seeing defiant Celestial Dragons, swiftly decapitated the boldest.
"Hahaha, what of Celestial Dragons? I'm Wald, unafraid! I'll kill you all and destroy this tedious world!" Wald laughed, mercilessly slaughtering over twenty Celestial Dragons, then seeking new targets.
With the Navy overwhelmed, pirates flooded the island, slaughtering fleeing Celestial Dragons and their guards.
"Follow me, I've found the Celestial Dragons' escape route!" shouted Carlu from the sky.
Barrett, Carlu, and Ashura Doji of the Infinity Pirates led their crew to intercept the fleeing Celestial Dragons, as per Li Yuan's orders.
The Celestial Dragons couldn't carry much treasure, prioritizing small, valuable Devil Fruits, making them the Infinity Pirates' target.
Li Yuan didn't lack treasure; he needed Devil Fruits to empower his crew.
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