At that very moment, one of Whitebeard's sons, the captain of an allied crew, Great Vortex Spider Squard, was steadily approaching him from behind.
"To save Ace, you'd sacrifice all of us!"
He kept his head low, his gaze fixed malevolently on Whitebeard's back as the dark thought consumed him.
"Die!"
Squard suddenly leaped, flipping his longsword in his grip and thrusting it violently toward Whitebeard's back.
CRACKLE!
But just as the blade was about to find its mark, a violet bolt of lightning erupted with a deafening crack, tearing through the air to appear instantly before Squard.
The lightning plasma roiled and surged, coalescing into the form of a dragon that slammed into Squard with unparalleled force.
BOOM!
The thunderous impact was immense. The sheer power coursing through Squard's body brought his charge to a dead stop before sending him flying backward like a cannonball, blasting a crater into the ground where he landed.
But Ryuuto had still underestimated Squard's resolve.
Even as he was sent flying, the longsword flew from his grasp but still managed to slice a deep gash across Whitebeard's back.
"Squard, why would you do this?" Whitebeard roared, turning to face his attacker as pain shot through him.
"Pops!!"
The division commanders who witnessed the betrayal cried out, their eyes wide with disbelief and rage.
But Squard was in no condition to answer Whitebeard's question.
"Chidori Nagashi!"
With a sharp cry from Ryuuto, a blinding torrent of violet lightning erupted outwards. Countless tendrils of electricity shot out in all directions, completely engulfing both Ryuuto and Squard in a storm of electrical energy.
Jean Bart approached with heavy, deliberate steps.
"Whitebeard, your opponent is me!"
Seizing the moment of Whitebeard's distraction, Akainu's right arm transformed into magma, launching a searing fist in a straight line toward Whitebeard's chest in a Meigo attack.
Fortunately, for a man like Whitebeard, the wound from Squard was merely a flesh wound.
He swung his massive bisento, cleaving through the air toward the incoming magma fist.
A shattering sound echoed as the very space around the blade fractured. The magma attack broke apart into countless harmless pieces that rained down onto the battlefield.
Seeing his attack fail, Akainu leaped away, vanishing from sight.
Meanwhile, back with Ryuuto, a powerful fist from Jean Bart came crashing down, smashing into the already unconscious Squard and silencing him for good.
"Another 10,000 reputation points in the bag!"
Ryuuto stood up, nodding in satisfaction.
"Not only that, but I managed to save Whitebeard. A true man might die in battle, but he should never fall to a coward's sneak attack!" Ryuuto thought to himself.
"It failed? Ryuuto must die today!"
Watching from the execution platform, Fleet Admiral Sengoku ground his teeth in frustration.
With a furious roar, a brilliant golden light erupted from his body. He began to grow at an astonishing rate, transforming into a colossal golden Buddha.
This was the power of the Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit: the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Daibutsu.
Sengoku was enraged. If this continued, Whitebeard might actually succeed in rescuing Ace. His grand, broadcasted execution would become a global laughingstock.
"Garp, I'm leaving this to you!"
Sengoku bellowed, and with a single leap, his massive Buddha form landed in the heart of the battlefield.
His 30-meter-tall frame was an awe-inspiring and terrifying sight.
BOOM!
Sengoku's target was Ryuuto. He aimed a single palm, and with a deafening roar, a powerful shockwave blasted toward him.
"Sengoku, have you no shame, attacking a junior!"
Whitebeard's voice boomed. He swung his bisento, sending an identical shockwave crashing back.
BOOM!
The two shockwaves collided in front of the execution platform, creating a massive explosion. The powerful aftershock sent nearby Marine soldiers and pirate fodder flying in all directions.
"Is this the power of a Fleet Admiral and a Yonko?"
Smoker exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, his fists clenched tightly as the thought crossed his mind.
His body then dissolved into smoke.
When he reappeared, he was standing directly in front of Luffy.
BAM!
He swung his Seastone-tipped jitte, landing a solid blow on Luffy.
The rubber man went flying.
"You shall not pass while I am here!" Smoker growled, two cigars clamped between his teeth.
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
Seeing Sengoku join the fray, Kizaru leaped into the air and, with a token effort, unleashed a signature move on Marco. Countless beams of light rained down upon the phoenix.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The light beams struck home, but Marco, in his full phoenix form, absorbed every single one.
It was a textbook attack. All smoke and no fire. Shielded by his regenerative blue Flames of Rebirth, Marco was completely unharmed.
Ryuuto, meanwhile, began to casually stroll toward Vice Admiral Onigumo.
This display of nonchalance only enraged Sengoku further.
"Dai Funka!" Akainu roared, having just dispatched another pirate. He raised his right arm high, launching a volley of massive magma fists into the sky.
"They disappeared?"
The pirate fodder looked up, quickly losing sight of the magma fists against the sky.
RUMBLE...
A moment later, to their utter horror, the countless magma fists began to rain down from the heavens, accelerating to terrifying speeds.
"Look out! Be careful!"
The pirates screamed in terror, scattering in a desperate attempt to dodge the massive fireballs of molten rock.
Whitebeard's eyes narrowed. He tossed his bisento into the air, cracked his knuckles, and prepared to shatter the very air to block the meteor shower.
But Aokiji, who had vanished moments before, reappeared as a trail of chilling mist.
He materialized right beside Whitebeard.
"Ice Age!"
With Aokiji's cry, lines of frost shot out. As he moved past, countless shards of ice grew rapidly from Whitebeard's feet, completely encasing the Yonko in a solid block of ice in less than a second.
Aokiji stood his ground, exhaling a cold breath, his expression unusually grim.
CRACK...
As expected, a sharp sound echoed out as the ice shattered, and Whitebeard reemerged.
But Aokiji had only needed to buy a few seconds. Without Whitebeard's interference, the magma fists slammed into the battlefield.
The Moby Dick was instantly split in two by a direct hit.
Countless pirate fodder were killed in the fiery explosions.
The battlefield devolved into a scene of utter carnage, filled with the agonizing screams of dying pirates.
"You bastards! I'll kill you all!"
Whitebeard was incandescent with rage.
But Sengoku gave him no respite. He aimed a palm at Whitebeard, firing another shockwave. With his immense body, he pivoted, using his other fist to knock Whitebeard's bisento flying.
BOOM!
The powerful shockwave blasted toward the now-disarmed Whitebeard.
With no time to breathe, Whitebeard could only clench his right fist and punch the air in front of him, using the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit to block the attack.
"This is looking bad! A gauntlet against two Admirals and the Fleet Admiral... Whitebeard's stamina won't last long at this rate," Ryuuto thought, quickening his pace.
CRACK!
With a sound like splintering space, Sengoku's shockwave was stopped.
Then, one of Akainu's Meigo attacks shot toward Whitebeard, a powerful magma fist closing the distance at incredible speed.
Just as Ryuuto had guessed, the three of them were intent on wearing Whitebeard down.
Ryuuto gripped his sword, Kuiryuzan, and stomped his foot. His figure vanished, reappearing an instant later at Vice Admiral Onigumo's side.
"Conqueror's Thunder Kill!"
With a soft cry, a violent torrent of purple lightning erupted from Kuiryuzan's blade as he swung.
Onigumo, a master of Life Return, coated his long hair in Armament Haki. The hair, acting as extra limbs, wielded ten swords that slashed out toward Ryuuto.
Ten slashes of pale blue energy shot forth instantly!
BOOM!
But he had clearly underestimated Ryuuto's power.
The divine lightning, crackling with heavenly might, instantly devoured his slashes and continued on, carrying an aura of absolute destruction as it swept toward him.
"How is that possible? You can't even call that a slash anymore!"
Onigumo was shaken to his core. He quickly brought all twelve of his swords up to block.
BOOM!
The lightning strike arrived in a flash, crashing into Onigumo and erupting in a brilliant explosion of purple light that completely consumed him.
"Ooh, Ryuuto, we meet again!"
At that moment, Kizaru appeared beside Ryuuto in a flash of light, his Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven already swinging down.
But that wasn't all.
Ryuuto also felt several transparent threads tightening around his body.
"Well now, looks like they're ganging up to take me out!"
Ryuuto cursed inwardly. A quick glance confirmed his suspicion: Doflamingo was hiding among the Marine ranks, his fingers twitching.
CLANG!
Ryuuto raised Kuiryuzan to block Kizaru's attack.
"Kizaru, we're all just punching a clock here. Why try so hard?" Ryuuto called out as he parried the blow, deftly dodging the invisible threads and leaping backward.
"Have you forgotten? We have a score to settle!"
Kizaru adjusted his glasses with a lazy smile before transforming into a beam of light and rushing toward Ryuuto again.
"Kizaru, your opponent is me!"
"This man is our benefactor! We won't just stand by and watch!"
Marco, in his phoenix form, swooped in. His sharp talons clamped down on the Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven, blocking Kizaru's attack.
Not far from Marco, the Fifth Division Commander, "Flower Sword" Vista, stood ready, his twin swords pointed directly at Kizaru.
"What a pain," Kizaru said, rubbing his chin with a helpless expression. He then dissolved into countless particles of light and vanished.
"Thanks, Marco! But I'm not that weak!" Ryuuto said with a grateful nod as the immediate crisis passed.
At that moment, Onigumo reappeared. The hair that held his extra swords was now severed, and a trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth.
Clearly, blocking Ryuuto's attack had not been easy.
Seeing his chance, Vista charged forward, a shower of flower petals trailing behind him, and engaged Onigumo with his twin swords.
"Divine Punishment!"
Ryuuto declared softly, pointing Kuiryuzan directly at Doflamingo.
High above, in the ten-thousand-meter-high island clouds, a deep rumble echoed. A moment later, a massive bolt of blue lightning descended from the heavens, aimed precisely at Doflamingo's position.
"The captain is fighting. It's our turn!" Vivi said quietly, beginning her preparations.
It all happened in an instant.
From the perspective of the Marine soldiers on the ground, they saw Ryuuto point his sword, and a bolt of lightning came crashing down.
BOOM!
The one-hundred-thousand-volt bolt descended with heavenly authority. It was so fast that neither Doflamingo nor the surrounding soldiers had time to react before they were engulfed in the storm of blue lightning.
A large crater was instantly blasted into the ground.
Doflamingo's condition was dire. Standing at the bottom of the pit, his red sunglasses were shattered from the attack. His body was covered in small, blackened wounds, and smoke rose from his skin.
But it wasn't over. Gripping his black blade, Kuiryuzan, Ryuuto stomped his foot and shot into the crater.
"Black Dragon: Hunt!"
With a soft cry, a flash of black lightning erupted, and Ryuuto became a black streak, his blade slashing across Doflamingo's body.
BAM!
Before Doflamingo could react, a brilliant spray of blood erupted from his chest, and he was sent flying.
He crashed heavily to the ground.
"And he's a rookie pirate?" Marco's eyes nearly popped out of his head. Even he would have trouble withstanding a combo like that.
"Good thing Ryuuto is on our side," Marco thought, before spreading his wings and flying toward the execution platform again.
Meanwhile, Luffy was running toward the platform under the protection of "Diamond" Jozu. Jinbe had already fallen behind, locked in a battle with Vice Admiral Doberman.
Jozu and Luffy were now facing Kizaru.
The Admiral had resumed his usual brand of lazy marksmanship, firing powerful beams of light that either harmlessly struck Jozu's diamond body or grazed Luffy's scalp before hitting the ground.
Seeing his chance, Marco seized the opening and flew straight for the execution platform, intent on saving Ace himself.
"As long as I am here, no one will save Ace!"
As Marco drew closer, Garp slowly rose to his feet. With a thunderous roar, he stomped the ground and threw a punch wreathed in black and red lightning, smashing it directly into Marco's head.
POW!
Marco was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing hard into the ground below.
"That hurts!" Marco cried out in pain. It was the first time he had ever been so seriously injured.
Back with Ryuuto, he watched Doflamingo, a strange feeling nagging at him. As Doflamingo's fingers twitched, Ryuuto noticed the ground itself beginning to ripple.
This made him hesitate to press the attack.
"This must be his Awakening!"
Ryuuto thought, swinging Kuiryuzan and sending a silver slash toward his opponent.
BOOM!
Just as he suspected, as the slash approached, the ground itself transformed into countless white threads, which twisted and rose up like a wave to meet his attack.
"Raging Billows of White Thread!"
Doflamingo's voice was soft as he slowly sat up. The wound on his chest had already been stitched closed with his own threads.
Several massive waves of thread, all imbued with Armament Haki, crashed toward Ryuuto from different angles.
His simple slash was instantly crushed by the attack.
"As I thought, he's not so easy to deal with."
"Raijin!"
Ryuuto stood his ground. The divine lightning in his heart pulsed violently as immense purple energy surged out, coalescing around his body.
BOOM!
A shockwave erupted outwards as a massive, multi-story-tall avatar of a purple Thunder God materialized around him. Golden patterns swirled across its form, giving it an air of profound mystery.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye.