The sudden appearance of Marine and the Red-Haired Pirates caught both Elior and Big Mom off guard.

But when Elior thought about it, this was probably going to turn into a battle between a crane and a clam, with the fisherman reaping the benefits. There was no way the Marines wouldn't show up. With Akainu's personality, Elior figured the man probably dreamed every night of tearing him into thousands of pieces.

Still, if Elior wasn't confident, he never would have come here.

Even though the Marines couldn't properly gauge Big Mom's strength, Elior knew full well — after all, he was familiar with how things played out in Wano. There, Big Mom and Kaido had fought for a full day and night before ending in a draw.

To put it bluntly, Big Mom's power was equal to Kaido's.

And if Elior could defeat Kaido, then naturally, he could defeat Big Mom as well.

As for the arrival of the Red-Haired Pirates, Elior wasn't surprised in the least.

Wherever there's a fight, the red-haired man shows up!

Shanks was nothing but a peacemaker.

Sooner or later, Elior would send him down to meet Roger.

Boom!

At that moment, Elior's right leg dropped like a battle axe from the sky, slamming toward Big Mom. She caught the strike with her left hand, but the impact sent a violent shockwave in every direction, blowing away the surrounding dust.

The ice beneath them cracked under the pressure, and Zeus struggled desperately under her weight.

"Ma…ma…" ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novｅlfire.net

Zeus groaned in misery. Big Mom's weight was already beyond imagination, and Elior's kick had only made it worse. It felt like a mountain pressing down on him, his body on the verge of being crushed.

"Shut up!"

Big Mom didn't care about her homie's suffering.

"Brat, the Marines and Red Hair are both here, you know?"

"Even if they are, that won't stop me from beating you down first!"

Elior flipped midair, bringing his right leg down again like a guillotine.

Crash!

Big Mom and Zeus were smashed into the ice, followed by a violent explosion that sent up thick smoke.

It wasn't that Big Mom couldn't withstand Elior's strike — it was Zeus who couldn't handle it anymore.

For all his stubbornness, the poor thundercloud had begun to falter after over an hour of this relentless battle.

When Big Mom crashed onto the ice, the ground caved in, forming a massive crater beneath the smoke.

Elior hovered above using Moonwalk.

From within the haze, a flaming whip shot upward.

"Hm?"

"Almost forgot about her tricks…"

A massive whip of fire lashed toward him. Elior didn't dodge. Instead, he crossed his two blades, Enma and Ame-no-Habakiri, and blocked the attack head-on.

Bang!

The fiery whip stopped cold against his crossed swords, then scattered into sparks. The air around them grew oppressively hot.

"This flame… it's even stronger than Flame Fruit's fire."

Elior couldn't help but mutter. Big Mom's powers allowed her to manipulate natural elements like fire, lightning, and even the sea itself. Not long ago, she had summoned a tsunami—if she wanted to sink an island with it, she could do so with ease.

Now, her flames pressed hard against Elior's swords, heating the steel until it hissed.

Szzzt…

Crackling arcs of lightning suddenly danced from Elior's hands, wrapping around his blades.

Boom!

In a flash, the lightning erupted into a violent thunderclap, shattering the flaming whip in an instant.

"You dare compete with me in lightning?"

Below, Big Mom's hair and clothes whipped wildly as her eyes glowed with fury. Planting Napoleon into the ice, she grabbed Zeus in her left hand and tore the air with her right.

Rumble!

A colossal bolt of lightning surged forth, colliding with Elior's.

The deafening explosion echoed for miles, lightning tearing across the battlefield and turning the skies into chaos. The ice shattered beneath their feet, fragments flung away by the storm.

"Monsters! Can anyone even defeat them?!"

"Terrifying… If I get too close, one stray bolt could rip me apart!"

"Just watching from here makes me feel powerless…"

The ordinary Marines trembled in fear, even from kilometers away. To them, one strike of lightning could annihilate them instantly.

Akainu and the other top officers remained silent, biding their time.

Eventually, both sides would be exhausted, or one would die while the other burned through their strength. Either way, Marine Headquarters would be the one to benefit. If they could crush two Yonko forces in one stroke, it would be a monumental victory.

Of course, that was the ideal outcome. And with the Red-Haired Pirates here, the best scenario was that they stayed on the sidelines as spectators.

As the clash of thunder reached its peak, Big Mom was finally blasted away.

Elior's mastery of lightning came naturally to him, while Big Mom's control over it relied entirely on Zeus. If Zeus was destroyed, she would lose her grip on lightning altogether.

But even beyond that, Elior's signature technique was a weapon so powerful it rivaled even the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

Big Mom's massive body was sent crashing dozens of meters away, smashing through the ice with a thunderous impact.

"Mama!"

Smoothie cried out in panic, her voice trembling as she saw black smoke rising from her mother's body.

But Shiryu was already moving, his cursed blade flashing. He wasn't about to let her distraction go unpunished.

The strike landed, sending Smoothie flying.

"Getting distracted on the battlefield… that's a bad habit."

Shiryu sneered, charging in for another attack.