One Piece: Surrounded at Marineford? Just kidding!

Chapter 628: The Strongest Nightmare Monster!

The wind and snow raged wildly over the ruins of the royal city of Elbaf.

Somaz Saint dragged his jet-black longsword. He brutally smashed through the lightning net Nami had laid out. Blue-white arcs of electricity bounced wildly across the surface of his black armor, unable to harm him in the slightest. Like a ferocious black beast, he plunged headlong into the swirling snow and ruins ahead.

On the jet-black shoulder armor, a single red light flickered. It was the tracking pollen that Usopp had desperately managed to hit. The red dot stood out starkly against the edge of the abyss-like black armor.

Nami gripped her Clima-Tact tightly. The wind whipped her long orange hair into a frenzy. Her gaze was fixed on the rapidly moving red dot. That direction led directly to the safe zone where the giant children had been evacuated.

"Usopp. Don't let him out of sight."

Nami screamed at the top of her lungs. Her voice trembled weakly in the cold wind. She bit her lip until it bled. Once that monster rushed into the evacuation zone, only one-sided slaughter awaited the children.

On the half-collapsed, crumbling wall, Usopp stood in a contorted posture.

My legs were shaking like a leaf.

His knees and heels pounded into the frozen ground beneath his feet, creating cracks. Cold sweat soaked his back. Yet his hands remained terrifyingly steady.

The black slingshot was pulled to its full length.

The rubber band creaked under the strain.

Usopp stared intently into the depths of the snowstorm. With trembling fingers, he inserted the specially made explosive bullet into the rubber band. Dark Armament Haki surged from his fingertips, rapidly winding around the bullet's outer shell, forming fine, hard patterns.

The crosshair was locked on the back of Somaz's head.

A fatal blind spot.

Somaz Saint's steps suddenly stopped.

The murderous intent emanating from behind was chilling.

He slightly turned his shoulder. Thick black mist seeped from the gaps in his armor, preparing to protect the back of his neck.

"Don't even think about running away."

Before Usopp could complete his defense, a beastly roar escaped his throat.

The fingers gripping the rubber band suddenly loosened.

The powerful projectiles cleaved through the wind and snow.

A sharp, explosive sound rang out.

The bullet followed the scent of pollen with pinpoint accuracy. Its trajectory was extremely treacherous. It drew a strange arc in mid-air, avoiding the falling slab of stone. It flew past the edge of the broken iron pillar. Unstoppable, it aimed precisely at Saint Somaz's blind spot on the back of the neck.

The bullet was less than a meter from the back of his head.

Death is approaching.

The Qilin Gom Saint in the center of the battlefield moved.

He didn't turn to chase Usopp. Nor did he draw his weapon. He stood there, his hands suddenly clasped together.

A dull thud.

A ring of dark red magic patterns burst open from the palm of his hand.

Qilin Gom Saint frantically forced the remaining demonic energy within his body towards his chest. Black mist, like a burst dam, erupted from the gaps in his armor. The thick black mist rapidly gathered and tangled in mid-air, instantly coalescing into a dense, black cloud of water ten meters in diameter before everyone.

The water clouds had no fixed shape. They writhed eerily in the air, emitting a nauseating, putrid stench.

Brook moved with incredible speed, becoming a blur of gray and white. He swung the Soul-Slaying Sword, slicing through the edge of the water and clouds. The chilling air of the underworld poured down the blade, carrying an extreme cold.

The pale green, cold air had just touched the edge of the black water cloud.

A sudden change occurred.

The pure white frost that had formed on the sword was instantly stained black. A strange corrosive power flowed back wildly along with the cold air.

Brooke's hand, gripping the sword, cracked. Tiny black spots appeared on the surface of the bones.

Brook felt a chill run down his spine. He immediately drew his sword and took half a step back.

"Everyone be careful. This is not an ordinary current."

The will-o'-the-wisps flickered violently in Brooke's empty eye sockets.

"It lies in the corrosive power itself."

The cold air of the underworld can corrode it. The origin of this black cloud is beyond comprehension.

Before the words were even finished, the interior of the black cloud began to churn violently.

A giant, semi-transparent black hand suddenly stretched out.

The palm was astonishingly large. Its surface was covered in fish-scale patterns resembling those of a sea monster. Black streaks of water flowed between the thick fingers, dripping onto the frozen ground and instantly corroding deep pits.

The giant hand swooped down in mid-air, precisely grabbing the deadly bullet.

The explosive bullet slammed into the giant black water hand.

The moment the projectile made contact, it exploded in a dazzling flash. The flash lasted only a moment before it was firmly gripped by five thick, black fingers.

Black liquid seeped through the gaps between his fingers and into the center of the explosion.

Its incredibly tough and imposing outer shell, however, becomes as fragile as paper under the corrosive influence of the black water. It is relentlessly peeled away and dissolved.

A dull cracking sound.

The specially crafted bullet, into which all hopes were poured, was crushed into powder by the giant hand and vanished with the wind.

In that instant, Somaz escaped the dead end.

He didn't look back. His figure was stretched long and thin by the black mist. He glided quickly away into the distance, clinging to the heavy shadows at the edge of the ruins. Red dots flickered in the shadows. He was getting closer and closer to the evacuation zone.

Usopp gritted his teeth. He immediately reached for his ammunition pouch and loaded a second special bullet.

A gigantic black hand of water blocked the way. The black cloud continued to expand. All firing routes were completely blocked. No matter the angle of attack, it was impossible to bypass this black barrier.

"The insects' struggles are always so pale and powerless."

A sinister grin escaped Qilin Gom's throat.

He opened his arms and tilted his head back.

The ten-meter-wide black cloud was violently reshaped. The water flow stretched out completely in mid-air, forming a huge human-shaped silhouette.

A ten-meter-tall, semi-transparent black shadow stood in the center of the battlefield.

Its body was long and twisted like a venomous snake. A crest of fins, resembling those of a deep-sea monster, grew atop its head. Its face was smooth and featureless, radiating a deathly stillness. At the very center of its chest, a ring of dark red water ripples slowly rotated.

A sense of oppression.

The weight of the mountains, as solid as a mountain, pressed down on everyone's shoulders.

The air was sucked out. Difficulty breathing.

Kirin Gom Saint looked down at the pirates.

"This is what I can summon right now."

"The strongest nightmare monster. The God of Rain."

As soon as he finished speaking, the skin on the back of his neck suddenly swelled up.

Several ancient marks representing the bloodline of the Celestial Dragons emerged beneath the skin. These marks were illuminated one by one by the black liquid surging from within the body, emitting an eerie dark red glow.

The god of rain is not a physical entity.

It is a nightmare projection forcibly manifested by Kirin Gom Saint using the demonic energy within his body, combined with the memories of the Celestial Dragons' bloodline. Every inch of its power originates from the demonic energy supplied by Kirin Gom Saint.

Even if it's just a projection, its destructive power is beyond reason.

His faceless head was slightly lowered.

It raised its long, slender black arms.

Splash!

Thick, black water cascaded down like a waterfall from the crests of the arms and the crests of the fins above the head. Seemingly ordinary rainfall, it possessed a destructive, corrosive power.

Several huge building stone slabs were splashed with black water.

The surface is hard stone. Upon contact, a pungent white smoke is emitted. Numerous corrosion holes appear.

Within seconds, it became riddled with holes. It shattered with a deafening roar.

Franky couldn't dodge in time.

A heavy bulletproof steel plate at his feet was hit by a splatter. A plate strong enough to withstand artillery fire. Within three seconds, it rapidly rusted and became brittle, turning into a pool of reddish-brown metal fragments. A gust of wind scattered them without a trace.

"What the hell is this thing?"

Franky roared and backed away.

Nami clenched her teeth tightly.

He brandished the weather staff. A black cloud of violent lightning rapidly condensed in mid-air.

The black water washed over the thunderclouds. The thunderclouds, like ice meeting boiling water, were instantly dispersed. The raging blue-white arcs of electricity, suppressed by the black water, were crushed into broken blue specks of light and completely extinguished.

The defenses are crumbling.

"Super double-barreled attack."

Franky was utterly enraged. His heavy shoulder armor fully deployed, locking onto the Rain God's chest.

Two blinding blue high-energy laser beams, accompanied by a deafening roar, slammed into the target.

A laser beam traverses space, about to pierce the chest rippled with dark red water.

The God of Rain moved extremely fast.

Black water gathered at his chest, instantly forming a thick, swirling curtain of water.

boom.

A blue laser beam struck the water curtain, unleashing a burst of intense light. The black water curtain remained unbroken, spinning rapidly and forcefully deflecting the destructive force outwards.

The beam of light grazed past the side of the Qilin Gom Saint, collapsing a large section of stone wall in the distance. Smoke and dust filled the sky.

"An eyesore of bugs."

Qilin Gom Saint snorted coldly.

He seized the precise moment when Franky's attack missed. The four-man formation was completely thrown into chaos. A heavy fist enveloped in dark demonic energy suddenly rose, crossed the defensive line, and aimed at the edge of the deep pit behind them. He slammed down with a powerful punch.

Boom!

The earth trembled. A violent fist, carrying fragments of black crystal, smashed through the rock strata at the edge of the crater. Huge boulders, accompanied by collapsing soil, plummeted towards the bottom of the pit.

"Oh no. Zoro and Sanji are still down there."

Nami's face turned deathly pale. She and Brook had no choice but to abandon their frontal defense and desperately retreat, swinging their Clima-Tact and Soul Reaper to intercept the boulders.

The formation was completely torn apart.

At the end of the ruins. A raging blizzard.

Somaz Saint's shadow blended into the wind and snow.

The red glow of pollen lingered on the shoulder armor, drawing a red line through the stark white landscape. It stretched resolutely towards the children's evacuation zone.

The distance is getting closer and closer.

On the other side of the battlefield, despair descends.

The Rain God's massive black water body surged forward, like a black river bursting its banks, cascading wildly down the walls of the deep pit.

The highly corrosive black water hissed as it melted the stone walls and spread downwards.

Bottom of the deep pit.

Chopper, drenched in sweat, held down Zoro's right arm. Sanji's broken bone was lodged at the edge of his lung. There was nowhere left to retreat.

The deadly black waterfall. Their location.

Less than ten meters.