Chapter 196: Crisis
“Elbaf Spear: Ikkoku!”
The immensely powerful impact savagely tore apart everything along the way, charging straight toward Rayleigh, then directly colliding with the opponent’s saber wrapped in Haki.
Boom!
The powerful technique from the Giant Tribe unleashed extremely domineering power in the hands of Big Mom, this “human” whose brute force far exceeded that of ordinary giants.
Clang!!
Rayleigh was directly repelled by this move, his feet carving a long trail on the ground.
“What a troublesome woman!”
Glancing at Buggy and Shanks who were still being held hostage in the distance, Rayleigh had no intention of continuing to tangle with Big Mom. Taking advantage of the distance opened by this exchange, he directly charged from the side toward Oven.
“Where do you think you’re going? Rayleigh!”
“Sky Fire!”
Prometheus, who had been hiding on the side, was now yanked out by Big Mom and swung toward Rayleigh’s direction.
Sizzle~ Bang!
In an instant, a towering firewall emitting astonishing heat waves blocked his path ahead.
At the same time, Big Mom’s children and the other members of her pirate crew swarmed forward, instantly surrounding Rayleigh on all sides.
……
“Umit, let’s get farther away quick. Those monsters are about to fight.”
Since bodyguards weren’t allowed inside, Du Field and the others had no choice but to rely on their own legs to flee from the center of the battlefield.
“No need to tell me. Just take care of yourself.”
Umit lived up to his reputation as a transport expert, surpassing the pot-bellied Field in just a few steps.
“Haha! Field, you still have the mind to worry about others. With your speed, you’re probably going to be the last one left behind.”
The yellow Master Undertaker carrying his scythe also passed by Field’s side, then strode away.
“Me worry about him? I’m worried about the few billion Belly he owes me!”
“Besides, so what if I’m slow? I’m the yellow God of Fortune. I’ll definitely outlive all of you.”
“And besides, there’s still one more behind, right?”
Crack! Crack!
“Yah hahahahaha!”
“Fantastic!”
“This is just fantastic!”
“Big Mom’s conflict with the Underworld God! Big News, absolute Big News!”
After quickly snapping a few perfectly angled photographs, Morgans didn’t rush to flee but instead pulled out a pen and notepad on the scene.
He wanted to capture the atmosphere of the battlefield and jot down the phrases in his mind!
True war reporter!
……
“Big Mom, are you declaring war on our Roger Pirates?”
Rayleigh, at the center of the encirclement, looked at Big Mom before him and said in a low tone.
He knew Roger’s personality well. If anything happened to Shanks and Buggy, the only outcome would be all-out war between the Roger Pirates and Big Mom Pirates.
“Declaring war? Rayleigh, have you got something wrong?”
“It was your pirate crew’s brats who stole my thing! And now you’re turning around to threaten me?”
“Do you really think I’m afraid of you?!”
Standing in front of her many children and pirate crew members, Big Mom stood firm against Rayleigh’s declaration of war and had no intention of yielding.
“Zeus! Prometheus!”
“Y-yes, Mama!”
“Got it, Mama!”
Thundercloud Zeus and Little Sun Prometheus responded to Big Mom’s summons and instantly gathered by her side.
They were creations from Big Mom’s own soul, after all. Even though they still feared the Underworld God’s momentum, they couldn’t disobey Big Mom’s orders.
Flames erupted! Prometheus, originally like a warm little sun, burst into raging inferno flames all over his body, transforming in an instant into a flaming demon.
Thunder raged! The white and fluffy Zeus rapidly expanded in size, becoming a massive thunder-flashing dark cloud.
Seeing the opponent’s stance ready for all-out combat, Rayleigh abandoned any thought of negotiation.
He gripped the hilt tightly, overwhelming Haki instantly wrapping around it, while releasing his full momentum without restraint!
The sky suddenly grew overcast, the clouds surging endlessly from the clash of these two’s auras.
……
Inside the castle.
“This aura… it’s Mama! Mama is angry!”
Perospero, who had just brushed past Oven moments ago, suddenly straightened up. He was very familiar with this terrifying aura from outside.
Not just him—nearly all his younger brothers and sisters, as well as the members of Big Mom Pirates, were intimately familiar with this aura.
It was the anger of Big Mom Pirates’ captain, the Queen of Whole Cake Island.
“C-could it be because the cake hasn’t been delivered in too long, so the Gluttony…”
Perospero swallowed hard, not daring to think further.
Big Mom during a Gluttony episode was an absolute nightmare for everyone.
“Brother Perospero, hurry and deliver the Celebration Cake to Mama!”
“Brulee, get ready!”
Katakuri reminded from inside the Mirror space, a hint of anxiety in his tone as well.
“Leave it to me, Brother Katakuri.”
Understanding the severity, Brulee stood before the massive Celebration Cake, ready to activate her ability at any moment.
“I-I got it!”
Perospero suppressed his fear, personally hoisting one corner of the Mirror and running toward the venue.
“Hurry! Hurry! Get the cake to Mama before she causes too much destruction. Perorin~”
Clang!
Big Mom’s Emperor Sword clashed fiercely with Rayleigh’s saber. This time was no mere probe—both were going all out.
At the instant their weapons met, the Haki collision produced pitch-black lightning that tore space.
The entire venue was utterly destroyed, the earth cracking with the two at the center. Nearby structures were directly blasted into rubble by the shockwave.
And the ever-dedicated Morgans was also flung into the air by this collision.
“Gah!!!”
Plop plop~
Though originally unable to fly, he hurriedly spread his wings just before falling and began gliding with the wind, easily overtaking Du Field and the others who had already run a good distance.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Rayleigh and Big Mom’s battle continued, their blade clashes growing ever denser.
Big Mom’s heavy, sweeping attacks made the earth tremble each time.
In contrast, Rayleigh’s swordsmanship was far more exquisite, often deflecting massive force with minimal effort through subtle wrist flicks.
For the moment, they were evenly matched.
But the scales of victory couldn’t remain balanced forever. In this fight, the outnumbered Rayleigh was undoubtedly at a disadvantage.
“M-Mister Rayleigh…”
The utterly weakened Buggy noticed the battle and subconsciously called out.
“Buggy!”
“An opening!”
“Blade Mother Flames!”
A momentary distraction between experts was enough to break the balance. Prometheus’s flames wrapped around Napoleon, then erupted fiercely in the slash’s instant, blasting Rayleigh!
Boom!!!
The fierce explosion that followed directly engulfed his body!
Lacking Big Mom or Kaido’s innate powerful physique, Rayleigh—as an ordinary human—even with Haki protection, took heavy damage from this hit.
……
“Cough!”
“Cough cough!”
Before the flames had dispersed, a figure leaped out from them… Rayleigh, leaning on his sword, one hand clutching his chest, coughing loudly.
He was billowing black smoke all over, his windbreaker collar scorched, and one corner of his glasses cracked.
“Mama~ Mama~”
“Getting distracted in battle isn’t a good habit… Rayleigh.”
“Looks like you’re staying here today.”
Having gained the upper hand, Big Mom laughed triumphantly. In her view, Rayleigh was no longer her match—especially with hostages on her side.
She now aimed to capture him alive, not wanting to burn bridges completely and fully antagonize the Roger Pirates.
As a veteran of the God Valley Campaign, Big Mom knew full well how terrifying the man named Roger was. She didn’t want her hard-built Whole Cake Island destroyed over this.
With righteousness on her side and capturing the opponent’s First Mate, she could not only save face as Queen of Whole Cake Island but also leverage it to extract the secrets of the Poneglyphs!
Big Mom knew those seemingly useless Poneglyphs actually recorded world-shattering truths!
……
“Hey hey! That Rayleigh uncle seems to be in trouble.”
“Should we go help, Sister Waidi?”
Marco, now away from the battlefield, asked.
“No, no need.”
“Eh? But the Roger Pirates’ captain is Old Man’s friend, right? Really not going to help?”
Marco remembered his Old Man often mentioning the name ‘Roger,’ clearly on good terms.
“Yeah, because even if we went, we couldn’t help much.”
“That level of battle isn’t something we can intervene in.”
Waidi Bei explained.
As the leader of this team, she was responsible for safely escorting Marco and the others back.
……
“Whew~”
“Who would’ve thought Big Mom’s true strength was this overwhelming. Even Rayleigh isn’t a match.”
“He’s in for it now~ Hahaha!”
On the other side, Hainar, who had been watching up close, saw Rayleigh take a hit and began gloating.
From Big Mom’s intent, she planned to capture Rayleigh first, then make the Roger Pirates’ guys come ransom him.
If that happened, his side could muscle in too—Roger had always been elusive like a divine dragon, but this was a chance to catch him.
“By the way, your Beasts Pirates came with Rayleigh and them, right?”
“Not going to help?”
Hainar asked La beside him while pulling out a Den Den Mushi to report the situation to Shiki.
From the start, he had taken considerable interest in this golden little girl, keeping an eye on her throughout the ceremony.
But La had stayed quiet and composed without much talking, leaving Hainar uncertain about her background.
“Help?”
“Why?”
“I’m not actually that familiar with Mister Rayleigh.”
Though a rare silverware, it paled against a gem full of desire—Miss La had no interest in rescuing Rayleigh.
Unlike her outwardly gentle and kind demeanor, the Golden Girl was utterly indifferent toward things that didn’t pique her interest.
“Not familiar, huh… I saw those two brats calling you ‘sister, sister’ the whole time and thought you were friends.”
Hainar said, somewhat disappointed. He’d hoped to use this chance to probe the girl’s depths, but it seemed there’d be no opportunity.
“Sister?”
“You mean Buggy and Shanks?”
“True, compared to Mister Rayleigh, I’m definitely more concerned about those two little guys.”
La glanced at the motionless Shanks and the helpless, anxious Buggy. Seeing Rayleigh in peril, he suddenly mustered unexpected strength and began struggling fiercely again.
“Oh? So Miss La is planning to step in?”
Hainar perked up, but La just shook her head.
“No, not yet necessary.”
No sooner had the words left her mouth than a crimson meteor streaked from the field’s edge into the battlefield center. The blast wave from it passing through Prometheus’s firewall scattered the flames the next instant.
“Hm?”
“Ah!”
“I-it’s that guy!”
“Mama, Mama help!”
Sensing the pressure emanating from the close-range red menace, Zeus, Prometheus, and Napoleon instantly reverted to their original forms in fright, hiding behind Big Mom.
But it ignored the three trembling Homies, charging straight at Oven behind the firewall!
“Wha—!”
Sizzle!
“Urgh…!”
In a flash, before anyone could react, two golden thunder spears pierced Oven’s arms. Then Oven felt his hands go slack.
Boom~
The meteor landed lightly.
Regaining his senses, Oven endured the numbness and pain in his arms, staring in shock at the red girl who appeared before him. Her hands held the two Roger Pirates brats.
“Y-you, who the hell are you?”
“Sister Aoxi?!”
Buggy, equally shocked, answered him.
By the way, the swordsmen in One Piece all seem to have such weak defense—total glass cannons. Is all the tankiness concentrated in Zoro alone?
