One Piece: The Archangel's Guide

Chapter 317: The Pink Exclusive to Valiant Warriors

Facing Hajrudin's all-out attack, Ju Peter coated his arms in indestructible Armament and Conqueror's Haki and met the blow head-on.

The giant axe and the fists clashed, erupting with black-red lightning. The very ground beneath them shattered, blasted into the air by the force of their struggle. Their eyes met, filled with undisguised killing intent.

After a brief stalemate, they broke apart, only to crash together again.

Hajrudin's dragon eyes were locked on the half-man, half-worm creature. His axe, crackling with Haki, became a blur, striking again and again. His massive tail whipped through the air, breaking the sound barrier as it lashed at Ju Peter, who parried every blow from the axe and tail, the impacts deafening.

He really has Conqueror's Haki! Ju Peter thought, stunned. Not only that, he's already grasped the basics of coating!

"Dragon Flame!"

Hajrudin unleashed a torrent of fire, blasting Ju Peter back. He then leaped, his heavy body soaring, and brought the axe down in a spinning arc.

"Conqueror's Coating? You see it enough, you learn it."

After all his years under Louis, Hajrudin was no stranger to the technique. He had experienced it, on the receiving end, more times than he could count. After his Haki finally awakened, he simply recalled those lessons—and the beatings—and quickly grasped the fundamentals.

The axe tore through the air, aimed straight for Ju Peter's head.

"Don't get cocky, giant!" Ju Peter's worm-like body tensed and then shot forward, coiling and launching himself past the axe. He appeared instantly in front of Hajrudin, his human-like mouth unhinging 180 degrees to reveal rows of spear-like fangs, which he aimed at Hajrudin's throat.

"What can you do with such a crude coating?! It's useless!"

Ju Peter sneered. Hajrudin's Haki was so rough it couldn't bypass the immortality given by Lord Imu, and it was clearly draining him fast.

"You should be thanking me for bringing Elbaf's army here! It would have been much harder for us to go to them!"

Hajrudin, seeing the fanged maw, gritted his teeth and shoved his scaled arm in the way.

"CHOMP!"

Blood flew. The fangs sank deep. Ju Peter ripped his head back, tearing a massive chunk of flesh and scale from Hajrudin's arm, revealing the bone and twitching veins beneath.

Hajrudin, as if feeling no pain, whipped his long dragon tail forward. It became a black, Haki-coated spear, impaling Ju Peter and lifting him high into the air.

He then swung his flaming, Haki-coated axe again and again, chopping the struggling Sandwyrm into several pieces.

"Useless trash. You're nothing without your immortality. And you dare to judge giants?"

Hajrudin, panting, kicked the twitching pieces away and stomped on Ju Peter's head, crushing it. He turned to his army, who were routing the Marines and CP agents. "Are the civilians evacuated?!"

"Not yet! For some reason, they're all weak and can't move! The West Blue soldiers are carrying them to the Island Clouds!"

Hajrudin frowned. He knew the Five Elders could also teleport. If this dragged on, he'd be forced to ask for help—a blow to his pride.

He glanced at Ju Peter, who was already regenerating, and gave the order: "Use the items I gave you! Crush the Marines at any cost, then help with the evacuation!"

As he spoke, a golden light flared from his body. His grievous wounds sealed instantly. His stamina and Haki returned to their peak.

Ju Peter, now fully restored, watched this in stunned silence. He was about to speak when his gaze was drawn to the giant army.

One by one, the giants began to glow with the same golden light. They completely abandoned all defense, transforming into a horde of suicidal berserkers. They charged through cannon fire, laser beams, and special attacks, trampling everything in their path.

The "Sheriff" cyborgs, each a match for a 300-million-Berry pirate, were torn apart and blown up by the giants' relentless, unheeding assault.

Using their Life Fixation Devices, the giants, now fighting with no regard for their own lives, crushed the landing forces in moments. They left a few behind to sink the warships and rushed to help the evacuation.

Ju Peter's face turned black. "This... this is how they should be... fighting for us! Grinding our enemies to dust! It's all that damned Harald's fault! He ruined everything!"

Black flames erupted around him as he began to form an abstract, twisting magic circle.

Hajrudin's pupils contracted. He had no time to think. He opened his maw and unleashed a deafening roar.

The sound wave became a tangible bolt of lightning, crackling with Conqueror's Haki, and lanced across the battlefield, striking Ju Peter.

"BOOM!"

The blast hit him dead on. Ju Peter's body was charred, and the summoning circle flickered and died.

On the Red Line, Shamrock frowned. "Ju Peter, what are you doing?"

"Harald's son... attacked me... as I was summoning you," Ju Peter's furious, pained voice echoed in his mind. The backlash from the interrupted spell, while not severe, meant he couldn't try it again for a while.

He glared at Hajrudin, who was already charging him again, his footsteps like earthquakes.

"Don't think you've escaped!" Ju Peter's worm-body coiled and launched him forward, and the two titans clashed again.

Their battle tore the island apart. The shockwaves of their Haki-coated blows flattened the landscape.

As they fought, the Elbaf warriors, protected by their Life Fixation Devices, swam out to the warships and, ignoring the cannon fire, began to tear them apart with their bare hands. The sea lit up with explosions.

After nearly thirty minutes, all the West Blue giants were safely on the Island Clouds. The Elbaf warriors boarded, their eyes fixed on the still-raging battle.

Ju Peter, sensing the evacuation, grew desperate. He transformed back into his full, mountainous Sandwyrm form. As Hajrudin swung his axe, Ju Peter opened his true, gaping maw.

"WHOOSH!"

He unleashed a torrent of everything he had swallowed—rubble, corpses, and corrosive acid—in a massive brown jet, engulfing Hajrudin.

"Damn—!"

Hajrudin was too close. He unleashed his Dragon Flame, but the sheer volume of the blast was too much. His flames were overwhelmed, and he was blasted out of sight.

The Sandwyrm turned its head and loomed over the retreating Island Clouds. Its eyes glowed with red-hot malice. It grew even larger, its upper body rising like a cobra, its head high in the sky. It opened its abyss-like mouth.

"If you will not be slaves to the World Government, then you can all die here as lowly creatures!"

A vortex of suction erupted from its maw, more powerful than any whirlpool. The air itself swirled as the ground, rubble, and corpses were pulled in. The massive Island Cloud, holding an entire nation of giants, was dragged, slowly but surely, toward the terrifying mouth.

The giants screamed, firing their guns uselessly into the void.

The Elbaf warriors, seeing this, were terrified, but their pride as warriors made them form a line, their weapons raised, ready to die.

Just as all hope seemed lost, two massive, pink-scaled dragon claws, crackling with black-red lightning, punched through the clouds from above. They seized the Sandwyrm's head, forcing its mouth shut.

The coiling, pinkish-red dragon descended, its golden-horned head lowering, its eyes locked on the Sandwyrm.

"His Majesty... HAJRUDIN!!"

"THE KING!!"

The Elbaf warriors roared, and the West Blue giants, recognizing their savior, cheered.

Hajrudin, in his full dragon form, dragged the Sandwyrm up into the clouds.

"You... you're just as hateful as Harald!" the Sandwyrm shrieked, spitting acid.

Hajrudin ignored him, his Haki-coated claws digging deep. He raised his head, his golden horns scraping the thunderclouds, and opened his fanged mouth. A roar became thunder.

Ju Peter, terrified, instantly shifted to his hybrid form, crossing his arms in a desperate, Haki-coated block.

"HERO'S SPEAR!"

Hajrudin's roar, infused with his Conqueror's Haki, pulled the lightning from the sky. The powers of his fruit, his Haki, and nature itself combined into a single, blazing spear of light that struck Ju Peter.

His defense was shattered. The spear pierced his body, melted his flesh, and blasted him from the sky, sending him crashing into the sea.

On the Island Clouds, the giants stared in awe at the pinkish-red dragon, now wreathed in lightning.

"THE KING OF GIANTS!!"

They cheered, looking at the pink scales of their king, and then at their own drab, brown clothes.

"Maybe..." one of them murmured, "we should suggest to Lord Jarl... that the King's color... pink... should be the color reserved only for the most valiant warriors..."

"..."

Ju Peter surfaced, glaring at the sky, only to hear the sound of water behind him. He had been blasted all the way back to the open sea.

In the sky, Hajrudin, panting, turned and flew away.

In the South Blue, Fujitora parried another cannonball aimed at the city. He landed on a rock, breathing heavily, as two Haki-infused weapons (Dorry's and Brogy's) narrowly missed him.

He "looked" in the direction of his own retreating forces, who were being routed by the giants.

"Let's end this, shall we?" he said to the two giant captains. "I have... questions... that need answering. I will not stop you from leaving with these people. I think my actions in blocking the cannons meant for the city have proven my intentions."

Dorry and Brogy paused, their weapons inches from his face. They were confused. They had seen him block some of the shots, but the bombardment had continued, so they had kept fighting.

Fujitora ignored their weapons, took out a Den Den Mushi, and once again, ordered his fleet to cease fire.

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