novelraw Chapter 294 294: Doflamingo: I’m Losing My Mind
Chapter 294 294: Doflamingo: I’m Losing My Mind
The ferocity of this battle far exceeded anyone's expectations.
The clash of top-tier forces showed no sign of ending.
One day.
Two days.
Three days.
The brutality of high-intensity combat began to show its true cost. Even the strongest fighters had limits to their stamina and mental endurance.
The first to fall back was Germa 66.
Their advanced warships could withstand the initial shock and sustained bombardment, but they could not endure the relentless assault of Haki.
"Why are you the only one with Conqueror's Haki?"
Heh. I am not going to show mine. I do not want to make you feel inferior.
Watching the battlefield fill with more and more monsters, Judge's face turned pale. Marco's immortal blue flames only grew fiercer with every exchange. Buggy and Shanks fought in tighter and tighter sync, developing a strange and uncanny understanding. Doflamingo's threads became more devious and vicious with each passing hour. Even Katakuri's future sight made almost every ambush meaningless.
More importantly, although his children were powerful, days of nonstop high-intensity fighting had worn them down to the edge. Even when they won, it was only by the narrowest margin.
Judge was a man of principles. When his children overreached, he punished them without hesitation.
Judge clenched his teeth. Fifty billion Berries was tempting, but sacrificing Germa's future foundation, his children and his core forces, for that money was not worth it. He was no longer the war-mad ruler who cared only about cloning and military power. Under Reed's protection, and as his relationship with his children slowly healed, he had recovered a fragment of what it meant to be both a father and a king.
"Germa 66!"
Judge's voice boomed across the battlefield through the loudspeakers, reluctant yet firm.
"Withdraw from the battle!"
Before the other forces could react, the massive snail warships surged to full power, belching thick black smoke as they fled the hellish island without looking back. Their retreat left a hollow in the battlefield and marked the first real success of this war of attrition.
By the fourth day, exhaustion and anxiety gnawed at everyone's will. Cracks began to show.
Crocodile had long since drifted to the edge of the alliance, waiting for the perfect opening. Days of sandstorms and clashes with Whitebeard's commanders had drained him dry, yet he had gained nothing.
His patience was gone.
Who was he? He was Crocodile, the Desert King. In his eyes, Whitebeard was just an old man. Reed was just a brat. Kaido and Big Mom were nothing more than enemies defeated by others.
He saw Buggy and Shanks clash with Divine Departure and Super Disassembly: Stardust. Both slid backward to release the force of their blows. In the instant when the old power faded and the next surge had not yet formed, a perfect opening appeared.
The crocodile moves in silence.
I will not appear in front of you. I will strike from behind.
"Desert Blade!"
A flash of cruelty crossed Crocodile's eyes. A massive blade of sand tore out of the ground behind Buggy without warning, cleaving straight toward his back. If it hit, even Buggy's ability to split apart would not save him. With Armament Haki behind it, the blow would still tear him apart.
Shanks sensed the danger through Observation Haki.
Doflamingo saw it too, a satisfied smile curling at the corner of his lips.
It is done.
Yet at the very instant the sand blade was about to touch Buggy, Buggy did not even turn his head. He only barked in irritation, "Shut up. Can't you see I'm busy?"
His body moved as if it had a will of its own. His coat and skin split open neatly across his back, forming a clean hole that let the deadly sand blade pass straight through. The torn flesh closed again in the same breath.
Clang!
At the same time, Buggy's right foot stamped backward in what looked like a careless motion.
"Super Disassembly: Earth Spike!"
A sharp rock coated in violet Haki erupted from beneath Crocodile's feet. It was so fast he had no time to react. His focus had been entirely on ambushing Buggy. He never imagined the counterattack would be so strange and so swift.
The stone spike pierced straight through his calf. The impact hurled his body into the air.
"Urgh!"
Crocodile cried out as blood splashed across the sand.
Against Conqueror's Haki, elemental transformation was useless.
Professor Haiteng's teachings only proved their worth more and more.
But it was not over.
Almost at the same time, Shanks steadied himself. He did not even glance at Crocodile. His Haki-infused sword Gryphon sliced through the sand blade binding Buggy from a distance.
Boom!
The sand blade shattered under the force of Conqueror's Haki. The shockwave surged forward and slammed into Crocodile head-on.
"Gah!"
Crocodile spat blood and flew backward like a kite with its string cut. He crashed into a distant cliff face and was embedded deep in the rock. He would not be climbing out anytime soon.
An instant kill.
A true, unquestionable instant kill.
From ambush to counterkill, the entire exchange took less than two seconds. Buggy and Shanks did not exchange a single word. They relied purely on instinct and a strange, deeply rooted coordination. After all, they had fought side by side on the same ship for years.
Doflamingo's smile froze.
Behind his sunglasses, his eyes went wide.
He was stunned.
Completely stunned.
No.
What about the promised ambush?
What about the promised success?
That temporary ally, even if he was never reliable to begin with, the Desert Crocodile, vanished in the blink of an eye.
What kind of coordination was that?
Buggy's reaction speed and counterattack were absurd.
And Red-Hair's final strike. The timing was flawless.
You two have been fighting for three or four days. Even I, Doflamingo, have never seen you use a move like that. What is this? Were you baiting me?
Now, within the original villain alliance, Perospero and Katakuri were locked down by the main forces of the Whitebeard Pirates. Hawk-Eye was still watching lazily from the sidelines. Crocodile had been taken out in an instant.
So who was left to keep the balance?
Who could hold the line?
Oh.
Right.
The cross-wielding swordsman with a bounty of one hundred million Berries.
That was a disaster.
All that remained on Doflamingo's side was a fragile little group, facing down the ferocious Buggy and Shanks, and the Whitebeard commanders who could break free at any moment.
The mob alliance protested that they still had people left.
Doflamingo told them to get lost.
A bead of cold sweat slid down Doflamingo's temple.
"Heh… heh…"
He let out a dry laugh, his fingers twitching uncontrollably.
"This time… things are really out of control…"
He felt like a flamingo that had wandered into the nest of monsters. Every gaze around him had turned dangerously unfriendly. He was already planning his escape. Even if their alliance somehow won, he had a ninety-nine percent chance of flying away the next second.
Because he could not beat Katakuri.
And he definitely could not beat Perospero.
Weak nations have no diplomacy.
For pirates, it is even worse.