Chapter 634: Chapter 633: The Count in the Castle

"Red-Haired Shanks... Golden Lion Shiki... World Destroyer Byrnndi World..."

"And Sakazuki, who should have been an Admiral, along with Dragon, the leader of the Revolutionary Army... To suffer such disgrace after death."

Everyone’s eyes swept over the five figures Alucard had summoned, their faces filled with disbelief.

A significant number of Alucard’s subordinates had once served under Shiki, including Stragus, who was present on the battlefield.

"Alucard-sama, this... what is the meaning of this?"

Stragus wanted to ask, but dared not. Alucard’s current state was like a demon newly emerged from the depths of hell; even his own allies feared to draw near.

Clang!

Shanks drew his saber, the very sword Ivalis had exchanged with him during their final battle in life. Shiki took two steps forward, his legendary twin blades, Oto and Kogarashi, which served as his legs, were now shrouded in a faint blood mist, radiating a primal, violent aura.

Following them, World, Dragon, and Sakazuki activated their powers—Mythical Zoan transformations and Logia elementals. In an instant, the four-on-one disadvantage shifted to a six-on-four advantage for the pirates.

No, Alucard had reverted from the blood pool mode back to his usual appearance. His signature top hat had vanished, leaving his long hair to flutter in the wind. Standing on a stone pillar with his hands tucked into the pockets of his crimson mantle, he looked down at the chaos below.

He had absolutely no intention of joining the fray.

Alucard rested his right foot on a rock, looking down from his elevated position with a gaze that held no coldness or mockery, only a trace of pity. "I have lost my immortality for now. Well then... do your best to kill me."

To proactively expose one’s weakness... if anyone else had done it, Kong and Momousagi would have dismissed it as a suicidal blunder. But looking at the five figures standing before Alucard like an impenetrable wall, no one felt that way.

If these five had united while they were alive, they could have carved a path from Marineford straight to Mary Geoise.

"How shall we proceed, Commander-in-Chief Kong?" Momonga stood before Kong, palms pressed to the ground in a defensive stance as he sought orders.

"First, we test their combat capabilities. After all, they are but dead men." Kong slammed his fists together. "Provide cover for each other. I will target Alucard’s main body. Move out!"

"Ohohoho~~ Sumoning five world-class powerhouses at the cost of your immortality... Isn’t that a bit too arrogant, Immortal-san?"

With an incredible leap, Momousagi soared fifty meters into the air. She pointed her famous meito, Konpira, downward, aiming directly for Alucard’s crown.

She needed to confirm if Alucard had truly lost his immortality. If he had, he would be forced to defend or dodge a strike like this; he could no longer afford to let attacks pass through him as he had done moments ago.

Alucard didn’t even look up at her. Just as the tip of Konpira was less than five meters from his head, a brutal slash streaked through the air, knocking Momousagi off course and causing her to lose control in mid-air.

As she plummeted toward the ground, Momousagi split her long legs and spun them like helicopter rotors at the last second. She managed to stabilize herself just before impact, landing gracefully and avoiding a face-plant that would have ruined her beautiful features.

Whoosh!

A gale whistled against her cloak. Momousagi looked up to see Shanks standing before her. He was connected to the eye-covered blood pool, his eyes glowing a predatory crimson. He gripped his sword with his remaining right hand, exuding an aura entirely different from when he was alive.

"Hmph!"

Chaton’s hands turned into liquid mud. With a violent swing, a literal landslide surged toward Alucard’s stone pillar, completely obstructing his view of the sky.

Glug... gurgle...

The sound of bursting bubbles echoed as Sakazuki elementalized. His right arm, transformed into roiling magma, smoked and bubbled, expanding four or five times its original size.

"Great Eruption!"

The magma fist streaked forward, morphing into the silhouette of a giant hound’s head, biting through Chaton’s mud tsunami and scattering it.

"Sakazuki..." Chaton murmured, watching the mud and magma mingle. His heart was heavy. "At the very least, let me be the one to personally..."

Before he could finish his next attack, the pirates struck first.

BOOM!!

Byrnndi World picked up a tachi from the ground. In his massive hands, it looked like a mere paring knife.

"More-More... Saber... Fiftyfold!"

In an instant, the blade in World’s hand expanded exponentially, reaching a height comparable to a Giant. With a single swing, Kong, Momonga, and the others leaped away to avoid the strike, but countless others on the battlefield were not so lucky, their bodies cleaved in two.

"Dammit! Run! Get out of here!"

"That’s the World Destroyer, Byrnndi World’s power!!"

"He made a sword that big in an instant? He’s a monster!"

The soldiers on the battlefield scattered in terror.

Meanwhile, a hundred meters above the Island of God, two Logia-class female users were locked in a fierce aerial duel. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"This is a Sky Island where the clouds are the ground. You cannot win here, Aranea!"

With a wave of Shirokitsune’s hand, the surrounding clouds swirled and gathered above her, forming the massive silhouette of a fox.

"Cloud Drive: White Fox King!"

Aranea raised her gun-lance in defense. Shirokitsune said coldly, "I know you have Seastone bullets hidden in that gun-lance. They won’t work on me."

Rumble!

Suddenly, lightning flashed and thunder roared. For some reason, the technique Shirokitsune was gathering began to disintegrate, flowing instead toward the base of the battlefield at the center of the island.

"Wh-What’s happening?" Shirokitsune gasped, and even Aranea looked on in confusion.