Byrnndi World's punch collided with Garp's chest, but Garp's Armament Haki was as solid as iron, and he didn't seem fazed by the blow. At the same time, Garp's own punch smmed into World's chest. World, who also had his Armament Haki activated, mao withstand the impact, but both men were sent flying. Garp's figure bsted through the dark smoke and crashed bato the warship deck, skidding a few steps before stopping and crag the wood beh him. He patted his chest and cursed, "What a solid punch."

  Cudius ignarp's remark and instead focused on World, notig a thin line of blood trailing from the er of his mouth. Clearly, World wasn't as sturdy as Garp. It firmed Cudius's suspi, while World was irong, he was not quite at Garp's level. In terms of sheer strength, World fell just short of that peak tier.

  With that in mind, Cudius wondered why they o push him to the isnd at all. Why not just take him dht here and now?

  "Seriously, Marines and their eborate pns. If it were up to me, I'd just split into two teams and crush them head-on," Cudius thought to himself.

  But he uood why things were this way. The Marines always erred on the side of caution. Pushing World onto the isnd would almost guarantee his capture or defeat. Cudius, oher hand, preferred more straightforward approaches—dired effective. If a problem could be solved with sheer power, why plicate things?

  As Cudius mulled over these thoughts, Garp was already on the move, charging bato the fray. Colleg his focus, Cudius knew what o be done.

  No matter the approach, whether taking down World here or f him to the isnd, World's escape had to be blocked first.

  "Enel!" Cudius called out.

  "Yes!" Enel, who was standing nearby, responded promptly.

  "Time for one of our bos!" Cudius said, a grin stretg across his face.

  A simir look of excitement fshed across Enel's features. He raised his hands, and an immense surge of electricity crackled from his fiips, shooting into the sky. Within moments, the clear skies turned heavy and dark, clouds shifting from white to ominous bck as lightning bolts crackled across the sky.

  Cudius lifted his arms as well. They twisted and transformed into swirling currents of air. As he added more power, fierce winds roared across the sea, stirring up the waves and making the once-calm o an unstable battlefield.

  "Lightning walks with me!" Enel murmured, his voice low but anding.

  "And the storm listens to my orders!" Cudius shouted, a fierergy in his voice.

  As the two of them biheir powers, the weather around them shifted dramatically. A storm burst forth, and bolts of lightning shot through the darkened sky, encirg the entire sea area. The only clear path left was the one leading straight to Cybori Isnd.

  In the heat of battle, World, who was trading blows with Garp, noticed the sudden ge. His eyes narrowed, bewildered. What in the world was happening? Why was the weather turning against him?

  Garp ughed heartily. "Cudius, you really do have a bag full of tricks. Using the weather itself to box him in, huh?"

  Realizing that he might be walking into a trap, World decided to switch tactics. He dodged Garp's punch, grabbed a nearby onball from his ship's deck, and shouted, "Moa moa—ten times the speed!"

  With that, he propelled himself at incredible speed tarp's dog-headed warship, leaving Garp's punch strikiy air.

  World's pn was simple: if he was in a trap, he o break it. Destroying Garp's warship would disrupt their strategy and put the advantage ba his hands. If needed, he could make his escape.

  Flying mid-air, he hurled the onball with a sneer. "Moa moa—huimes the on!"

  The moment the onball left his hand, it swelled to a massive size. If it hit the warship, it would obliterate it.

  But just as he thought victory was in his grasp, Cudius sprang into a. He uhed the sword at his waist, the demon bde Shindō, and sshed at the oning onball. A cloud of white mist enveloped his bde as he swung with immense force.

  "One Sword Style—White Frost Dance!" Cudius whispered.

  The instant the bde met the onball, the bed metal turned a frosty white. The ssh didn't just cut it in half; it shattered it mid-air into a shower of icy fragments, scattering harmlessly across the deck.

  World's eyes widened in disbelief. What kind of power was this?

  Before he could process what had happened, he saw Cudius make another move. Cudius raised his sword and unched a powerful air ssh.

  "Storm!" Cudius yelled.

  The bde of air shot forward, twisting into a ixed with the sharpness of the ssh and hurtling straight toward World.

  "Moa moa—thirty times the speed!" World muttered, ung himself into the air to evade the attack. The issed him by a hair, and he reappeared on the deck of the warship, ready for more.

  Without hesitation, World lu Cudius, aiming a punch directly at his head.

  Cudius stood firm, making no move to dodge. The demon bde Shindō blurred as he spun it in his hand and aimed for World's chest.

  "White Lotus!" Cudius said under his breath.

  World was momentarily caught off-guard. This man was really willing to trade blows? But he wasn't intimidated. His chest darkened as Armament Haki spread across it, reinf his defenses. He calcuted that while he might take a hit, it wouldn't be fatal. His fist, however, would crush Cudius's head, allowing him to gain trol of the battle befarp could read destroy the warship.

  But in that moment, his calcutions failed him.

  Just as his fist was about to make tact, a bolt of lightning fshed, and a long golden staff, coated with Armament Haki, appeared. The tip of the staff ected with World's fist, not enough to block it entirely but enough to push it off course.

  The redirected punch grazed past Cudius's head, sending his hair flying from the force of the wind, but missing its mark. Cudius grinned. Enel had e through.

  In the instant, Shindō sshed across World's chest. The bde's frost-coated edge cshed with his Haki but mao freeze a thin yer of skin and armor on tact. The impact of the ssh sent World flying, smashing him into the bow of Garp's warship.

  World hit the deck hard, feeling a numbing cold spread across his chest. Part of his skin had gone pletely numb, deprived of sensation by the freezing ssh.

  Rolling to the side without even gng at his wound, World used a quick mao put some distaween himself and his previous position.

  And not a moment too soon. Garp's massive frame nded where World had just been, his fist smashing into the deck with such force that it punched a hole straight through.