Chapter 392: Final Act: White Emperor Sword
Ace had seen Ian's Senbonzakura blade in its initial release before. Although he found it strange how Ian's sword shattered into countless petals, he simply regarded it as one of Ian's swordsmanship techniques. But now, he was stunned, because he saw Ian use a move he had never witnessed before.
In the past, Ian would hold the Senbonzakura blade upright in his hand, and the blade would scatter into cherry blossom petals. This time, however, Ian thrust the blade into the ground. When the sword disappeared into the earth, countless enormous blades slowly rose from the ground on either side of Ian!
Hundreds upon thousands! These upright blades, numbering in the thousands, rose slowly from Ian's sides, quickly filling everyone's field of vision.
"What is that!? An illusion?" Doflamingo, using his Parasite String to create a puppet from threads, dodged Boa Hancock's attack and leaped back a distance, staring in surprise at Ian's position.
Jack the Drought, however, didn't care at all. Charging in front of Ian, he raised his long arm and punched straight at Ian's face.
But at that moment, a strange scene unfolded. The thousands of enormous blades behind Ian suddenly disintegrated. Each icy blade transformed into a mass of pink petals. These petals converged, instantly becoming a tidal wave and ocean of blossoms, roaring and sweeping in front of Ian, forming a massive sphere that blocked Jack's fist.
Jack the Drought punched into empty air, but was himself surrounded by billions of petals, which wrapped around his entire body.
Yes, this time Ian wasn't using Senbonzakura's initial release, but its Final Release!
The ten billion Berries he had obtained from the Celestial Dragons had been mostly spent after recharging. Besides upgrading his commonly used cards to five-star red cards, Ian had also assembled Orochi's card. Although Orochi's "Sunshine" skill could be used as a trump card, its high requirements and consumption meant Ian couldn't use it yet. The enemies he faced were gradually becoming stronger. Not only had he encountered a ruthless figure like Doflamingo among the Seven Warlords, but Jack the Drought's appearance also made him realize that in the New World, the Four Emperors were an unavoidable obstacle.
Fortunately, Ian used the remaining diamonds to upgrade his exclusive treasure to five stars. Although it cost many diamonds, it was completely worth it.
Because the five-star Senbonzakura Zanpakuto could finally use its Final Release!
During the initial release, Senbonzakura gave Ian a threefold increase in all attributes, but the Final Release provided a staggering eightfold increase in all attributes!
Now, with full power unleashed, Ian had over one hundred thousand points of Psychic Power value, not to mention the boosts to other strength attributes.
Although the Final Release's duration was short, it was perfect for this critical moment.
He had also considered joining forces with Ace, using their combined technique "Infernal City's Blazing Fire" to burn down the Birdcage. But the problem was that their black and white flames combined would release a fire wave that could engulf the entire Dressrosa Island. The island not only had members of three pirate crews but also many innocent civilians. Ian and Ace couldn't control the fire yet, and if they burned down all of Dressrosa, it would be a disaster.
So, Ian chose to act alone.
Jack the Drought's regenerative ability was extremely annoying, but this time, when he was wrapped in the petals formed by Ian's Senbonzakura blade, his regeneration became his burden.
What appeared before everyone's eyes was a massive sphere of petals. The pink blossoms that seemed to fill the sky and earth created a breathtakingly beautiful scene. However, Jack the Drought, trapped inside, wouldn't think so. When the countless petals began to spin rapidly, their sharp edges started tearing and cutting Jack's body.
At first, Jack could rely on his Armament Haki to resist the petals, but the number of petals was too vast. Each cut consumed a bit of Jack's Haki power, which, of course, came from his own physical stamina. So, this was essentially draining Jack's stamina.
After just a few seconds, Jack felt his stamina draining rapidly. His body began to tire, and gradually, his Armament Haki defense started to falter!
With a tearing sound, the first cut appeared on Jack's body. After the first cut came the second, third, and more, increasingly dense.
Although these cuts weren't deep, they brought Jack pain. And unfortunately, as an awakened Zoan fruit user, Jack's powerful regenerative ability kicked in, quickly healing his wounds.
If Jack could escape the petal sphere, it might not be a problem. But at this moment, everything he saw was pink. He had completely lost his sense of direction and didn't know where to flee. As a result, his body kept healing while being cut again by the petals, trapped in a vicious cycle.
This was a tragedy. The pain Jack felt was perhaps a hundred times that of others. His strong regeneration made him endure longer in the petals, so the pain also lasted longer.
"Ahhh!" Jack the Drought roared in anger inside the petal sphere. The constant blood loss and regeneration accelerated his stamina depletion.
At this point, he finally felt a sense of fear. He thought that if this continued, he might really die here.
The fearless Jack, for the first time, felt fear toward a person—a feeling not even his boss Kaido had given him. So, he couldn't help but roar, "Doflamingo! Save me! If I die, Kaido won't let you off!"
"Damn it!" Doflamingo was startled when he heard Jack's voice. He didn't know what Jack had experienced inside the massive petal sphere, but he understood that if Jack the Drought was begging for help, Ian's move was definitely terrifying.
So, Doflamingo finally stopped holding back.
"Shield White Line!"
Doflamingo pressed his hands to the ground and activated his ability. Two shields formed from thousands of threads surged up from the ground. These shield-like threads bent forward and extended, their tips sharpening as they pierced into Ian's petal sphere. Using the tough resistance of the thousands of threads, they parted the petals, wrapped around Jack the Drought at the sphere's center, and pulled him out.
"This guy was holding back!" Ian thought when he saw this. "He didn't use this awakened ability when fighting Boa Hancock."
Yes, if he wasn't mistaken, Doflamingo's so-called Shield White Line was a powerful move only usable in an awakened state.
Jack the Drought was pulled out by Doflamingo, but his entire body was bleeding, looking terrifyingly miserable, like a blood-soaked figure. When Doflamingo dragged him out, a trail of blood was left on the path.
Although Jack didn't seem dead yet, everyone knew he had completely lost his combat ability. The awakened Zoan fruit power made him as resilient as an undying cockroach, but it also consumed a massive amount of his stamina. If Doflamingo had saved him a bit later, Jack the Drought might have actually died from exhaustion...
Realizing this, Doflamingo couldn't help but shiver. On one hand, it was because of Ian's terrifying combat power displayed now; on the other, if Jack had really died, Doflamingo would likely be killed by Kaido out of anger.
After dealing with the annoying Jack the Drought, Ian's next task was to break the Birdcage's blockade. He glanced at Doflamingo. Although directly attacking Doflamingo was the best method, Ian, now in his peak state, wanted to test how powerful he really was. He wanted to see if he could break Doflamingo's bug-like Birdcage on his own.
So, in everyone's eyes, the massive petal sphere began to shrink. Countless petals turned into a torrent, rushing toward Ian and converging on him.
Then, a pair of huge wings made of petals appeared on either side of Ian's back. Not only that, but behind his head, there was also a halo formed by petals.
This posture was incredibly domineering, beyond compare!
"Final Act: White Emperor Sword!!"
Under Boa Hancock's sparkling gaze and Ace's excited, gleaming eyes, a sword formed from petals appeared in Ian's hand.
This sword was the original shape of Senbonzakura, but after Ian grasped it again, he gently swung it in a circle above his head!
The scene fell silent. Ian, having swung the blade in a circle, lowered the sword. After a brief stillness, a powerful wave of sword energy suddenly exploded above Ian's head!
It was as if a hurricane had swept through the scene. Ace clutched his cowboy hat, stumbling back two steps. Boa Hancock raised her hand to shield her forehead from the wind pressure, her long hair flying in the air.
As for Doflamingo, his fiery bird coat was blown upright...
This powerful sword energy expanded rapidly, like a shining solar flare, spreading across the entire Dressrosa Island.
Everyone on the island looked up and saw this sudden burst of sword energy. They watched as all buildings at the height of the sword energy were cut in half, their upper sections falling down. It was as if the entire city of Dressrosa had been shaved bald by this sword energy...