Chapter 572: The Power to Destroy a Nation
This flash of light came so suddenly.
The moment the flash appeared, everyone who saw it had their vision turn completely white, unable to see anything. They could only hear a crisp cracking sound, as if something had shattered.
Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru—the three Marine Admirals—reacted the fastest. The instant Ian raised his hand, they tensed up on guard. When the flash suddenly erupted, they instinctively covered their entire bodies with Armament Haki.
However, along with the cracking sound in their ears, the next moment, all three felt as if something had struck them all over!
How could this sensation be described? It was like standing in a torrential rainstorm, being pelted by countless raindrops. The difference was that the density of these "raindrops" was unimaginable, and the impact force was far greater...
Like bullets...
In that brief instant, Akainu felt as if he had been hit by hundreds of thousands of "bullets." There was no blind spot on his body; every part was struck. The powerful impact force penetrated through the protective layer of Armament Haki and transmitted into his body, forming a continuous shockwave that rattled his entire being, making his blood surge as if his blood vessels were about to burst.
The ground beneath him was originally the ice surface frozen by Aokiji. Under this seemingly endless impact, the ice under Akainu's feet shattered, sinking deeply, and he was continuously pushed backward.
It wasn't just him. Aokiji and Kizaru were the same. All three Marine Admirals assumed the same posture: arms crossed above their heads to protect their skulls, legs braced in a horse stance to stabilize their lower bodies, sliding backward in unison, carving deep grooves into the ice...
The difference was that Kizaru had initially tried to escape using his speed, but he quickly discovered that these indescribable attacks were also traveling at the speed of light and covering an enormous area.
In other words, no matter where he flew, he would be hit.
There was no escape, no dodging. The only way to deal with it was to endure.
However, the attacks were too dense. The Armament Haki covering their bodies was rapidly being depleted under this assault, forcing the three to grit their teeth and squeeze out every ounce of their stamina to maintain their defense.
They also considered using their Logia elemental forms to counter these attacks, wondering if they could phase through them. But based on their understanding of Ian's abilities, they strongly suspected this was also a form of energy attack. If that were the case, their elemental bodies wouldn't avoid the damage; instead, they would be injured by the energy strike.
Under this intense flash, they couldn't see the surrounding situation clearly, assuming Ian's attack was aimed solely at the three of them.
However, in the footage captured by the Video Den Den Mushi, the situation was different.
Perhaps because the war correspondents were positioned farther away, the images from the Video Den Den Mushi weren't too blinding. The people watching the live broadcast on Sabaody Archipelago and around the world could clearly see everything happening on the battlefield.
Watching with wide-eyed shock, they saw the Seven Warlord Black Dragon Ian raise both hands. Then, another sun seemed to appear in the sky over the battlefield. Countless personnel in the Marine camp were instantly struck by some unknown force. Many Marine soldiers convulsed like they were having seizures, their entire bodies vibrating at high frequency before being pressed into the ice below.
Except for the high-ranking Marine officers who knew how to use Armament Haki for protection and could still stand, everyone weaker was completely down!
At the same time, the surrounding ice and the rocks exposed on the ice surface began to disintegrate in a bizarre manner. On the side facing the light, the ice and rocks turned into countless fine dust particles, drifting in the air...
One second, two seconds. The Marine soldiers on the battlefield fell like wheat being cut down.
Three seconds, four seconds. The area covered by the light on the battlefield was filled with white and gray dust.
After the fifth second, the light suddenly vanished, as if it had never existed.
To the onlookers, these five seconds passed in the blink of an eye. But for Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru, who were within the attack range, it felt as long as a century.
"Pant... pant..." Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru breathed heavily, slowly lowering their arms. But the three of them looked like they had been pulled out of the water, their clothes soaked with sweat.
Slowly opening his clenched fists, Akainu found his limbs still trembling, like the aftereffects of over-tightened muscles. A wave of weakness washed over him, followed by a sweet, fishy taste in his throat. He couldn't help but open his mouth and vomit a mouthful of blood!
All three Marine Admirals did the same, spitting out blood in unison. It wasn't that they were injured—in fact, they had indeed relied on Armament Haki hardening to withstand the attack. But as mentioned earlier, under the endless impact, their internal organs were affected by the high-frequency shockwaves, leading to bleeding.
After spitting out the blood, they felt much better. But the people watching through the live broadcast were terrified.
"Are... are they injured!?"
"The Marine Admirals... were also wounded by Ian!?"
"It's over! I never expected Ian to be this powerful. The Marines are going to lose!!"
Akainu and the others wiped the blood from the corners of their mouths with their sleeves before turning to look around.
But when they saw the scene, even they were horrified!
The rising dust was slowly settling. At the edge of the area, they could see that the ground within the range of the flash had been reduced by a full ten centimeters in thickness!
In other words, Ian's attack had cleanly shaved off ten centimeters of the ground...
As for the nearby Marine soldiers, a huge number had fallen. Without exception, they were deeply pressed into the ice. The worse-off ones were embedded in the rocky ground. Some were even stacked on top of each other, pressed down together!
Countless bizarre human-shaped pits dotted the area. The soldiers in these pits had their bodies riddled with holes, blood gushing out, creating a gruesome sight.
How many Marines had been taken out by this attack? Three thousand? Five thousand? Or ten thousand!?
There were too many to count. But from a distance, Sengoku could see that the Marine's encirclement formation looked as if a massive beast had taken a bite out of it...
"What... what kind of ability is this!? How can it be so terrifying!?" Even Sengoku was trembling from Ian's attack, unable to tell if it was fear or anger.
"This is the power to destroy a nation..." Garp said, crossing his arms, his expression dark. He had seen plenty of casualties in war, but this was the first time he had witnessed such a massive and terrifying attack.
To put it bluntly, if Ian used this move in the capital of some country, he could destroy an entire city in an instant!
"D... damn it!" Gecko Moria stared at the scene, his eyes wide. This was his first time seeing Ian, a fellow Seven Warlord, in action. But seeing it for the first time left him utterly stunned. He stared blankly at the tragic scene and exclaimed, "That guy is scarier than a monster..."
Doflamingo stood beside him, saying nothing, but he kept biting his nails, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
"What was that light...?" Hawk-Eye Mihawk instinctively gripped the black sword on his back. Ian's attack had made even him feel a strong sense of threat.
Boa Hancock couldn't bear to look at the gruesome scene, gently covering her mouth and turning her head away...
As for Ian? Even he, the one who caused it, was shocked by the destructive power of his own "Sunshine" attack.
Back when his Nen Training skill reached the Master level, allowing him to use this ultimate move from Orochi, Ian had secretly tested it on an empty sea surface once, getting a sense of its power.
In the original game, this move was an indiscriminate full-screen attack. But when he actually used it, Ian realized there were differences.
This move actually used a form of spatial power, but not to manipulate space. Instead, it directly shattered space, sending billions of spatial fragments flying at the speed of light to deliver an all-encompassing strike to the target!
That flash of light was actually the flash produced when space collapsed...
The larger the area and the longer the duration, the greater the consumption of Ian's Nen!
If Ian wanted to achieve a true full-screen map-wide attack, he could, but even with a million Psychic Power, it wouldn't be enough, and the duration wouldn't last long.
Moreover, this move had a drawback: aside from Ian, the caster, everyone else was a target.
Ian's current Psychic Power value was just over ten thousand. With the boost from the Final Release of Thousand Cherry Blossoms, it could increase to around eighty thousand. Combined with the Evil Eye Master skill doubling his base Nen, he could just reach the standard of one hundred thousand Psychic Power. So he could only increase the attack duration by reducing the range accordingly.
Even so, he could only last about five seconds, outputting an average of twenty thousand Psychic Power per second...
However, this had an advantage: it avoided indiscriminate attacks that would harm friend and foe alike, preventing the Whitebeard Pirates from being caught in the crossfire.
When Ian tested it alone before, he didn't think much of it. But now, using it against the Marine enemies, he realized its killing power was extraordinary!
How to put it? Perhaps because it was a native Red Card, the skill's power far exceeded expectations. In the face of this move, ordinary people who couldn't use Armament Haki would all die!
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