“Clang!” Teach’s sharp claws collided with Red Wolf’s, producing an ear-piercing screech as they scraped against each other.
The tremendous force behind Red Wolf’s strike sent Teach stumbling backward.
“Teach, you can’t handle him alone.” Marco reached out and steadied him.
“Fine.
Then we’ll fight him together!” Teach did not try to act tough.
He knew he was no match for a pirate with a bounty exceeding two hundred million Berries, especially one with the durability of a Zoan Devil Fruit user.
Vista raised his twin swords, his eyes filled with fighting spirit.
“Count me in.
Those claws aren’t easy to deal with.
One clean hit could tear you open.” The three joined forces against Red Wolf while Rakuyo, Thatch, and Jozu dealt with the remaining enemies.
More members of the Whitebeard Pirates continued boarding the ship, and the ordinary members of the Red Wolf Pirates were quickly overwhelmed.
“Flower Rain!” Vista swung both swords, sending flower petals drifting through the air.
“That’s a little too flashy!” Teach shouted.
“This is my swordsmanship!” Vista roared as he confronted Red Wolf head-on.
Marco thrust his longsword toward Red Wolf’s side.
With his knowledge of medicine, he knew exactly which areas a man could not afford to leave undefended.
“Despicable brat!” Red Wolf unleashed the full force of his claws, knocking Vista back several steps and breaking his momentum.
He caught Marco’s longsword with his left claw and pulled hard, dragging Marco toward him.
At the same time, his right claw shot toward Marco’s chest.
“Clang!” Teach suddenly appeared and blocked the attack with the gauntlet on his right hand.
Drawing back his left fist, he drove it into Red Wolf’s exposed side.
“Bang!” The punch landed cleanly.
Even with the protection of his Zoan transformation and thick fur, Red Wolf felt a sharp pain in his side, and his mind went blank for a moment.
Marco immediately pulled his sword free and stabbed at Red Wolf’s other side.
The blade did not penetrate deeply, but it broke through the thick fur and drew blood.
With both sides injured, Red Wolf nearly went mad with rage.
“Fist Bite!” He seized Teach’s left arm with one claw.
His five fingers twisted with unnatural flexibility, tearing into Teach’s arm and leaving it covered in blood.
“Ah!” Teach could not suppress a cry of pain.
At the same time, Red Wolf clenched his other hand into a fist and struck at Marco, forcing him to block with his sword.
“Rose Combo!” Vista charged again, thrusting both swords in rapid succession.
The two blades seemed to multiply into more than a dozen as sword shadows filled the air, accompanied by drifting petals.
Dozens of strikes landed on the same point of Red Wolf’s left chest.
His weak Armament Haki failed to block the concentrated assault, and his defenses were torn open down to the ribs.
“Awooo!” Sensing the threat of death, Red Wolf howled as his arms swelled with power.
He released Teach and threw a powerful punch at Vista.
Vista sensed the danger and retreated several steps, but Red Wolf still caught up to him.
“Bang!” The punch struck Vista in the abdomen, making him spit out blood as he crashed into the fighters nearby.
Teach and Marco exchanged a glance.
They could not allow Red Wolf to continue pursuing Vista.
The two rushed forward.
Marco recklessly slashed across Red Wolf’s back, opening a deep wound.
Teach followed immediately, carving three more deep gashes across the already injured area with his gauntlet.
The three were soon locked in battle once again.
The Whitebeard Pirates were stronger than the Red Wolf Pirates and also held the advantage in numbers.
The enemy crew was divided into smaller groups and overwhelmed one section at a time.
As the battle continued, the Red Wolf Pirates were gradually wiped out.
Whitebeard remained aboard the Moby Dick, observing the entire battle.
His attention was focused mainly on Teach, Marco, and Vista.
He had no intention of intervening unless the three faced mortal danger.
Before long, Red Wolf was the only member of his crew left alive.
The Whitebeard Pirates gathered around to watch the final battle.
By then, Red Wolf was covered in wounds deep enough to expose bone.
Only the extraordinary endurance of an Ancient Zoan had allowed him to remain standing for so long.
He fought like a cornered beast, no longer hoping to survive.
He merely wanted to drag one of them down with him.
Teach, Marco, and Vista were also injured.
Teach had suffered the most.
He was the youngest and weakest of the three, yet his fighting style was also the most ferocious.
Marco was the next most injured after recklessly stopping Red Wolf from pursuing Vista.
Of the three, Vista had surprisingly suffered the least.
“Huff…
Huff…” Teach temporarily retreated to the side, breathing heavily as blood ran from several deep wounds.
“Do you need help?” Thatch asked.
He had originally intended to watch over Teach, but once the battle began, he had been unable to reach him.
By the time Thatch defeated his own opponent, Teach, Marco, and Vista were already fighting Red Wolf together.
Their coordination was good enough that another person joining recklessly might only disrupt them.
Teach clapped a bloodied hand onto Thatch’s shoulder and laughed.
“Hahaha!
The three of us have already beaten him so badly he’s about to cry.
You shouldn’t bully him too.” After catching his breath, Teach sensed an opening through Observation Haki.
He lunged forward.
“Demon Claw!” The attack followed an unpredictable path and reached Red Wolf during the brief instant when the strength behind his previous movement had faded and he had yet to gather more.
“Slash!” Teach’s claws struck Red Wolf across the face.
“Argh!” Red Wolf screamed as the attack destroyed his vision and left him badly disoriented.
Having suddenly lost his sight, he was unable to adapt even with Observation Haki.
In his panic, he swung his claws wildly.
The aimless attacks posed little threat to Teach, Marco, and Vista, who all possessed Observation Haki.
They easily avoided his strikes, surrounded him from three directions, and attacked one after another.
Marco swung his sword into Red Wolf’s arm, the blade sinking deep into the flesh.
Red Wolf immediately lost control of his right arm, making his situation even worse.
Teach and Vista attacked at the same time.
Teach drove his gauntlet into Red Wolf’s abdomen and tore it sideways, while Vista crossed his swords and thrust them into Red Wolf’s back.
Red Wolf was already on the verge of death.
The three exchanged glances and decided to end it quickly.
Teach locked Red Wolf’s remaining claw with his gauntlet and struck his weakened right arm aside with his left hand.
Marco and Vista attacked at the same moment.
Marco slashed across Red Wolf’s throat, while Vista drove a sword through his heart from behind.
Red Wolf’s body twitched several times before finally going still.
Vista pulled out his sword, and Red Wolf collapsed onto the deck.
The battle had left all three seriously injured.
Their coordination had been clumsy at first, forcing each of them to withstand Red Wolf’s fierce attacks alone several times.
As the fight continued, however, they gradually found their rhythm and began overwhelming him together.
Whenever Red Wolf launched a powerful attack, two of them would occupy his attention while the third targeted a vital opening.
“Gurararara!” Whitebeard laughed heartily as he leaped onto the enemy ship.
He looked at his bloodstained sons with satisfaction.
He had witnessed their growth.
The scene was somewhat strange.
Bodies lay scattered across the battlefield while an old father proudly observed his sons after a hard-fought victory.
But this was how people survived in such a chaotic world.
Only by becoming stronger could they continue living.
Only by growing stronger could they fulfill their ambitions.