"BOOM!!!"

  The ground split open.

  A massive, bottomless crater appeared, scorched and steaming, so inte made one's scalp tingle in horror.

  "Fp, fp…" Within Saint Howard's narrowed gaze, tless vampire bats took flight, ref into Linlin's imposing and terrifying figure. Aside from looking slightly disheveled, she was pletely unharmed—an almost unbelievable sight.

  "Mamamama… The Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan Model: Angel Form?" Linlin grinned, her expression like a demon mog an angel, ughing darkly. "Anyone else would've been finished by that!"

  She had to admit that the Angel Form was indeed formidable. That searing holy light could seemingly ie and purify anything in its path. However, it was still just a Devil Fruit ability, not a divine, all-purifying force. The attack had been powerful beyond words; if not for her iructible body, courtesy of her Vampire Form's regeive abilities, it might have caused her real harm.

  "How long you hold out?" Saint Howard, appearing like an avenging angel, gred down at Linlin with a cold, merciless expression. His pristine wings beat violently as he unched himself at her once again.

  "Mighty Nation!" Linlin raised her massive sword, Napoleoing his charge head-on.

  "Ssh—" A pierg sound filled the air as her attaleashed a fearsome shockwave of sword energy.

  "Divine Judgment!" Saint Howard responded with a relentless beam of holy energy, which cut through the air like a massive pilr of light, colliding head-on with Linlin's attack.

  "Boom…boom…"

  In an instant, Saint Howard's form blurred as he accelerated forward, his sword fshing in the sunlight as he brought it down on Linlin.

  With the Devil Fruits now in the possession of an escapee, his only remaining goal was to capture or kill both El and Linlin. Doing so would allow him to extract all necessary information, reg the treasure stolen from the Navy and the Devil Fruits they had swiped.

  "g!!!"

  Sparks erupted as Linlin was forced backward. Saint Horessed his advantage, holy wings abze as he unleashed a relentless volley of light, sh Linlin with arrows of radiant energy.

  From a distance, El observed calmly as Linlin ushed onto the defensive by Saint Howard. He showed no sign of rushing to her aid; he khat Linlin, with her extraordinary Vampire Form aless training, could handle herself against the Angel Form's onsught. Her power was such that even he found it astonishing at times.

  In terms of sheer strength, she might not quite match Admiral Iron Cw Hark, whom El had previously killed. But her raw attack power was remarkable, and her Vampire Form's durability made her nearly impossible to kill ht. Her self-healing powers allowed her to recover from almost any injury as long as her heart and head remained intact. As long as she had access to blood, she could replenish her stamina, preventing her from tiring out easily.

  "Now…go!"

  At the shore, a massive pterosaur appeared, carrying the unscious Celestial Dragon Saint Rhodys and the incapacitated CP0 agent in its cws. It took to the skies, intending to escape.

  "Think you just leave?" El's eyes filled with murderous i as he growled.

  With a guttural roar, his body transformed. Scales covered his form, making him even more fearsome, and a pair of blue wings sprouted from his back. Entering his half-beast form, El radiated powerful lightning energy and exuded a monstrous aura. However, before he could unch his pursuit, a deafenily roar filled the air as Steel Bone Kong, also in his half-beast form as a giant Kong, came charging toward him.

  "Don't even think about it, El!" Steel Bone Kong's massive, Haki-infused fist, crag with lightning, swung toward El.

  "g!!!"

  Sparks flew as El's colossal halberd, also crag with intense Haki, met Kong's fist. They cshed with such power that the grouh them fractured, shaking the entire isnd with a resounding boom.

  "Whoosh—"

  Without wasting any time on further frontation, El drove his halberd into the ground. "Did you really think you could get away?" he muttered, eyes locked onto the esg pterosaur.

  "Whoosh…"

  With all four wings spread, El surged forward, his speed surpassing even Steel Bone Kong's rea time. Like a hurrie, he closed the distao the fleeing creature within seds, showing no mercy as he sshed through the air.

  "Stale!"

  "Whoosh—"

  A barrage of wind bdes ripped through the air, aimed directly at the pterosaur and its ttives.

  "Crack…crack…"

  "BOOM!!!"

  Bleam