Lara's POV;
“Huh? Lara is that you? Why are you here? Are you also trying to save Ace?” Asked Luffy rapidly, once he noticed that he could breathe again. He had stood up and was dusting his clothes off.
“How did you manage to get here?” I asked again, instead of answering.
“We were on our way, then the sea got all wild before it settled down again. But then it froze and we had to run over the ice. Jimbei and Iva-chan were helping me, but I got thrown away by a stray explosion,” he answered. Marines and pirates began to realize that I was no longer causing certain death and tried to attack, the first group attacked Luffy, the second me.
Luffy dispatched his attackers with a whip leg attack, while I gave each a quick distant Shigan. None of them was really strong, better than most common trash, but not good enough to survive someone with such a good grasp on the Six Skills, or someone physically strong as Luffy. The difference was that Luffy's could stand up again, while mine had a hole in their heart.
“You look tired, you also aren't strong enough for this war and we are on opposing sides as well,” I resumed our conversation as if nothing had happened.
“Huh? Oh yeah, I am fighting for a day or so now. But I have to save Ace! What do you mean with opposing sides? We are standing in front of each other, of course, we are on opposing sides.” I resisted the facepalm. I knew that Luffy wasn't the brightest, but sometimes it gets ridiculous.
“What I mean is that I am helping the World Government right now. That might change soon, but as of now I am against Whitebeard,” I explained with a sigh.
Luffy looked confused for a moment, but then the words registered and got processed. “You mean you are helping with Ace's execution?” Seems like he still needs exact verbal confirmation.
“Not really, I just want to be present in this war. I don't care if Ace dies or survives. But enough talk, the Marines will get suspicious if we keep standing without a fight,” I replied, before rushing at him with a speed he couldn't follow. I vaguely kept track of where we were, so I also knew where Ace was in a relative position to us.
Luffy tried to evade in the last moment but wasn't able to. I gave him a massive bitch slap, not Haki enhanced, and he got catapulted into the air, towards the scaffold. Maybe this will help him, or he might get skewered on something when he lands. Not my problem.
I also healed him a bit with my Angel Fruit, not completely, that would be quite taxing for me. Luffy's body is running on fumes, only his rubber structure allows him to keep going. Any normal person would have not been able to move from all the damage.
“DIE SLICER!” I turned around and saw how a giant from an allied crew of Whitebeard came rushing at me, he had a large axe that was in full swing. The almost house sized axe gorged through the ground and let ice shards fly everywhere.
I sidestepped the slow weapon and gave it a palm strike. Vibrations travelled through the metal and cracks began to form, before the axe broke into tiny pieces. No normal weapon can survive my vibrations, my own are the opposite. They can survive the heavy shaking because they are made to. I even need to infuse them with my vibrations or else they might break.
Anyway, the giant was looking at his broken axe with a dumbfounded expression. I jumped at face height and gave him another palm strike right between the eyes. The waves of my vibrations travelled through his brain and met resistance at the other side. The energy of the wave pushed against the inside of his skull and proved to be stronger. The backside of his head exploded in a shower of blood and brain.
He fell backwards and almost squashed a group of fighting men. They had to hastily break their fight to escape, but some of them used the chance to fire their pistols. Which made me think, I do have some of them too.
With a happy grin, I put my hand into my inventory and pulled a black dial pistol out. With my other hand, I drew one of my daggers and then rushed into a group of pirates. It was a fresh crew from the back, they had just arrived and were still in a loose formation.
One of them spotted me coming at them and warned his crewmates. “It's Slicer Lara, she can manipulate sound and vibration. Focus guys, we have to reach Ace. We all knew that we will have to fight the Warlords.”
Some of them aimed their rifles at me and fired, but I evaded them mid-rush with a good executed Kami-e. I came out of the bullet rain and looked up into the face of a pirate. He had his sword raised and enhanced with Haki.
I grinned and aimed my pistol at his face. He activated a small coating of Armament over his face, hoping that it would be enough. It wasn't, the black dial on my pistol packed a punch half as strong as Nojiko's sniper. His head literally exploded and turned into a fine mist.
The recoil threw my arm up and I used the force to move my body along in a backwards somersault. With my other hand, I cut my dagger upwards and generated a force blade. The blue blade of air pressure cut through the body of the dead pirate and killed one of his friend that stood behind him.
Another one had circled me and was running at me with a spear, he had every intention of impaling me with it. He was also screaming and had his speed increased with a Soru. 'Coincidentally' my pistol was just in the right position and I fired again. The large cloud bullet separated most of his right leg and he fell forward. He skidded a few meters and came to a halt under me. He had only enough time to look up before I landed from my somersault and pierced his brain with my dagger.
Their friends fired again, but bullets are slow, they are easily evaded. I concentrated briefly and supercharged the air around them. It heated up to dangerous levels and their clothes began to combust on their own, followed by their body.
But there were more, many more. Oh, how Lia would have loved this. With a bubbly laugh, I jumped into a group of three and began to kill them. My dagger cut through limbs, my pistol perforated everything it hit and my body evaded their attacks with ease. They fell by the dozen and their whole crew was decimated after only a few minutes of fighting.
I looked around and saw that the place got relatively empty. The new world pirate crews that only minutes ago had stormed into the bay, were now diverging to the left and right. They were using the breach done by a massive icebreaker ship and the wall that got destroyed by Oars Jr.
It took me a moment to remember, but I think there was some kind of plan from the Marines to trap them within the bay. Which also means that I would have been in their line of fire if I stay here. A few Armament enhanced Geppo brought me high into the air and over the whole battlefield.
This high in the air not many will spot me and my tiny body made this even harder, but just to be sure I also heated the air around me and produced a heat-based shimmer effect. It's the same effect Nami can produce with her staff.
Now, what is happening? Whitebeard was still standing on his ship, he wasn't wounded. The guy that would pierce his chest, because he thinks that Whitebeard has betrayed him, has yet to act.
The lull in attacking pirates was explained when most of them began to attack from the side. The many trapped super-sized warships of the Marines were starting to get overwhelmed. The constant firing of their massive cannons had cost the lives of hundreds of pirates, but even those massive weapons couldn't stop the advance of so many skilled warriors.
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Some ships got simply overwhelmed, others were destroyed under the constant barrage of hand cannons or transported cannons. The icebreaker had decimated a group of four warships on its way into the bay. And Devil Fruit user were attacking ships from all sides.
Soon the line of warships will be fully breached and the pirates will be able to invade the plaza unhindered. Suddenly, the east flank of the battlefield exploded in a series of massive fireballs. Out of the smoke came a whole battle group of Pacifista. There were dozens of them, slowly stomping forward. Their massive, identical, bodies were shadowed by the rising smoke. More explosions came from the west side. From there they came as well. Another good thirty Pacifista.
At the front of the east side stood Sentoumaru, the fat sumo guy that claims to have the best defence in the world. Well, he does have a nice looking double bladed axe, but the rest of him looks fairly stupid.
The Pacifista began to open fire, they were shooting at any close pirate, not caring if there were allied Marines inside their blast radius. Those warships that were already almost overrun got destroyed when dozens of Pacifista-laser fired at them. Both Marines and pirates on board burned to death or were killed by the force of the explosions.
It was impressive, the whole east flank was burning and filled with explosions, the west flank wasn't much better. To name them 'Human Weapon' was turning out to be fitting. I don't think there are many who can stand up to this condensed force. A group of four maybe, but more than a dozen Pacifista?
Whitebeard ordered a rush, the allied pirates were ignoring their flank in hope of getting to Ace before they get wiped out. Still, the Vice-Admirals and Admirals were holding the front of the plaza. Getting through them will be difficult.
I pulled a pair of binoculars out of my inventory and took a closer look at a group of attacking pirates close to the front of the frozen harbour. Luffy was at the front, Jimbei stood behind him and a group of division commanders from Whitebeard's crew were following right behind.
I also noticed movement on the Moby Dick, down below on the deck stood Whitebeard, but also another man. Ah, it was the guy that would betray him. So we were already this far into the war? Huh, Whitebeard just got stabbed.
With that wound, he will be severely weakened. Hmm, information about Lia's attack in Impel Down should have reached Sengoku by now. If not then it will only be a matter of minutes. Whitebeard had just hugged his betrayer and was in the middle of his speech.
I don't think there's a better way for me to make my grand entrance.
With a slight smirk, I let myself drop, right over the deck of the Moby Dick. All three of them felt me relatively quickly, they all know Observation Haki. I landed softly on the deck, right in front of Whitebeard, Marco stood protectively in front of him. Whitebeard was truly massive, his whole aura was contained strength.
“Slicer Lara!” snarled Marco, flames began to lick at his arms and legs. He was getting ready to attack me in a moments notice.
I took my mask off, before addressing Whitebeard. “May I have a word Whitebeard?” I asked with a sweet smile and innocent expression. The blood all over my Death Reaper robes may have dimmed the effect a little.
He looked down at me and said nothing, but he did also not attack. I took it as a yes. “My sister is in the middle of an attack on Impel Down, the Marines either know of that already or will soon. So staying on their side will soon be counterproductive.
In return for an alliance, of course, one that only holds for the duration of the war, I would agree to help your side, as well as heal some of your wounds.”
Whitebeard raised an eyebrow. “You want an alliance after killing dozens of my sons and daughters?” Hehe, this was exciting. The underlined danger of his voice, the aura of strength he was projecting. This feeling of being in the middle of something hectic, dangerous and chaotic was making me excited.
“Oh please, you are doing the same for Crocodile and the prison escapists. They first fought your crew as well. But, those who died by my hands today were either attacking me or in the way of my fight against Doflamingo.”
“Don't listen to her, father. She is a Warlord and is helping the Marines. They are the dogs of the World Government,” said Marco, he was not believing me. The betrayer of Whitebeard was still crying from shame and stayed silent.
I ignored Marco and kept speaking directly to Whitebeard. “Well, I don't really need your help. But, and this is a capital but, this war is too much fun for it to end this quickly. You are wounded and by the feel of your aura even terminally ill. You won't survive the war, even if you get out of it without fighting.
And your son here made sure that no normal doctor will be able to save you as well.” The one I spoke about started to hiccup and his crying intensified.
“So here is my offer, I am able to heal some of your wounds. In return, I get to fight against some Marines, without having to kill any pesky sons and daughters of yours. And be realistic, you can see that your allies are getting killed by the hundreds. The Pacifista won't stop. If you were less wounded you could take some of the heat off of them and allow them to regroup,” I continued.
“Father, don't believe her,” began Marco, but he got stopped by his 'father'.
Whitebeard studied me intensely, the stare would have been intimidating if I hadn't seen stronger people, or were sane. “Tell me Slicer Lara, who was your father? Your face bears a strong resemblance to someone I know.”
“Leo,” I said truthfully.
“And his last name?” He asked back. I considered not telling him but didn't see the risk. At least I didn't see one after I had raised a sound barrier around us. The noise of the war stopped suddenly. All three of them noticed instantly, but none of them attacked.
“Leo Lonore, my father is called Leo Lonore,” I said after a pause while looking him directly in the eyes.
“Your swordsmanship looked similar, now I know from where I knew it. Blade Dancer Leo, he was responsible for some of my scars. A great man, who fought against slavers and Marines alike. After his capture, I thought he was executed. I didn't know that he had twins and that they were as trouble causing as their father.
Tell me how you want to heal me and I might accept.”
Marco looked resigned now, he would accept the words of his father. Trap or no trap. “It is not known, but I have eaten a second Devil Fruit. The Mythical Zoan Fruit, Model Human, subclass Angel. With it I am able to heal wounds, your illness might not be possible with this little time, but the stab wound could be healed,” I explained. All three of them looked surprised, having eaten more than one fruit was unheard of.
Whitebeard looked over the battlefield, saw the destruction that was heaped on his allies and the death that was all present. He breathed in once and then nodded.
“Hehe, thanks. I plan to use this for a grand entrance on the field of the big names. So I'll give you an extra once you start your rampage. But now let me heal you.” I activated parts of my Devil Fruit and gained a soft shine as well as a halo. For now, I withheld my wings.
I then stepped closer to Whitebeard and touched his stomach, I couldn't reach higher. Of course, I was under the wary and mistrusting eyes of Marco. Damn, there was a lot of damage. He had cancer, old scars that are hindering his movements and a massive hole in his chest that narrowly missed his heart, but punctured one of his lungs.
“I won't be able to heal your lung cancer, but I can close the wound, heal the damaged lung and alleviate some of the pain you have from your cancer,” I explained while filling him with the healing powers of my Fruit. He too began to glow, a bright golden light shone from the wound in his chest and the gaping hole began to close. Much to the shock of Marco and the other guy.
Suddenly, Marco jumped into the air and got shredded by a barrage of light attacks, while the other guy deflected a lance of ice. And from behind, I could feel how it was becoming hotter. “Seems like the three Admirals disagree with what I am doing,” I muttered while pushing more healing energy into Whitebeard. With another Rumble Ball, I might even be able to heal him completely, but I don't want that.
I left a small ball of my energy in his chest and then stepped back. “The part of energy you can feel within you is condensed healing energy. It will dissolve slowly and allow you to breath more easily, for as long as it exists.” I explained why he could still feel my energy inside him.
“Gurarara, I haven't breathed this easily in ages. Now, let's give these Marines hell.” He took a deep breath and then began to address his still fighting allies. “My sons and daughters, the Marines plotted against us, used our misguided hatred against our friends and made us betray each other. But don't think that they can get away with it, they will pay for the pain they caused you all. They will pay with their blood and their lives for their trickery and snake tongued lies.
If you truly believe that I have betrayed you, then feel free to go. You are all pirates, you are all free and can decide for yourself what you want. Know that I will not think less of you if you do, for a father has to allow their children the freedom of their own will.
Those of you who believe in me, follow me to rescue one of your own. A stupid little sibling that has done a mistake. What family would we be if we wouldn't help him now in a time of need? Follow me, my children, together we will have to save a member of our family!”
He then took a mighty leap and jumped over a good part of the harbour, directly into the fray of the fight. Marines and pirates alike stopped their fighting to look in awe at the legendary man. He in return glared down at any Marine that dared to stand in his way.
I looked down at the awed betrayer and then into the air. Yup, this place is perfect, I am right in the middle of everything. “Well then, time for me to give you a little extra.” With that said I jumped into the sky and activated my Angel Fruit completely.