One Piece: Holy Light Swordmaster

"Ahahaha... now that's not the right attitude to have! I've been looking forward to seeing you again!" Wright chuckled, grinning widely.

—Completely ignoring Donquixote Doflamingo's livid expression, as well as the varied looks from the Donquixote Family: some stern, some angry, and others confused.

For this battle, Wright had no intention of involving ordinary soldiers. Against the Donquixote Family, whose members predominantly had Devil Fruit abilities, sending in regular troops would be nothing short of a slaughter.

It was clear Doflamingo shared this sentiment. He had only brought along his stronger officers, leaving the non-combatants like Sugar and Dellinger back at their base under Jora's care.

His objective was to threaten the World Government, and a decisive victory could only be achieved by targeting high-level combatants. Slaughtering ordinary soldiers served no purpose.

Even if he wiped out all the troops, without taking down the officer-level Marines, his goals would remain out of reach.

"Fuffuffuffu…" Doflamingo's anger turned into laughter. "So, Goomir was your disguise... which means you're the only officer-ranked Marine here?"

"Wright... I know you're strong, but taking on my entire family alone? That's nothing short of delusional!"

"Well, what can I say?" Wright leaned casually against a tent post at the camp, shaking his head theatrically. "The headquarters couldn't spare a Vice Admiral, so here I am, just a lone Rear Admiral holding the fort. I figured there's no point in sending soldiers to their deaths, so I've got no choice but to face you all myself!"

He sighed dramatically. "Honestly, Sengoku's being unfair. Taking away Rear Admiral Goomir and Rear Admiral Steeless? That's just bullying."

"You bastard…" Doflamingo and his officers were so furious that they visibly gritted their teeth, itching to stomp Wright's grinning face into the dirt.

Taking a deep breath, Doflamingo composed himself. "Fuffuffuffu… Family, since Rear Admiral Wright is so eager to die, let's grant him his wish."

"Prepare for battle!"

At his command, the officers dispersed, encircling Wright. At least with Wright in charge, there was no need to worry about bombardments from Marine warships on the sea.

If this were someone like Sakazuki or Onigumo, they'd have razed the area with cannon fire before the soldiers could even retreat!

Even as he overestimated Wright's abilities, Doflamingo couldn't believe that Wright alone could handle his entire group.

He dispatched the Swim-Swim Fruit user Senor Pink and the Snow-Snow Fruit user Monet to guard against ambushes while sending three of his top executives to attack Wright directly. Doflamingo himself, along with the remaining officers, provided backup.

"Young Master, watch out!" Monet, who had already transformed into a flurry of snowflakes, was the first to notice something unusual. The surrounding environment had already been taken over by another substance!

"An immense amount of particles… no, it's smoke!"

The rest of the Donquixote Family failed to react as though… they hadn't heard Monet's warning at all!

Thin wisps of smoke rose from beneath their feet, rapidly thickening. Before they could respond, the smoke solidified, binding their legs tightly!

—Only Doflamingo and the martial arts expert Lao G managed to react quickly enough to leap into the air.

"White Squall: Ground Lock!" Smoker's angry shout rang out. The Marine Logia user had already turned the environment into his domain. But thanks to Rosinante's interference, Monet's warning fell on deaf ears.

Executing a large-scale binding technique, Smoker materialized behind Wright, his body reforming after dispersing into smoke. Unlike before, Smoker could now separate his ability's effects from his body, maintaining the smoke's hold on the enemies while returning to his physical form.

"Perfect timing," Wright praised, gesturing grandly. "Holy Light Barrier: Arena of the Cross!"

A massive, drum-shaped construct of radiant Holy Light expanded rapidly from Wright, enclosing everyone present within its confines—a sealed battleground that locked the skies and the earth.

"Damn it!" Doflamingo, still airborne, barely had time to react before the arena closed around him. In the past, he had used his Birdcage to trap others; now, he could clearly see that this arena's purpose was to prevent his escape.

Even though Wright had allies, none of them could receive backup from their warship now either. Was he that confident?

Before Doflamingo could land, new changes appeared—two enormous cross-shaped walls of Holy Light extended from the center of the arena, splitting the circular space into four quadrants!

"Overheat!"

Doflamingo fired a thick whip-like string at the semi-transparent Holy Light barrier. "Break it open!"

BOOM!

A deafening collision reverberated as the Overheat struck the barrier. But apart from a slight ripple, the Holy Light barrier showed no signs of breaking.

"Tch!"

Landing on the ground, Doflamingo surveyed the scene and grudgingly acknowledged that his family had been successfully divided by Wright's strategy.

"Cross Arena…" Doflamingo growled through gritted teeth, his voice venomous. "So that's your plan, Wright… To take us down one by one!"

"But just the two of you? Don't overestimate yourselves!"

"...It's not just the two of them."

Doflamingo and his family turned, their eyes widening. The tent Wright had been leaning against was pulled open, and from inside emerged someone they all knew intimately.

—Donquixote Rosinante, the former "Corazon."

"Fuffuffuffu… Rosinante… are you trying to make me laugh to death? With your pitiful combat skills, you dare take part in this fight?"

"Wright! Did you bring my dear little brother here so I could kill him again?" Doflamingo laughed uproariously, while his family, having shaken off Smoker's smoke bindings, stared warily at Rosinante, who was casually puffing on a cigarette.

"I may not be able to handle you, but taking on a few of your officers… I can manage that much," Rosinante said softly.

For the first time, he could openly stand against his brother and use his own strength to stop his evil.

The Cross Arena was divided into four sections:

The eastern quadrant housed Trebol, the Sticky-Sticky Fruit user, along with the weaker combatants Baby 5, Buffalo, and Lao G.

The southern quadrant contained Pica, the Stone-Stone Fruit user, and Gladius, the Explosive-Explosive Fruit user.

The western quadrant hosted the strongest fighters: Diamante, the Flag-Flag Fruit user, along with Mahabais, the Ton-Ton Fruit user, and Senor Pink.

The northern quadrant was occupied by a furious Doflamingo and the alert Monet, who had rushed to protect her Young Master.

"Let's speed this up," Wright said, turning toward Smoker and Rosinante. "We'll start by clearing the eastern quadrant."

Listening to the cheers of Marines aboard the warship who had witnessed Wright trap the enemy so masterfully, Wright added, "I'll handle Doflamingo. If he's left unchecked, the arena won't hold for long."

"You two take care of the remaining sections… let's move!"

"No problem…"

"Hmph, I've been waiting to deal with these guys!"

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