Chapter 444: All the Heroes of the World Have Entered My Trap

"Forget it."

"I shouldn't have held such high expectations for them in the first place."

Gao Wen sighed in admiration, slashed horizontally with his blade, and forced the attacking crowd back.

Crimson wings flapped, suspending him high in the sky; paired with dragon scales like armor, he exuded majesty and dominance.

Nearly a demonic god descended from myth and legend!

In this battle, Gao Wen unleashed his full power to fight the masses, and in doing so, he saw his own limits.

He was bathed in blood; his crimson dragon scales appeared especially ferocious, and even with the Red Dragon's formidable defensive capabilities, he had suffered serious injuries.

But that was all.

The abundant ley line energy of Britannias converged into streams of blue mist, gathering at Gao Wen's wounds and rapidly repairing his flesh.

In other words, as long as he stood upon the earth, Gao Wen was perpetually at his peak.

If one could not inflict heavy injuries at the very start of the battle, or use methods to interrupt Gao Wen's absorption of ley line energy before that energy was exhausted, he was an absolutely immortal body.

"This game... is time to end!"

Gao Wen murmured, domineering aura surging wildly around him, sweeping across the wilds and tearing the earth apart!

The great battle reignited.

The Round Table Arena—no, the entirety of Camelot had become a battlefield.

Explosions, roars, and earthquakes spreading for hundreds of kilometers made the surroundings of Camelot look like the apocalypse.

Bolstered by ley line energy, Gao Wen was nearly unstoppable, while the stamina of the others constantly drained with time, inevitably causing their combat power to decline.

Very quickly.

The balance of the battle began to tilt toward Gao Wen.

Straw Hat's Gear Fifth offensive was sliced away by a single strike from Gao Wen; he struggled to his feet but directly exited the Gear Fifth form, his skin becoming slack like that of a centenarian, unable to muster even a shred of strength throughout his entire body.

And this time, there would be no man with the world's fastest speed to deliver food to him.

"I won't let you advance another step!"

Kid desperately blocked in front of Straw Hat; though his words were fierce, his heart was timid, yet his feet did not shift even an inch.

Since he had chosen to board Straw Hat's ship, he could not stand by and watch his captain die here!

He had once been a underworld figure in the South Blue, and as a man—especially one with an underworld background—promises and loyalty were instincts carved into his bones and blood.

"Not a bad look in your eyes."

Gao Wen offered a word of praise.

He stepped past Kid and charged toward the powerful figures in the distance.

Kid's breath hitched; he felt the pressure weighing on his entire body vanish in an instant.

Only then did he realize his back was already soaked with sweat, yet at this moment, a indescribable sense of humiliation also rose within Kid's heart.

That man had never once looked at him squarely from start to finish...

Kid lowered his gaze to his hands, his eyes filled with bloodshot veins; he wanted to prove himself, but at this moment, Straw Hat's weak voice came from behind:

"Meat!"

"Give me meat!"

Kid froze for a moment, his clenched fists slowly relaxing.

He...

had more important things to do!

The great battle continued.

With Straw Hat and Kid out of the fight, the balance that had barely been maintained was broken, and the situation of the war took a sharp turn for the worse at an unimaginable speed.

Sanji's all-out Demon Leg was casually caught by Gao Wen, who then reversed his grip and slammed Sanji's upper half into the dirt.

Barrett manipulated a medium-sized Bullet covered in Conqueror's Haki and supreme Armament Haki to exchange moves with Gao Wen, but Gao Wen saw through his intent and instantly dismembered him on the spot with a compressed beam of light, the Crimson Earth Blue Star.

Barrett's true body was blasted dozens of kilometers away on the spot!

The S-Dragon, who had already lost one arm, had its wings forcibly torn off by Gao Wen; even so, it continued to roar:

"I!"

"Will absolutely kill you!"

Boom—!

Gao Wen reversed his fist and smashed it directly into the ground; for a moment, the entire battlefield fell silent.

Nowadays, on this entire battlefield, aside from Gao Wen, only three figures in the distance remained standing.

Gao Wen flapped his wings, hovering in the sky with his back to the great sun, looking down upon the three from above as his aura suddenly erupted!

Gulp—!

Crimson Conqueror's Haki surged like a tide, dyeing the sky above Camelot red, while the earth below presented a depression shaped like a hemisphere!

Facing Gao Wen, who now had his full combat power unleashed and nearly wrote the word 'invincible' on his face, even the three below could not help but feel a wave of despair.

"The gap..."

"is too huge!"

Redfield couldn't help but stumble, barely managing to stand firm by leaning on his cane-sword.

When he raised his eyes to gaze directly at Gao Wen standing high in the sky in the distance, there was nothing but unwillingness in his eyes:

"Have I already reached my limit?!"

"Can't I even make that monster enjoy himself?!"

Redfield gave a bleak smile; he looked around and only then realized that the condition of the few people present was much the same as his own.

Although this battle lasted only a brief ten-plus minutes, the power Gao Wen displayed was nearly overwhelming.

A near-immortal vitality, a state perpetually maintained at its peak, and a Conqueror's Haki that grows stronger with every fight—all these combined to form that Lionheart King who looked down upon the world like a god!

"How disgraceful!"

"The gap is widening even more!"

At this moment, even Hawk Eyes felt a touch of despair.

He had thought that after two years of effort, his swordsmanship had advanced another step, reaching the realm Gao Wen once occupied, while his physique and Haki far surpassed his former self.

Even if he could not defeat Gao Wen, he should not have been vanquished in such a humiliating manner!

Yet...

Hawk Eyes looked up; even though Gao Wen merely stood there, he felt as though facing an insurmountable peak pressing down heavily upon his head!

"Truly a man who inspires despair!"

"Tch, can't we even make that monster enjoy himself?!"

Kaido casually flung away his spiked club, his aura growing increasingly ferocious; his dragon-like physique became even more grotesque, his features appearing more bestial!

How could he be willing to admit defeat just like this?!

But in the next instant, that powerful Conqueror's Haki he had felt during his earlier battle with Moria pressed down on Kaido's shoulders once more, heavy as a mountain range!

Boom—!

The ground beneath Kaido's feet instantly collapsed, spreading outward in ripples.

Even with a physique as strong as Kaido's, he felt a surge of blood and sweetness in his mouth, and heard the crisp cracking of bones within his body unable to withstand the crushing pressure!

"Are you kidding me!"

Kaido erupted, his muscles bulging as he attempted to forcibly break free, only to be met with a slash aimed directly at himself.

Hiss—!

Blood sprayed everywhere; this single slash nearly split Kaido's abdomen open.

Kaido's prideful physique, before the Guanshi Zhengzong, failed to raise even a ripple before being sliced apart.

"Gao Wen!"

Kaido let out a roar of unwillingness, fell onto his back, and possessed no strength left to continue fighting.

Gao Wen swung his blade, pressing it against Kaido's neck, and glanced around.

Straw Hat sat slumped to one side, his appearance returned to normal but utterly weak, clearly having not yet recovered his stamina.

S-Ryu struggled to crawl out from the mound of earth, brandishing claws and fangs as he charged at Gao Wen, yet he took only a single step before collapsing with a groan of refusal.

Hawk Eyes and Redfield stood aside with blades in hand, yet they too lacked the strength to fight on.

Thus, the outcome of this battle was already sealed.

Gao Wen was already weary, yet the killing intent throughout his body surged higher at this moment:

"Submit or die!"

Gao Wen's indifferent voice entered the ears of the three, and also reached the ears of everyone watching this battle!

The expressions of everyone changed drastically at this moment!

"Submit or die?!"

"How domineering!"

"Is this Knight Gao Wen's goal?!"

"From the very beginning, he was never aiming for the so-called 'World's Strongest'; having stepped onto Whitebeard's shoulders to ascend, he already was that—why would he need to go through the trouble?!"

"We... we all underestimated him!"