During his battle with Weevil, Wright had once used a technique called "Holy Light Blade," mimicking the abilities of "Ashes Awakening" by forging a massive blade of pure Holy Light.
Now, his newly developed Holy Power technique, "Divine Judgment," utilized a similar method.
A golden beam of light descended from the clouds, striking directly atop Kaido's dragon-formed head.
Kaido looked up and saw the sky split apart. A massive golden energy longsword plunged downward, its tip mere moments away from striking!
"This is..."
Zing—
Boom—
A crisp blade hum resonated, followed by an earth-shaking explosion and a blinding flash of light.
The execution blade of Divine Energy clashed against Kaido's overwhelming might, shattering the storm clouds above and splitting the sea below!
When the explosion finally subsided, Kaido's figure emerged before everyone.
The so-called "Strongest Creature on Land, Sea, and Air" had never looked so battered.
The left dragon horn that Kaido had used to block "Divine Judgment" had been severed!
Blood streamed down his head. While the wound appeared severe, it was, in truth, nothing more than a surface injury.
The most serious damage, however, was Kaido's left eye—his originally golden, vertical pupil was tightly shut, a ghastly slash mark running from his upper to lower eyelid!
"Well, well, well..."
Kaido growled deeply. The Marine Vice Admiral before him had entered that strange state, boosting his attack power tremendously. If Kaido weren't in his dragon form, he might have suffered a critical injury!
"You actually managed to hurt me... and pretty badly at that!"
"What a worthy opponent... Makes me want to kill you even more!!"
"Tch!" Wright scoffed. "You say that like you actually could. Talk about delusions of grandeur!"
"Glorious Holy Decree!"
The restorative effects of Holy Power were unparalleled. Kaido's expression darkened as he realized that the weakened aura Wright had just moments ago had now returned to peak condition!
Kaido shot Wright a deep look before snorting and turning away.
"Hmph! I can't kill you, and you can't kill me! Wasting time fighting like this... I'd rather go back and drink!"
At Marineford, the top brass of the Marines stared in shock at the footage transmitted by the Den Den Mushi. After a brief silence, Kuzan's bewildered voice broke the stillness.
"Ah la la... Kaido lost a horn and an eye, and he just left?"
"Wasn't he here for revenge? Is he not even going to save face?"
"I was supposed to make an appearance, wasn't I?"
"I even skipped my nap for this moment, and this guy just... just this?!"
"..."
Sengoku twitched at the corner of his mouth, recalling Wright's evaluation of Kaido—that guy is utterly shameless!
Such a keen insight!
"Excellent! Well done, Wright! With this battle, he's covered his last remaining shortcoming and proven his strength!"
Garp burst into hearty laughter. Forcing Kaido to retreat was already a significant victory.
Had the battle continued, Wright likely wouldn't have been able to defeat Kaido outright. But to claim he would lose? At the very least, it would take several days and nights of battle before a decisive outcome.
Wright's form seemed to be a burst-mode transformation, unlikely to last indefinitely. However, even in his normal state, his regenerative abilities allowed him to keep up with Kaido!
But if the fight had dragged on and other forces had intervened, or if someone had attacked the G-5 branch base in the meantime, the situation could have turned dire.
Thus... had Kaido refused to retreat, it would have been time for the Admirals to take the stage!
With Kaido's stamina drained, the Marines' strongest crowd-control fighter, Kuzan, or their fastest attacker, Borsalino, could have entered the battle, increasing their chances of taking Kaido down!
But now, with Kaido retreating voluntarily, they had successfully avoided revealing the Marines' most classified strategic asset—the Fourth Generation Lightforged Beacons, which could teleport Admirals.
The battle's objectives had been achieved. If Kaido wanted to run, so be it—after all, it wasn't the Marines' reputation that had suffered!
"What kind of... uh, real acting is this?"
Zephyr coughed awkwardly. He had heard Smoker use the term earlier—after all, Zephyr had never been one for flashy effects.
"Hmm, with that kind of power boost, Wright has reached the level we were hoping for."
Tsuru nodded. "From his combat performance, that much is clear. Though it's not perfect yet..."
Glancing at Sengoku, she smiled slightly. "The Marines have undoubtedly grown stronger!"
"Scary, isn't it?~ The younger generation these days." Borsalino narrowed his eyes. "Back when I was his age~ I was just a Commodore... or was it a Rear Admiral?~"
"Justice welcomes the strong!" Sakazuki said sternly. "The strength of justice must be upheld by the powerful. This is a resounding strike against the so-called 'Four Emperors'!"
Sengoku gazed intently at the image of Wright, his golden aura blazing, his Justice coat billowing behind him. Slowly, he declared:
"His foundation is incredibly solid... It is clear that he will stabilize his current strength in no time."
"From now on, there's no need to suppress Wright's reputation—allow his name to rise!"
"We require overwhelming military and public support to shatter these chains—for Wright, and for the Marines!"
"The Marines must dominate the seas with strength, not maintain some so-called 'balance' with the pirates!"
Sweeping his gaze across the assembly, Sengoku solemnly announced:
"Then, as Fleet Admiral of the Marines, I hereby propose the promotion of Vice Admiral Wright to the rank of 'Admiral Candidate'!"
"All in favor, vote now!"
"Aye!"
Six voices responded in succession.
On Kardena Island, Wright stood dumbfounded, "watching" Kaido "gracefully" make his swift exit.
"What... just happened?!"
"I went full 'acting' mode, and he just left?!"
Seriously... what happened to fighting for days and nights?!
With a sigh, he watched Kaido's retreat. The storm clouds and lightning that had accompanied his presence faded. Wright clenched his teeth and cursed:
"Coward!"
"Compared to Whitebeard, you're nothing but a weakling!"
Deactivating Wrath of Vengeance, Wright summoned his Wings of Holy Light and took flight toward Smoker's position.
Meanwhile, "war correspondent" Smoker exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, causing the Den Den Mushi to cough.
Realizing who was watching the live broadcast, Smoker hastily shut off the transmission and landed next to the Lightforged Beacon.
"That 'acting' mode... was that what I just saw?"
Seeing Smoker's complicated expression, Wright's bad mood instantly improved.
"Well? Blinding, wasn't it?"
"Heh, and not just my eyes!"
Wright grinned. Realizing the whole fight had been broadcast live...
His mood instantly soared. "Alright, let's head back to base! I can't wait to see Sengoku's jealous face! Wahahaha!"
Thinking back to how the entire battle had been broadcast live…
Wright's mood instantly improved. "Alright, back to the branch base! I'll get myself sorted and head over to see the look on Sengoku's face—envy, jealousy, pure frustration! Wahahaha!"
Smoker scoffed, then vanished in a flash of golden light. Wright stowed away the Lightforged Beacon and shot into the sky—
It was a huge inconvenience that he couldn't teleport while carrying the beacon itself!
But before that, he had one more thing to take care of—finding the horn Kaido had lost when he was struck down. Vegapunk had been eyeing Kaido's "spare parts" for quite some time now.
…
With Kaido retreating, the Marines from G-5 Branch began returning to G-1 in an orderly manner.
As for Wright, he had been summoned to Marine Headquarters by Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
"Hey! Old man Sengoku, how was that? My new technique—pretty cool, huh?"
"Hmph! What good is 'cool'?! How long can you maintain it?"
With his usual expression, Sengoku snapped the pen in his hand with a sharp crack.
Wright casually took a seat on the couch. "Hmm… Right now, I can hold it for about ten minutes. But this was my first time using it. With more practice, I should be able to extend it to a few hours—or even make it a permanent state."
"Hmm… Then work on that as soon as possible."
Sengoku pulled open a drawer and took out a document.
"After a unanimous decision by Marine Headquarters, in recognition of your demonstrated strength in repelling Kaido and the significance of this battle, along with your prior achievements—including the elimination of Jack and various military merits—
"Vice Admiral Wright of Marine Headquarters is hereby promoted to 'Admiral Candidate,' with the codename: Orange Horse!"
"Orange is the warmest color—just like your healing powers. It's also the color closest to your Holy Fire."
"May you uphold justice, remain valiant and swift, and charge forward without hesitation!"
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TL/N:
I initially translated his codename as "Orange Gallant" as the Gallant and noble Horse/Steed has some similarity to each other in the original texts, moreover, Paladins rode 'gallant' horses.
However, a few months after translating this chapter, I realized I had overlooked the fact that Admirals' codenames follow a pattern of a color and an animal.
To correct this, I revised my advance chapters, replacing "Orange Gallant" with "Orange Horse," though the latter doesn't quite align with Wright's image.
Orange Horse would be Toba or Daidai-ba or Tokoma or Daidouma in japanese, by the way. It doesn't roll off the toungue like Akainu and Aokiji right? The last one is much better than the rest and also the closest one I could think of.
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