The Marines' emergency broadcast repeated across the entire world.
Everyone could feel the heavy pressure of the unknown and began to move...
* * *
Holy Land of Mariejois.
The three-way standoff continued for a few moments before Sakazuki suddenly chuckled.
"How boring..."
From that single attack earlier, he could already tell there was no way to kill that thing. The same went for the artificially matured idiot in the distance. Completely useless.
His body casually leaned backward as the ground squirmed and magma surged upward, forming a giant stone seat beneath him. Sakazuki sat down upon it.
His gaze swept across Mariejois. It was neither particularly large nor small.
The Five Elders. The God's Knights. Kong. Sengoku. Garp. Dragon. The prematurely awakened Nika. And the figure standing at the very center.
Every powerhouse still remaining on the surface of the world had gathered here, while the parasites hidden elsewhere, including those inside the Marines itself, had already been cleaned out.
Sakazuki looked toward the Five Elders and the figure behind them as he said calmly, "If that thing is your trump card, then you can prepare to die peacefully very soon..."
His eyes remained fixed upon the crowned figure.
Saturn stepped forward and shouted angrily, "How dare you speak to Imu-sa—"
Sakazuki flicked a finger.
Whoosh!
BOOM!!!!!
Nusjuro appeared in front of him at some unknown moment. His cursed blade stood horizontally before him and blocked Sakazuki's flying air bullet.
The massive explosion instantly cut off Saturn's words, and cold sweat poured from his forehead. If he died right before victory, that would truly become a joke…
Sitting upon the magma stone throne, Sakazuki spoke leisurely. "You're pretty fast."
Then he looked toward Saturn again. "You barking dog. The last fool who dared bark at me like that still has his head hanging in Marine Headquarters for display."
Saturn's eyes widened in fury, but just as he was about to speak again, Nusjuro raised a hand to stop him.
Looking toward Sakazuki, he said in a deep voice, "What? You think one man alone can overthrow the World Government? Should I call that confidence... or arrogance... Sakazuki?"
He clearly did not count Sengoku, Garp, or Dragon among Sakazuki's side. After all, they had nearly negotiated peace earlier. Combined with the appearance of the Nika brat, it was obvious Sakazuki was not working with them.
Everyone present looked toward Sakazuki. They could vaguely sense something different about him now. It was as though some kind of restraint had been removed, and even his words sounded far sharper than before...
Sakazuki shook his head. "I have dominated the seas for decades. The emperors and kings who once ruled this ocean are all dead, and yet I'm still sitting here perfectly fine. What do you think?"
Nusjuro narrowed his eyes. "That really is arrogance..."
Sakazuki smiled faintly. "Arrogance? Perhaps. But everyone here today can forget about leaving alive. You are the final pieces of trash in this world. Let the magma bury you all..."
The voice of Imu, surrounded by the Five Elders and the God's Knights, slowly rang out.
"I do not see any ambition to rule the world in your eyes."
The Five Elders immediately lowered their heads and stepped aside upon hearing the voice.
The mysterious figure known as "Imu" slowly walked forward and looked toward Sakazuki.
Sakazuki replied quietly, "Of course I have no interest in ruling the world. But I've been disgusted with everything and everyone in this world for a very long time."
His gaze swept across Sengoku, Garp, Kong, and the Five Elders, his voice gradually turning sinister.
"Now... other than you people... they're all dead..."
Yet the mysterious figure called Imu still sounded puzzled. "Only because of that?"
Sakazuki slowly closed his eyes as scene after scene from this world flashed through his mind…
"And that still isn't enough? You cannot imagine the torment of someone who fell from light into darkness. So much torment that everything I see makes me want to destroy it.
"Because they are all too ugly. Because all that filth filled my sight.
"There were vicious pirates. Marines who flaunted justice. Nobles who acted however they pleased. Foolish kingdoms beyond saving... but I had to endure them.
"I joined the Marines at twelve years old, and until today every single day felt like walking on thin ice because I feared that if I lost control even once, I would destroy them all and fail to achieve my goal.
"Only today do I finally no longer need to restrain myself… because you pieces of garbage are about to die..."
He slowly opened his eyes.
Those strange eyes that mixed absolute madness with terrifying rationality stared at everyone present as silence fell across the battlefield.
This reason sounded insane and absurd.
Yes. To the people of this world, it was an utterly ridiculous reason...
The people gathered in Mariejois even began wondering when exactly Sakazuki had gone mad. Even the mysterious Imu was momentarily shaken by his words.
In the distance, Sengoku, standing beside Garp, suddenly realized something and asked in a deep voice. "Then Kuzan and Borsalino…?"
The strange madness in Sakazuki's eyes instantly disappeared.
He looked toward Sengoku as his indifferent voice echoed. "That's right. I killed them. If you people had not still been somewhat useful, I would've sent you to hell long ago.
"A bunch of people wearing the cloak of 'justice' while doing whatever they please dare call themselves righteous? Slow. Lazy. Colluding with pirates. Betraying allies. And you still call yourselves soldiers? What a joke...
"And let me tell you something else. Once the Four Emperors and all of you here are wiped out, the strong people of this world will be completely cleansed away."
As Sakazuki continued speaking, that extreme madness surged back into his eyes.
"Only a few tiny fish will remain, and I can crush them with a single hand..."
Everyone was stunned as they looked at Sakazuki sitting upon the giant throne with that nearly insane expression. At the same time, the same word appeared in their minds.
'Madman…'
But precisely because he was like this, nobody dared step forward. Even Luffy in his carefree Nika form felt a trace of fear.
Yet no one expected the crazed Sakazuki to suddenly regain clarity.
Without any warning, a gigantic magma sword erupted from the ground of Mariejois and slashed toward Imu.
* * *
New World, New Marineford.
Upon the execution platform, Carlo stared at the empty island while continuing the global broadcast through the Den Den Mushi in his hand.
"We ask all people around the world to unite every possible force and overcome this disaster together.
"All Marine branches around the world must take the initiative and protect nearby civilians. If necessary, do not fear sacrifice. This is the responsibility and duty of the Marines—"
BOOM!
BOOM!!
RUMBLE!!!
The island shook violently. The video feed suddenly cut off, and all communications across the world were severed, plunging everything into silence...
Carlo stopped speaking. He slowly lowered the Den Den Mushi and turned toward the towering Red Line in the distance.
The already crimson Red Line had now become even redder. The entire continent transformed into magma as it surged upward continuously, while the sea itself began boiling.
Strange bulges rose from the ocean surface. Islands on both sides of the Red Line cracked apart and collapsed one after another. New Marineford also slowly began sinking as buildings crumbled everywhere.
Carlo weakly dropped to his knees upon the execution platform, his hoarse and painful voice ringing out.
"Fleet Admiral Sakazuki..."
* * *
Upon the moon.
Endless thunderclouds covered the moon's surface as Soter controlled countless relay devices, spreading them evenly across the moon to maintain the formation.
At the highest mountain peak on the moon, empty boxes of nutrient solution and shattered bottles littered the ground.
Bullet held the Pluton main cannon tightly in his arms.
ROAR!!!!!
A roar like an ancient demon god shook the heavens.
Bullet entered his Demon Mode. His entire body turned deep blue as he roared savagely with bloodshot eyes, rapidly expanding under the support of all those nutrient solutions.
He transformed into a gigantic blue giant hundreds of meters tall. The Pluton main cannon in his arms enlarged along with him, becoming like the main gun of a planet-destroying warship.
Bullet raised it high above his head and aimed it toward Mariejois.
In front of him floated an enormous projection screen. As the cannon adjusted slightly, the image shifted as well.
The projection displayed everything currently happening upon the Red Line: Sakazuki had suddenly controlled the magma and launched the gigantic magma sword toward Imu.
Enel transformed into lightning itself and raised the golden staff in his hand. He fired lightning into the sky, connecting the relay devices controlled by Soter and the thunderclouds covering the moon.
Infinite energy poured into his body as his form expanded several times over.
His skin and muscles began tearing apart, and blood flowed from all seven orifices as he forcibly thrust the golden staff into the charging chamber of the Pluton cannon.
Blood stained Enel's vision, and a mixture of tears and blood slowly streamed down his face. It was as though all strength had left his body.
He fell from the sky, yet still reached out toward the massive blue planet above, toward that figure that seemed so close before his eyes. His hand passed through the figure.
It was only an illusion...
Enel completely lost control. His arms desperately clawed at empty air.
"NO!!!!"
He was the one who killed Uncle Sakazuki…
The lightning covering the entire moon surged forward. In a single instant, the Pluton main cannon, amplified hundreds of times over, was completely charged.
Within the projection before Bullet, above the Red Line, the terrifying black shadow appeared once more as Sakazuki launched his attack...
BOOM!!!!!!!!!
The Pluton main cannon fired.
The energy cannon that could pierce planets gathered endless power as it shot forward, growing larger and larger as it blasted toward the skies above the Red Line.
It swallowed the heavens and earth whole.
There was nowhere to escape...
Thud.
Bullet's body suddenly weakened and dropped to his knees. His massive body collapsed forward.
The hundreds-fold amplification and endless lightning had exceeded even his limits, causing him to consciousness...
* * *
Holy Land of Mariejois.
The moment endless white light descended from the starry sky, Imu abruptly narrowed his eyes and looked toward Sakazuki.
"You seek death!!!!"
He had been deceived...
That madness was all an act. It was all to lure him out...
Damn it!!!!
But it was already too late. The familiar presence in the sky was even hundreds or thousands of times stronger than it had been eight hundred years ago.
There was no escaping it, nor was there any struggle to be made, because Imu understood that it would be meaningless.
Everyone knew the limits of their own power. And that attack had already surpassed the limits of this world itself...
At the very end of his life, Imu stared fixedly at Sakazuki.
Over there, Sakazuki's advancing motion suddenly stopped. The gigantic magma sword froze in place as well.
Then his mocking voice echoed across Mariejois.
"I used these forty years of walking on thin ice to exchange for the destruction of your World Government's eight-hundred-year foundation."
The corners of his mouth curled upward viciously.
"Well?"
* * *
BOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The entire planet trembled and cracked faintly.
Countless people across islands around the world collapsed onto the ground as they stared toward that distant place.
The magma from the planet's core destroyed everything below, while the energy descending from the heavens erased everything above.
Caught between those two catastrophic forces, everyone in Mariejois was annihilated before they could even react.
Body and soul alike were erased completely.
The so-called god "Imu," the warrior of liberation "Nika," the world's strongest Armament Haki, and the five most powerful rulers in the world, all of those titles became meaningless.
Even Sakazuki himself, before that clash of overwhelming energy, could not endure for even two seconds...
There was no childish back-and-forth battle like in fairy tales either.
Sakazuki had always used the most ruthless and absolute method possible to eliminate his enemies, leaving behind no future trouble whatsoever…
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