Wano Country, the Island of Ghosts.
The once lively and carefree banquet had fallen silent.
The pirates, samurai, and ninjas—all stood at attention, fully armed and ready for war.
"Heh… hehehehe, everyone, don't be so nervous!"
Kurozumi Orochi spread his hands dramatically, his forked tongue hissing with arrogance. "How could an overseas army possibly invade my Wano in such a short time? Even if someone dared to intrude, it would only be a small scouting force! Nothing to fear!"
With Kaido absent, the self-proclaimed "partner" of the Emperor of Beasts had taken to giving bold speeches.
His loud voice quickly stirred the fools among the crowd into cheer and laughter, which only inflated his ego further.
"Doflamingo! What's with that sour face of yours?" Orochi taunted with a sneer. "Don't tell me you're afraid? Hah! That would hardly match your reputation, Joker! You're supposed to be a jester, not a cowardly clown! Hehehe!"
Doflamingo's fists clenched, tendons straining. It took every ounce of his self-control to resist tearing the black-haired serpent apart where he stood.
What a complete idiot.
Plague Quinn muttered the words under his breath, his expression sour.
Sure, he'd been spewing nonsense the night before—but that was before the war had actually begun. Back then, neither Fairy Tail nor the Whitebeard Pirates had made a move, and bluster was necessary to keep morale high.
But now…
It was different.
Fairy Tail had come to Wano faster than anyone could have imagined.
The war between emperors was about to begin.
Though Fairy Tail's presence on the seas had been brief, there was no denying it—they were already considered equals among the emperors of the world.
And now, their leader, Kaido of the Beasts, was out somewhere drunk off his mind—no one knew when he'd return.
If Fairy Tail chose to strike now, it would be a massacre.
For beings of that caliber, this wasn't a battle—it was an execution.
And as one of the top commanders here, Quinn could very well be the first to die.
Thinking that made Quinn's face pale green.
He silently cursed King for slipping away conveniently under the excuse of "fetching Kaido."
"Hey, Quinn! Doflamingo! Why so quiet?" Orochi barked, oblivious to the tension thickening in the air. "You should be celebrating! It's a good thing Fairy Tail's coming! Better to crush them one by one than face their alliance all at once!"
"Lord Orochi is right!"
"What Fairy Tail? Never heard of them!"
"They call themselves one of the 'Five Emperors,' but except for their captain's bounty—what, one and a half billion?—the others are nobodies! Pathetic!"
"Exactly! No need for the commanders to waste their time! We samurai can handle this!"
"If they dare to come, we'll show them the strength of Wano's warriors!"
Cheers and laughter rang out from the ninja guards and imperial samurai. Their confidence was blinding—and foolish.
Then—
Crack!
A flash of golden lightning tore across the sky.
It was as if the heavens themselves had hurled down a divine sword.
The great torii gate standing over the sea was obliterated in a single thunderous strike.
Boom!
Rumble!
Waves exploded against the cliffs, shaking the entire island.
For a moment, the ears of all twenty thousand pirates, samurai, and ninjas buzzed deafeningly.
When the sound cleared—
"Lord Quinn!"
"Something terrible has happened!"
"The torii outpost—it's gone! Completely destroyed!"
"What!?" Kurozumi Orochi's face twisted in horror.
"Don't tell me… that thunderbolt wasn't natural—it was man-made!?"
Realization dawned—and with it, the serpent's false composure shattered.
"Lord Quinn! I can see it—the enemy ship! Fairy Tail has entered firing range! Orders, sir!"
"Fire! Fire, damn it!" Quinn roared, panic flooding his voice. "Shoot that ship down before it gets close!"
The order spread like wildfire.
Cannons loaded, fuses lit.
Boom!
Bang bang bang bang!
A storm of artillery fire roared toward the horizon—denser, louder, and more destructive than a Marine Buster Call.
As the world's largest arms supplier, the Beasts Pirates' weaponry was second to none.
With Wano's unmatched mineral resources and master craftsmen, their cannons boasted superior accuracy and range.
Now—every gun on the island was unleashed.
A wall of fire filled the sky.
Rebecca and Violet's faces turned pale.
Even seasoned fighters like Ace and Sabo wore grim expressions.
It was an overwhelming barrage.
No ship in the world could withstand such firepower.
"President, the Taboo Spell—Purgatory Shatter—is fully charged. Awaiting orders," said Mirajane, her voice calm amid the chaos.
"Launch it," Sugisawa Yuuto replied coolly.
In the next instant, a vast magic circle formed at the bow of the Fairy Tail ship, glowing with divine light.
The very elements—earth, fire, water, and wind—howled and surged toward it, feeding its power.
Then—
Light.
A blinding radiance tore through the heavens.
The explosion that followed obliterated the coastal defenses of Onigashima in an instant.
The massive twin walls guarding the main gate melted away as though they were snow meeting boiling oil.
The gigantic skull fortress—the Beasts Pirates' stronghold—crumbled under the sheer force.
For a long moment, there was nothing but thunder and blinding white.
When the light faded—
The Island of Ghosts was unrecognizable.
The entrance walls were gone.
Half the skull fortress had been reduced to rubble.
Tens of thousands of pirate warriors and ninjas lay dead or wounded.
This was magic forbidden by the gods themselves—the Taboo Art: Purgatory Shatter.
Its full output could easily obliterate an entire town.
If Yuuto hadn't adjusted the angle slightly—out of consideration for the few people on the island he still cared about—there would have been nothing left alive.
Not that it mattered much.
Because this devastating spell was merely a greeting.
The true attack was only just beginning.
Sugisawa Yuuto descended onto the smoking ruins of Onigashima.
Light flared between his clasped hands as divine magic surged.
"Transcendent Judgment—Fairy's Law, activate!"
...
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