The prison flames of the Flame Dragon King burned so fiercely that even the heavens seemed to ignite.
Everything in their path turned to ash.
Atop the Marineford battlefield, the dark red inferno rising from behind Sugisawa Yuuto stretched for tens of meters. His flaming wings unfurled with a thunderous roar, casting a crimson glow that consumed the sky itself.
The air shimmered and twisted from the unbearable heat.
The sky seemed to melt.
The temperature climbed at a speed visible to the naked eye—
Chi! Chi! Chi!
The Flame Dragon King Mode had only just begun.
The thick ice that Admiral Aokiji had spread across the bay began to melt in moments, the sea erupting into clouds of scalding steam that sent both Marines and pirates scrambling for their lives.
"Come on, Garp!" Yuuto's voice rang through the chaos, sharp and mocking. "Let's finish the battle we left incomplete last time!"
A fierce grin spread across his face as he locked eyes on Vice Admiral Garp, the legendary Marine hero who once fought on equal footing with the Pirate King.
Cassia Garp. Fist of the Navy.
A legend of the last era.
The man who once fought Roger to a standstill.
Their last clash had merely been a taste—this time, only one would stand above the other.
"Pahahaha!" Garp bellowed with laughter, cracking his knuckles. "Then come, you arrogant brat! Let's see just how much you've grown in six months!"
Neither side hesitated.
The instant their eyes met—
Boom!
The ground cracked.
The air screamed.
The legendary Marine hero had struck first.
Garp's fist, blazing with Conqueror's Haki, blazed like a meteor.
Under the darkened heavens, it streaked across the sky like a bolt of divine wrath.
"Fist Bone—Clash!!!"
Garp's roar shook the clouds.
"Come on, Garp!!!" Yuuto shouted back.
He didn't dodge. He didn't flinch.
He met the legend head-on, fist for fist.
The hellfire swirling around Yuuto twisted into a spiraling vortex, consuming the air itself.
"Flame Dragon King—Burst Fist!!!"
Boom!!!
The hero and the dragon collided.
Their clash split the heavens.
Rumble!!!
The sky tore open.
A jagged crack, like the shattering of glass, split the dark clouds.
The rift widened rapidly until it stretched across the horizon.
Kaka… Kaka Kaka!!!
The sound of breaking filled the world.
The heavens themselves seemed unable to withstand their might.
The frozen bay shattered, splitting apart under the combined force of fire and lightning.
The earth trembled.
The seas raged.
All from the fists of two men.
"Ahhh!!!"
"This—this isn't something humans can do!!!"
"Those two… are they even human anymore?!"
"They just punched! And the whole world's falling apart!!!"
Marines and pirates alike screamed in disbelief, unable to comprehend the sight before them.
They had once seen Whitebeard's rage during the first Summit War, the power of the Gura Gura no Mi that could destroy the world. They had witnessed him clash against Admirals, shaking the seas.
But this—
This was something else entirely.
The first strike between Sugisawa Yuuto and Garp had surpassed every previous battle.
Even Whitebeard's duels seemed pale in comparison.
"Unbelievable! That was Vice Admiral Garp's full power!"
"His Conqueror's Haki—completely blocked!"
"It's the first time I've seen anyone stop Garp's Fist Bone!"
"Not since the Pirate King himself, Roger, twenty-two years ago!"
The Marine Vice Admirals—Doberman, Momonga, Onigumo, and others—stared in horror.
"It's not even the first time," whispered the young officer Peacock, trembling.
"The last one… was him too."
Colonel Hina, her long pink hair flowing in the rising heat, murmured, "Mr. Garp is strong—but his opponent isn't just anyone. That man… that's Sugisawa Yuuto—the one who defeated Kaido of the Beasts, alone."
"Tsk, tsk… what a monster," muttered Pluton Rayleigh, watching from afar. "He's even stronger than when I saw him at Sabaody."
He remembered the day Yuuto had faced down a World Government Admiral—how the flames had shaken the islands. But compared to now, that power had been like candlelight before a storm.
"Marines! What's with those shocked faces?!" shouted Marco of the Whitebeard Pirates. "Isn't it obvious? Garp's opponent is one of the Four Emperors!"
"President Sugisawa Yuuto's punch rivals our Father's Shock Punch at full strength!" cried Jozu.
"This is the power of a true Emperor!" Vista roared.
The battlefield erupted with awe and fear.
"This is the leader of Fairy Tail!" yelled one revolutionary soldier.
"Unfathomable power!" another whispered, trembling.
Even Blackbeard Teach, hiding in the shadows, felt a chill crawl down his spine.
"Hah… you've got to be kidding," he muttered. "At this level… it's not even fair!"
His ambition—to rise as one of the Four Emperors—suddenly seemed laughable. Even if he succeeded, even if he stole Whitebeard's power, could he ever reach this level?
"This… this is the new Four Emperors!" gasped Avalo Pizarro, staring in terror.
"A monster that appeared out of nowhere!" cried Basco Shot.
"Fairy Tail's president… he's a demon in human form!" shrieked Catarina Devon.
Across Marineford, soldiers and pirates alike could only watch in horror as the battle raged on—
a clash of titans that tore the world apart.
The ultimate battle shaking the summit had only just begun.