Atchison struggled violently.
His body was soaked in blood, his uniform in tatters. Gritting his teeth, as if sensing the approaching danger, he forced his arms free from the rock wall.
Crack.
With a sharp sound, Atchison tore himself loose and fell heavily, smashing into the ground below.
He coughed, blood spilling from his mouth, and struggled to push himself upright.
A shadow loomed.
Before he could react, Redyat was already there.
A brutal kick slammed into Atchison's torso. Before he could steady himself, he was smashed back into the rock wall, his knees buckling as he collapsed weakly to the ground.
Redyat stood before him, his body wrapped in shadows. Even after suffering repeated heavy blows, Atchison was still not completely powerless. As a Marine Vice Admiral, he was not so easily finished, even in this miserable state.
But none of it mattered.
Every thought in Atchison's mind was laid bare before Redyat.
"How boring," Redyat said coldly. "You Marines are truly weak. No, that's not quite right. I'm just too strong."
He looked down at Atchison with clear disdain.
"I thought you might at least be able to entertain me for a bit."
This was war. Redyat did not give him a second to recover.
Before Atchison could move, another kick came down.
Atchison tried to dodge. He failed.
Redyat's upward kick struck his chin. Atchison's head snapped back violently, blood and broken teeth spraying from his mouth. A dull cracking sound came from his jaw.
His body was launched into the air.
Redyat moved with him.
A scale-covered dragon claw shot out and seized Atchison by the neck. With a savage pull, Redyat dragged him down and drove a knee straight into his abdomen.
Atchison instinctively crossed his arms to block.
Crack.
The bones in his forearms shattered.
Redyat's power was overwhelming. As a Dragon Fruit user with a monstrous physique and terrifying talent, he was far beyond what Atchison could endure.
Still, Atchison refused to give up. He grit his teeth as thick miasma erupted from his body.
Useless.
Redyat could hold his breath for an extended time without issue.
"Still struggling?" Redyat asked flatly.
His left fist smashed into Atchison's head.
Atchison's mind went blank for an instant. The miasma faltered. He bit down hard on his tongue, pain jolting him back to consciousness.
Desperate, he counterattacked.
One hand grabbed Redyat's arm at his neck. The other formed a Finger Pistol, Armament Haki concentrating at the fingertip, gleaming with a cold metallic sheen as it shot toward Redyat's throat.
Redyat tilted his head slightly and avoided it.
He did not allow a second attempt.
Boom.
Still gripping Atchison's neck, Redyat slammed him headfirst into the rock wall. His skull sank into the stone, blood streaming down.
Shadows coiled around Atchison's body, eroding and binding him.
Two more kicks followed in rapid succession.
Crack. Crack.
Atchison's legs snapped.
All four of his limbs were now crippled.
Redyat flung him away. Atchison's broken body skidded across the ground, tumbling twice before stopping. His shattered arms barely propped him up as he trembled, staring at Redyat and struggling to rise.
Redyat appeared again.
This time, he was directly above Atchison.
Atchison immediately elementalized, his body dissolving into miasma in an attempt to escape.
It was pointless.
A violent burst of Conqueror's Haki erupted, stunning the miasma for a brief instant.
That was enough.
Redyat's kick struck.
The miasma was forced back into solid form. The ground shattered, collapsing tens of meters outward into a massive crater.
Atchison lay at the center, barely breathing.
This time, his body did not move.
His limbs were shattered, and his spine had taken two catastrophic blows.
The spectators were completely stunned.
This was not a close fight. It was absolute domination.
Under Redyat's relentless assault, Atchison had no room to breathe, let alone fight back. In just over ten minutes, a Marine Vice Admiral, a so-called Admiral candidate and Logia Devil Fruit user, had been completely incapacitated.
This was far beyond anyone's expectations.
Losing ground would have been understandable. Being defeated this quickly was shocking.
Slow-motion replays revealed the truth.
Atchison had attempted multiple counterattacks, but each one had been effortlessly dodged. Even viewers without combat knowledge could see the difference. Redyat controlled the entire battle.
The truly strong understood it immediately.
The gap was absolute.
Redyat already possessed full Admiral-level combat power. His speed and Observation Haki were so overwhelming that Atchison could not even predict his attack paths to elementalize in advance.
Redyat lowered his head slightly, his foot pressing down on Atchison's body.
The Marine Vice Admiral was utterly disheveled, broken, and trampled underfoot.
"Admiral candidate?" Redyat sneered. "A laughable title. The gap between a Vice Admiral and true top-tier combatants isn't something a Devil Fruit can bridge."
He pressed down harder.
"You're at least ten years away from standing among the strongest of the sea."
A weak groan escaped Atchison's throat as his body sank into the mud, his head tilting upward just enough to gasp for air.
"I almost forgot," Redyat continued calmly. "Your potential is already exhausted. And there is no 'after' for you."
"Today, all three of you will be buried on this island. An island Teach personally chose as your grave."
His words dripped with contempt.
"You don't even qualify to amuse me. Just as Teach said, you're a pile of useless deadwood. You don't know yourselves, don't know your own strength, yet you dare compete for the position of Admiral."
"If this is all you have, then the other two Admiral candidates will also die by Teach's hand. It won't take long. Even without Devil Fruits, basic combat power will be enough to end you."
Redyat drew his sword, the tip pointing directly at Atchison.
Under the crushing suppression of shadows and power, Atchison no longer resisted. His will began to collapse.
Then Redyat spoke again, his voice low and deliberate.
"So tell me. You came here to die, didn't you? And you brought fifteen thousand Marines with you. Elite soldiers. Officers from Headquarters."
"It will take two or three years to recover those losses, even if you try."
His tone softened, like a devil whispering into the ear.
"They are good soldiers, devoted to justice. And yet, because of your foolish decision, they will all die at the hands of pirates."
The audience finally understood.
Redyat was attacking Atchison's heart.
Marine Headquarters erupted in fury. Sengoku clenched his fists, his teeth grinding. He saw it clearly now. Everything Redyat said before had been preparation for this moment.
Why had he not killed Atchison yet?
Atchison's heart was wracked with grief. He could almost hear the screams of his soldiers.
"How about this," Redyat said lightly. "I'll give you a chance."
He produced a pair of Seastone handcuffs and snapped them onto Atchison's arms.
"Tell me one buried crime. One wrongdoing of the Marines or the World Government that the world doesn't know."
"For every truth you speak, a thousand Marines who should die today will live."
"Life is priceless. A very fair trade."
The expressions of Marine and World Government officials instantly turned grim.
"That bastard," Sengoku muttered, fists trembling.
Across the world, people leaned forward. Everyone knew the World Government was not clean. But what would be revealed?
In the New World, pirate emperors laughed loudly.
Doflamingo leaned back in his chair, grinning. "Fufufufu. How delightful. What will you do now?"
Atchison trembled.
"Kill me," he said hoarsely.
He fell silent.
He knew Redyat was manipulating him. More importantly, he still believed in Borsalino.
Borsalino would not allow a massacre.
"Is that so?" Redyat smiled faintly. "Then you probably don't know this."
He pulled out a Den Den Mushi with white cat ears.
"Borsalino has already been blocked by our executives. He can't interfere."
He dialed.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, Pito answered without slowing her slaughter.
"Oh, nothing unexpected," she said casually. "That shiny guy is blocked and suppressed. He can't affect the battlefield. We're almost done here. Finish early, knock off early. I still need to read today's manga update."
Even through the Den Den Mushi, the sound of wind and dying Marines could be heard.
Redyat smiled.
"Then tell me. How many Marines are left?"
Pito paused.
The screen switched.
She crouched, then leapt skyward, the air exploding beneath her feet. In an instant, she rose hundreds of meters.
Midair, she twisted and looked down, scanning the entire battlefield.
Then she descended.
Plop.
She landed lightly, knees bending as she touched down.