A sudden rush of malevolent energy swept across the battlefield.
Jozu and Marco's pupils tightened as Garp appeared in an explosive burst of force, his punch crashing forward like an immovable mountain, the very air screaming under its power.
Several fighters caught that blow directly, their bodies exploding outward in blinding streaks of light as shattered debris rained down. The impact obliterated everything in its wake.
Garp landed with a thunderous step, standing resolute before Luffy.
His short hair had shifted into a dark greenish-blue, swirling with two thick patterns of Haki crisscrossing his body. His eyes, dark and stormy like jade, were streaked with blood. All around him, mist formed and burst, the very atmosphere trembling with overwhelming pressure.
Behind him, Luffy lay barely clinging to life, bruised and broken from being relentlessly attacked.
"Grandpa," Luffy whispered, each breath a struggle as blood smeared his face. He coughed and strained to look at Garp's back.
"Vice Admiral Garp," several Marines murmured, watching him radiate a terrifying aura of violence and wrath that few had ever seen from him.
"Sengoku," one Marine gasped, "is he insane?"
Sengoku roared in protest. Right now, the Whitebeard Pirates, Beasts Pirates, Big Mom Pirates, Blackbeard Pirates, and forces from Impel Down had all turned their attention toward the Revolutionary Army and the Straw Hat Pirates. The Marines had wanted to stay out of the worst of the battle. Now that Garp had jumped in, he risked dragging the Marines into this catastrophe.
But Garp remained silent, his face set in rigid determination. He could not stand by and watch Luffy be beaten to death.
Then the ground rumbled beneath him.
With a colossal impact, three figures landed in a triangular formation, surrounding Garp.
Kaido stood there with his massive club, its surface scarred from countless battles. At his side was Charlotte Compote with Napoleon in her grasp, Prometheus's fire swirling above her, and Zeus drifting circles of thunder around her.
Most shocking of all was Whitebeard himself, the legendary pirate, standing calmly with his bisento at the ready. His gaze was flat, eyes untouched by fear.
"Newgate, Kaido, Big Mom, are you united against me?" Garp growled, clenching his fists and unleashing a ferocious surge of Haki that sought to tear through any opposition. But the combined presence of Whitebeard, Kaido, and Compote forcibly quelled it.
At the same moment, Katakuri, King, and Marco landed, converging on Dragon with devastating precision.
Blackbeard and Queen targeted Admiral Kizaru.
Magellan, Shiryu, and other formidable adversaries surrounded the four commanders of the Revolutionary Army.
Powerhouse figures like Hercules and other elite cadres were encircled by Jozu, Jack, Cracker, and countless others.
Even Kuma, Doflamingo, and Jinbe entered the fray in succession. The air were heavy with oppression. The Revolutionary Army was completely overwhelmed in sheer numbers of powerful enemies, from the top echelons to even the lower ranks.
This was a war no normal force could withstand: three Four Emperors' factions, the Blackbeard Pirates, the Impel Down legions, and remnants of the Shichibukai alike were locked in a merciless collision.
"Hey hey!" came a chilling giggle.
Moriah, Boa Hancock, and Dracule Mihawk each withdrew from the confrontation. The Shichibukai had no place here; this escalation was beyond them.
Even the Marine Silver Dragon, Akainu, Aokiji, Onigumo, and the other Admiral-level forces backed away to the execution platform, unwilling to interfere directly with the chaos overtaking the battlefield.
Everything was about to explode into utter catastrophe.
Then a playful voice sounded, changing everything in an instant.
"What? Are the Marines going to make a move?"
A figure descended slowly through the charged air, and finally hovered inches above the ground.
Lucien stood with a cold, unreadable gaze. He looked upon Garp encircled by Whitebeard, Kaido's might, then his eyes shifted toward Sengoku with utter indifference.
The entire battlefield fell into a silence so complete it felt like the world itself held its breath.
Every single massive force — the Whitebeard Pirates, Beasts Pirates, Big Mom Pirates, Blackbeard Pirates, Impel Down legions — kneeled before Lucien.
Whitebeard, Kaido, Compote, the Disasters, the Sweet Commanders, the division commanders, and even Blackbeard himself — all lowered themselves to one knee before him.
The sight was breathtaking and impossible to believe.
Here were some of the strongest beings in all the seas, now kneeling in silent reverence before a single man.
It was the embodiment of absolute supremacy.
Then came screams of resistance.
"Let me go!"
"Please!" Nami, Robin, and others were dragged across the shaken ground like flailing husks, menacing pirates hauling them forcefully to Lucien's feet.
And Luffy, weak and barely conscious, was left gasping for each breath.
"Don't move!"
Garp and the rest held in place by invisible constraint, unable to make any reckless moves.
"The two escaped, as expected!" Lucien said casually. He showed no surprise about Ethan and Emma's earlier disappearance. After all, they were cheats — even he couldn't catch them if they really wanted to flee.
But capturing the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates in one fell swoop was more than worth it.
"It's you," Luffy snarled, his blood-red eyes full of hatred as he recognized Lucien without hesitation.
Lucien didn't say a word.
Seven long, black-red crystal thorns erupted from his tailbone in a swift, sinister bloom, piercing Zoro, Nami, Chopper, Robin, and Luffy itself. Brook and Franky were seized next, their necks ensnared and squeezed mercilessly by pressing black thorns.
In the distance, sword sparks lit the sky. A masked swordsman raised his blade, attempting to intervene, but was cut off by Cracker and his subordinates.
Dragon, Garp, Sabo, and other Revolutionary commanders attempted to surge forward, but their efforts were futile and hopelessly scattered.
Screams of terror echoed violently across the battlefield.
One by one, Zoro, Nami, Chopper, Robin, and even Luffy dissolved into nothing but dust, vanishing without a trace. Franky and Brook were crushed under the relentless force of Lucien's black crystal thorns.
A massive demonic soul-hand swept across them, and silence returned like a cruel cloak.
"No!" "Luffy!" Sabo's voice cracked with grief.
Garp and Dragon erupted, helpless and enraged, watching everything unfold.
"This feeling is so intoxicating!" Lucien exclaimed, his arms outstretched as though embracing the entire world. He gleamed with sadistic satisfaction exceeding all reason.
"Bastard, die!" Sabo roared, sacrificing his own arm to break past the encirclement. He appeared before Lucien with bloodied fury, a colossal dragon spirit materializing behind him, its left claw turned pitch black with Demon Haki as it smashed toward Lucien's head.
Lucien remained completely still, expression blank.
A red light blazed in his amethyst eyes as mockery curled at the corner of his lips.
The dragon claw slashed across Lucien's shoulder, the sickening sound of tearing flesh and shattered bone filling the air.
Without hesitation, Lucien seized Sabo's heart in his left hand, its flesh dissolving into sharp fangs and teeth before being consumed on the spot. His right hand, shrouded in swirling white soul mist, reached toward Sabo's face and ripped the conscious soul from his body.
"Sabo," Lucien murmured.
Koala wept in horror as Sabo's body crumbled into dust and disappeared, his soul taken and absorbed without mercy.
"Kill!"
Presence surged into the sky like raging thunder, lightning coursing through the atmosphere. Garp charged against Whitebeard, Kaido, and Compote alone, but each step forced him backward as the titans smashed into him with overwhelming power.
"Swish!" A burst of golden flame flared as Lucien transformed into a streak of blazing lightning, striking forward toward Dragon. Behind him, a titanic dragon spirit, stretching tens of thousands of meters, roared across the horizon, stirring the air with terrifying force.
Dragon's expression twisted with panic, his arms raised as instinctive defense, but they shattered like rotting wood under the strike. His chest caved in as Lucien's force sent him flying like a luminous spear, crashing through the shattered valley below with earth-shaking impact.
Dragon barely had time to breathe before Lucien struck again, his right foot transformed into a black-red crystal titan that slammed into him with cataclysmic power.
Pfft… Dragon's eyes bulged, his blood spewing from all seven orifices as he collapsed into a contorted heap, skidding across the frozen ocean with misery etched into every ragged breath.
Lucien gave him no room to recover. He struck again without hesitation, driving Dragon into the ice plain with merciless force.
A red light blazed in Lucien's eyes.
Then, as Dragon struggled to rise…
"Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon!"
A colossal divine dragon spirit thundered into the sky and struck Dragon squarely in the back. Bones cracked with a chilling sound like breaking stone, and Dragon coughed fragments of organs into the frozen wind, his face drained of all color.
Golden lightning pulsed above Dragon as eight black-red crystal thorns pierced him brutally, Demon blood flooding into his form with crushing inevitability.