At the same time, on the other end of the battlefield, the killing intent had not faded with the fall of legends.
"Evil bloodlines must not be allowed to escape!!"
Akainu had already transformed into magma, his body elementalized as he relentlessly pursued the retreating remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates.
From beginning to end, his gaze remained locked on the two figures shielded at the center—Portgas D. Ace and Monkey D. Luffy.
Molten fists blasted forward again and again, forcing Marco, Jozu, and the others to stake their lives on each desperate block. Their retreat became agonizingly slow, every step carved out through blood and flame.
To Akainu, the fall of legends was merely a footnote.
Eradicating the bloodline of the Pirate King and the Revolutionary Army—those two "great evils"—was the ultimate expression of justice in his heart.
To put it bluntly, he truly intended to become Fleet Admiral. And with Gern Reginald Sigmar's battlefield achievements laid bare before the world, Akainu needed undeniable merit of his own.
High above, atop the execution platform, Sengoku observed everything below.
Yet when his gaze landed on the lone figure lying flat on the ruins, staring at the sky without moving, his brows knit together slightly.
"Gern…"
He understood.
Or rather—he, Zephyr, and even the silent Monkey D. Garp seated nearby—had all, in one way or another, experienced moments like this.
After enduring a shock powerful enough to reshape the era… after personally ending or witnessing the departure of figures who defined an age…
There would inevitably come that fleeting sense of weightlessness and emptiness.
It was the sensation of standing at a crossroads in history.
A tempering of the soul.
An invisible threshold every true apex figure must cross alone.
Some drowned there.
Some lost themselves.
But understanding was one thing.
Looking at the Marineford below—nearly flattened, riddled with craters and chasms—
Sengoku felt veins bulging at his temples.
Because Marineford was no longer Marineford!!
How many reconstruction proposals would he have to file?!
How much political nonsense would those old foxes in the World Government try to stuff into the budget under the guise of "rebuilding"?!
Just imagining it made his blood pressure spike.
Especially with that damned deal between him and Gern still hanging unresolved!!
Without realizing it, Sengoku glared at the still "corpse-like" Gern and snapped under his breath:
"Gern, you bastard! Go ahead—just lie there!
If you've got the nerve, don't even think about your next damned move!
Leave this mess—and the credit—to me alone!!!"
Just as Sengoku assumed his muttering was unheard, a familiar voice—lazy and teasing—suddenly sounded beside him.
"My dear Fleet Admiral Sengoku, even I need to rest, you know."
"Huh?!"
Startled, Sengoku whipped his head around, eyes scanning frantically—until they locked onto an inconspicuous corner of the execution platform.
There, nestled casually, was a Den Den Mushi—distinctly not a standard Marine model—wearing a ridiculously smug expression that perfectly mimicked Gern's infuriating grin.
"…What?!" Sengoku's pupils shrank. "When did a Den Den Mushi get here?"
"That's not the official broadcast model!"
A horrifying realization flashed through his mind. He pointed at the snail, voice rising sharply.
"Gern, you bastard! Don't tell me—besides the official Marine broadcast, you secretly—"
Before he could finish, the Den Den Mushi stuck out its tongue in a mockery identical to Gern's.
"Bleeeeh~~"
Then its eyes snapped shut.
The line cut cleanly.
Sengoku stood frozen, staring at the now "dead" snail.
For a moment, he nearly choked on his own breath from sheer rage.
That bastard Gern—he hadn't just flipped the table with brute force.
He'd laid traps in the realm of information and public opinion as well.
"That damned brat—even lying down, he's not idle!!"
...…
On the other side of the battlefield, Akainu's pursuit had not slowed.
He clung to the Whitebeard remnants—and to Luffy and Ace—with merciless precision.
Though Marco, Jinbe, and the others risked everything to carve out a path of escape, continuous battle and overwhelming grief had drained them to the brink.
Luffy, in particular, was completely spent. His movements had grown sluggish—fatally so.
And before an Admiral-level powerhouse like Akainu—
Such a once-in-a-lifetime opening would never be wasted.
"Great Eruption—Hound of Hell!"
Seizing the instant Luffy stumbled, his guard wide open, Akainu's right arm transformed into surging magma.
It elongated, detonated forward—morphing into a massive, dark-red molten hound that lunged straight for Luffy's back.
Fast.
Precise.
Lethal.
This strike was meant to end the "sinful bloodline" once and for all.
"Luffy—!!!"
At that razor's edge of fate, a heart-rending scream tore through the air.
Ace—who had already reached near the harbor under heavy protection, on the verge of a clean escape—glanced back.
His pupils shrank violently.
There was no hesitation. No time to think.
Instinct overrode reason.
He shoved Jozu aside with all his strength and burst into flames, pushing beyond his limits—
Throwing himself toward Luffy without a shred of doubt.
With his own back—
He shielded his younger brother.
"—!!"
The molten hound pierced straight through Ace's chest.
Time seemed to freeze.
Ace's forward momentum halted abruptly.
He lowered his head in disbelief, staring at the magma-coated arm protruding grotesquely through his chest.
The searing agony engulfed him instantly.
Yet he clenched his teeth, summoning the last of his strength to push Luffy farther away.
"A… Ace…?"
Luffy turned back blankly.
What he saw—
Was his brother's chest impaled.
And the faint, trembling smile Ace forced onto his face despite the unbearable pain.
The next moment—
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH——!!!"
Luffy's eyes nearly burst from their sockets.
Utter terror and despair crashed over him like an ocean of ice.
He released a scream that was no longer human—raw, broken, beyond sound.
"Ace!!! A—CE—!!!"
The cry ripped through the sky, soaked in despair and collapse.
Ace opened his mouth, as if trying to say something—
But blood erupted uncontrollably from his lips,
Splashing across Luffy's face.