The bar bled.
Noon's sun blazed through cracked windows, illuminating every stain on the floor. Blueno's blood dried in uneven pools, tainting the air with the iron scent of death. Broken floorboards creaked under the weight of an invisible tension.
Nojiko stood.
Her chest heaved, each breath a battlefield won at great cost. Shadows crawled across the floor, pulsing to her heartbeat.
Rage burned beneath her skin, vibrated in her muscles, flickered behind her golden eyes.
'Don't lose your head.'
Kaku wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, his uniform torn at the side.
His boots planted in dried blood.
His gaze was as calm as a sharpened knife.
"You're good."
His voice rang like a blade unsheathed.
"But not good enough."
Rokushiki pulsed in Kaku's muscles like a second nature. Every move was a silent promise of swift death.
Nojiko flexed her hands.
Armament Haki coated her fingers like ebony claws.
Her heart trembled.
Instinct screamed to crush him.
Riser's order echoed like thunder.
'Kill him.'
The shadow around her thickened.
The walls vibrated.
The world shrank until only they remained.
Kaku lunged.
Soru erupted beneath his feet.
His blur sliced the bar like a thunderclap.
Nojiko saw.
Observation Haki flashed in her mind.
His trajectory was clear as glass.
The spinning kick tore the air.
Nojiko raised her arm, Haki absorbing the impact.
The floor shattered beneath her feet.
The bar groaned.
Kaku twisted, preparing another Rankyaku.
Nojiko moved first.
Her body turned to shadow and smoke.
She appeared beside him, black nails aimed like daggers.
Her left arm tore through Kaku's Tekkai on first contact.
Surprise flashed in his eyes.
For a second.
For the first time in years, the shield he trusted cracked.
Blood sprayed.
He staggered back two steps, hand pressing the cut seeping hot down his side.
His smile didn't fade.
"Excellent."
His tone held almost admiration.
But death didn't wait.
Nojiko charged again.
Her right arm slashed straight.
Haki pulsed like trapped thunder under her skin.
Kaku tried to retreat, tried to harden his body again.
Too late.
Black claws sank into his chest.
His shirt tore like wet paper.
Tekkai screamed and shattered into invisible fragments.
The impact's sound echoed in the void.
Kaku's body flew back.
It crashed through a broken table.
Slammed against the cracked stone wall.
Silence fell like a heavy veil.
Kaku coughed blood.
He slid to the floor, legs bent at broken angles.
His eyes, still open, still alive, still cold.
Nojiko walked toward him.
Blood splattered the floor beneath her feet.
She stopped two steps from his body.
The shadows behind her rippled like a submerged storm.
Kaku lifted his gaze.
His voice was weak but clear.
"You're stronger… than many monsters I've faced."
He smiled.
A small, honest smile, free of mockery.
"Congratulations."
His eyes closed.
His head tilted to the side.
Life faded in silence.
Nojiko stood there.
Her body shook.
Blood dripped from her black nails.
Rage burned.
But the weight… the weight was worse.
Her shadow shrank.
Her chest ached as if it had cracked.
The smell of blood, the heat of tears, the emptiness.
She dropped to her knees.
Her hands gripped the filthy floor.
And for the first time since becoming a vampire, tears broke through her mask of strength.
"Nami…"
Her voice cracked mid-word.
Her face sank into her hands.
The vampire's heart couldn't hold.
Pain found the fissure.
And finally, it spilled.
Noon's sun burned through the windows, but in that blood-stained corner, only darkness existed.
---
Marineford
The sun scorched the sky without mercy.
Marineford's noon seemed frozen, but the world held its breath.
Aokiji's ice wall gleamed around the bay like a prison of raw crystal. Reflected light blinded, casting sharp glints over soldiers and pirates, as if nature itself wielded invisible blades.
At the center, the execution platform waited.
Ace kept his head low, hair hiding his eyes. Seastone chains clinked with each gust cutting through the plaza.
Sengoku watched from the platform's height, his face carved in absolute command.
Kuzan yawned lazily.
His white cape dragged across the icy ground, faintly stained by the nervous sweat of soldiers.
"Let's wrap this up."
The words drawled, as if he were half-asleep.
His fingertips crackled with cold energy.
Mihawk moved first.
With light steps.
His cloak billowed behind the world's greatest swordsman. His presence was a taut line between life and death.
His golden eyes sliced the horizon to the colossal figure of Edward Newgate.
Whitebeard.
Mihawk stopped meters from the front line, raising Yoru as if drawing a stroke across the sky.
"I want to measure the distance."
His voice was calm.
The black blade gleamed under the sun.
A horizontal slash cut the void.
The air parted.
The sea parted.
A wave of energy, straight and perfect as a final verdict, hurtled toward Whitebeard.
The world held its breath.
But the living wall of sons didn't falter.
Jozu moved.
His body flared in a burst of crystals.
Pure diamond.
Every muscle transformed into living gemstone.
His left arm rose like a living rampart.
The impact hit.
BOOM.
The sound echoed off the ice walls.
Mihawk's slash was deflected, exploding in light fragments against Jozu's arm.
Chunks of ground flew.
The ice trembled.
But Jozu stood firm.
His arm unscathed.
Teeth gritted.
Eyes locked on Mihawk.
"If you want my father… you'll have to go through me."
The world exhaled.
Sengoku made a faint hand gesture.
War drums sounded.
Pacifistas advanced.
Marines cocked weapons.
Pirates raised swords and revolvers.
The first shout pierced the sky.
The first step was taken.
The first bullet crossed the field.
The war began.
But before chaos could consume all—
The space above the plaza warped.
A black circle opened in the air, as if reality were sucked into an invisible void.
Troops froze.
Eyes turned.
Time stretched.
A figure emerged from the distortion's center.
Long coat. Golden hair like contained fire. Eyes of gold and darkness. The air around him pulsed like the heart of something ancient… and deeply wrong.
Riser Phenex.
He walked through the air, descending as if stepping on invisible clouds.
Kamui closed behind him with a whisper.
Hands in pockets. His gaze drifted between pirates and Marines like one appraising broken toys.
He stopped at the center.
Right between the two forces.
A smile formed slowly.
The weight of his presence sank the field like a new gravity.
And then, calmly, with a voice laced with dormant venom, Riser spoke:
"Mind if I interrupt?"
Silence swallowed Marineford.
Even the wind… seemed to bow to the new king who had descended from the sky.
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