East Blue, Loguetown.
From high above, the island below was in complete chaos, its streets packed with people scrambling in every direction.
Rows of marines in white uniforms stood along the main roads, trying to maintain order.
The base commander of the Loguetown Marine base shouted at the top of his lungs, "Move, move, move! Grab only what you can carry easily, hurry to the port and board the evacuation ships!
"Do not stop! Do not stay behind! Roger's enemy, the great pirate Golden Lion, is coming! Leave the island now! Throw away anything unnecessary! Move!"
Thanks to the commander's usual influence and the terrifying reputation of Shiki, Roger's sworn enemy, the people rushed toward the port where several evacuation ships waited.
"Dammit! Stop pushing! I was here first!"
"Don't cut the line, you bastard!"
"Who cares!"
"Get out of my way! I'm boarding first!"
"You scum!"
Farther out at sea, on one of the already departed ships, a middle-aged man dressed like a merchant finally found his wife after pushing through the crowd. He held a child in his arms and let out a long breath. "Thank goodness we made it. The kids are fine, right?"
His soft-looking wife stood beside him, holding the hands of two more children. "They're fine. Just got stepped on a few times."
The man sighed in relief. "It's okay, keeping our lives is what matters most."
His wife's face was filled with worry. "When will days like this ever end? Damn pirates. Damn Roger. Even in death, he can't let people live in peace. We had to abandon all the goods on the island. Who knows how much we'll lose this time. At this rate, we won't last another year."
The man, an optimist by nature, gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "It's fine. Since we're together and safe, we'll make it. We can always start over if we're alive. And at least we survived. Look at the Sako family, they stayed for their belongings and were killed by pirat—"
His wife quickly cut him off. "Enough. I know. I'm just so angry, that's all."
He held her closer. "It's alright. It's alright."
Just then, the man's body froze.
She looked up, following his gaze, and a shiver ran through her. Everyone on the ship reacted the same way.
Then someone screamed, "Those islands! It's Golden Lion's power!"
* * *
Above Loguetown.
Shiki had flown non-stop over Reverse Mountain, bringing several massive floating islands with him toward Loguetown.
He ignored the fear on the faces of those who spotted him.
As the islands drew closer, he suddenly found the whole thing pointless. This island, where Roger had been executed, looked no different from any other he'd seen.
Everybody was already fleeing. With his Observation Haki, he could clearly sense the panic of the people below.
His heart calmed, almost detached, as if he had transcended worldly emotions. "This is the island that produced a man like Roger. What a bore… let's start here then."
His cold voice carried no feeling.
He swung down his only remaining right hand, and four fragments of island, each the size of Loguetown itself, began to plummet.
* * *
On the ground, both civilians and Marines stared in horror at the descending landmasses.
Their bodies trembled. Many collapsed to the ground, staring at the gigantic shadows overhead with hopeless eyes.
Their life memories flashed in their minds like a revolving lantern as countless people shut their eyes in despair.
"So it's over..."
"We're really going to die like this..."
Whoosh!
A sharp cry cut through the air, reaching the ears of the hopeless crowd.
Then a calm yet commanding voice rang out over the chaos.
"Hellhound!"
In that instant, a crimson meteor tore across the sky, piercing through two of the falling islands in a flash. Magma burst from the impact points, swelling rapidly before exploding outward.
Boom! Boom!
The explosions of magma bloomed into two umbrella-shaped canopies. They caught the next two falling islands, wrapped around them, and dragged them down.
Boom! Boom!
Two more deafening crashes followed. Even though they struck at a distance, the impact churned up towering waves.
The surging water capsized numerous people and destroyed countless buildings. Yet no one screamed in pain. Instead, laughter erupted everywhere.
"We… we… we survived! Hahahaha!"
"It's a Marine admiral! A Marine admiral!"
"We made it!"
"Hahahaha!"
The entire island had gone mad.
* * *
Far above the sea, a thousand meters in the air.
All the floating islands halted as Shiki stepped forward. His golden cape and long mane-like hair flowed in the wind like a lion's.
He looked toward the man standing a hundred meters away, atop a huge magma eagle. His calm voice carried over the wind. "You're in my way, magma brat."
The moment he saw Sakazuki, Shiki knew this journey would likely end here. But an old lion was still a lion. His eyes narrowed, his gaze cold.
Sakazuki stood on his molten eagle, hearing that flat, dismissive tone. He chuckled. "So you've already accepted death, Shiki."
Shiki took a deep drag of his cigar and slowly exhaled. "Hoo… your tongue's gotten sharper, magma brat. But… who dies here isn't certain."
With his remaining right hand, he drew the longsword at his waist and started to float upward.
Sakazuki flicked his wrist, a magma blade forming in his grip. He twirled it once as it darkened with Armament Haki, then crackled with the threads of Conqueror's Haki.
"Big talk. Let's see if your bones are as hard as your mouth."
Shiki sneered at him.
Sakazuki returned with a sinister grin.
"Hmph…" ×2
Two cold snorts rang out as a golden and a crimson streak collided in the sky.
Boom!
The clouds above ripped apart in a perfect circle around them.
At the clash's center, black and purple lightning danced. But within seconds, Shiki began losing ground.
Sakazuki scoffed. "You've gotten old."
Feeling the blade pressing closer to his neck, Shiki had to admit it. He… already…
He adjusted his mindset. "Then try me, magma brat!"
A sudden burst of strength forced Sakazuki back. At the same time, the twin swords that replaced Shiki's legs swung toward his chest.
Sakazuki coated his entire body in Armament Haki, taking both strikes head-on. Muscles in his sword arm swelled.
Whoosh!
Shiki flew backward through the air, crashing into an island behind him. Sakazuki's fiery figure followed immediately.
Boom!
The island shattered under an eruption of magma, sending dust billowing above.
Shrrrk!
Like fabric tearing, a slash of light cut the dust cloud apart, then Shiki shot upward into the sky.
On the broken island fragment, Sakazuki's body abruptly grew and twisted. A magma giant, five hundred meters tall, with a demon's face and a thousand arms sprouting from its back appeared. It was just big enough to stand on the floating landmass.
"Descent of the Thousand-Armed One!"
Every arm aimed at the fleeing Shiki.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh….
Innumerable limbs shot away from the giant, magma bursting from their ends as they streaked toward him.
The sky filled with molten fire, wrapping him in a sea of magma.
Boom!
Suddenly, an opening blasted through the molten storm. Behind Shiki floated clusters of magma, forming into a lion's head dozens of meters wide. Haki coated his sword as he dove toward Sakazuki.
From Sakazuki's view, a colossal lion-shaped specter seemed to bear down on him, radiating sharp, lethal sword intent.
He let out a soft chuckle. "A starved camel is still bigger than a horse."
The thousand arms of the molten giant then melted into magma, all surging toward its two highest arms. They merged into a massive magma blade, hundreds of meters long, clutched in the giant's hands.
It raised the weapon behind its back, then swung down at the enormous lion-shaped specter charging toward it.
Whoosh!
BOOM!!!
The sound was like the sky and sea splitting in two.
The two figures passed each other and stopped.
The massive lion phantom split cleanly down the middle and vanished.
A thin red line appeared at the center of Shiki's forehead, running down his face and across his chest. He lowered his head, staring at the wound, his mind drifting for a moment. "I've lost…"
At this time… he just felt calm.
Turning, he looked at Sakazuki not far away. "Magma brat. Do you think I was any worse than Roger?"
The magma blade in Sakazuki's hand melted back into his arm as he replied, "All just trash of the sea. What's there to compare? Who's the worse one?"
Shiki gave a soft snort, gripping his sword tighter. He took a deep breath. "Forget it, I didn't expect you to say anything decent. Magma brat, take this one last move. Hmph…"
After his words faded, his aura began to surge higher and higher, but with it, his life force kept slipping away.
Shattered fragments from ten islands started gathering and fusing together, forming an enormous lion's head. Compared to it, Loguetown below was only the size of one of its eyes.
Shiki's breath came heavy and ragged. Sweat soaked through his clothes. Standing behind the colossal head, he pushed it forward.
The huge lion head fell like the sky itself collapsing, pressing down toward the descending Sakazuki.
"Take this, magma brat! I AM SHIKI!"
ROAR!
A thunderous roar erupted from the stone lion's mouth, crashing down toward Sakazuki.
He stomped off the air and shot upward at an angle, his right arm pitch-black, wreathed in Conqueror's Haki, pulled back to strike.
The instant they clashed, Shiki's entire Armament and Conqueror's Haki wrapped around the lion's head, reinforcing it.
BOOM!!!
It was like a meteor striking the earth.
The center of the lion's face began to cave in, but the sheer weight of ten islands kept pushing Sakazuki down toward the sea.
He drew in a sharp breath. "Yeah… too heavy."
A blinding red light then burst from his body.
"Magma Burst."
BOOM!
Magma detonated outward, creating what looked like an anti-air wall in the sky.
The intense force halted the giant lion head for just a second. In that pause, Sakazuki's form re-solidified, now in his Crimson Lotus state. He hammered the lion's face three times in quick succession. Each blow layered its force upon the last, breaking it at a single point.
Muscles in his right arm bulged as he swung once more.
"Hellhound!"
A red flash penetrated straight through the massive lion head, the molten blast also tearing through Shiki's chest behind it.
The enormous stone construct instantly crumbled. Its Haki coatings vanished. Shiki looked down at the gaping hole in his chest, moved his lips but no sound came out.
'It's over…' In the haze, he sighed inwardly. 'How many times now… my life… really has been a failure… Roger…'
His eyes slowly closed with regret as darkness took him.
The islands continued to fall toward the sea.
Whoosh!
A streak of red shot forward as Sakazuki caught Shiki's lifeless body. He looked at him with a flat expression and, without hesitation, twisted off his head.
"You're still useful for one thing, old man. Make your one and only contribution to this world."
**
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