Whoosh!
A pitch-black figure flashed like lightning through the sky, snatching Kaido from Shirogai's grasp.
"Kaido-sama! Are you alright?!"
King, in his Pteranodon form, caught Kaido in his claws, panic clear in his eyes.
"Cough… cough… I'm fine, still alive for now…"
Kaido coughed up blood weakly, giving King a faint smile.
"Sorry, King. I've disappointed you… I lost. I lost the throne of the strongest."
His voice trembled with bitterness, like an older brother apologizing to a younger one who once admired him deeply.
"Kaido…sama"
King's eyes burned red as his wings flapped harder.
"It's alright! We'll reclaim that throne together!"
He turned sharply, soaring toward Onigashima to get Kaido treated—
but a calm, smiling voice stopped him.
"Gentlemen, I don't actually care about the title of the strongest."
King froze.
To his side hovered Shirogai, six black wings spreading from his back, his smile sharp.
"You followed us?!"
The flames on King's head erupted, wrapping his wings in scorching heat.
He spun violently, sending twin blazing arcs slicing toward Shirogai.
"Twin Flame Grinder Slash!"
Crack!
A single hand stopped the spinning blades mid-air.
"Relax, King."
Shirogai smiled as flames identical to King's ignited on his own head.
"I also possess the Lunarian's constitution."
"Y–You!!" King's voice shook. His mind reeled. This man wasn't of his race—so how could he possess their flames?
"King, stop running. You can't escape him," Kaido rasped.
"Let me go. You fly ahead!"
"No! I'll never abandon you, Kaido-sama!"
King's determination burned fiercely. His eyes behind the mask glowed with suicidal resolve.
"I still owe you my life! If anyone should die here, it's me! You still need to change this world!"
King remembered the day Kaido saved him from that laboratory—the day the mighty man declared he would one day change the entire world.
Even as years passed and Kaido's hope seemed buried beneath drunken despair, King never doubted him.
The light in Kaido's eyes had merely been hidden—never extinguished.
"Don't be foolish, King! I never thought you owed me anything!"
Kaido suddenly tore free from King's claws and laughed as he plunged toward the sea.
"Live on, and see the day this world changes in my place!"
"Kaido-sama!"
King dived after him, wings blazing, but he was already too close to the ocean.
Kaido smiled at him as he fell.
"I'll rest for a bit… just for a bit…"
The weight in his heart—the one that had lingered for years—finally lifted. He hadn't felt this light in decades.
"The title of the strongest… I leave it to you, kid."
Kaido looked at Shirogai, floating calmly above, and laughed freely.
"The burden of changing this world is yours now!"
Splash!
Kaido hit the sea, waves rising high before slowly settling.
He sank deeper and deeper, his eyes still open as countless memories flashed before him. His youth—his rise—his rebellion against the Celestial Dragons—his battles alongside Big Mom in the Rocks Pirates—his endless wars to create a world free from tyranny.
But somewhere along the way, he had become what he despised. He used the World Government to expand his own empire, colluded with Orochi, and drowned his ideals in alcohol. He became another parasite—just like the Celestial Dragons he once hated.
When Shirogai used the Whisper-Whisper Fruit to attack his mind, Kaido was forced to face the truth.
In his heart, his younger self roared:
"Kaido! Have you forgotten why you fought?! You were supposed to change this world!"
That doubt shattered him. His strength vanished. Shirogai's punch broke through his defenses—not because he was weaker, but because he had already surrendered.
Kaido didn't lose to Shirogai. He lost to himself.
"Maybe this is how Roger felt before he died…"
He whispered as his massive body drifted toward the seabed, blood clouding the water like crimson smoke.
Predators circled nearby but dared not approach, cowed by his fading yet overwhelming presence.
Celestial Dragons… I've found you an opponent stronger than me. You won't hide behind the World Government forever.
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