BOOM— shards of ice scattered as molten magma dripped from the hands of "Red Dog" Sakazuki. Step by step, he advanced, his towering frame radiating a suffocating heat.
Rain poured down from the sky, hissing ominously as it struck his magma.
"Portgas D. Ace, just like Roger and Whitebeard, you have no right to live. You never had it in the past, you don't now, and you never will in the future."
Another figure glowed brilliantly—Fleet Admiral Sengoku, his golden Buddha form casting radiant light as his gaze bore down on them.
"That old fool Garp may have stalled me this long, but it was meaningless. The justice of the navy is neither absent nor late. You cannot escape."
The would-be escapees were stricken with shock.
"I told you so many times already!" Buggy clutched his head, his face ashen, his eyes bulging. "We should've run earlier! But no—you had to bow to Whitebeard first! Damn it, we were this close!"
Among them, none had the strength to confront either Sengoku in his Buddha form or Sakazuki the magma hound.
Ivankov's huge face twisted in shock. Then, with grim resolve, he shoved Sabo forward, his voice rising in a dramatic falsetto:
"You all go on ahead! I'll hold them back!"
"Ivankov, don't talk nonsense. We won't abandon you," Sabo declared, firm and unyielding.
"Someone must stay behind, or none of us will get out alive!" Ivankov insisted, his strange eyeshadow streaking as he spoke. "I've already had nearly ten years in Impel Down—I've lived enough!"
Their argument was cut short when Sakazuki stepped forward. His magma reformed into an arm as he adjusted the brim of his cap.
"What idiocy are you spouting? None of you are leaving alive today."
Sengoku turned to him.
"Akainu, no holding back. Execute them all. As for Whitebeard—he's already on his last breath. Even if we leave him, he'll die. This war… we've already won."
"I never hold back."
That was exactly what Sakazuki intended.
The two closed in from left and right—magma and Buddha's light, a hellscape closing around Ace and the others.
Until—a thunderous crack split the sea.
From the water emerged Davy Jones, dragging Kuzan's limp body behind him. The admiral's frame sagged like a soaked garment, completely spent.
"Captain!" Buggy nearly burst into tears, shouting with relief at the sight of his leader in this desperate moment.
Ahhh—whether Whitebeard or even Rayleigh himself, none seemed as reassuring and reliable to him as his own captain right now!
Sengoku and Sakazuki stared at the unconscious admiral in disbelief, their eyelids twitching.
"Kuzan… lost?!"
The shocking truth struck them like thunder, too jarring to accept at once.
Even Ace, Sabo, and Ivankov felt their minds reel, unable to make sense of it.
Lifting Kuzan, Davy Jones revealed his pallid face for all to see. He smiled.
"He still breathes. If you want to save him, now's your chance."
Sengoku and Sakazuki froze.
The fleet admiral glared at the pirate who had ruined so many of his plans, hatred simmering in his chest. Yet in this moment, he hesitated.
After a pause, Sengoku dimmed his golden light and returned to human form.
"Fleet Admiral?" Sakazuki stared at him in disbelief, unable to accept that his commander would bend to a pirate.
"Return Kuzan to us, and we'll let you go. But Whitebeard stays. That's my bottom line," Sengoku said firmly, ignoring Sakazuki's protest. His gaze fixed on Davy Jones.
"Agreed."
With a flick, Davy Jones tossed Kuzan toward them.
Sengoku caught the admiral's limp body in both arms. After checking and confirming life still remained, he let out a quiet sigh of relief.
He shot Davy Jones a deep, measuring look.
"Akainu, we're leaving."
"Fleet Admiral, I—"
"We are still at war. This is my order."
Cradling Kuzan, Sengoku turned and departed.
Sakazuki glowered at the group for a long moment, his face dark with rage, before reluctantly following.
Buggy leapt into the air, cheering:
"We're saved! Saved at last!"
Ace, however, eyed "Uncle Buggy" with lingering doubt. He might despise the blood running in his veins, but he had never underestimated Gol D. Roger.
Anyone who had truly sailed on the Pirate King's ship could not be ordinary.
And yet—Buggy's hysterics and bluster had, for the first time, shaken Ace's perception of the Roger Pirates.
Perhaps they weren't the flawless legends he imagined. Perhaps they too were just pirates—flesh and blood, fallible human beings.
But there were more pressing matters.
Ace bowed deeply toward Davy Jones.
"Captain Davy Jones, I've heard from Mr. Buggy of your aid alongside Rayleigh-san. Thank you. I will never forget your kindness."
Davy Jones waved dismissively. Roger's son held no interest for him. This had been nothing more than indulging Buggy's request—and an opportunity to fight Kuzan once more.
Ace wrestled with the thought of begging him to return and rescue Whitebeard. If anyone could stand against the navy's might, it was this man who had bested an admiral.
But Sabo's voice cut across his hesitation:
"Captain Davy Jones, thank you for saving Ace. Also—Dragon sends his regards."
"Dragon?" Davy Jones frowned.
"He crossed paths with you once in the East Blue—just before the Reverse Mountain battle."
At the mention, Davy Jones recalled the cloaked man in green, the one who had indeed named himself "Dragon."
He was about to ask more when his senses sharpened. He turned abruptly toward the distance.
Whoosh—
Sakazuki dropped from the sky, propelled by Moonwalk, magma spilling across the ice and melting it beneath his feet. His face twisted with malice.
"I will never allow pirates to slip away under my nose!"
Defying Sengoku's orders outright, he meant to annihilate them all—despite knowing Davy Jones had already defeated Kuzan.
Davy Jones despised oath-breakers. His lip curled in contempt as he let his Haki flare, eager for another bout with an admiral.
BOOM!
But before they could clash, another figure crashed down from the heavens, shattering the ice into fragments.
Whitebeard—Edward Newgate—stood tall, bisento in hand, his presence towering over all.
The hideous wounds across his skull and chest did not make him look weakened. On the contrary, they lent him a terrifying, invincible air.
"Oyagi!" Ace cried in astonishment.
Newgate's gaze lingered on Ace one last time. Then he turned to Davy Jones and nodded faintly, before finally fixing his glare upon Sakazuki.
"Whitebeard!" Sakazuki's eyes narrowed, magma roiling. "You came seeking death? Perfect. I'll wipe you all out together!"
For a moment, Newgate was silent. Then, with his final breaths, he spoke.
"Akainu… let me show you… my last Conqueror's Clash."
Gripping his bisento with both hands, he raised it at an angle.
The wind howled. Haki exploded outward.
Sakazuki's pupils shrank, his Observation Haki screaming with alarm. He shot upward in retreat, but Whitebeard's strike encompassed him still.
He could only summon all his Haki in defense.
BOOOOOOM—
Conqueror's Haki blanketed the battlefield, halting the storm and waves in an instant. Time itself seemed frozen. Even sound was devoured.
Then the force dissipated—leaving only a deafening ring in everyone's ears.
Before them, a vast stretch of ice had vanished entirely. The sea boiled away, exposing the seabed. A portion of Marineford itself was erased, reduced to flat emptiness.
Most of Marine HQ's towering buildings were simply gone, leaving only shattered stumps at their base.
Sakazuki was flung like a broken kite, his body torn and bloodied, crashing down in the distant harbor.
Only after he fell did seawater surge back into the bay, filling the void.
And Whitebeard—
He still stood, eyes wide open, bisento frozen mid-swing. But life had already fled his body.
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