The first cannon fired.
Its roar split the storm as the shell tore through the night with a shriek before smashing into the sea. The explosion bloomed like fire in the rain sending walls of water crashing back onto Magnus's boat.
Magnus barely moved from it's destruction.
Another barrage followed. A thunderous volley shook the waters as dozens of cannons spat iron and flame. Explosions surrounded him, waves rising high enough to swallow small ships whole but Magnus remained still, his silver hair plastered against his forehead, his eyes locked on the fortress ahead.
Then his haki erupted.
The storm itself seemed to recoil as his Conqueror's Haki surged outward. Black lightning slashed across the rain, the sea heaved and the air thickened until Marines on deck dropped to their knees, their eyes rolling back as unconscious bodies collapsed one after another.
The cannon barrage faltered. Shaking hands fumbled with fuses and voices rose in panic.
"Wh-What the hell is this?! My body… it won't move!"
"His eyes… he's staring right through us!"
Magnus raised his hand. A thin layer of Armament Haki coated his skin dark as obsidian. The rain hissed as it struck against the hardened surface sliding off in rivulets.
With a calm step he leapt from the bow of his boat and landed on the rolling waves as though the ocean itself had solidified beneath him.
"Monster…" one Marine whispered,clutching the railing in terror.
Vice Admiral Onigumo's jaw clenched. He drew his blade voice cutting across the panic. "Hold your ground! This is Impel Down's gate! Not a single step closer!"
The order carried weight but even as the Marines steadied themselves, Magnus blurred his figure vanished and reappeared in a blink on the nearest battleship's deck. The shockwave of his landing shattered planks beneath his feet.
Magnus's eyes narrowed and he moved. His body flowed with precision every step and turn cutting down opponents without wasted effort. A palm strike shattered a rifle into splinters. A kick sent three men crashing into the mast. A twist of his hand bent a blade until it snapped in its owner's grip.
Then he released another pulse of Conqueror's Haki.
Bodies dropped like leaves torn from trees, scattered across the deck in lifeless heaps. Those few who clung to consciousness trembled too hard to raise their weapons.
The nearest battleship loomed with cannons still hot from firing. Magnus then moved unsheathing shusui.
One clean arc split the air.
Shusui roared with a slash stretching across the sea in a wave of black lightning. The cannon line buckled their steel barrels snapping like twigs as the strike carved through the ship's flank. Screams filled the storm as Marines staggered, thrown off their feet by the shockwave.
Vice Admiral Onigumo's eyes widened as he steadied himself. The sight of the boy standing on the waves blade humming with power etched itself deep into his mind.
"That sword…" Onigumo muttered, his voice drowned by rain. "Shusui… a national treasure… how in the world..."
His words cut short as Magnus landed on the deck in a blur planks splintering beneath his boots. Marines surged forward in desperation with thier blades flashing.
Magnus's movements were merciless almost elegant. Shusui sang through the storm with its black steel moving in arcs too swift to follow. A single step carried him past a cluster of men and in that breath their weapons fell in shattered pieces as their bodies crumpling after them.
Lightning raced down his blade as he lifted it once more his voice quiet yet heavy enough to pierce the chaos.
"Fall."
Another surge of Conqueror's Haki erupted, spreading out in an invisible wave. Marines collapsed like stalks of wheat before the scythe with their cries silenced into nothing.
Onigumo gritted his teeth, drawing his own blade as the storm crackled above.
"MAGNUS! THIS IS AS FAR AS YOU GO!"
The two clashed with sparks erupting in blinding bursts. Steel ground against steel, haki against haki but Magnus's eyes did not waver. They burned with the calm certainty of a man who had already seen the outcome.
With a single push he drove Onigumo back, Shusui's black edge humming with restrained power.
"Hell's Gate will not stop me," Magnus said, his voice as sharp as the blade in his hand.