The world above was fire.
Magnus emerged from the bowels of Impel Down, his boots crunching against shattered stone as the surface opened before him. The prison that once loomed like an eternal fortress now looked like a dying beast, walls caved in, flames clawing at the sky.
Beyond its smoldering carcass lay the true terror rows upon rows of Marine battleships, their sails stretched like wings of war, their cannons vomiting flame and iron into the sea. Each volley shook the world, a storm of thunder that drowned out all thought.
The Buster Call was in full swing.
Magnus's cloak of black lightning snapped in the wind. His gaze swept across the battlefield with the calm precision of a man who had long accepted the madness of the world.
"This… hahahaha!" Bullet's voice was raw thunder. "This is what I was born for! A battlefield where only monsters survive!"
Magnus turned to him, his voice cutting through the chaos, steady as steel.
"Then go all out."
For a heartbeat the world seemed to still.
Then Bullet's laughter split the heavens.
"KAHAHAHAHAHA! Don't regret this, Captain!"
He slammed his fists together and the air shuddered.
From every corner of the battlefield, metal screamed as if called by an unseen god. Cannons tore from the decks of warships, anchors ripped free from the sea and fragments of fortress walls broke apart, dragged toward him by an irresistible pull.
The Clank-Clank Fruit had awakened.
A storm of steel encircled Bullet, fusing together with thunderous force. Shattered hulls, blades and shattered towers melded into a grotesque construct, a monstrous giant of steel rising beneath his command.
The battlefield trembled as Bullet vanished within becoming a towering war machine with eyes that glowed like fire.
The ground shook again but this time from the other giant. The prisoner Magnus had freed roared like an enraged beast, bloodshot eyes blazing. Gripping the broken mast of a watchtower as though it were a club, he swung it with berserk fury, smashing into Marine ranks and scattering Vice Admirals who dared to close the distance.
Amid the chaos, the rogue Marine fought with calm discipline, spear gleaming like a silver fang. He stayed tight to Magnus's side, striking with precise thrusts that intercepted what Magnus did not bother to cut bullets, blades, and sudden ambushes.
"Captain," the man called, his tone measured even as blood sprayed around them. "I'll guard your blind spots. Just keep cutting forward."
Magnus flicked his gaze toward him. A single nod was all the acknowledgement he gave.
"Then don't falter."
The Marine's lips curved into a fierce grin.
"Never."
Above them, the Vice Admirals descended. They fell from the decks of battleships like hawks, cloaks whipping in the smoke and fire, their bodies cloaked in Armament Haki so dense it blackened the air.
One of them bellowed, voice carried by
Conqueror's will itself."MAGNUS! BY ORDER OF THE WORLD GOVERNMENT
YOU WILL DIE HERE!"
Shusui hummed in Magnus's grip, its cursed blade vibrating as if eager for carnage. Black lightning bled across the steel, merging with his will.
For a fleeting moment, amidst fire and screams, Magnus saw the battlefield clearly.
Bullet, a living war machine of steel.
The giant a madness incarnate.
The rogue Marine, spear gleaming with loyalty and above them all the endless fleet of the World Government, raining destruction from sea and sky.
A world determined to crush him.
Magnus's eyes sharpened, his voice low but carrying through the chaos.
"Then let the world come."
He raised Shusui, the blade howling with his will.
"I'll cut it down."
---
The surface exploded into war.
The first Vice Admiral landed in front of them, boots cracking stone beneath the weight of his haki-clad body. His blade gleamed with Armament as he roared and brought it down like judgment itself.
Magnus met him head-on.
Shusui howled as Black lightning screamed across the air, steel clashing with steel in a burst that shattered the ground under their feet. The Vice Admiral staggered back, his eyes wide as blood traced down his arm.
But there was no time to breathe.
More descended like hawks of justice swooping down through fire and smoke.
Their combined pressure bent the battlefield itself.
The weaker prisoners collapsed to their knees eyes rolling back crushed under the sheer weight of killing intent.
Magnus strode forward unshaken, his cloak of black lightning flaring with every step.
"Cover me!"
The rogue Marine's spear blurred, intercepting a Vice Admiral's strike aimed for Magnus's flank. Sparks rained as steel bit against steel, the Marine snarling through clenched teeth. "I've got him, Captain!"
Magnus didn't even glance because he trusted him already. His focus was the man in front of him.
And then
The battlefield screamed.
Bullet had moved.
The steel titan he commanded surged forward, its colossal fist tearing through the air like a falling mountain. It smashed into a battleship with one strike, the vessel folding like paper before exploding in a chain of fire and shrapnel. Marines leapt overboard, screaming, as Bullet laughed from within his metal giant.
"KAHAHAHAHAHA! ONE SHIP DOWN, HOW MANY MORE UNTIL THE SEA IS CLEAN?!"
Cannons fired in desperation, shells slamming against the steel colossus, but they only fueled its growth. Every shattered weapon, every broken anchor was pulled into its body, fusing into something bigger, uglier and stronger.
Bullet wasn't fighting the Buster Call he was FUCKING devouring it.
The giant roared, blood spraying from his wounds his massive club scattering Marines like insects. He tore a Vice Admiral straight from the ground, hurling the screaming man into a burning tower.
It was chaos incarnate.
And Magnus cut through the heart of it.
Every slash of Shusui was absolute. A wall of cannon fire came down, only to be torn apart by a crescent of black lightning. A Vice Admiral lunged, his body cloaked in Haki—Magnus's blade severed his weapon in half, his body crumpling beneath the force of the strike.
The rogue Marine never left his side, his spear thrusting with surgical precision, deflecting attacks Magnus let pass. Blood dripped from his arms but his stance never wavered. Every enemy that slipped through Magnus's storm was met with his unyielding blade.
"Keep moving forward!" he shouted, eyes burning.
Magnus's lips curved not a smile, not quite.
But something fierce.
The battlefield was a storm of blood, steel, and fire. And at its center, Magnus raised Shusui high, black lightning crackling like a storm made flesh.
"This is the truth," he roared, his voice carrying over cannon fire and death.
"The world calls us monsters then let monsters show them despair!"
And the monsters of Level Six answered his call.
Bullet's steel colossus crashed into another battleship tearing it in half.
The giant bellowed sending shockwaves through the air.
The rogue Marine fought like a shadow bound to Magnus his spear gleaming with every thrust.
And Magnus himself carved a path straight through the Vice Admirals, each strike of Shusui a death knell, each step dragging the Buster Call closer to ruin.