The docks of Impel Down were drowning in fire.
Every cannon strike split the sea into towering geysers, the spray mixing with smoke until the air itself burned the throat.
Flames licked the sky where towers collapsed into rubble and the screams of marines were drowned beneath the thunder of iron.
Magnus moved through it like the eye of the storm.
Shusui cut in black arcs, each swing carrying sparks of lightning and the heavy weight of his will. Men broke before the blade. Armor shattered, rifles splintered, and every step he took left blood across the stones.
Beside him, the rogue Marine fought with the cold precision of someone long drilled in war. His spear darted with mechanical rhythm, finding throats, joints and hearts with terrifying efficiency. Each motion carved space for Magnus to advance.
Ahead, Bullet was chaos incarnate. His steel colossus crushed squads like ants beneath a heel, fists tearing stone from foundation and hurling it at the Vice Admirals.
The berserk giant was no less savage, mast-club swinging wide enough to flatten platoons in a single breath.
But still, the marines did not yield. Vice Admirals pressed forward, cloaks billowing in the storm of fire, their weapons burning with haki so dense the air trembled around them.
Then—
A sound louder than cannon fire.
HOOOOOORN!
It rolled across the battlefield like the roar of gods. The sea seemed to heave in answer as colossal shadows loomed through the smoke. Ropes and ladders thick as ancient trees slammed down, swaying like bridges from the sky.
And on the decks above, laughter thundered.
"GEGYAGYAGYAGYA! Tiny warriors, your battle isn't done until your feet reach our deck!" Dorry's voice cracked across the sea, his massive blade raised high.
"GABABABABABABA! Come before the sea swallows your bones!" Brogy roared, slamming his axe against the railing in a war drum beat.
The Giant Warrior Pirates bellowed their war cry, ropes secured, sails spread wide against the storm.
Magnus raised Shusui, black lightning flaring from the blade as his voice cut through the chaos.
"Boarding time! MOVE!"
The rogue Marine didn't hesitate. He pivoted, parried a blade aimed for Magnus's side and vaulted onto a rope ladder, spear slung across his back. His eyes burned with something sharper than loyalty.
Bullet snarled from within his titan, metal groaning as he pulled the colossus back. "Tch. Fine. But this isn't over." With a thunderous leap, he caught a rope as if it were a chain meant for beasts, hauling himself up with sheer brute force.
The giant roared, blood dripping from his torn chest as he seized another ladder, climbing with the fury of a man still half lost to battle-lust.
Magnus stood alone for a heartbeat longer.
Vice Admirals converged, haki pressing down like a mountain. Marines poured fire in his direction, rifles cracking, cannons adjusting to tear the ropes apart.
He exhaled.
Shusui hummed in his grip, the cursed steel vibrating with hunger. Black lightning crawled across the ground at his feet.
"Remember this day," Magnus said, his voice low. His eyes, cold as a storm's heart, as it swept across the battlefield.
"Remember that even here… you could not hold me."
Then he struck.
Shusui sang.
Black arcs tore through rifles and bodies alike, and the last line of marines fell screaming.
A Vice Admiral lunged but his guard broke in a spray of blood, his body hurled back by the raw pressure of Magnus's haki.
The path was open.
Magnus leapt, boots slamming onto the swaying rope, his cloak of lightning snapping in the gale. He climbed, fire and ash below him, the roars of giants above.
Behind, Impel Down collapsed. Towers shattered into the sea. The Buster Call kept firing but the cannonballs struck the ironwood hulls of Elbaf's ships and bounced away like stones against cliffs.
Dorry and Brogy laughed louder, their laughter shaking the horizon as their weapons knocked volleys from the sky.
When Magnus's boots hit the deck of the giant's ship, silence washed over him for the first time. The sea stretched wide and endless, the prison sinking behind them in fire and ruin.
His crew was there. Bullet breathing hard inside his titan, the giant gripping his club with blood still dripping, the rogue Marine kneeling with his spear across his knees.
They had done the impossible.
Magnus stood at the center of them, Shusui resting against his shoulder, his gaze fixed on the horizon. His expression did not change but his voice carried the weight of inevitability.
"This is only the beginning."
And the sea, restless and alive, seemed to bow to the promise in his words.