The dark night sky was ignited by lightning, torn apart, flashes occurring one after another. Flames spread from the outskirts of Mary Geoise inward.
Amid the clamor of the flames, many slumbering Celestial Dragons were awakened. The descendants of the creators, now dressed, gathered in the square near Pangaea Castle.
"What's going on!"
Disturbed, they angrily questioned the servants around them, but were met only with deathly silence.
The roaring continued. A Holy Land's guard, dragging his severely wounded body, ran in to report to them.
"Report... the Holy Land has been... invaded!"
Amid the chaos, panic spread among these people of noble blood. The customary etiquette of ordinary times now utterly failed.
"How could it be invaded? What are you and your people doing!"
"The Knight Order, notify the Knight Order?"
"Huh? What do you mean they went to the lower world for a hunting competition?"
"The Marines then, notify Marine Headquarters to send an Admiral?"
"Huh? What do you mean the only Admiral is currently in the New World?"
Flames spread, endless, enveloping the entire Holy Land.
Under the Celestial Dragons' command, the originally orderly disaster relief became even more chaotic, further causing the fire to spiral out of control.
Finally, CP Agents and Holy Land's guards could only protect them as they retreated into Pangaea Castle, waiting for high-level combatants to return.
In the slave town, blood dripped from Sakura's axe blade, quickly frozen by the rampant frost.
Before her, one CP Agent after another lost consciousness, collapsing to the ground.
Several masked agents belonging to CP0 were confronting her but dared not approach.
"Witch Sakura Haruno, attacking the Holy Land… do you intend to declare war on the government?"
The sound of tensing muscles erupted. Fingers imbued with Haki thrust forward fiercely, condensing on this strike was the CP0 Agent's sweat.
Soru and Shigan used alternately, covering the long distance… the girl was right before him.
A ferocious expression bloomed on his face. He seemed to already see the dismembered corpse and himself receiving glory.
"Not pure enough!"
Sakura's blood-stained face raised in a wanton smile, flames burning in her emerald-green eyes.
Chakra boiled, muscles leaped, an irresistible fighting spirit urging her on.
Fight! Fight!
"Is your desire to dominate only this much? That's not enough, CP0!"
[Axe Heaven Music]
The giant axe reflected thunder and flames. The blade swung with furious force and erupted violently. Shockwaves squeezed, expanded, spread, and exploded!
Boom!
Light and shadow rotated, blended, collided. Pure axe light accompanied by the girl's clear voice bloomed in the void.
The figure was bisected!
Witnessing their colleague's gruesome end, a group of CP Agents and Holy Land's guards froze in place.
The girl before them was wounded, blood dripped clearly from the axe blade onto the ground, evaporated by the high heat.
But the scorching aura and the smell of rust increasingly tormented the hearts of every enemy. Through the distorted air, they saw a horned phantom standing amidst blood and fire, looking up disdainfully.
"De... demon!"
Under the erupting, predatory killing intent, Holy Land's guards unable to resist this aura wailed in despair, frantically dropping their weapons and fleeing backward.
Even though behind them was endless burning flame, it felt safer than facing the girl before them.
"Don't run! Hold the line! Just delay her and we have a chance!"
The CP Agents tried to call them back, but it was ineffective.
The first breaker shattered the window for others. More and more people chose to abandon their armor and flee from the girl's presence.
"Hahaha, run! Those who surrender will not be killed!"
Sakura chuckled lightly, giving another kick to the already crumbling morale.
"Damn Witch!"
A hoarse voice sounded from within the flames. The Celestial Dragons' strongest shield, covered in blood, charged, leaping down.
Immediately, the giant axe swept through the air, sparks flying, a loud crash echoed.
Boom!!!
Sakura's silhouette stepped out of the flames. Behind her, the agents had fallen into an infant-like slumber.
Passing over the towers, she retrieved the keys to the slave cells from the guards.
Sakura activated the Flying Thunder God's mark reserved on Tiger, and the next moment, she entered the underground of Mary Geoise.
"This is..."
The sound echoed through the empty prison cell. The sight before them was a jungle of steel, with chains of varying thicknesses crawling over prison cells also constructed of metal.
These cells were different from those used to imprison ordinary people, they were structures haphazardly welded together with crude technology, cramped and exuding a gloomy atmosphere.
Foul air, filthy clothing, rotting food, rusted cells, and lifeless eyes.
"Yes, this is the Celestial Dragons' slave quarters!"
A voice like dry branches rubbing together in the wind came from behind Sakura. Even the deep, pitch-black darkness of the prison couldn't hide the tears on Fisher Tiger's face.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I came too late... Aaaaaah!"
The tall Fish-man grabbed the bars of the cell, fell to his knees, and wept loudly.
The enslaved Fish-man imprisoned inside merely curled up, his turbid eyes pressed against the ground, revealing an ingratiating smile.
He didn't even dare make a sound, for fear of attracting the Celestial Dragons' torture and murder.
"Tiger..."
Sakura placed a hand on his shoulder and casually handed him the keys she was holding.
"Yes! Go home, I'll take you all home!"
Discovering the keys, Fisher Tiger's hands trembled as he took them. He forcefully opened the cell door and moved forward to remove the shackles from his fellow slaves.
"No, don't come any closer!"
Unexpectedly, his approach caused panic among the slaves. They shouted at Fisher Tiger in alarm!
"Why?"
The tall Fish-man's pupils shook violently, and he instinctively took a step back.
"We'll... we'll be killed by the Celestial Dragons!"
Chains clinked and rattled as someone knelt on the ground in despair. His outburst seemed to trigger a domino effect… suppressed, faint sobs began to sound from all directions.
Listening to the deadened souls with her Observation Haki, Sakura clicked her tongue.
She stepped forward, passed Tiger, snatched the keys back.
The pirate from another world unreasonably lifted the slave who had been the first to wail.
With the crisp turn of the key, the shackles fell to the ground.
Clenching her right fist, Sakura punched the sturdy man hard in the face, sending him flying out to slide far across the ground.
"You, what's your name!"
"Gild... Gild Tesoro"
Sakura's eyebrow raised. His emaciated appearance had made her misjudge him.
She walked over, lifted him up again, and told him in a tone that brooked no refusal, "Now, you are free!"
"I..."
The man suspended in mid-air instinctively grabbed at the shackles on his neck, only to find nothing there.
Then, he clutched his forehead and laughed loudly. The laughter began to warp, eventually turning into heart-wrenching sobs, filled with the joy of rebirth.
Gradually, infected by the crying, the slaves timidly glanced toward the man who had regained his freedom. Hope began to sprout.
"Listen up-!"
"I know, in this shitty world where everything is dominated by power, you have been hurt, you have been bullied!"
"But ask your own hearts, have they been extinguished? Do they still struggle to run, to strive, to live freely!!!"
A clear will stirred an intangible spirit. The girl's shout exploded like thunder within each deadened heart.
That determination to rise up and resist even in the face of hell, and the courage to raise a sword against the gods...
'Why could she live so wantonly, so radiantly!'
The slaves couldn't help but reach their hands toward the direction of the light. Unknowingly, tears wet the ground.
"I want... to live!"
"I miss my family, I want to see them one more time!"
"I don't want to die, I don't want to stay in this hell any longer."
Humble wishes converged, tiny streams gathering into a torrent, wild tides surging into a tremendous force raging across the sea!
Small, faint voices overlapped, finally forming a deafening roar.
'I want, we want to survive!'
Listening to the purest pleas of those rekindled souls, Sakura laughed loudly and swung her sword, cutting through the doors of numerous cells.
That ring of keys representing freedom spun through the air. The rebellious conqueror dragged them out from the shadows with brute force.
"Follow me! Let's run toward the sea together!"