Deep within the massive crater,
that deranged, maniacal laughter continued.
RUMBLE…
A colossal, bloodstained claw—scaled in deep azure—
slammed down onto the edge of the pit.
And then—
he rose.
From the pitch-black depths,
Kaido emerged once more.
His mountainous body was battered—
dragon scales cracked and peeled,
blood mixing with dust across his limbs.
A gaping, bone-deep crater marred his chest,
a brutal imprint from Lucian's earlier stomp.
And yet—
His face?
Twisted in near-madness.
Overwhelmed with ecstasy.
"Oh-ro-ro-ro-ro…! The pain! It HURTS!!!"
"Hahahaha! How wonderful!!!"
"THIS! This is the fight I've been craving!!!"
His muscles tensed, warped, contracted—
his massive body compressed and reshaped.
From pure dragon—
to a hybrid beast-man form:
Kaido of the Hundred Beasts, in his most dangerous state.
His beast-like eyes locked onto Lucian, still floating midair.
Burning with violent intent.
Elsewhere,
Charlotte Linlin, soul still trembling from divine trauma,
finally snapped out of her daze.
And the first thing she saw—
was Kaido:
bloodied, broken, yet howling for more.
Her pupils shrank.
Even Kaido—
her eternal rival, the so-called "invincible in single combat" monster—
was crushed by this man.
With one foot.
That realization sent a cold shock deeper into her bones
than even the tear in her soul.
And now…
finally…
she understood.
Why the Gorōsei fell to this man.
Why even they were helpless.
This man…
was a monster.
A being no one on this sea could hope to defeat alone.
Maybe—
not even together.
Her frightened gaze met Kaido's rabid one in the air.
And at that moment—
two emperors of the sea,
bitter enemies for decades,
shared a silent understanding.
No words.
No negotiation.
They would join forces.
All or nothing—
they had to.
"Kaido!!!"
Linlin shrieked as she gripped Emperor's Sword—Napoleon once again.
"Oh-ro-ro-ro-ro! Linlin!!"
Kaido roared back,
lifting his massive spiked kanabo—Hassaikai—onto his shoulder.
BOOM!
BOOM!
Two overwhelming forces erupted—
Emperor-class Conqueror's Haki.
One aura—
savage, feral, overflowing with destruction and conquest.
The other—
mad, greedy, tinged with devouring malice.
Black and crimson lightning twisted violently in the air,
not repelling,
but fusing.
CRACK—!!!
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK—!!!
The sky above Totto Land tore open,
splitting with gaping, black fractures.
The sea raged.
Storms gathered.
The earth groaned.
All surviving warriors—
from both the Big Mom and Beasts Pirates—
could only shiver,
unable even to stand.
"Linlin!"
Kaido bellowed.
Black lightning and Armament Haki wrapped around his kanabo,
dying it pure black,
then flaring with crackling imperial might.
"Let this brat see what it means to rule the seas!!"
"Descent of the Three Realms — Drag to Naraku!!!"
He swung the club down with all his power—
all his soul—
focused into one strike.
At the same time—
"Emperor's Sword—Napoleon!"
Linlin shouted.
She infused the last remnants of Zeus's lightning into her greatsword,
combining electricity and flame—
then unleashed a sky-tearing slash.
"Ikoku Sovereignty!!!"
One attack:
a physical manifestation of brute force.
The other:
a climatic embodiment of elemental obliteration.
And in that moment—
they merged.
Kaido's strike became the core of destruction,
Linlin's lightning-flame slash the cloak of annihilation.
The result:
a black-purple energy torrent, over a kilometer wide,
charged with the power of doomsday.
Wherever it passed—
space itself screamed,
ripping open visible fractures.
This was an attack that defied natural law.
"Oh-ro-ro-ro-ro!!"
"Mamamamama!!"
The two emperors laughed wildly—
drunk on the power of their combined might.
"Let's call it…"
"Hakai!!
— Supremacy Sea!"
A technique forged by the pride and might of two sea emperors.
Their strongest joint attack.
But Lucian…
Didn't flinch.
Didn't blink.
His expression was unchanged—
cold, untouched, unimpressed.
Not even worth activating the Sun God's Aegis.
As Kaido and Linlin roared,
as Katakuri and King looked on in renewed hope…
Lucian simply—
raised his right hand.
And extended…
a single finger.
Just one—
elegant, pale, unassuming fingertip.
As the black-purple energy flood rushed toward him,
Lucian touched it—
gently.
No explosion.
No quake.
Just—
HUMMMM—
The Bakuhaikai—
that law-breaking torrent of god-slaying energy—
disappeared.
At the point of contact.
Every ounce of energy—
was devoured.
Absorbed.
Erased.
Gone—
instantly.
Lucian withdrew his finger,
as casually as brushing off a speck of dust.
Then slowly looked up—
at two faces, frozen in disbelief.
And said:
"Nice fireworks."
"Too bad…
they weren't bright enough."
And in that moment—
Kaido and Charlotte Linlin,
rulers of the sea for decades,
each with over a billion in bounty,
wore the same expression:
Shock.
Silence.
And dread.