Lucian Thorn's evaluation sounded calm on the surface—
But that calmness pierced deeper than the cruelest insult.
"You're definitely stronger than those old fossils in the Gorosei."
The words weren't a hammer.
But they still made Kaido and Charlotte Linlin feel like their hearts had been smashed flat.
Were the two of them strong?
Of course they were!
Who were they?
Emperors who had ruled the New World for decades—living legends in the eyes of countless pirates and Marines!
But the focus of that sentence wasn't on the word "strong."
It was on the ones being compared—the Gorosei.
And the one saying it—Lucian Thorn.
The implication wasn't lost on them.
They heard every word, loud and clear.
Your bodies may be stronger than those five old men…
But so what?
I've already beaten them.
So what chance do you—who are merely "stronger than them"—have?
This wasn't contempt.
It was absolute confidence in his own power.
That surge of battlelust from their joint strike—briefly suppressed when it failed—was now being consumed by something else.
Helplessness. And rage.
The veins on Kaido's arm bulged one after another as he gripped his spiked club.
The backlash still throbbed with pain—
But that pain was nothing compared to the humiliation of having their dignity crushed beneath someone's heel.
Charlotte Linlin's enormous body trembled uncontrollably.
She glanced at her Emperor's Sword, nearly knocked from her hands—
Then up at Lucian, hovering in midair, not even his robe disturbed.
A chill erupted from the depths of her soul, sending sweat pouring down her back.
In front of all eyes—
Lucian took a step back.
Just one.
His divine eyes swept across the two Emperors of the Sea—
Not with anger or arrogance, but with the gaze of someone looking at the already condemned.
Then he spoke.
That voice, still calm, became the final sentence for this battle… and their era.
"Warm-up's over."
"Since you've already shown your full power…"
"Then, to show my respect for your strength—let me show you something special…"
Lucian paused, then pronounced each word with godlike weight:
"The form and power I used… when I fought those old men."
The form he used against the Gorosei?
What did that mean?!
Could it be…
They froze.
That overwhelming power they had already seen—wasn't his full strength?
He hadn't even been fighting seriously?
Absurd.
Terrifying.
Two kinds of absolute terror wrapped around them like chains.
Before they could even escape that fear—
A sudden change exploded from Lucian's body!
The golden radiance burning around him ignited into something tangible!
No longer just aura—it surged, hardened, transformed!
Light.
Endless, limitless light!
Behind him, the massive phantom of the Sun God Apollo roared silently—
Then shattered!
Billions of golden divine particles erupted from the collapsing phantom—
Forming a storm of light that surged back into Lucian's body!
This wasn't a transformation.
It was a divine armament.
Pieces of radiant armor, forged from pure solar fire, began forming around Lucian's body—
Golden greaves encasing his ankles.
Knee and shin guards carved with ancient sun totems.
A glowing golden waistplate and skirt guarded his core.
A molten-gold breastplate hugged his chest perfectly.
Armguards and gauntlets covered both arms down to the knuckles, each piece gleaming with destructive light.
The sharp clicks of armor plates assembling echoed across the world—
Each note brimming with divine majesty.
This was armor fit for a god in myth.
Far off, King and Katakuri were frozen in shock.
Their minds went blank.
Mouths hung open.
They could only watch in stunned awe as that figure completed a metamorphosis beyond comprehension.
At last—
The final piece was set.
A crown of pure light, woven from the highest laws and blazing divinity, formed above Lucian's head—
Then descended silently to coronate him.
HUMMMMM——!!!!
The instant the crown touched him, Lucian's entire presence changed.
Completely.
Before, he had still been a "man"—a being above kings.
But now—
He was a god.
Looking down on ants.
Ruling over laws.
Unmoved by all beneath him.
This wasn't a matter of strength.
It was a fundamental, divine hierarchy.
As his transformation completed, the entire world trembled and bowed beneath his divine might!
The dark, turbulent skies of Totto Land—disturbed by the clash of Conqueror's Haki—
Were rewritten in an instant by a supreme force!
Every dark cloud, every shadow, every trace of gloom—
Vaporized under that golden light.
Erased as if they had never existed.
The sky… became an eternal white day.
Blinding heat and radiance surged from Lucian in all directions, forming a tangible domain.
The broken earth beneath his feet melted in silence, turning into smooth, translucent crystal glass.
Further out, the sea boiled and evaporated violently!
"Gurgle… gurgle…"
"Ugh…"
Kaido and Charlotte Linlin groaned in pain.
Their vaunted Conqueror's Haki—strong enough to tear the sky—
Was now completely suppressed by divine might.
They couldn't release a single drop.
Their skin burned like a hot brand had been pressed against them.
Each breath was no longer air—
But flame scorching their throats and lungs!
Every cell in their bodies screamed—
A primal cry of life recognizing its predator.
Their movements grew sluggish, heavy.
Bones cracked.
Flesh strained under crushing weight.
Even the air felt like syrup.
This was the Apollo Form of the Sun God.
Lucian didn't move.
He simply hovered in the sky.
Yet the world had already changed.
Two Emperors who ruled the seas for decades—
Now cornered like never before, with nowhere left to retreat.
Kaido's beast-like pupils shrank wildly.
The madness and battlelust in them—
Gone.
Only pure, undiluted terror remained.
He stared hard at the figure cloaked in divine light.
This was not an opponent he could challenge.
Not a foe to fight.
Not a path to death.
This was—
A stronger god.
"A… god…?"
On the other side, Charlotte Linlin's ferocity and wrath had long since vanished.
Her mouth hung open.
She mumbled in a daze.
Only blank confusion remained in her mind.