After a brief pause, the familiar system notification—audible only to Lucian Thorn—resounded quietly in his mind.
['Kaido of the Beasts' Analysis Completion: 100%!]
['Charlotte Linlin' Analysis Completion: 100%!]
As the analysis concluded, Lucian withdrew his armored hands from Kaido and Charlotte Linlin's heads.
Humiliation.
An overwhelming sense of humiliation.
Though they had no idea what Lucian had done…
That feeling of being toyed with—completely immobilized and helpless—was far worse than death itself!
"You bastard…!"
'What… what the hell did you do to us?!'
Kaido's bloodshot eyes glared hatefully at Lucian, a beastlike growl rumbling from his throat. If looks could kill, Lucian would have died ten thousand times over already.
Charlotte Linlin, meanwhile, was trembling all over. Her bloated face had gone pale, the fighting spirit drained from her entirely.
Lucian paid no mind to their reactions.
He retracted his hands and turned as if to take flight.
Seeing this, both Kaido and Charlotte Linlin felt an absurd sense of relief.
'Is this monster… finally leaving?'
But just as Lucian's figure was about to rocket skyward, he came to an abrupt halt.
Because it suddenly occurred to him: beyond this battlefield, across the world, countless eyes were watching.
With his back to the two Emperors, he spoke—perhaps to himself, or perhaps for their ears.
"Both of you."
"I had originally intended to let you go."
Lucian turned slowly back, his gaze locking once more onto Kaido and Charlotte Linlin.
There was a playful glint in his eyes—but to them, it was terrifying.
"But then I remembered… there are still quite a few rats hiding on the periphery of these seas, trying to peek in."
"Marines. World Government agents… all waiting to see how this farce ends."
"And to send them a message, I'll have to trouble the two of you a little."
"W-What do you mean?" Kaido asked warily.
Lucian's lips curved into a cold smile.
"Nothing much."
"I just thought—if the curtain is about to fall, then it ought to go out with fireworks. Something dazzling enough to shut up all those pests who don't know their place."
He looked at them like he was stating an undeniable truth.
"It won't take long. Just bear with it. It won't hurt at all."
The moment the words left his lips—before Kaido and Charlotte Linlin could process their meaning—Lucian's figure, clad in radiant Solar Armor, ascended into the air.
He stopped at a height that was neither too far nor too close, gazing down at the two Emperors below as if they were ants.
Then, he slowly raised his hands.
Buzz—!
In the palms of his hands, two orbs of pure golden energy began to condense—each one small, only about the size of a fist, but impossibly brilliant.
Their size was modest—but the power they contained was terrifying.
Even just sensing it from a distance sent shivers down the spine.
And yet, Lucian contained the power perfectly. Not a wisp of destructive aura leaked out.
That precision, that silence, only made it more horrifying.
The two orbs alone put Kaido and Charlotte Linlin on full alert.
They could feel it: these orbs were death itself.
Lucian, expression unchanged, looked beyond them—toward the distant, unseen eyes still watching from across the world.
And then, he made a move no one expected.
He brought his hands together—palms glowing like twin suns—and slowly clasped them at his chest.
Ssst—!
The two golden orbs fused seamlessly into one.
A new, larger energy sphere formed—its glow more restrained, deeper, like the birth of a cosmic fusion between a black hole and a star.
He slowly raised the orb above his head.
And it kept growing—larger and larger.
"Consider this a parting gift," he said softly.
"I hope you two survive it."
As his words fell—
Lucian swung his hands down.
The massive energy orb, infused with double the divine wrath, began its slow descent toward Kaido and Charlotte Linlin.
Its speed was not fast.
In fact, it was almost… gentle.
But the two Emperors immediately tried to defend themselves—only to find, once again, that their bodies were frozen in place.
They couldn't move at all.
They could only stare helplessly as that miniature sun of death expanded in their eyes, getting closer and closer.
"No!!!"
"You bastard!!!"
The instinct to survive made them roar in agony.
They struggled desperately, trying to break free from their invisible bonds.
But it was all in vain.
In the face of absolute power, their resistance was nothing—futile and laughable.
Finally—
The orb touched them.
And in that instant…
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
Instead, the golden sun dissolved the moment it made contact.
It transformed into infinite light—pure, silent, and utterly devoid of destructive sound.
A holy, purifying light.
A light that suppressed all things.
The light swallowed everything in an instant—beyond logic, beyond natural laws.
Kaido's twisted, roaring face—Charlotte Linlin's mask of fear and despair—froze completely the moment they were touched by it.
And then, they were engulfed.
Completely erased by the blinding white.
Seconds passed.
And then… silence returned to the world.
Back on the battlefield…
Everyone watching—King, Katakuri, and the few surviving officers—stared, stunned, toward the epicenter.
There…
Was nothing.
Where Kaido and Charlotte Linlin once stood, only two enormous craters remained—smooth as mirrors, unfathomably deep.
As for the Emperors who had ruled the New World for decades…
Their bodies had vanished.
As if they had never existed on this sea at all.