Garling Saint stepped forward.
His military boots pressed into the blood-soaked mud without making a sound. He lifted his chin arrogantly, the lofty gaze in his eyes stripped of all mockery—leaving only the cold detachment of a Celestial Dragon who viewed all things as dust beneath his feet.
His voice rang out. It wasn't loud, but the arrogance in it was unmistakable.
"You—who are you?"
Faced with Garling Saint's question—
Lucian did not answer.
He didn't move.
He didn't even turn around.
Garling Saint felt a flicker of irritation at being ignored.
Maintaining his condescending tone, he continued, "You dare block the path of the God's Knights? And you even wear such a ridiculous mask… What is it—afraid the World Government will come for you, so you don't dare show your real face?"
A threat.
A naked, undisguised threat.
Garling Saint was trying to crush the man's resolve with words, to make this ignorant fool understand that the authority before him was the highest power in the world.
Behind him, the remaining members of the Knights reacted instinctively to their commander's killing intent.
In perfect unison, they placed their hands on their sword hilts.
Not a single sound was made—but the air around them grew colder.
And yet…
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
The only response was still silence.
Lucian remained exactly as he was.
Hands in his pockets, his weight casually shifted onto one leg.
Behind the mask, he even seemed… distracted.
As if neither this so-called supreme Celestial Dragon nor the God's Knights behind him were worth acknowledging.
This wasn't provocation.
This was disregard.
No—contempt.
A contempt deeper than any defiance or insult could ever be.
"…Tch."
Garling Saint's expression finally darkened.
The elegance and amusement vanished from his handsome face, replaced by a stormy, offended gloom.
Rage.
Rolling in the depths, searching for a way to erupt.
He—Figarland Garling Saint—had been a god standing above the clouds since birth.
His words were divine decree.
His will was destiny.
And yet a masked nobody, a lowly creature whose very race was indiscernible, dared… ignore him?
Unforgivable.
Absolutely unforgivable.
"It seems you've chosen the most painful way to die."
Garling Saint's voice dropped, cold arrogance now being devoured by volcanic fury.
The killing intent in the air condensed into visible white frost, rising from his body.
His patience was gone.
He raised his right hand, gripping the hilt of his sword, ready to personally grind this blasphemer into dust.
Just as he was about to give the order—
The silent man finally moved.
Finally.
He didn't draw a blade.
Didn't take a stance.
Didn't even remove his hands from his pockets.
He simply… moved his lips.
As if standing that way had grown a little tiresome, he shifted into a more comfortable posture.
Then a voice emerged from beneath the pure white mask.
Flat.
Emotionless.
Without the slightest ripple.
Yet that utterly calm voice exploded in Garling Saint's ears—and in the ears of every Knight present—without mercy or restraint.
"Talking to a beast like you…"
"is just wasting my breath."
…
...
...…
Silence.
Time itself seemed to slam into a dead stop.
The wind ceased.
The distant sounds of slaughter on the battlefield were cut off by an invisible wall.
Garling Saint's raised hand froze in midair.
Behind him, the Knights' surging killing intent was snuffed out by an unseen force, solidifying just before it could erupt.
Every mind plunged into shock.
A… beast?
He… just called the commander… a beast?
Impossible.
How could anyone in this world dare use those two words to describe a Celestial Dragon—one who bore the blood of the Creators themselves?
To describe the supreme commander of the God's Knights?
This wasn't a mortal challenging a god.
This was an ant… spitting at the sun.
And yet, reality was more cruel than any nightmare.
Garling Saint's expression became something none of them would ever forget.
That pride carved into his very bones was struck down by an invisible hammer the moment those words fell.
Crack—
First, it froze.
Then a fracture appeared between his brows.
Then another.
And another.
Like a spiderweb, cracks spread across that once-noble, arrogant face.
And then…
What replaced it was something utterly unprecedented—a mixture of absolute disbelief, unspeakable humiliation, and a rage vast enough to burn the world to ashes.
"…What… did… you… say?"
Each word was forced out through clenched teeth, dragged from the deepest part of his throat.
He—Figarland Garling Saint, bearer of the highest Celestial Dragon bloodline, supreme commander of the God's Knights, even a future member of the Five Elders—
had just been described by a masked inferior as a "beast."
His body trembled.
Not from fear.
But because the power inside him was no longer contained.
A monstrous Haki, laced with a sinister, oppressive aura, erupted skyward without warning.
BOOM!!!
The solid earth beneath his feet shattered instantly under the impact, vicious cracks ripping outward in every direction.
Nearby trees bent under the overwhelming pressure, groaning as if on the verge of collapse.
Pure killing intent.
Unrestrained rage.
Even the Knights themselves were forced to take half a step back under the shock of it.
For the first time, fear crept into their eyes.
They had never seen Garling Saint lose control like this.
And yet, the one who had caused it all—the man in the white mask—still stood there.
Quiet.
Detached.
As though he existed in a different world from this storm of madness.
He even tilted his head slightly, as if calmly appreciating Garling Saint's expression.
That small gesture became the final straw.
"You…"
At last, Garling Saint forced out the rest of the sentence.
His eyes turned completely blood-red—devoid of reason, containing only pure, maddened intent to kill.
"I will capture you alive!"
"I will peel your skin off… inch by inch…"
"Then carve away your flesh… piece by piece…"
"And then… I will shatter every single one of your cursed bones… one by one!"
"I will make you wail for a hundred days… a hundred nights!"
"Finally, I will turn you into my finest specimen—"
"and make you kneel before the gates of the Figarland family's palace, repenting for every word you spoke today for all eternity!!"
"I will make sure you…"
"live… in… worse… than… death!!!"