Chapter 149: Hell's Judgment, the Final Frenzy!
Below the great gates of Impel Down, Lightning was fully focused on using her cutting Devil Fruit ability.
Her hands danced rapidly across the gate. Her arms, transformed into scissors, cut into the massive door, each slice creating a shower of sparks and a piercing metallic screech.
As time passed, a large, circular hole gradually began to appear on the gate.
Ivankov stood not far from the great gate of Impel Down and took a deep breath.
Immediately after, he began to blink his eyes rapidly. Each blink was accompanied by a powerful wave of energy.
With his movements, visible gusts of wind shot out from his eyes, causing the very space around them to tremble!
At this moment, the Red Earl, holding a long sword he had taken from one of the okama, stood tall and straight like a pine tree, a sharp, murderous aura radiating from his eyes!
He squatted slightly, his body like a taut bowstring, accumulating immense power.
Then, with a furious roar, he stomped his feet, launching himself toward the gates of Impel Down like a black bolt of lightning.
The moment he neared the gate, he raised the long sword high. The muscles on his arms tensed, veins bulging, as he unleashed a brilliant slash. The blade's light was like a silver dragon, crashing violently against the gate with tremendous force.
Ivankov's Death Wink, Lightning's cutting, and the Red Earl's slash all struck the great gate of Impel Down simultaneously, producing a deafening boom.
Under the force of this triple assault, the gate finally gave way.
Cracks spread rapidly across the gate, covering its entire surface like a spiderweb.
Then, with a tremendous crash, the massive gate slowly toppled over, kicking up a huge cloud of dust.
"That's… that's amazing!"
The okama who had been helping cheered, holding hands.
The sound of its collapse was like a bell tolling for freedom, echoing through the space and thrilling everyone present.
However, the trio closest to the entrance was stunned by the scene before them.
"My… my dear boy…" Snot instantly gushed from Ivankov's nose. The signature, weeping expression of pirates appeared on all three of their faces.
A single gate separated two different worlds.
Ren Arakawa was half-kneeling on the ground, his body swaying as if a slight breeze could knock him over.
His exposed skin was covered in a crisscrossing network of wounds. There were pits left by corrosive poison, the flesh rolled back, revealing a nauseating black and purple; there were also large gashes torn open directly by Magellan's attacks, with fresh blood gushing out. It trickled down his arms and legs, pooling beneath him into a puddle of dark red.
His hands hung limply at his sides, fingers slightly curled, caked in mud, fresh blood, and poison.
Only the whites of his eyes were visible, the pain having robbed him of his ability to think.
But his spine remained ramrod straight, as if he were holding on to his last shred of dignity, refusing to bow to tyranny even while suffering such horrific torture.
Across from Ren Arakawa, Magellan was not in much better shape.
A feather imbued with Armament Haki was sticking out of Magellan's shoulder.
The feather was embedded deep in his flesh. Fresh blood slowly seeped from the wound, trickling down his arm to drip onto the ground.
Magellan grimaced in pain and abruptly reached out to yank the feather free. As it was pulled out, a stream of fresh blood spurted forth like a fountain.
Magellan's body began to uncontrollably gush a red liquid. It wasn't the poison he usually used for his attacks, but his own fresh blood.
His face turned pale as paper, his lips trembling slightly. He was clearly severely injured.
A trace of shock and anger appeared in Magellan's eyes. He couldn't believe that a prisoner who had broken out from the Crimson Hell could injure him to this extent.
"Ma! Gel! Lan!!!"
Ivankov's furious voice echoed across the battlefield. Magellan, however, looked completely unfazed and once again threw a glob of poison at Ren Arakawa!
Seeing this, Ivankov blinked furiously. His Death Wink rained down on Magellan, pinning him down for a short time, but it didn't cause any significant damage.
Lightning, frantic with anxiety, rushed toward Ren Arakawa. When she finally reached his side, she extended her hands without hesitation and carefully lifted his scarred body.
However, in that instant, she felt a sharp pain from her palms. Magellan's poison had spread from Ren Arakawa's body to her hands and was rapidly corroding her skin.
Lightning felt an intense wave of pain surge through her. Her body began to tremble uncontrollably, but she gritted her teeth, enduring the heart-piercing agony. Relying on her powerful willpower as her consciousness began to blur, she used every last ounce of her strength to painstakingly inch toward the gate.
Finally, just before she lost consciousness, she succeeded in dragging Ren Arakawa outside the gate.
Then, her body could hold on no longer. She slowly collapsed to the ground, her eyes shut tight as she fell into a coma.
Seeing this, a flash of fury and determination crossed Magellan's eyes.
He withstood the assault of the Death Wink and once again activated his Poison Giant.
A gigantic fist quickly condensed under his control and shot toward the entrance!
In the nick of time, the Red Earl stepped forward.
The long sword in his hand instantly bloomed with the glow of pinkish-red Haki! He shouted, "Get this kid out of here! I'll hold Magellan off!"
With that, he stomped his feet and charged at Magellan!
Ivankov's eyes filled with tears. He knew what was about to happen. Without hesitating, he seized this hard-won chance to escape. He painfully grabbed Lightning's and Ren Arakawa's ankles, stared straight at the ground, and after adjusting his angle—
"DEATH WINK!"
His ability activated. To the dumbfounded expressions of the crowd, the guy actually used the propulsive force of his wink to launch himself toward the warship!
"Ivankov-sama!" the okama shouted, hurriedly chasing after him. They ran up the stone staircase that Lightning had previously laid out and boarded the warship.
"Quick! Start the ship!" Ivankov commanded, his forehead covered in sweat. At the same time, he frantically searched Lightning and Ren Arakawa's bodies.
But he didn't find what he was looking for.
"There's no… there's no more antidote…"
Ivankov's face instantly turned ashen with despair.
As the poison spread, he too could no longer support his body and collapsed.
"Ivankov-sama!"
The okama burst into tears together.
Fortunately, amidst the rain of cannonfire, the warship successfully started up and began to set sail!
Just then,
The direction of Impel Down suddenly began to shake violently. The entire island seemed to tremble.
Behind Magellan, the enormous, terrifying red poison skeleton suddenly grew frenziedly, as if it had broken free from all restraints. In an instant, it reached a height of over ten meters!
Its massive body moved slowly through the ruins of Impel Down, each step accompanied by a tremor of the ground as it rapidly crawled toward the port!
As this terrifying poison giant rapidly approached, it continuously chanted, "Judgment! Judgment!"
The sound was like a roar from hell itself, making one's eardrums ache.
When the prisoners on the ship saw this, their faces turned deathly pale. Many were so frightened they lost control of their bowels.
Urged on by the desperate shouts of their comrades, the prisoners finally snapped back to their senses. They grabbed their weapons and began attacking the approaching poison giant.
The sound of gunfire erupted instantly. Streaks of fire shot toward the poison giant, but the attacks only splashed against its body, creating splatters of poison. They were completely unable to cause any substantial damage.
At the same time, the warship moved forward at full speed, trying to escape the poison giant's pursuit.
The propeller at the stern spun rapidly, kicking up massive sprays of water. The warship cut through the waves, and the distance between it and the poison giant gradually increased.
"Judgment!"
Poison shot onto the sea's surface, corroding the ship's hull, but it couldn't stop the warship from pulling away from the port.
Finally, after a heart-pounding chase, the poison giant's arms flailed a few times over the sea's surface, but they could no longer reach the warship.
At this, the prisoners collapsed onto the deck as if a great weight had been lifted from their shoulders, greedily gulping down the air of the outside world.
"We… we escaped…"
"Finally, we finally escaped!"
Overcome with joy, the prisoners wept, clutching their heads and crying their hearts out.
At the great gate of Impel Down, Magellan suppressed his rage as he watched the warships depart one by one.
He looked down at the Red Earl, who was being corroded by the poison on the ground.
He reached out and lifted him up.
Step by step, he walked toward the bottomless abyss.
(end of chapter)