Under the horrified stares of everyone present—
Magellan's venomous dragon, the moment it collided with the golden lightning, disintegrated like frost beneath the morning sun.
It didn't melt.
It ceased to exist.
BOOOOOOM!!!
A thunderous explosion split the air.
The reinforced walls of Impel Down—boasted as indestructible after countless fortifications—were torn apart like paper, leaving behind a gaping wound in the fortress.
Seawater surged through the opening, roaring like a wild beast set free.
"You're… a Logia user? No—lightning?! One of the rarest of all?!"
Magellan's eyes widened, shock and dread flickering across his face.
For a moment, he had felt it—the cold, certain touch of death. He didn't even understand why, at the last instant, the lightning had curved away, sparing him.
"Heh… that was a warning," Lucian said quietly. "Move."
He shook his head, unwilling to explain further.
"With your strength, you could have broken free any time," Magellan growled, buying time, hoping desperately for reinforcements. "Why stay hidden all these years? What are you planning?"
Lucian's answer came as calm as still water. "No plan. I was simply tired. I came here to rest."
He looked up at the broken ceiling, lightning crackling faintly around his hand. "Now I'm bored. So I'll go out and have some fun."
Magellan's fury erupted.
"You think this is a playground?!" he shouted. "This is Impel Down—the greatest prison in the world! Not a place where pirates come and go at will!"
His rage boiled over—literally. The purple poison coating his body began turning crimson, bubbling like molten metal.
Lucian tilted his head. "So this is the start of your Awakening?"
He smiled faintly. "Unfortunately… you haven't fully awakened. If you had, you might have given me the smallest challenge."
The Hōgyoku pulsed quietly within his chest, resonating like a second heartbeat.
Even as the poisonous storm howled, Lucian's steps remained steady. The mist parted wherever he walked, dissolving into nothing.
"What… what is this power?" Magellan muttered. "Does he have a natural counter to my fruit?"
His mind raced. In this world, every fruit had its nemesis. Rubber resisted lightning. Magma crushed fire. Nothing was truly absolute.
"Magellan," Lucian said softly, "stop hesitating."
"Show me everything you have."
"Let me see what the 'strongest warden in history' can really do."
The words carried no mockery—only a predator's anticipation.
After perfectly merging with Aizen's inheritance, even Lucian himself no longer knew his limits.
He needed a test subject.
And who better than Magellan?
"As you wish… filthy pirate."
BOOM!!!
Scarlet venom surged from Magellan's body, shaping itself into a monstrous skeleton, towering and dripping poison.
The sight alone froze every Marine and pirate in their tracks.
"Everyone, evacuate! If that poison touches you, you WILL die!" Domino barked. Her command snapped the Marines out of their stupor—they fled without a second thought.
"Die, ringleader!"
The giant poison hand crashed down like a collapsing mountain.
Lucian sighed. "Is that all?"
Magellan was powerful—none could deny it. But he was still just a man confined by his fruit.
There was no thrill. No tension. No challenge.
"If you can't entertain me," Lucian said, voice cold and almost disappointed, "then this ends here."
He raised his hand slowly, his lips moving in a whisper.
"Hadō #90 — Kurohitsugi."
Black Coffin.
The world froze.
The massive poison hand halted midair, caught in invisible pressure, unmoving.
A collective gasp rippled through the survivors.
In an instant, Magellan vanished—swallowed by a vast, upright black coffin that stood where he had been. Silent. Monolithic. Terrifying.
Then—
The coffin began to churn.
Pu-pu-pu-pu-pu—
Soft, muffled sounds came from within.
Inside, Magellan's eyes bulged wide. His fingers clawed at the air, clutching at his chest.
He didn't understand.
One moment he had been ready to crush his enemy—
The next, countless invisible blades pierced him from every direction.
"What… is this…?"
His thoughts splintered.
"Did Sengoku and Garp… really catch such a monster before…?"
No answer came.
Only darkness.
…
Three minutes passed.
Lucian lowered his hand.
The black coffin shattered silently into dust.
Magellan's five-meter frame collapsed to the floor, blood streaming from wounds no eye could see.
"Huff… huff…"
He trembled, trying to rise, only to sink back again.
Lucian looked down at him, almost pitying. Then his gaze shifted toward the fleeing prisoners.
"Did I say you could leave?"
A single spark of gold flashed through the air.
Two Fish-Men diving for the sea were vaporized instantly—gone without a trace, not even ash remaining.
"Listen carefully."
Lucian's voice was calm, but every word was edged like a blade.
"I want Impel Down in chaos."
"Every floor."
"If you fail, you don't deserve to live."
His gaze swept across the pirates—cold, sharp, final.
Every one of them bowed their heads, trembling.
Now they understood.
From the moment he broke their Sea-Prism cuffs, their fates had shifted.
They no longer belonged to the Marines—
nor even to themselves.
Their lives belonged to Lucian Vale.
"I don't like repeating myself."
"If anyone disobeys again…"
He turned, lightning dancing faintly across his shoulders.
"…then you, and this entire prison, will vanish from the world."
Lucian walked toward the exit, each step echoing through the silence.
"Such a terrifying man…" Shiryu muttered, then hurried off to release the prisoners of Level Four.
No one called Lucian cruel. In a world ruled by power, ruthlessness was reason.
If any of them had wielded his strength, they would have done far worse.
"Wahahahaha…"
Waldo's deep laughter broke the silence.
"As expected, Rocks never chose wrong."
"That brat…" He grinned wide, eyes gleaming. "What kind of storm will he bring to the seas?"
"For the first time in decades…" Waldo exhaled, a cruel smile spreading across his face.
"…I'm excited."
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T/N:
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