Lightning tore through the air, leaving a glowing scar of energy that crackled and hissed before fading into the shadows.
"Hahahahaha! Bathe in blood, you worthless scum!"
Shiryu of the Rain roared with savage glee, his face twisted in a manic grin as he swung his blade Raindrop (Raiju) in wide arcs, cleaving through anything that moved. Prisoners fell like wheat before the scythe.
But in the midst of the slaughter, his instincts screamed—a killing intent far beyond ordinary men was closing in fast.
His eyes narrowed to slits. He turned sharply and slashed behind him without hesitation.
A crimson wave of sword aura roared forth, cutting through rows of screaming prisoners. The blade-light didn't fade—it drank the blood of those it felled, swelling larger, darker, and deadlier.
"Wha—what is that thing?!"
"Run! RUN!"
But there was nowhere to run. The blood-soaked slash tore toward them, unstoppable. The doomed prisoners froze, shut their eyes, and braced for the end.
Then—
A flash.
A blinding, electric blaze ripped through the darkness like divine judgment descending from the heavens.
The light was so intense that even those with eyes squeezed shut saw it through their lids.
BOOM!
In the blink of an eye, the crimson slash collided with the newcomer head-on.
The prisoners, mid-scream, fell silent. For a heartbeat, no one dared to breathe.
That was Shiryu's strike—enough to split a sea king in half—
and it had been stopped. Effortlessly.
"What… what the hell!?"
"Did he just… block Shiryu's slash? With his body?!"
The figure in lightning strode straight through the bloody sword aura—didn't even raise a hand—and shattered it on impact.
The blinding afterglow lingered as the prisoners stared in stunned awe. Fear drained from their hearts, replaced by something else entirely—reverence.
Every gaze followed that lightning-clad figure as he walked slowly toward Shiryu.
"Shiryu of the Rain," Arthur said calmly, voice crackling with static. "You're not half as terrifying as your reputation. All I see is another butcher swinging his blade for pleasure."
Shiryu's pupils constricted.
That earlier strike—he hadn't used his full power, true, but even a half-strength slash from him could cut through iron. To have it blocked without effort—this man was dangerous.
"Name yourself!" Shiryu barked, tightening his grip on Raindrop.
"The one who kills you," Arthur replied coolly. "Arthur."
"Arrogant brat!"
With a flash of steel, Shiryu vanished and reappeared before him, blade raised high. Raindrop gleamed blood-red as it fell in a brutal overhead strike that split the air.
The prisoners gasped—
"He's dead! There's no way he can block that!"
"That's Shiryu's killing form—one clean strike!"
But Arthur didn't move. He merely smiled—a small, contemptuous curve of the lips.
As Raindrop's blade descended toward his head, he raised one hand—black as forged iron and humming with lightning—and caught the edge between his fingers.
CLANG!
The impact split the air with a sound like thunder cracking.
For a long second, no one spoke.
Then—
"Is that… even possible?"
"He caught Raindrop—with his bare hand?!"
Even Shiryu froze.
"That's—impossible! Not even Armament Haki that strong should be able to—"
He stopped, eyes widening further. This strength, this speed, the dense aura of lightning—it reminded him of someone.
Kaido of the Hundred Beasts…!
His mind recoiled from the thought. No, that was impossible. This youth was human. But the power…
Arthur smiled faintly. "Disappointed?"
Before Shiryu could react, lightning exploded from Arthur's hand, flooding into the blade. The current surged backward through the weapon into Shiryu's body.
"AAAHHH—!!"
Shiryu convulsed violently, smoke rising from his skin as arcs of electricity danced along his frame. His sword fell from his trembling grip, clattering to the ground.
Arthur's expression hardened. The playfulness vanished, replaced by cold judgment.
"The seas don't need another butcher."
In one smooth motion, he caught Raindrop mid-fall. Lightning and Haki wrapped together around the blade, spiraling in a storm of black and gold.
SHHHK—!
The blade flashed horizontally.
A single stroke. No hesitation. No mercy.
Shiryu's world spun. For an instant, he saw his own body standing headless below him, then everything went dark.
THUD.
His head hit the floor and rolled to a stop.
Silence fell.
Not a whisper, not a breath. Only the faint buzz of lingering lightning.
Then—shock.
Then disbelief.
That was Shiryu of the Rain.
Impel Down's true demon. The man feared even more than Warden Magellan. His cruelty was legend, his blade said to thirst endlessly for blood.
And now—he was dead.
Cut down in a single strike by a young man barely twenty.
"W–what just happened?"
"No way… this isn't real…"
"That was Shiryu! Shiryu!"
The inmates' minds blanked. The sheer speed, the raw power, the decisiveness—it was godlike.
Their gazes rose as one to the man now standing amidst drifting sparks and silence.
Lightning wrapped his body like a mantle; his steps were steady, confident, divine.
Someone whispered the words that would soon echo through all of Impel Down.
"The Thunder God…"
Then louder—
"Thunder God!"
"Thunder God!"
"Thunder God!"
The chant grew, swelling from trembling whispers to roaring cries that filled the entire level.
For years, they had known only despair.
Now, for the first time, they saw something greater—hope, wrapped in lightning.
And Arthur simply stood there, blade in hand, as the prisoners shouted his new name to the heavens.
"Even the cursed blade fears me," he muttered softly, sliding Raindrop back into its sheath as it trembled in his grasp.
The once-bloodthirsty sword quivered faintly, its crimson glow dimming in submission.
Even the weapon itself seemed to acknowledge its new master.
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