Chapter 145: The Tyrant's Mask and the People's Right
CRACK!
The sound wasn't loud, but it was sickeningly clear to Doflamingo's enhanced senses. Several of his ribs fractured under the impact, a testament to Ian's monstrous strength even through his hasty Armament Haki defense. He was sent tumbling through the air, but his instincts took over. Strings shot from his palms, cushioning his fall and allowing him to twist and land on his feet, his expression a mask of fury and pain.
"The king... the king fell!"
"Stay back! He... his men turned my brother into a toy!"
"That's Joker! The underworld broker! It was all a lie!"
Their cheers had turned to ashes in their mouths, replaced by fear, confusion, and burgeoning rage. Ian's public unmasking was bearing fruit, the truth spreading through the crowd like wildfire.
"You stupid, ungrateful insects..." Doflamingo snarled, his fingers twitching. "Parasite!"
Invisible strings shot towards the civilians, aiming to turn them into his puppets once more.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
But a figure dropped from the sky, a solid wall of muscle and will between the tyrant and his people. Jock Ian stood firm, the parasitic strings snapping harmlessly against his Haki-infused body.
"That was too close!"
"It's the Sea King! Vice Admiral Jock Ian!"
"Thank you, Lieutenant General! Please, save our country!"
Ian didn't turn, his gaze locked on Doflamingo. "Everyone, evacuate this area immediately," he commanded, his voice calm but carrying across the square. "This place is now a battlefield. I will excise this cancer from your nation."
BOOM! BOOM!
Doflamingo, enraged, tried to maneuver around Ian, his strings lashing out again at the fleeing citizens, but each attack was precisely intercepted and shattered by Ian's swift, powerful blocks. The king was hunting his own people, and the sight of it stripped away the last vestiges of his carefully constructed facade.
As the people scattered, Doflamingo let out a contemptuous laugh. "Look at them! Look at the ants you're so desperate to save! They're nothing but trash, scattering at the first sign of real power. To think a man of your strength would debase himself for such filth... I truly don't understand you, Jock Ian."
Ian's face remained an impassive mask. To a born Celestial Dragon like Doflamingo, the concept of inherent rights for common people was incomprehensible. They saw peace as a gift they bestowed, not a right earned through daily struggle and life.
"You say you don't understand. You understand but refuse to act. You act but make mistakes. You make mistakes but won't admit them. You admit them but refuse to change. You change but won't repent..." Ian's voice was low, cutting through Doflamingo's rhetoric. "So let's not waste any more time. You can feel it, can't you? Your petty tricks are useless against me. Stop holding back. Show me your true power."
He took a breath, and the air around him seemed to still.
"Awakening Form."
WHOOSH!
A torrent of wind erupted from Ian's body, slamming into Doflamingo with physical force. The air crackled with energy.
"The Human-Human Fruit... Awakened?!" Doflamingo's eye twitched, his smug confidence faltering for a split second. He knew better than anyone the immense difficulty and risk of a Zoan-type Awakening.
Before his eyes, Ian's body underwent a profound transformation. His muscles swelled and condensed, his height surging to over five meters. His form was wreathed in ethereal black and white flame-clouds that hissed and swirled around him. With the slightest gesture, the compressed air around him detonated, showcasing terrifying explosive potential.
"A monster like you... barely more than a teenager!" Doflamingo spat, a flicker of something akin to avarice in his eyes. "What a waste that you couldn't have been my partner, my family. I admit it, Ian. You have the power to threaten me. But do you think your Awakening alone makes you my superior?"
Doflamingo took a single, deliberate step forward.
The ground at his feet and the buildings surrounding them—solid stone and sturdy wood—warped, dissolved, and transformed. Under the influence of his own Awakened String-String Fruit, the very environment became his weapon. Countless transparent threads surged together, intertwining like a nest of colossal pythons, lunging forward to ensnare the flame-wreathed giant that was Jock Ian.
In a dilapidated slum dwelling, a family was being reborn.
Rebecca wept uncontrollably, her tears soaking the tunic of her father, Kyros, who held her tightly. The toy soldier was gone, replaced by the towering, one-legged gladiator. Memories, so long stolen, came flooding back to everyone.
"How could I have forgotten you? How?!" Rebecca sobbed, her voice thick with a decade of lost time and guilt.
"Doflamingo... that monster!" Kyros's voice was a low growl, years of silent suffering giving way to a burning need for vengeance.
King Riku, his own face streaked with tears, looked upon his daughter and his most loyal guard. "Kyros... thank you. Thank you for watching over her all these years. And I... I have failed this country so completely."
"Your Majesty," Kyros said, his voice firm despite the emotion. "The fault lies with Doflamingo alone. My return to human form means Vice Admiral Ian's plan is succeeding. He fights our enemy even now."
He gently released Rebecca and stood tall, his gaze turning towards the distant Royal Plateau where the sky was darkening with strings and flame-clouds.
"You must be strong, Your Majesty. The people are terrified. They need their true king to lead them now. As for me..." He clenched his fist, the warrior's spirit blazing anew. "I have a debt to repay. I will join this fight and lend my sword to Lieutenant General Ian."
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