Zaraki stood on the broken upper edge of Dressrosa's King's Plateau, having chosen a rather good spot to watch from.
The wind tugged at the hem of the Justice coat behind him, making it snap and flutter.
His eyes reflected the azure dragon blotting out the sky.
The pressure was incredible.
That dragon in the sky seemed to carry a will of its own, pressing heavily on every heart below. The air had grown thick, and every breath carried a faint sting.
This power was more vast and overwhelming than any opponent Zaraki had faced before. Doflamingo's Conqueror's Haki was not even worth mentioning before this giant beast.
The corner of Zaraki's mouth lifted almost on its own.
Inside his chest, his heart began beating faster, steady and powerful.
Perfect timing.
His gaze shifted downward and landed on the tall figure standing on the ground.
Vice Admiral Yamakaji.
Zaraki saw the video Den Den Mushi clutched tightly in Yamakaji's hand, its lens pointed toward the sky.
Trying to use Sengoku's authority to stall for time and create a chance to evacuate?
What a loyal man.
And brave too.
"Wororororo..."
A laugh like a bottomless abyss echoed across the sky. Kaido's mountain-sized dragon head slowly turned, and his golden eyes looked down coldly at the ground.
"Marines? Just a bunch of government dogs."
Kaido's voice was full of disdain.
"I don't have time to play with you. Where's Doflamingo? Where's that Marine brat? Tell them to get their asses out here!"
His voice became a shockwave that sent smoke and dust rolling outward.
Under that pressure, Yamakaji's legs trembled uncontrollably, but he still forced his back straight and raised the video Den Den Mushi in his hand even higher.
Kaido's gaze moved away from Yamakaji and swept across the ruins.
Then his eyes froze.
Those violent dragon eyes locked onto the edge of the King's Plateau ruins, on the stiffening corpse wearing the pink feather coat.
King, standing atop the dragon's head, followed Kaido's gaze. Beneath his mask, his eyes narrowed.
Joker... was dead?
For an instant, every sound between heaven and earth vanished.
The wind stopped.
The clouds seemed to freeze.
A silence a hundred times more terrifying than before covered the entire island.
Zaraki could clearly feel the presence occupying the sky undergo a qualitative change.
If Kaido had been an active volcano before, then now he was disaster itself, ready to devour everything.
Kaido did not mourn Doflamingo.
The rage that erupted from him was for the severed SMILE supply, the ruined factory, and the army he had been building for years.
"Dofla... mingo—!!!"
The roar shook the sky, filled with endless killing intent.
Boom!
Terrifying Conqueror's Haki erupted in full force. Black-red lightning rampaged through the dark clouds, tearing them apart.
Dressrosa seemed to tremble beneath that pressure.
"Who was it...? War Demon... was this you?!"
Kaido's enormous dragon head lifted as he roared toward the heavens, his golden eyes filled with bloodshot veins.
"My SMILEs! My Beasts army!"
He suddenly lowered his head, those eyes burning with destruction as they locked onto every Marine present.
"No matter who it was, you... and everyone in this country... will all be buried with him!"
Yamakaji's final trace of hope was completely shattered by that roar.
This guy did not care about Doflamingo's life or death at all.
What he cared about was his artificial Devil Fruit army.
"Kaido! Don't you dare!"
Fleet Admiral Sengoku's thunderous roar came from the Den Den Mushi.
"If you attack civilians, are you trying to start an all-out war with the World Government?!"
"Wororororo... War? I've been waiting for that day for a long time!"
Amid Kaido's wild laughter, King stepped off the dragon's head, black wings spreading as he hovered above the ruined plateau.
The azure dragon twisted in the clouds and shrank violently.
In the next instant, Kaido dropped from the sky in human form, his enormous spiked kanabo, Hassaikai, already raised above his head.
The target was Yamakaji and the Marine formation behind him.
It was over.
Every face turned deathly pale, and their minds went blank.
Before that world-destroying blow, any resistance felt meaningless.
Gion instinctively drew her famous blade, Konpira. Smoker also raised his jitte across his chest.
They knew it was useless, but as Marines, they could not simply stand there and wait to die.
At that critical moment, a calm voice suddenly rang out over the battlefield, clearly entering everyone's ears.
"Hey, big guy."
The voice was not loud, yet it pierced through Kaido's laughter and the shriek of Hassaikai tearing through the air.
Kaido's arm paused for an instant.
Then his eyes turned.
Everyone followed the source of the voice and looked up in shock.
They saw the man who should have already left standing on the broken upper ledge of the King's Plateau, facing Kaido and King from afar.
He was not even in a battle stance. He stood casually, as if greeting a neighbor.
Zaraki had chosen that position deliberately. The ruined plateau was behind him, the evacuation routes were behind the Marines, and the civilians were farther below. If Kaido wanted him, he would have to turn away from them first.
He's insane.
He's completely insane.
That was the only thought in most of the Marines' minds.
To reveal himself and challenge an Emperor directly was suicide.
Only Yamakaji and Gion, after a brief moment of shock, instantly understood.
They looked at the lone back facing that disaster-like monster, their hearts pounding wildly.
So this... was his real goal.
Kaido slowly turned, Hassaikai still resting in one massive hand.
Those eyes, filled with killing intent, finally moved away from the insects on the ground and locked onto the man who dared interrupt him.
Zaraki met that destructive gaze, and the smile on his face widened.
He slowly raised his hand and pointed at Kaido. His voice was not loud, but every word rang across the battlefield.
"Your opponent is me."
The ruins of Dressrosa sank into a suffocating silence.
The wind stopped.
Every Marine who had just survived, whether Vice Admiral or ordinary soldier, froze where they stood, their minds blank.
They stared up at the lonely figure on the plateau as if looking at a madman.
What did he just say?
Gion's fingers had turned white around Konpira's hilt.
She had imagined all kinds of possible plans from Zaraki, but she had never expected him to step out directly and draw all of Kaido's anger onto himself.
Beside her, Yamakaji nearly dropped the video Den Den Mushi in his hand.
On the other end of the call, in the Fleet Admiral's office at Marineford, the room had also fallen into dead silence.
Sengoku remained half-risen from his desk, frozen like a statue, his expression caught between fury and disbelief.
Beside him, Chief Staff Officer Tsuru's usually calm eyes showed a rare trace of horror.
That damn brat.
Did he have any idea what he was doing?
That was Kaido.
The man recognized across the sea as the world's strongest creature.
"Pfft."
A very faint snort broke the frozen scene.
It was Kaido.
His huge body slowly turned. At first, his burning golden eyes held confusion, as if he had not understood what this insect had just said.
Then that confusion became absurd amusement.
Finally, it all settled into pure brutality.
"Wororororo... Brat..."
Kaido's voice lowered, each word squeezed through his teeth.
"Say that again. I didn't hear you clearly."
Zaraki ignored the countless gazes from below, as well as Sengoku's strained breathing from the Den Den Mushi in Yamakaji's hand.
In his eyes, there was only Kaido.
Excitement crawled up his spine and rushed into his brain.
Every cell in his body was cheering under that pressure.
The heart in his chest began to pound with a force and rhythm unlike anything before.
"I said," Zaraki's smile widened, revealing white teeth and the most primitive hunger for battle, "if you want a fight, your opponent is me."
Far away in the ruins, beneath the shadow of a building, Carina clamped both hands over her mouth to stop herself from screaming.
Beside her, Tashigi's legs nearly gave out, but she forced herself to stay standing with one hand on Shigure.
It was him.
He had not run away!
A wave of relief had only just surged up in their hearts before it was swallowed by an even greater fear.
That was Kaido, one of the Four Emperors.
Zaraki... how could he dare?
"Zaraki—!!!"
At last, Fleet Admiral Sengoku's earth-shaking roar exploded from the video Den Den Mushi, so loud that even the Den Den Mushi's mimicked expression twisted.
"In the name of the Fleet Admiral, I order you! Get your ass back here immediately!!"
It was almost a scream.
Sengoku could not imagine it.
The Marines had just lost Doflamingo as a Warlord chess piece. If they were to lose War Demon Zaraki while Headquarters and the World Government were watching through the line, the blow to Marine authority would be catastrophic.
Yet Zaraki merely turned his head slightly toward Yamakaji below and chuckled, almost as if talking to himself.
"Relax, old man. You'll blow out your throat before Kaido even swings."
Before his words had even faded—
"Worororororororo—!!!"
Kaido's deafening laughter echoed across the sky once more. This time, it carried a pure, fully ignited killing intent.
He seemed to have finally confirmed that the ignorant brat before him was not joking.
He truly wanted to die.
"Good..."
The laughter stopped abruptly.
Kaido's golden eyes instantly filled with bloodshot veins, as if magma were boiling inside them.
"Very good!!!"
An aura far more terrifying than before erupted from his body.
The dark clouds in the sky began to rotate, forming a massive vortex, while black-red lightning rampaged within it.
Kaido lifted Hassaikai onto his shoulder, the gaze locked onto Zaraki so vicious it seemed ready to chew him up, soul and all.
Between the world, only the fury brewing above the ruined kingdom remained, ready to destroy everything.