A gaze crossed the ruined coastline and landed precisely on the back of Gion's neck, burning hot against her skin.
Cold, savage killing intent swept over the Marine position, making everyone shudder.
They whipped around.
Far in the sky, that enormous dragon head was slowly turning. Kaido's burning dragon eyes locked onto them with chilling cruelty.
"Not good!"
The color drained from Gion's face in an instant.
She wanted to shout, "Run," but no sound came from her throat.
Run where?
On this ruined island, the very thought of escaping was laughable.
They had become Kaido's targets, the outlet for his fury.
Kaido did not roar.
Sometimes, silence was more terrifying than rage.
He simply opened that massive mouth, slowly gathering power.
A scorching ball of light lit up deep in his throat.
It was brighter than any of his previous attacks, illuminating his twisted dragon face until he looked like an evil spirit.
Time seemed to slow.
Gion clearly saw the cigar in Yamakaji's mouth fall to the ground with a soft tap.
She could hear the young Marines behind her choking back sobs, and smell the burnt stench of sulfur and death in the air.
It was over.
The thought had only just flashed through her mind when, in the next instant, the pillar of light erupted.
Blast Breath tore through the air, roaring toward them with the power to destroy everything in its path.
But just before the white light could swallow them all—
A burly figure dropped from above and landed directly in front of the attack.
Boom—!
A pitch-black fist slammed into the Blast Breath.
The pillar of heat did not stop cleanly. It split.
Garp drove his fist upward, forcing the torrent of destruction to scream over the Marine formation and tear a burning path through the clouds instead of swallowing the ground below.
Gion instinctively raised her hand against the blinding light. Through the gaps between her fingers, she saw a scene that shook her to the core.
In front of them stood a burly old man wearing a Justice coat, one fist wrapped in pitch-black Armament Haki.
Smoke curled from his knuckles, but his stance did not move an inch.
"I-Iron... Iron Fist..."
A young Marine trembled as he spoke that title.
The old man slowly lowered his fist.
His feet struck the cracked earth with a dull thud, as if the entire island had sunk slightly beneath him.
He did not look back at the Marines behind him. His wrinkled face was dark with anger.
Marine Hero, Monkey D. Garp.
Garp had cut in from the Wano route and reached Dressrosa first.
Kizaru was still crossing the sea from Marineford.
He was faster than anyone, but even light needed a path, and Marineford was farther away.
"Worororo..."
Kaido looked at that familiar figure, a twisted smile squeezing onto his dragon face.
"So you finally showed yourself, Garp! That precious brat of yours really made you proud! I drove him so hard he jumped into the sea!"
Garp did not speak.
He merely raised his head slowly, dangerous light gleaming beneath the brim of his cap.
"Kaido..."
His voice was low.
"What did you just say?"
"I said," Kaido's dragon head slowly pressed closer, full of contempt, "that brat of yours, that Zaraki kid, was a coward! He's dead! He jumped into the sea like trash! Wororororo!"
Garp's fist slowly tightened.
Creak... creak...
A teeth-aching sound echoed through the air.
"Is that so?"
Garp smiled, but there was not a trace of warmth in it.
"Well then... thanks for telling me the good news."
He suddenly lifted his head.
Rage exploded in his eyes, and his voice rang out like thunder in everyone's ears.
"If he's really gone, then I don't have anything left to worry about!"
His gaze locked onto Kaido, and every word that followed struck the battlefield like a hammer.
"Kaido, listen carefully. If that brat dies here, I'll come for you myself. I'll drag every Marine who still has a backbone to Onigashima if I have to!"
The moment Garp's words fell, the entire battlefield went quiet.
Gion, Yamakaji, and the others stared at him, their faces full of disbelief.
He had not used Sengoku's name, he had not said Marine Headquarters had issued an order.
It did not matter.
With Morgans broadcasting, the world would hear only one thing: the Marine Hero had challenged Kaido of the Beasts!
Even Kaido in the sky showed a flash of surprise on his dragon face. Then it turned into even wilder delight.
"Wororororo! Interesting! This is too interesting, Garp! Now this is the you I know!"
Just as Kaido was about to respond, a figure wrapped in flames descended from the sky and landed in front of him.
It was King the Wildfire.
The black mask hid his expression, but his calm voice spread across the battlefield.
"Marine Hero, is that your personal will, or does it represent Fleet Admiral Sengoku? Or perhaps... the orders of the Five Elders?"
He calmly raised the question to the level of the World Government, trying to bind Garp with rules.
"Besides," King added, a trace of mockery entering his tone, "the battle is already over. The brat you protected could not endure the humiliation and chose to vanish into the sea. Is it worth starting a war that could overturn the world for a dead man?"
Hearing that, the fury on Garp's face actually faded.
He looked as if he had just heard a joke, and the corner of his mouth curved with scorn.
"Dead?"
Garp's gaze passed over King and landed on the giant dragon behind him, as if he were looking at an idiot.
"By whom? You? You think you can kill him?"
"That damn brat isn't so easy to kill."
Before his words had fully faded, Garp's gaze swept sharply over King and the Beasts Pirates preparing to move in the distance.
A wave of will crashed down over the battlefield, different from Kaido's drunken savagery but no less suffocating.
Garp's pressure slammed down like an iron mountain.
His voice sank low, each word forced through his teeth.
"Before I start throwing punches... why don't one of you try moving?"