Dragging his heavily injured body, Buggy returned to his crew. The pirates—villains through and through—were busy looting the town.
The residents of Loguetown had fled in haste, leaving most of their belongings behind. All of it now fell neatly into the hands of the Buggy Pirates.
"Gyahaha! Get the ship ready—we're setting sail! The Marines will catch up soon!"
"Captain Buggy, the ship's almost ready. The others are still loading supplies… there's just too much stuff!"
It was Mohji who first thought of restocking. The rest of the crew spread across town, grabbing anything of value. After all, opportunities like this didn't come often.
Loguetown, the gateway to Reverse Mountain, was a prosperous trade hub. With Smoker stationed there before, pirates rarely dared to act freely—those who tried were swiftly imprisoned.
But today?
It was like rats falling into a rice jar.
The pirates looted without restraint, delaying their departure.
In truth, the Marines had made a critical mistake: they evacuated civilians but failed to destroy the pirates' ship—giving Buggy's crew a chance to escape.
Nearby, Alvida walked out of a boutique carrying bags of clothes, already dressed in a new outfit. The rest of the crew followed suit—"shopping" for free across the town.
"Mohji, call everyone back. Anyone not on board in ten minutes stays here forever."
Buggy vanished in a blur, heading toward his ship.
"You heard the captain—move it! He's not in a good mood."
Alvida reluctantly gave up browsing and followed.
"The captain's changed a lot… don't you think, Richie?"
The lion beside Mohji trembled, hiding behind him—an odd sight for a beast.
Meanwhile, all eyes on the Marine side were fixed on one person.
Artoria Pendragon.
Her beautiful face was calm and solemn as she slowly closed her emerald eyes, gathering strength.
"Those… lights…"
"Even the fallen… have become light?"
"The sea itself is glowing…"
Points of light rose from everywhere—
From the depths of the ocean,
From the Marine graves,
From the bodies of the fallen,
From the distant town—
All converging onto her golden blade.
Held high above her head, the sword transformed.
No longer a mere weapon—
But a towering pillar of light, stretching hundreds of meters into the sky, growing ever brighter, ever larger.
"A terrifying monster…" murmured Borsalino, adjusting his sunglasses as he stared at the kilometer-long blade of light.
The other Marines weren't as lucky—blinded by the radiance, they could barely keep their eyes open.
"It looks like… Loguetown won't exist after this," said Sakazuki, staring directly into the light.
Within that brilliance, he felt something—
A sublime will.
That sword embodied the dreams of all warriors who had died in battle—past, present, and future. Their final hopes, their noble ideals… all gathered and carried forward by her.
"If she became Fleet Admiral… I wouldn't mind remaining an Admiral forever."
An absurd thought—but one he couldn't suppress.
He was overwhelmed—not just by her power, but by her beauty and her unshakable will.
At the center of it all, Artoria opened her eyes.
Her gaze burned with absolute conviction.
Her name—
Her Noble Phantasm—
Was about to be unleashed.
"Ex…calibur!!!"
A colossal beam of light, over a thousand meters long, cleaved downward.
Everything in its path—erased.
The Marine base, already in ruins, was split apart in an instant.
Then came Loguetown itself—
Under that unstoppable radiance, the land shattered, buildings crumbled, and everything turned to dust.
This was absolute power.
Far away, fleeing civilians saw the sky-piercing beam descend upon the island.
They fell to their knees, praying.
To them—
This was divine punishment.
When the light finally faded…
Loguetown was gone.
Erased from the map.
Not even a fragment of land remained—only seawater rushing in to fill the void, washing away all traces of human existence.
This was a power the Navy had never controlled.
A single strike that shattered their understanding of the world.
Artoria sheathed her sword.
Floating above the sea, she looked completely unaffected.
If anything—
She was just a little hungry.
"Even the island is gone… Buggy should be dead, right?"
"If he survived that… we'll never be able to deal with him again."
"Thank goodness that didn't hit us…"
The surviving Marines murmured among themselves.
Sakazuki stepped forward.
"Do you have somewhere to go? I can have a warship take you."
Artoria lightly stepped across the sea and boarded the ship.
"Since drawing this sword, I've been traveling alone."
"Then… would you consider joining the Navy?
Meanwhile, the live broadcast from Morgans never stopped.
That world-shaking strike—
Had already been recorded…
And was about to spread across the entire world.
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