The sword-aura unleashed by Count Vlad Alucard sliced the entire magma lion head in two instantly. Before it even hit the ground, the mass lost its power, collapsed, and fell into the snow.
The meeting of extreme heat and extreme cold gave the residents of Level 5 a firsthand experience of "A World of Ice and Fire."
However, after cutting through the magma lion, the sword-aura did not stop. it continued on a straight trajectory toward Shiki.
"Hraaaagghh!"
Shiki pushed his fruit ability to the limit, crossing his legs in an "X" shape to block Alucard's strike. After a few seconds of agonizing struggle, he was finally swallowed by the silvery-white sword-aura and crashed into the ground.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Alucard walked over step by step, looking down at Shiki, who lay splayed on the ground in a "star" shape. "It's over."
"Already stronger than Roger was back then..." Shiki forced his hand up, his voice filled with defiance. "Dammit... the only thing about that bastard I couldn't beat was dying in a grand, spectacular way under the gaze of the whole world."
"Gomu Gomu no—!"
Just then, the two heard a long shout from above. They looked up to see a boy in a straw hat falling through the sky, yelling something. Alucard paused for a moment, then realized. "Oh. It's the rubber kid. The one who won't die."
Following Luffy, several other figures fell from the sky.
"I told you we should have taken the normal way, Luffy!"
"The lift could have taken us from Level 4 to Level 6 in one go! You're too impulsive!"
"Forget about that! Just make sure we land safely and get to Level 6! Hee-haw!"
BOOM!
Several people plummeted through the hole Shiki had just blasted, falling directly from Level 4 to Level 5.
As they slowly picked themselves up, Shiki frowned. He showed none of the sorrow of a dying man; instead, he was curious. "What's this? Who are these brats...?"
Alucard watched the group emerge from the snowy woods: Straw Hat Luffy, Three-Sword Style Zoro, the cyborg Franky, Revolutionary Army leader Sabo, Ivankov, Inazuma, the Mirage-Mirage Fruit user Harley, and a motley crew of followers.
"Gah...!"
The moment he emerged, Ivankov's mouth dropped open. You've got to be kidding me! He had just barely escaped this guy earlier; how could he run into him again? Level 5 was huge, how could his luck be this bad?
"Alucard... and the man on the ground... is that the legendary pirate, Golden Lion Shiki?"
A cold sweat rolled down the side of Sabo's face. He hadn't expected to encounter such monsters the moment they arrived at Level 5. Would they have to fight?
"Ah! You!"
Luffy saw Alucard's face and instantly flared with rage. He pointed a finger at Alucard and shouted, "You're the one who ordered that weirdo to take Ace, aren't you?"
Sabo had already explained the identities of the Golden Hair Pirates to him, including the fact that Alucard was the mastermind.
"Jihahaha... Immortal, a brat is pointing his finger at you. That's hard to swallow, isn't it...?" Shiki managed a weak laugh, but as his life force ebbed away, his voice grew faint.
Shiki shifted his gaze to Luffy's hat. Suddenly lost in memory, he couldn't help but ask, "Hey! Kid, that hat... where did you get it?"
"Eh?" Luffy blinked and instinctively touched his straw hat. "Shanks gave it to me. Why?"
"Shanks? Hahaha! That brat from Roger's ship!" Shiki laughed, giving Sabo a sudden sense of dread. Before Sabo could intervene, Shiki spoke again. "Roger is dead, and that brat Shanks is dead too. Now that hat has passed to a third person. How long do you think you'll get to wear it?"
Crap! Sabo cursed internally. Despite his best efforts to hide the news until a better time, he couldn't keep the secret any longer.
"W-What did you say?"
Luffy stood frozen. After a few mumbled words, he screamed at Shiki, "Hey! What did you just say!?"
Shiki arched an eyebrow disdainfully. "What are you throwing a tantrum for, kid? You think you have the right to question me?"
Alucard stood beside Shiki, a look of mild surprise on his face. Had this kid been out at sea this long and still didn't know that Shanks was dead? If his crew had been hiding it from him this whole time, then he really was a fool...
Cough, cough!
Shiki coughed violently, spraying blood. He bit his teeth. "Dammit, this is the end for me."
"Saying things like that, do you want me to pity you?" Alucard mocked coldly.
"Jihahahaha!"
Hearing this, Shiki used the last of his strength to roar with laughter. "Are you kidding? Who do you think I am!?"
"I am..."
Halfway through his sentence, Shiki lunged upward, throwing his hands toward the sky. "I am... THE GOLDEN LION, RAAAGH!"
His voice echoed even through the hole into Level 4, but after this final cry of life, his massive frame collapsed heavily.
"The Golden Lion... is dead?"
Ivankov gripped his chin, a realization dawning on him. "Could it be that that giant hole was caused by the two of them fighting...?"
The pool of blood at Alucard's feet expanded. Shadow-hands reached out, wrapping around Shiki's body and dragging it into the depths of the blood before returning to Alucard's feet.
"He... he took the Golden Lion's body?" Inazuma stammered, unable to comprehend what Alucard was doing.
"Shanks... Shanks is... dead?" Luffy saw none of it. He just stood there like an idiot, repeating the fact Shiki had told him before dying.
"Luffy!" Sabo grabbed Luffy's shoulder and shook him. "Calm down, Luffy!"
It was useless. Luffy grabbed Sabo's shoulders in return, eyes welling with tears. "Hey! Sabo, tell me! Tell me! Shanks... what happened to Shanks!?"
"I..." Sabo choked up, unable to answer.
"Blood Inheritance: Legend of Dracula."
Alucard spoke the words calmly. In an instant, his form shifted from his standard appearance back into the form of Count Vlad Alucard.