"'Hell's'..."
"Too slow! One Sword Style... 'Anchi: Heitou'!!"
Before the Venom Demon could raise its arm, my horizontal slash caught Magellan square in the flank.
His face twisted in pain as he tried to clamp down on me from both sides with the poison arms, but his movements had slowed dramatically, all their sharpness gone. He couldn't catch me. I shot upward to dodge.
Up until a moment ago, this was where he'd have extended some other poison from above to cut off my escape. He didn't have the strength for that anymore.
The man should have been suffering symptoms that would've stopped any normal person dead in their tracks long ago, and yet here he was, still moving this much while using his Powers on top of it. Genuinely inhuman toughness.
"Hah... hah...! I won't... let you escape...!"
A fierce flame of will still burned in those eyes. Intense enough to intimidate the surrounding prisoners with its glow alone. Vice Warden Hannyabal was the same way. It really drove it home: the people who work here fight under an ironclad resolve. Never forgive the wicked, never let them out, and thereby protect innocent citizens.
...Though I did recall a certain sadist who fought more for personal kinks than anything else, but never mind that.
Even so, playing along with your convictions and throwing away our own lives? That's not a choice any of us have. We'll settle this properly and break out of here.
"'Gokei'... 'Senbonzakura Kageyoshi'!!"
"Ugh... UGRAAAAAHHH!?"
Hundreds of millions of blades descended at once, shredding Magellan from every direction. He blocked with a membrane of poison, but with its power and density so diminished, it couldn't stop even half. Engulfed by the relentless Paper Flakes swirling around him in layer upon layer like a tornado, Magellan vanished from sight.
Everyone present, the gallery of prisoners included, sensed the fight was over. In that very moment...
"'Hell's Venom Demon's Dragon'!!!!"
Concentrating on a single point of the Paper Flakes tornado, Magellan's poison slammed outward from inside, tearing through the encirclement and bursting free. A single-headed Hydra formed from the Venom Demon's crimson poison came streaking straight toward me.
"Wha...!?"
"WRAAAAAHHH!!"
"M-Magellan!? He broke through...!"
"Lady!? Look out!"
What was most likely every last ounce he had left, Magellan's Poison Dragon. I managed to dodge by a hair's breadth with a sharp climb upward. A few droplets of the red poison splashed onto my wings, but I severed those sections immediately. That should be fine... or so I thought. And then.
THUNK!!!
"Ah, gah...!!"
"Got you... 'Pirate Literary Master'!"
Magellan burst from the head of the Hydra, having traveled at high speed through its interior, and with the poison-drenched spiked gauntlet on his hand... he impaled my abdomen. In an instant the poison spread through my body, infecting every part of it like a disease, draining all my strength.
"Ladyyyyy!"
"N-no waaaaaay!"
Screams from the gallery of prisoners echoed through the hall. My entire body stained with dark red poison, I hung limply from Magellan's toxic fist, all strength gone, motionless...
...And then, with a soft crumple, became nothing but paper, unraveling and collapsing apart.
"!?!? ...What... the...!?"
"'Proxy Doll.'"
Thought you had me? Sorry, it was a fake! Anticipating something like this, I'd swapped myself out during that Gokei a moment ago.
And so, having traveled through the paper blades of Senbonzakura Kageyoshi and flown around to a position directly above Magellan, I thrust my hand high into the air.
The countless Paper Flakes converged, forming into what looked like hundreds of Japanese katana.
Looking up at the sight, Magellan understood what was about to happen. Probably dead right. Well then. Let's check that answer.
"'Senkei'... 'Senbonzakura Kageyoshi'!!"
DODODODODODODODODO...!!
The moment I swung my hand down, hundreds of blades rained onto Magellan all at once, piercing his body.
He managed to deflect some fraction with a desperate Hydra, batted others away with his spiked gauntlets, but the vast majority got through, stabbing into him from head to toe.
In less than ten seconds the concentrated downpour of blades ceased, and when it was over, there lay Magellan, collapsed face-down, drenched in blood and looking like a porcupine.
It only occurred to me afterward, but Magellan was huge in every direction, tall and wide and deep, so when you stab swords into him all over, swords sized just right for me to wield... the result really does look exactly like a porcupine. Or maybe one of those pincushions you use when sewing. That was the current state of affairs.
Might look more like torture than an execution... Maybe I should've used fewer, larger blades? ...Well, the current ones were more than lethal enough, so whatever.
As a finishing touch, I mixed in and injected all my remaining salt through every one of those embedded blades. If nothing was done to treat him after this... he'd die. Quite seriously.
And then, the biggest cheer of the day. Prisoners leaping into the air, hugging each other, dancing, crying, laughing, celebrating.
Voices praising me rang out from every direction. The enthusiasm was so intense that if I'd been on the ground, they probably would've tossed me in the air.
"Th-that's... incredible!! She actually did it!"
"WHOOOAAA!! She took down the Boss of Hell... she took down Magellan!!"
"YEAAAAH! There's nothing left to be scared of now!"
"I never thought this day would come... You're amazing, Great Sensei!"
"Our savior! Let us follow you for life!"
Jubilation filled the entire hall, and what should have been an impossibly difficult prison break now felt genuinely within reach, Tension climbing higher and higher and higher...
...However.
"Not... yet...!"
"! Are you serious..."
"""WHAAAAT!?"""
Covered in blood, bristling like a porcupine, dehydrated on top of that, and bleeding profusely which only made the dehydration worse. His condition was beyond anything "battered and broken" could describe. And his insides were in far worse shape than the outside suggested. Yet Magellan clenched his teeth and rose to his feet.
Poison secreted from his entire body, but he couldn't form even a single-headed Dragon anymore. All he could manage was coating his body in poison. And that poison wasn't even the crimson kind; it was the regular purple poison of the Hydra.
Of course, since the nature of the poison itself hadn't changed, contact was still just as lethal, but...
"That bastard... he's still getting up!?"
"But he's on his last legs... look at the state of him. We could take him ourselves, couldn't we? Grab some weapons from the storeroom!"
"Yeah, that's right... it's not fair leaving everything to Great Sensei. Let us handle the final blow at least!"
"Let's pay him back for everything! A nice little 'thanks for all the hospitality'!"
"Haha, I like it! But just to be safe, shouldn't we use guns or crossbows?"
"If there are any Seastone Bullets, bring those too! They're always using them on us prisoners, so it's about time he got a taste of his own!"
The prisoners were getting cocky seeing how weakened Magellan was, saying all sorts of things, but if they let their guard down, even Magellan in this state could be dangerous. If I didn't let my guard down, I'd be fine, but the light in his eyes hadn't gone out. With that kind of look, it wouldn't surprise me at all if he mustered every last bit of willpower to unleash one more Hydra.
I needed to handle this myself. Just as I tightened my grip on my sword... that was when it happened.
A presence caught by my Observation Haki made me whip around. At the same time, I saw Magellan's eyes go wide with shock as he stared past me in the same direction.
Standing there...
"Hmm... what's this, what's this? Looks like somethin' real fun's goin' on here! Zehahahahahaha!"
"Oh... now this is unexpected. You've really let yourself go, haven't you... Magellan."
"Shiryu... why...!? And you people... 'Blackbeard'!?"
The Blackbeard Pirates. Their Captain and one of the Shichibukai, Marshall D. Teach, along with five other crew members. And... Head Guard of Impel Down, Shiryu of the Rain.
Without anyone even asking, Shiryu helpfully explained: apparently, despite being told to "deal with Blackbeard," he'd defected to Blackbeard's side instead. Because it seemed more interesting, and because staying here meant his future was limited anyway.
A massive fighting force released as a desperate measure, and the man who was Magellan's own equal had gone over to the enemy wholesale. It wasn't even funny.
On top of that, Shiryu had destroyed the monitor room, taking out the giant Den Den Mushi used for receiving video feeds along with every other tool for communicating with the outside. While he was at it, he'd wiped out the guards too. As a result, it was now impossible to report what had happened in Impel Down to any Government agency or Marine Headquarters. Right now, this Great Prison was "isolated" in every sense of the word.
He'd originally been one of Impel Down's own staff, and in a key position at that. He knew exactly what would cause the most damage, and he'd gone after those targets with precision.
Hearing just how catastrophically worse things had become, beyond anything he could have imagined, Magellan's face went pale. But with a look of grim resolve, he poured every remaining ounce of strength into his body. Still bristling like a porcupine, he squeezed out one last Hydra with everything he had and sent it flying, on a trajectory aimed at taking out me, Shiryu, Blackbeard, and all of them in one sweep.
But reflexively, I drew my sword. And so did Shiryu. Without intending to cooperate, we cut it down together with a combined flurry of slashes.
"Oh... not bad, woman."
"...Thanks."
"Huh? ...Oh, was that poison just now?"
"It was. What are ye spacing out for, Captain? Every last one of ye would be dead right now if not for me and this woman."
"Oh, is that so? ...Well, much appreciated! Zehahahaha! Thanks, Shiryu! And... 'Pirate Literary Master.'"
Blackbeard turned toward me, splitting his gap-toothed mouth into a wide grin.
"You're the one who pushed Magellan that far? Zehahahahaha... that's somethin' else. Way more impressive than I'd heard. Whaddya say? Wanna sail on my ship? I'm right in the middle of gatherin' crew members."
"I must decline for personal reasons. I turn down all such offers as a rule."
"That fast!? Cold as ice... Zehahahahaha. Well, fine. If ya ever change your mind, just say the word. Strong ones, flashy ones, I welcome 'em all!"
Saying that without seeming particularly bothered, Blackbeard stepped forward with a laugh, positioning himself in front of me as if to shield me. Then, from beneath his feet, he extended the Underworld, and as it spread to cover the ground beneath Magellan, both of Magellan's legs and the left hand braced against the floor sank into it like a Swamp, trapping him.
"Kh... Blackbeard... and Shiryu, you...!"
"Sorry, Magellan... consider this my resignation, effective today. As a final mercy, I'll see you off personally."
Six figures, Shiryu included, spread out and surrounded the immobilized Magellan, grins plastered on their faces.
"Consider it thanks for blocking that poison. We'll take care of this guy. Looks like you've been eyeing those stairs over there... if you wanna go, go. Though I've got business below too, so I'll be heading down before long myself... Zehahahahaha!"
"...Fine then. He's all yours."
"Kh...! Wait... you, I won't let you esca..."
BOOM-THWACK-SLASH-CRASH-CRUNCH-SMASH-BANG-THUD-THUD-THUD...!
...He'd said he was a fan, and honestly, I wouldn't have minded sparing his life. After Senkei, I'd sensed through Observation Haki that he was still alive, and if he'd just stayed down, I would've left him alone without pressing the attack.
But that, for Magellan of all people, was something he couldn't concede. The same way I can't concede when it comes to writing what I want to write.
If that was the case, then showing him misplaced mercy, shielding him, keeping him alive... that would've been an insult to his conviction and his resolve.
So I said nothing. And I didn't help. All I did was make sure that, right up to the very end, he could live the way he believed.
"Thank you for reading."
Saying that in a voice too quiet for anyone to hear, I flew off toward the staircase leading to Level 3.
Now then. The greatest obstacle had been removed. Time to regroup with Luffy, Bon-chan, Iva-san, Alice and the others, and get out of this prison.
To be continued...