Boom.
In an instant the world's light vanished, leaving only endless thunderfire and roaring flame. At the center of it all, a colossal mushroom cloud grew, encircled by three widening rings of radiant energy. The surrounding archipelago was rapidly disappearing.
The atmosphere above had torn open, radiating uncontrollable power. Seas that once stretched without ripple now vanished, evaporated into steam that revealed the seabed below. In all directions, colossal tsunamis surged outward.
"Is it over?"
"Retreat now!"
"What terrifying destructive force!"
From a great distance, Shiryu and the others stared in stunned silence at the mushroom cloud that bridged heaven and earth. The spectacle felt like the dawn of creation itself. Even those strong enough to witness it were shaken to their cores, because the entire Calm Belt trembled beneath the cataclysm.
After an unmeasured span of time, the earthquakes halted and the tsunamis calmed. The blinding radiance faded, and at the center of the devastation a vast sinkhole yawned under the shattered sky.
The surrounding seawater had been blasted outward, exposing rugged land and cliffs that sat a thousand meters below where ocean once lay.
"What a joke," Shiryu muttered.
"They're still fighting," another whispered, disbelief in his tone.
Even after such a world‑ending spectacle, the battle persisted within the infinite sinkhole.
"It's time to act."
Katakuri's expression remained icy as he swept toward the center of combat, radiating lethal precision.
Blackbeard, Magellan, Cracker, Smoothie, and the rest followed him.
At that moment, Lucien Graves pressed Ethan's head downward, tearing across the barren seabed land. Wherever he stepped, mountains buckled and valleys tore open. A mass of eight black‑red thorns fused into one massive spike, which pierced through Ethan's chest with brutal force.
Ethan screamed, clutching at Lucien's arm. Hot blood sprayed in fiery arcs as he was lifted up and hurled into the air. He crashed and rolled before finally coming to rest in the fissure of a ruined cliff.
Pfft.
Ethan coughed blood from both nose and mouth. From his back erupted a thunderfire divine dragon, vanishing into the smoke‑choked sky.
Clenching his teeth in pain, Ethan seized Lucien and tried to throw him, but eight crimson thorns bound him tightly. At the same time, Lucien's energy was draining life from Ethan, making Ethan feel the thread of his life unravel.
With ruthless resolve, Ethan unleashed a close‑range punch. A terrifying blast of force erupted as Lucien's previously shattered arm instantly regenerated and intercepted Ethan's strike.
But Ethan's strength was beyond ordinary measure.
A colossal current of air burst outward, tearing open a path of destruction like a great divide. Lucien's upper body was blasted apart, gore sprayed like rain across the shattered terrain.
Blood and shreds of flesh spewed everywhere around the shockwave.
Most importantly, the battle resonance — the war music that had empowered Lucien — dissolved into nothing.
In the moment that followed, Ethan seized Lucien's torn torso and repeatedly slammed him into the ground. Bone and muscle splattered, the earth itself slick with dismembered gore.
In the end, only one thigh remained clutched in Ethan's massive hand, the rest of Lucien's body fragmenting into ruin and ruinous carnage.
Roar!
Ethan bellowed, casually tossing the severed thigh aside. He lifted his huge foot and crushed it mercilessly, and then gradually regained his composure.
He believed Lucien to be dead.
He did not yet know, not even a few dozen meters away, that Lucien's severed head was wriggling violently, regenerating a neck, chest, and lower body at astonishing speed.
"Damned thing."
Lucien's face was pale beneath the newly‑formed skin. Being blasted apart like minced meat had drained most of his energy. His vitality was dangerously low, and to fully recover he would need time to rest.
But he was not dead.
Ethan's eyes grew cold and calculating now that his berserker rage had subsided slightly, though his aura had weakened considerably.
"I have to admit, I lost — you're something else," Lucien said with an indifferent smirk, purple‑amethyst eyes gleaming. "Thankfully I was prepared, or I would have actually fallen into your hands."
As Lucien spoke, powerful figures descended from the sky, forming a circle around Ethan.
Blackbeard, Burgess, Shiryu, Van Augur, Evil King, Lafitte, Catarina Devon, Big Barrel, Doc Q.
Katakuri, Cracker, Smoothie, Snack, Daifuku, Oven.
Magellan, Crocodile, Mr. 1, and the monstrous Jailer Beasts — all stood prepared, their presence radiating overwhelming power.
After enduring Lucien's assault, Ethan already bore signs of extreme fatigue. Feeling the encirclement of such powerful forces, his face darkened. He sensed the deathly crisis surrounding him.
"Despicable."
His eyes bulged, veins straining. Ethan glared at Lucien standing beyond the ring of pirates.
"When I walked the path of pugilistic mastery, I lived by steady discipline! How could I be careless against you cheats? Finish him off!"
As Lucien gave the command, Katakuri and the others surged forward.
Yet even surrounded, Ethan refused to surrender. But against this collective might of pirate legends, he truly had no route to either heaven or earth. Every one of these powerhouses was famed throughout the pirate world, not a cluster of insignificant ants.
The difficulty level was beyond nightmare.
If Lucien had been in Ethan's place, he would have fled immediately. If escape were impossible, he would have only one choice — kneel. There was no third option.
Meanwhile, outside the battlefield, Law worked feverishly, performing emergency surgery to help Lucien recover some strength. The feat spoken of by pirates as impossible was happening before their eyes.
Undoubtedly, Ethan was incredibly powerful.
Approximately five minutes later, Ethan was delivered to Lucien by Katakuri like a fallen beast.
Looking upon Ethan, barely clinging to life with massive torn wounds across his chest and back, missing his right hand and left foot, Lucien extended eight blazing high‑temperature thorns from his tailbone.
"To be able to hold out for five minutes, and even inflict injury while ganged up on by so many top fighters, I can only say you're amazing," Lucien observed evenly.
He scanned the disheveled faces of Blackbeard and the others. Each bore blood at the corners of their mouths, each slightly pale from exertion. Lucien had underestimated Ethan somewhat.
Whoosh.
Eight hissing high‑temperature thorns fired into Ethan's battered body like arrows. They began consuming his life force rapidly.
Ethan had returned to normal, near death and unable to move a finger.
Before he expired, he remained oddly calm. Perhaps from the moment Emma died, he had lost all hope of living.
A life review flickered before his eyes, a collection of his most precious memories.
As his body crumbled to dust, a soul ascended toward the sky. But a massive hand, wreathed in a white mist of souls, reached down and seized it by the neck.
"How is this possible?!"
Ethan's soul was conscious, not dazed.
But Lucien did not give him another chance to speak. With ruthless precision, he force‑fed Ethan's soul back into his own mouth.
"To Marineford," Lucien ordered Katakuri, before entering Mondor's colossal book. Blackbeard and the others hurried in behind him.
Finally, only Mondor and Katakuri remained outside, perched atop Zeus as they flew toward Marineford.
Within the world inside the book — a vast castle‑like space — Lucien had already opened a light screen, excitement and anticipation shining in his eyes.
"Successfully hunted Main God Space Reincarnator Lv. 30 Emma. Reward: 4 Dice rolls, VIP Luck +1."
"Successfully hunted Main God Space Reincarnator Lv. 31 Ethan. Reward: 4 Dice rolls, VIP Luck +1."
Reading the two reward messages, Lucien grinned slyly.
He had not expected to kill both so cleanly. After all, Emma had been resurrected once before at Sabaody Archipelago. Lucien had not been certain if either could be revived again.
Now he breathed a deep sigh of relief. These opponents did not possess the celestial invincibility he once feared.
The Dice spun and popped. Lucien watched with eager anticipation as his figurine advanced five squares.
Using VIP Luck was always extravagant.
"Law Following Speech Level +1."
"Description: Use this consumable to increase Law Following Speech by one level."
Seeing the ability he received — essentially a consumable skill book — Lucien felt that his VIP Luck had not been wasted. Quite the opposite, it had granted something valuable.
Law Following Speech was powerful. Its low impact had been due only to its base level. Now that it had been upgraded, Lucien knew he could use it to dominate future interactions.
The brilliant light dissipated. Lucien saw that his original Lv. 1 Law Following Speech had been upgraded to Lv. 2, and its description had been updated.
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