"Bzzzt—"
In the center of the ruins of Blackstone Town, the heat from Sakazuki's magma warped the air.
Aiden's famed sword, Oto, was wrapped in blue-white lightning. He pressed it down hard against Sakazuki's right arm, which had turned into boiling magma.
The clash between lightning and magma let out a harsh screech. Sparks and electric arcs shot out in all directions, blasting small holes into the ground around them.
The stone beneath their feet cracked inch by inch, forming a crater several meters wide.
"Aiden! Put the sword away!"
Sakazuki pushed his magma arm harder against Oto.
Even though he was not using his full strength, and had even held back his magma so he would not hit the surroundings, he had not expected Aiden to be this strong.
Less than two years ago, this kid had only been an Elite Boot Camp recruit on his ship.
In just two short years... no, not even two years.
The force coming through the blade was so heavy that even Sakazuki had to brace his feet against the ground.
Sakazuki remembered the recruit from back then and tightened his jaw.
"You are a Rear Admiral of Marine Headquarters, not a pirate!"
Sakazuki held the blade back and snapped at him.
"Do you know what you are doing? Killing a Celestial Dragon in public... Do you want to ruin the Marines' reputation?!"
"Are you going to destroy your future, and destroy the order of the sea we worked so hard to maintain?!"
This was Sakazuki's justice.
Even if he also hated the Celestial Dragons, and even if he thought that fat man deserved to die, order was more important than anything else in his mind.
The Celestial Dragons were the symbol of the World Government. If the Marines were allowed to kill a Celestial Dragon, the World Government would lose all authority, and the sea would fall into complete chaos.
For order, he had to stop Aiden.
However.
Aiden pressed the blade down harder.
The muscles in his arms tightened. The lightning on his body did not fade. Instead, it grew stronger, forcing Sakazuki to lean back slightly.
"Order?"
Aiden smiled.
"Sakazuki, if your so-called order is letting these pigs slaughter civilians as they please, using innocent people as targets for fun..."
"While we Marines, carrying the word 'Justice,' have to clean up after them and guard them..."
Aiden pushed hard. The blade cut into the magma, sending sparks flying.
"Then we don't need... this disgusting order!"
"You—!!"
Before Sakazuki could answer.
A sharp burst of laughter suddenly came from behind him.
"Hahaha! Hahahaha!"
Saint Brax, who had collapsed in the mud and wet himself in fear, came back to life the moment he saw Sakazuki block Aiden.
He crawled behind Sakazuki at once.
His expensive clothes were covered in filth and mud, but he still pointed at Aiden with his burned hand.
"Good job! Sakazuki!"
"Did you see that? This is the power of authority! No matter how strong you are, even if you killed all my guards, you still can't touch me while another Marine is standing here!"
"How dare a Marine threaten me?!"
He became more excited as he spoke and started ordering Sakazuki around.
"Hey! Sakazuki! Don't just block him!"
"Break his arms and legs! Knock all his teeth out! I'm going to turn him into a specimen and hang him in my living room!"
"And..."
Saint Brax turned his head and pointed toward the mother and child in the distance, who had not run far yet.
"And those fleeing commoners! Sakazuki! Kill them! Burn them to ashes with your magma! I want this bastard to watch them die!"
The vein on Sakazuki's forehead stood out. His magma fist shook against Oto.
He truly wanted to turn around and punch this idiot to death.
"Shut up!"
Sakazuki snapped without looking back.
"You dare yell at me?!"
Saint Brax screamed in disbelief.
"Are you trying to rebel too?!"
The surviving CP0 Captain with the Door-Door Fruit stepped closer to Brax.
He knew the tempers of men like Aiden and Sakazuki too well. If Saint Brax kept provoking them, no one would be able to save him.
"Saint! Please come with me!"
The CP0 Captain grabbed at the air, and a black Air Door appeared beside him.
"Just leave this to Vice Admiral Sakazuki. Your safety is what matters most!"
"I'm not leaving!"
Saint Brax shoved the CP0 agent away.
"I'm going to stand right here! I want to watch him get beaten to death with my own eyes! I want to watch those commoners burn!"
"I have Sakazuki to protect me! Who can kill me? Who dares to kill me?!"
Faced with the Celestial Dragon's provocation, Aiden did not get more violent as expected.
Instead, his struggle against Sakazuki stopped.
The lightning around Oto stopped crackling for a moment.
Sakazuki's grip tightened.
Aiden raised his head.
He looked past Sakazuki's shoulder at the fat pig still cursing the innocent mother and child.
If it were in the past, he might have weighed the pros and cons.
He might have avoided the conflict.
He might have forced himself to swallow his anger and endure it for the so-called greater good, just like Sakazuki.
After all, killing a Celestial Dragon came with a heavy price.
He would be hunted around the world.
The World Government would mark him as an enemy.
He might no longer be able to stay in the Marines.
Reason told him that stopping now was the safest choice.
But.
When he saw this piece of trash hiding behind Sakazuki, weak as an insect yet still trying to order him around, still trying to make him bend with status alone, something inside Aiden snapped.
The whole thing felt ridiculous.
Holding back for this trash.
Lowering his head for this rotten order.
Pretending not to see what had happened in this town.
That was the insane part.
If he could not crush the trash in front of him, if he had to swallow even this, then what was the point of all his strength?
Was it to serve these scumbags?
Was it to stay as a "good Marine" inside this rotten system?
No.
Power was supposed to mean he could choose.
It was so that when he did not want to kneel, no one could force him to.
"Huu..."
Aiden let out a slow breath and closed his eyes.
Since this so-called justice was only a cover for this trash...
Then he would break it himself.
"Vmm—!!!"
The Conqueror's Haki that had first awakened in the desert erupted from Aiden.
Black-red lightning cracked across the ruins.
The ground shook.
Broken walls split apart. Loose stones jumped from the ground and shattered. The mud around Aiden sank under the pressure, spreading outward in a circle.
The weaker CP0 agents who were still alive collapsed at once.
The kingdom soldiers near the warning line fell one after another.
The slave beneath Saint Brax dropped face-first into the mud.
Saint Brax, who had been screaming a moment ago, could not even finish his next word. His body stiffened, his head tilted back, and he collapsed unconscious on the ground.
The CP0 Captain's black Air Door shook hard.
Then it snapped shut and vanished.
"This is..."
Sakazuki planted his feet and held his ground.
For a moment, the magma on his arm stopped moving.
"Conqueror's Haki?!"
Now.
Aiden opened his eyes.
The ground under his feet burst apart.
He turned into lightning and broke through the gap in Sakazuki's guard.
"Not good!"
Sakazuki moved to stop him, but Aiden was already gone.
The next second.
Aiden appeared in front of Saint Brax.
His hand, wrapped in lightning and Haki, grabbed the Celestial Dragon by the throat and lifted him into the air.
"Urgh... Ah!!!"
The suffocation and electricity forced Saint Brax awake.
He kicked his legs desperately. His burned hands clawed at Aiden's grip.
He looked at the man in front of him.
Aiden only watched him struggle.
Saint Brax kicked harder.
"You... you can't..."
"In your next life..."
Aiden spoke close to his face.
Then he stopped.
"No."
"Trash like you... doesn't get a next life."
As he spoke.
"Boom—!!!"
Blue-white lightning, mixed with black-red Haki, ran down Aiden's arm and poured into the Celestial Dragon's body.
There was no flying blood.
He did not even get the chance to scream.
Under the lightning and Haki, Saint Jaygarcia Brax's body blackened.
Cracks spread across him.
Then he broke apart.
The World Noble who called himself a god and treated other people's lives like dirt scattered into black ash in Aiden's hand.
The lightning faded.
Aiden still had his hand raised.
Only a few wisps of black dust drifted away from his palm.
At the town entrance not far away.
Cobra, Pell, and Chaka, who had just arrived, stopped in place.
They had arrived just in time to see Saint Brax turn to ash.
"Clang."
The sword in Pell's hand dropped to the ground.
Cobra stopped at the town entrance. For once, he had no words.
Only the black dust floating in the air slowly fell around Aiden.
He had his back to everyone. He did not turn around, and he did not speak.
He just stood there.
Small arcs of electricity still crawled over his coat and disappeared into the mud
----------------------------------
Check out my Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/c/LIZBETH1242
Thanks to all of you, we've already reached 180 free members and 30 paid members!
Seriously, thank you so much for all your support. It helps me a lot.
There are currently 60 chapters available in advance on Patreon.
I also want to apologize for the lack of updates this month, haha. My PC completely died, and uploading chapters from my phone was pretty complicated.