Chapter 243: Kizaru Appears!!
On the deck of the Thousand Sunny, time itself seemed frozen by the battle raging in the distance.
Even Law, who was normally cold and composed, could no longer maintain his usual calm expression.
The arms wrapped around Kikoku tightened slightly as his eyes locked onto the emerald slash that tore through the center of the explosion, split apart the golden lion, and cleaved through mountains.
Subconsciously, he turned toward the straw-hatted man beside him.
"So…"
Law's voice sounded slightly dry, even to himself, as he broke the suffocating silence on deck.
"They've already crossed that line… haven't they?"
The question was brief, but every word carried immense weight.
That "line"—
The boundary separating powerful fighters from the true monsters standing at the summit of the world.
Luffy lifted a hand and adjusted his straw hat.
The next moment, an incomparably bright smile spread across his face.
"Yeah!"
Luffy nodded hard, his voice clear and certain.
"That's right! Zoro and Sanji…"
"They've both completely crossed that line now!"
He turned toward his crewmates, eyes shining brightly, like a proud father witnessing his children finally run on their own for the first time.
Even though he himself was the biggest troublemaker among them.
Law froze slightly.
Then the corner of his tightly pressed lips relaxed ever so faintly.
He readjusted his grip on Kikoku and looked once more toward the distant battlefield drowned in dust and smoke.
"So they've become top-tier monsters too…"
he muttered quietly.
At the center of the battlefield, silence reigned.
Dust and smoke slowly settled, revealing the devastated wasteland beneath.
Zoro and Sanji stood back-to-back, their heavy breathing painfully loud in the stillness.
Blood seeped from every wound across their bodies, dripping from torn clothing onto the scorched earth below.
Sanji shakily raised a hand and wiped the blood from his lips, his eyes fixed on the ruins ahead where ominous flames and smoke still churned.
"That old lion…"
"…he's not seriously getting back up again, is he?"
The vitality of a legendary monster far exceeded all expectations.
They had already given everything they had.
Every last ounce of stamina.
Every final trace of Haki.
And yet—
A horrifying scraping sound echoed from deep within the smoke.
"Hah… hah…"
"To think…"
A dry, hoarse voice slowly crawled out from the flames and dust like something emerging from hell itself.
The hatred accumulated over decades.
The resentment of a fallen conqueror.
The fury of being cornered by two "youngsters."
All of it dripped from every syllable.
WHOOSH—!
A violent shockwave suddenly exploded outward, blowing away the smoke.
And the sight revealed made Zoro and Sanji's pupils contract sharply.
Golden Lion Shiki—
The once-proud overlord of the seas—
No longer resembled the tyrannical legend of old.
His iconic golden hair was now mostly burned black and curled, hanging messily around his shoulders like dead weeds.
The clothes on his upper body had long since become tattered rags barely clinging to his mangled flesh.
His exposed skin had turned a horrifying dark purple and black, riddled with deep wounds that exposed glimmers of bone beneath.
His once-powerful body now appeared unnaturally thin and hunched—
Yet the aura he emitted was even more dangerous and insane than during his prime.
Like a demon dragged back from a sea of blood after surviving countless tortures.
Pathetic.
Terrifying.
And deathly silent before destruction.
"Heh…"
A faint, almost self-mocking chuckle escaped his cracked lips.
Then the laughter began spiraling out of control.
"Hehehe… hahahaha…"
"Jihahahahahahaha!!!"
The laughter rapidly rose from hoarse muttering into a sky-rending roar.
Veins bulged along his neck as fresh blood burst from his wounds with every laugh, yet he seemed not to notice.
"You brats really did it…"
"You damn brats!!!"
The laughter stopped abruptly.
He lowered his head.
His crimson-burning eyes locked onto Zoro and Sanji like a curse made real.
"Looks like…"
"My glorious life…"
He slowly raised a blood-covered hand and touched the old ship wheel embedded deep within his skull.
"…ends here."
His tone was terrifyingly calm.
Far more unsettling than any roar.
Then—
Under the tense gazes of Zoro and Sanji—
Shiki's eyes suddenly became utterly resolute.
Utterly insane.
"In that case…"
His fingers violently gripped the wheel—the symbol of his defeat and humiliation.
"Then let this sky itself…"
"…become my final tombstone!!!"
RIIIIP—!!!
With a nauseating tearing sound, mixed with blood and fragments of bone—
Shiki ripped the ship wheel directly out of his skull.
Blood erupted from the massive wound atop his head like a fountain, instantly soaking his body and the ground beneath him.
And at that exact moment—
BOOOOOOM!!!!
An indescribably terrifying aura exploded outward from Golden Lion Shiki like an ancient beast finally awakening.
Materialized black-red Conqueror's Haki lightning surged wildly in every direction.
The sky turned crimson.
The earth split apart with agonized screams.
The entire floating island archipelago trembled violently beneath the overwhelming destructive will, as though the apocalypse itself had descended.
The cigarette between Sanji's lips flickered violently.
Expressionless, he took a deep drag, using the nicotine to dull the pain tearing through his nerves.
Smoke slowly escaped his nose as he spoke steadily despite the crushing pressure.
"Looks like…"
"The old man's burning away everything he has left."
This scale.
This intensity.
This pressure that felt capable of dragging the world itself into the abyss—
He had only ever felt it from one person before.
Their captain.
Monkey D. Luffy.
This was the true overwhelming spirit of an Emperor.
"Legends really are legends…"
Sanji muttered quietly.
"Even at death's door… they can still unleash power like this."
The lingering ghostly aura and Conqueror's Haki Infusion around Zoro's blades had already faded.
His arms trembled uncontrollably from exhaustion.
Slowly—
Very slowly—
He sheathed each of his three swords one by one.
Click.
The sound of the blades entering their scabbards rang clearly amidst the raging Haki storm.
Like a silent declaration.
Zoro slowly raised his lowered head.
Sweat and blood dripped from his chin.
There was no fear in his eyes.
No hesitation.
Only an endless calmness—
And beneath that calmness, absolute focus toward the "final curtain" of the legend before him.
Blood still poured endlessly from the wound atop Shiki's head.
Yet he spread both arms wide as though embracing the crimson world dyed by his Haki.
Then unleashed one final roar that shook the heavens.
"COME!!"
"Let you brats of the new era witness…"
"…just how massive the final wave of the old era can become!!!"
The earth screamed under unbearable strain.
Massive chunks of land were forcibly torn free from the floating island itself.
Rock.
Soil.
Ancient shattered trees.
Everything was seized by overwhelming telekinetic force and dragged violently into the sky.
And finally—
Reflected within Zoro and Sanji's tightening pupils—
A horrifying creation took shape.
A gigantic stone lion hundreds of meters tall, formed entirely from the fragmented remains of the floating islands themselves.
It stood silently beneath the heavens.
Black-red lightning burned within its hollow eye sockets.
Its mere existence radiated overwhelming pressure capable of crushing everything.
Like a mythical beast descending to devour the world itself.
Slowly—
It lowered its head toward the exhausted pair below.
Its massive paw rose high, carrying enough destructive force to annihilate entire islands.
And then—
"Tsk tsk."
A casual voice completely unsuited for the apocalyptic scene suddenly rang out.
At the exact same moment—
A figure appeared abruptly in midair between the colossal lion and the two men, as though space itself had been torn open.
His straw hat fluttered in the wind.
His figure stood tall.
Monkey D. Luffy pulled back his right arm.
From his forearm to his fist, dark Armament Haki wrapped tightly around him like layers of living steel, compressed to the absolute limit.
And within that blackness lurked an even higher level of pressure.
"Hey, old man…"
Luffy tilted his head slightly.
Yet his eyes pierced straight through the stone lion toward the blood-soaked Golden Lion behind it.
A fearless grin spread across his face.
"You can't just bully my friends however you want!!"
The instant the words fell—
He punched.
BOOOOOOOOM—!!!!
The space before his fist visibly collapsed beneath overwhelming physical force.
A massive transparent shockwave exploded outward like a hemisphere, slamming directly into the giant lion's descending paw and head.
CRACK—BOOOOOOOM!!!
The gigantic stone structure shattered like sand beneath the impact.
The destruction spread violently backward.
The lion's head.
Neck.
Upper body.
Everything exploded apart piece by piece.
Countless pulverized stone fragments filled the sky like gray snow.
One punch.
Just one punch—
And nearly half the seemingly unstoppable final creation was obliterated.
The colossal lion froze completely.
Luffy withdrew his fist and casually shook his wrist.
Then he turned toward Zoro and Sanji with a bright grin.
"Yo! Nice work!"
"Leave the rest to me—"
His words stopped abruptly.
The smile froze on his face, replaced by rare shock.
Because almost simultaneously with the destruction of the stone lion—
SHIIIIING—BOOOOM!!!
A dazzling golden beam descended from the heavens like divine judgment itself.
Its speed surpassed thought.
The beam bypassed Luffy's shockwave trajectory with impossible precision and struck directly against the crossed blades Oto and Kogarashi that Shiki had raised defensively.
CLANG—!!!!!
Golden light exploded into countless particles.
The impact shook the already exhausted Shiki violently as his arms groaned under the force.
"Guh…!!"
Blood burst from Shiki's mouth.
"Ooh~ scary, scary…"
A slow, teasing voice echoed through the raining particles of light.
"To think a legend who once fought the Pirate King could still be this dangerous after being pushed so far… how terrifying~"
A yellow pinstripe suit.
A spotless Marine Admiral coat fluttering behind him amidst streams of light.
He tilted his head slightly as brown-tinted sunglasses reflected the ruined battlefield below.
A familiar unreadable smile rested on his lips.
One of Marine Headquarters' greatest powers.
Admiral Kizaru.
Borsalino.
And as his lazy words fell—
The glowing right leg pressing against Shiki's swords suddenly exploded with even greater force.
"But unfortunately…"
"This is where it ends~"
BUZZ—BOOOOM!!
Blinding golden light erupted once more.
"GRAAAAHHHH—!!!"
Golden Lion Shiki could no longer withstand the kick carrying the overwhelming force of light-speed momentum.
His twin blades were blown apart.
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
And his broken body was launched into the ruins below like a ragdoll, kicking up another massive cloud of dust.
Kizaru slowly withdrew his leg.
Then lazily turned midair.
His eyes swept over the battle-ready Zoro and Sanji—
Before finally landing on the straw-hatted boy whose expression had shifted from shock into sharp vigilance.
Particles of light flickered between Kizaru's fingers.
"Well now…"
he drawled slowly.
"Looks like I interrupted your little reunion~"
"But for the next game…"
"Mind if I join in too?"
"Straw Hat Luffy."
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