"Hahaha!"
"Saturn, one of the mighty Five Elders of the World Government, a man who's lived for 800 years—is that all your Conqueror's Haki can do?" Ryuen laughed out loud.
Right after that, a powerful surge of pressure burst from him and crashed toward Saturn.
Out at sea, Saturn stood on a trembling battleship, but his body didn't seem affected at first.
However, the moment Ryuen's aura grew stronger and slammed into him, Saturn suddenly felt his Haki getting pushed down. He couldn't believe what was happening.
"Damn it!"
"How is this possible?!"
"Don't underestimate me! I'm one of the Five Elders—Saint Saturn!" Saturn roared in anger, unleashing his full force toward Ryuen.
At that instant—
The black lightning in the sky twisted and whipped around like raging dragons.
Countless bolts of Conqueror's Haki clashed and ripped into each other in the air, scattering and reappearing like a deadly storm of lightning, creating a breathtaking and violent battle in the sky.
Dark clouds gathered overhead, like a huge black mountain pressing down from the sky, making it hard to breathe.
The entire sea felt like it had turned into a fiery hell. On Egghead Island, some buildings were blown away like leaves in a storm, disappearing without a trace.
On the ocean—
The waves piled up, one after another, like a pack of wild beasts clawing and lunging at the five unstable warships and the island's coast.
The Marines on the ships looked pale and terrified.
Their shouts were drowned by the roaring winds—tiny and helpless, like cries before the end of the world.
*Crack!*
*BOOM!*
Suddenly, Ryuen's Conqueror's Haki broke through Saturn's defenses and slammed into his aging body, making him stagger.
"Saint Saturn!"
A few Marine Vice Admirals saw Saturn lose in a clash of Haki against Ryuen, and they couldn't believe their eyes. To them, the Five Elders were like living gods.
But now, that very god had lost. Their faith was shaken to the core.
No one felt worse than Saturn.
To him, it was like a nightmare—it had to be fake. How could his Conqueror's Haki lose to some kid? He couldn't accept it.
"Ryuen!"
"I'm going to kill you!" Saturn lost it completely.
In an instant, he transformed into his Gyuki form. His spider-like limbs dripped with deadly poison, and the moment it hit the ship's deck, it started sizzling and burning.
Every drop of venom released a puff of thick, white toxic mist!
Some Marines nearby breathed in the toxic mist and died on the spot. The others looked on in horror, running from Saturn like he was a monster straight out of a nightmare.
But Saturn didn't care in the slightest about these small fry. His spider legs coiled and then sprang forward like a spring, launching him at Ryuen!
Seeing this, Ryuen grinned, clearly pleased.
The rest of the Dream Expedition Team quickly moved away from him. They all knew Ryuen was about to go all out, and none of them wanted to get burned to ashes by his flames!
*BOOM!*
A terrifying burst of orange-red fire exploded from Ryuen's body like a nuclear blast.
The intense heat melted everything nearby. Under Ryuen's feet, not a single carbon-based lifeform or object remained—everything had turned into magma.
Seeing this, Saturn instantly realized he'd been tricked!
Ryuen had purposely clashed with his Conqueror's Haki in front of everyone—showing weakness on purpose—just to provoke him into attacking.
As someone used to being treated like a god, Saturn had fallen for it too easily. He cared way too much about saving face.
"Secret Art!"
"Wrath of the Fire God!" Ryuen roared, his voice booming like thunder.
A massive flame giant, nearly a hundred meters tall with blazing wings on its back, appeared before everyone like a towering volcano.
Then—
The terrifying fire giant raised its two flaming hands, like burning mountains about to crush everything.
As Saturn leapt through the air, the sight of this fire giant filled his heart with a strange feeling—as if *Ryuen* was the true god towering above, and he himself was just a powerless ant.
"Die!"
"Saturn!" Ryuen shouted, his voice exploding like a thunderstorm.
The flames on the giant's body suddenly raged even more wildly. Its two burning hands slammed together like roaring dragons, and Saturn's Gyuki form was caught right in between them!
Wherever those fiery hands passed, space itself burned and crumbled like paper.
A wave of scorching heat burst out from the fire giant's body, rolling outward in all directions like a crashing tide.
"BOOM!"
With a deafening, explosion-like blast, Saturn was smashed between the fire giant's hands!
"Aaaargh!!!"
A scream echoed into the sky—so sharp and piercing it sounded like it could rip through the heavens.
Saturn felt like his body had been thrown into a furnace, starting to melt under the unbearable heat.
He could clearly feel his life force draining away like a dam breaking open!
"You bastard!"
"I won't die!"
"I'm immortal!"
Saturn coated every inch of his body in Conqueror's Haki and Armament Haki, as if wrapping himself in an unbreakable suit of armor. He roared and struggled with everything he had.
But—
It was useless.
Ryuen's fiery hands were already closing in around him completely.
"Lord Imu!"
"Save me...!"
"AAAH!!!"
"Help me...!"
Saturn's voice faded as his body was burned into nothing, vanishing from the world.
Just as he called out Imu's name, a strange glowing symbol appeared beneath him, like a magical circle pulsing with mysterious light.
But—
As Saturn's body crumbled, the symbol began to flicker, like a candle in the wind. It faded away bit by bit until both Saturn and the magic circle completely vanished into nothing.
Ryuen finally let out a breath.
That strange symbol had made his heart race with unease.
But once it disappeared, so did that eerie feeling. Only then did Ryuen relax a little and breathe out slowly.
Out at sea, aboard the Navy warships—
Every Marine stood frozen.
Their eyes were blank, their jaws dropped, all staring in shock at where Saturn had vanished. The whole thing felt like a nightmare—one so terrifying they never wanted to relive it.
On Egghead Island—
Vegapunk and the others locked up in the Sea Prism Stone prison were terrified.
When the flame giant went wild just now, even they could feel death getting close. It felt like if it came just a bit closer, they'd be burned into nothing—just like Saturn.
At that moment, the flame giant spoke again: "Saturn, I turned you into nothing. Not even a grave is needed—you should be thankful, really~"
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