While the Marine remained uneasy and solemn, the Red-Haired Pirates' base, Kodo Island — once a massive island—was already shattered into pieces.
The perspective returns to Elior.
In Elior's hand, a crimson magic circle spun rapidly.
Enormous power gathered in an instant, and with a thunderous blast, a crimson beam shot downward, striking the exact spot where the red-haired man had just fallen.
A colossal explosion followed — earth-shattering and violent.
An area with a radius of more than one thousand meters — nearly thirteen hundred meters across— was engulfed in the unimaginable force.
Countless stones, soil, and debris were crushed, blasted apart, or outright vaporized by the terrifying power…
The entire island shook violently as if struck by a magnitude-10 earthquake. The trembling was so intense that the ground split open inch by inch before collapsing in massive sections.
Everyone was horrified, staring toward Elior with terror on their faces.
A thick cloud of dust rose like a fog, obscuring Elior from sight. Only Kaido's massive dragon-shaped body could be faintly seen within the haze.
Even standing upright became difficult as the violently trembling ground destabilized everyone.
"That man's power is terrifying!"
"This level of strength is beyond disappointing—it's despair!"
"He's so young… yet his power is beyond anything imaginable!"
"After that attack… how could Shanks still be alive?"
Countless people stared ahead in disbelief. Amid the dust and mist, there stood an existence capable of inducing true despair.
Members of the Elior Pirates were calm — they already knew their captain's strength defied imagination. But the Beasts Pirates and Big Mom Pirates struggled to accept what they were witnessing.
Many trembled to their cores.
Elior's last strike had been even more destructive than the one that previously smashed Shanks into the earth.
A power of absolute despair.
Even the explosion magic he used in Mariejois paled compared to this.
FWOOSH—
Kaido, still in dragon form, released a powerful gust that dispersed the dust cloud.
Finally, the two figures emerged into view.
Elior and Kaido did not spare a glance at the distant onlookers. Their eyes were focused downward—toward the massive crater carved out by Elior's magic.
They both knew the red-haired Yonko wasn't dead yet and lay at the center of that crater—though death was only moments away.
Even Kaido was shocked.
With his Observation Haki, Kaido clearly sensed the depth of the pit.
Before the blast, Shanks had been tens of meters down. Now, he was over 400 meters deep.
Meaning: Elior's single blow had carved a crater more than 400 meters in depth, and more than a kilometer wide.
Even for Kaido, this was absurd.
"That attack… even if it hit me directly, I wouldn't come out unscathed," Kaido muttered.
"And Shanks is strong, but his defense is nowhere near mine."
Kaido prided himself on being one of the toughest creatures in the world. Shanks defense was merely human-level—after all, he once lost his arm to a Sea King.
No wonder he was on the brink of death.
Even standing behind Elior earlier, Kaido had felt the overwhelming heat and force of that crimson blast.
He no longer knew how to measure Elior's power.
"It would be great if Yamato followed him," Kaido muttered internally, already plotting to marry Yamato to Elior.
Elior said nothing. A wave of his Conqueror's Haki exploded outward, scattering the remaining dust.
At last, the crater—over 400 meters deep—was fully revealed.
What surprised Elior was that the bottom did not expose groundwater, but instead a massive lava pool, and Shanks was lying right at its edge.
Even from above, Elior and Kaido could tell he was barely clinging to life.
"Kaido, do you want to deliver the final blow?" Elior smiled.
"Final blow?" Kaido blinked, then grinned as he understood.
"Of course I'd love to!"
"Then let's go down."
Elior dropped, and Kaido followed.
Soon, they reached Shanks.
The heat from the surrounding lava pool was intense—well over a thousand degrees. But the temperature alone wasn't what brought him to the brink of death; even Oden had once endured being boiled alive. If treated promptly, Shanks would survive such heat.
What had nearly killed him was Elior's earlier kick and the overwhelming explosion magic.
Without immediate treatment, his chances of survival were almost nonexistent.
Barely conscious, Shanks looked up at Elior and Kaido — now in human form — but couldn't speak. His injuries were too severe.
Sadness welled in his heart. He had lost completely. He couldn't move, couldn't resist, couldn't even speak clearly.
Now he could only wait to die.
Kaido raised his kanabo, purple lightning crackling around the weapon.
He was preparing Thunder Bagua.
The skies above churned violently, thunder flashing across the dark clouds in anticipation of Kaido's amplified attack.
He needed a finishing blow powerful enough to send Shanks to join Roger.
He wondered briefly whether Shanks would be smashed into pulp.
"This time, you can reunite with Roger," Elior said calmly."No need to thank me."
Those words were humiliation beyond measure.
Anger and hatred flared in the red-haired man's eyes.
But what could he do?
"You… bastard… you—"
He wanted to warn Elior that all who tried to consume the world would eventually be buried by history.
But he couldn't finish the sentence.
Elior didn't care to listen.
He grabbed Shanks and hurled him high into the air—sixty to seventy meters up.
Kaido crouched, shattering the ground beneath his feet before launching skyward, kanabo raised.
From outside the crater, all anyone could see were violently swirling clouds.
No one knew what was happening deep below.
But then—
Kaido's thunderous battle cry echoed across the island:
"THUNDER BAGUA!!!"
Dozens of colossal lightning bolts tore through the sky as though ripping open the heavens.
And Kaido's kanabo smashed directly into Shanks midair.
The weapon alone was larger than Shanks' entire body.
Shanks eyes bulged, agony distorting his features. He could no longer muster Armament Haki—his body simply gave out.
His internal organs ruptured instantly. Blood sprayed from his mouth.
His already weakening heartbeat stopped in that moment.
The impact blasted Shanks upward into the clouds before he finally plummeted, crashing down in front of the surviving members of his crew.
When his body hit the ground, he made no sound.
Shanks was dead.