Let's rewind time. The clash between Weevil's all-out Conqueror's Slash and Garp's iron fist had produced a devastating shockwave that swept across the entirety of Fear Island, momentarily halting the other raging battles.
Moria, Riki, and Modi's joint assault on Akainu was also interrupted by the blast. Seizing the momentary pause, Akainu instantly launched a ferocious attack aimed at Moria.
With three lightning-fast punches, he sent Moria and Modi flying. As a torrent of magma threatened to engulf Moria, Riki threw himself in the way, using his high-pressure steam to push back the molten rock. But Akainu was already upon them, unleashing his full power. The force of his magma punch broke through the steam barrier. Akainu passed through the superheated magma and drove his fist straight through Riki's chest. The searing lava instantly invaded his organs, burning them to ash.
"Riki!" Moria shrieked, his eyes looking as if they might shatter from the strain.
"Riki," Modi whispered, his grip tightening on his sword.
Akainu retracted his fist. Riki's body collapsed to the ground, his eyes wide open, unable to rest in peace.
"You're next," Akainu growled, his body dripping with magma that sizzled as it fell onto Riki's corpse, burning it beyond recognition.
Moria charged forward like a madman. The shadow beneath his feet shot up, forming a volley of Shadow Spears that lanced toward Akainu.
The spears riddled Akainu's body, turning it into a sieve, but he remained unfazed, continuing his steady advance as the spears were quickly incinerated by his intense heat.
One Shadow Spear, however, shot past him, snagging Riki's body and dragging it back to Moria's side. Looking at the ravaged corpse, Moria's wails grew even more heart-wrenching.
Modi rushed in, his sword unleashing a gale of wind, but Akainu shattered it with a single punch. A countless barrage of magma fists sent Modi flying.
"Riki, how could you die before me? Weren't you going to fight me for the spot of First Division Commander? How could you die first?"
"Moria, I'll send you to join him soon enough," Akainu said, drawing closer. His cold face and blazing body radiated an endless, terrifying heat as the magma from all over his body flowed toward his fists.
Moria snapped his head up, his bloodshot eyes filled with boundless rage and killing intent.
He took a shadow ball from his pocket and crushed it in his hand. Hundreds of shadow bats flew toward Riki, forming a shadow coffin that enclosed the body. The bats lifted the coffin and flew into the distance; Moria couldn't bear to let Riki's body be desecrated any further.
"I'm going to kill you, Akainu!" Moria roared. He grabbed two more shadow balls and slammed them into his own shadow, which instantly expanded, thrashing about like a rampaging demon.
Moria threw himself at Akainu, fighting with a suicidal recklessness, trading blow for blow without any regard for his own safety. Modi closed in as well, looking for any opportunity to strike at Akainu's vital points.
When Bege saw Riki get killed, he too went berserk. Rage surged from his heart to his head, and the aura around him became dangerously unstable. His blood-red eyes were drowned in bloodlust.
The cursed sword in his right hand pulsed with a malevolent, bloody light. Bege's own formidable Conqueror's Haki twisted, becoming exceptionally demonic and wicked.
"He's lost himself to his rage?" Garp's brow furrowed. He moved in an instant, a cataclysmic force erupting from his fist as he struck at Bege.
Bege roared, slashing out with his sword. The vicious, demonic blade crashed against the iron fist.
BOOM!
Endless dark red lightning roiled. Bege was smashed into the ground like a sandbag, tearing a massive trench in the earth.
He lay in the ruins as streams of shadows flew out from the castle within his body. Bege swallowed them all. His body swelled further, and the veins on his skin bulged so prominently they looked as if they were about to burst.
Garp appeared before Bege in a flash. His jet-black right foot stomped down, piercing the air as it aimed for Bege's chest.
Bege swung his cursed sword to meet Garp's foot.
The ground beneath Bege shattered twice in succession. The immense impact continued to widen the crater, and the entire island trembled. The astonishing force of Bege's slash sent even Garp flying back, his Armament Haki cut open, leaving a gruesome, bloody gash on his foot.
Bege shot out of the crater, his body wreathed in a towering, blood-red aura, like some kind of demonic beast.
He attacked Garp with a crazed frenzy, using every trick and technique at his disposal. They exchanged ten blows in an instant. Garp knocked him down three times, but each time he climbed back up and continued to fight like a madman.
Inside a room within Bege's body-castle, Taylor paced back and forth, her expression shifting and uncertain. She looked conflicted, though it was unclear if she was worried about Bege.
Finally, as if she had made a decision, she walked out of the room, two lines of tears streaming down her face.
The giant, Ade, followed behind her. The two of them ran toward the castle's weapon storage, where men were hurriedly moving rockets and crossbow bolts.
"Miss Taylor, this is a restricted area. Please don't go any further," two of the men said, quickly moving to block their path. Their attitude was respectful; all the men knew that Taylor was the woman Bege loved, their godmother.
"Ade, do it," Taylor said, closing her eyes in pain.
Ade immediately sprang into action. He leaped into the crowd with surprising agility, taking down more than a dozen men in an instant. The two of them rushed into the weapons storage, which was filled with a massive amount of arms and ammunition.
"Taylor, do we really have to do this? This will kill Lord Demon Dragon," Ade asked in a low voice.
Tears streamed down Taylor's face, her expression one of agony.
"I don't want to do this, but I have no choice," she said, the image of her younger sister's adorable face flashing in her mind. "If Bege doesn't die, my sister will be killed. I have no choice." She gritted her teeth and took out a lighter.
"Bege, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I have no choice. I'm willing to die with you." Taylor threw the lighter into a pile of ammunition.
Ade grabbed her and rushed out of the weapons storage.
"Let go of me! Let me die!" Taylor struggled, shouting at Ade.
Ade remained silent and unmoved. "You saved my life. I can't watch you die in front of me."
Taylor began to sob uncontrollably. "I'm going to get so many people killed! Only death can free me! Ade, do you want me to live a life worse than death?"
Ade stopped in his tracks. His face twisted with conflict, and he let Taylor go.
Taylor stood still, her face a mask of despair, guilt, and pain.
In the middle of the battle, Bege suddenly sensed what was happening inside his castle. He froze. That brief moment of distraction was all Garp needed. He landed a heavy punch that smashed Bege into the ground, sending him tumbling uncontrollably for several hundred meters.
As he rolled, figures flew out from his body, rapidly growing to their normal size as they crashed onto the ground, a hundred men scattered across the landscape.
Bege slammed into a large crater, shattering it further. At the same time, a series of terrifying explosions echoed from within his body. His skin was instantly charred and cracked, and black smoke poured from his mouth, nose, and ears. Bege's eyes rolled back in his head, filled with utter disbelief.
His body trembled violently, his spirit broken. He used every last bit of his strength to throw his head back and let out a pained, desperate roar.
"Taylor! Why did you betray me?!"