The entire world fell into a deathly silence.
Everyone involuntarily held their breath, their expressions stricken with horror.
Rumble rumble rumble...
The muffled roar of the air gradually swelled into something grand and majestic—until it became deafening.
"This... this can't be..."
"This isn't real, right...?"
"A—An island..."
"An island... floating in the sky..."
"Can we... really survive this?"
"This is... a power that could destroy the entire world..."
An enormous shadow loomed over more than half of Marineford, blotting out the sky. A darkness unlike any before began to spread slowly over their heads.
Tens of thousands of Marines at headquarters stood frozen, heads tilted upward, watching in stunned terror as the colossal island began its descent from the heavens. Their bodies trembled uncontrollably.
Clang—
A young Marine's saber slipped from his hand and clattered to the ground.
Then came a chain reaction of crisp, metallic thuds.
Swords dropped from countless hands as blank, terrified eyes stared upward, faces drained of all color.
They stood motionless amid the ruins, gaze unfocused, like puppets whose souls had been torn from them—lifeless in the wind.
One female Marine, her will too fragile to endure it all, collapsed to her knees with a thud and burst into sobs.
It was an island!!
If it fell, Marineford would be flattened entirely—perhaps even swallowed by the sea itself!
In the face of such power—enough to "destroy the world"—fighting or fleeing had long since become meaningless.
Farther away, in the direction of the civilian evacuation zone...
Countless citizens stared in horror at this apocalyptic scene. Their legs gave out beneath them.
They abandoned their attempts to flee. Children began to cry. Lovers clung to one another. Families embraced tightly, each person holding their dearest ones as if it would be the last time.
"Shiki, you damned madman!!"
Sengoku raised his bloodshot eyes to the sky and let out a roar of pure rage.
"Jihahahaha!! Sengoku, this is my gift to you all!"
High above, the Golden Lion laughed with near-delirious madness. His blood-smeared face twisted with a diseased desire for destruction.
He cast his eyes down at the dark-haired Marine commodore below, sneering with mockery:
"Little brat Darren!! Did you see that!?"
"You destroyed my flying fleet—so today, I'll sink your Marine headquarters into the sea!!"
"Jihahahaha!! Watch it all vanish in the blink of an eye, powerless and despairing!!"
RUMBLE...
As Shiki lifted his control over the floating island with his Float-Float Fruit, gravity reasserted itself. The island's descent began to accelerate.
The roaring grew ever sharper, like explosions shattering through clouds and stone.
From the ground, one could clearly see rings of white shockwaves expanding from beneath the island, followed by a growing red glow.
It was heat—born from the island tearing through the air.
A violent tempest crashed down from above, the sheer pressure cracking the ground below.
Gales swept across every corner of Marineford, whipping up the Marines' wide white coats.
Everyone stood frozen like statues, as if already resigned to the destruction bearing down on them.
And then—
"What the hell are you all doing!?"
A cold, hoarse bark exploded through the air.
Everyone flinched. There stood Sakazuki, one hand braced against a crumbling wall, rising slowly to his feet.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His gaze was unwavering—cold and sharp—as it locked onto the island plummeting from the heavens.
"Sitting and waiting to die... that's not the Marine way."
He left those words behind, then took a deep breath.
Thump-thump...
Thick black smoke burst once more from his arms as searing magma surged and expanded.
Sakazuki stood tall and proud. Under countless stunned gazes, he hurled his fists forward like a storm unleashed!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Like a barrage of rockets, immense balls of magma surged skyward. The blazing red light stained the skies blood-dark and cast a harsh glow over Sakazuki's cliff-like, unyielding back.
"Meteor Volcano!!"
A storm of molten fireballs slammed into the bottom of the island. Chain explosions erupted, bursting forth with immense flashes of flame.
The terrifying power of the attack bored through rock and foundation. Burning rubble and earth rained into the sea, sending up hissing columns of white steam.
The island's descent... slowed slightly.
"It's working!!"
"Attack—everyone, attack!!"
"Damn it!! Move!! If we don't do something, we're really going to die here!!"
Hope flickered in the Marines' eyes.
"FIRE!!"
Sengoku roared with fury.
The Marines jolted to life. Forcing their exhausted bodies into motion, they rushed into action.
Some dashed to the cannons, dragging out heavy artillery from the armory. A frenzied barrage rained upward at the falling island.
There weren't enough cannons. Those without them raised rifles, firing regardless of effect.
Marine officers who had mastered Rokushiki and swordsmanship unleashed long-range techniques—Rankyaku and flying slashes—desperately trying to hinder the island's descent.
Explosions bloomed across the island's underside, flinging chunks of stone into the air. But against the island's sheer size, it was like drops in the ocean.
"Damn it! It's useless!!"
Tokikake gasped as he kicked out a Rankyaku. The air blade struck the underside of the island and kicked up a small cloud of dust. From afar, it was like tossing a pebble into an endless sea—nothing stirred.
Despair once again filled the eyes of the Marine commanders.
"Don't give up!!"
Yamakaji unleashed flaming slashes one after another. Sweat drenched his pale forehead. He was at his limit.
Gion swung her famed blade. A golden slash howled out, her pale face set in fierce defiance. Her hands were torn and bloodied, her arms trembling with the strain.
...
They poured everything they had into halting the island's fall—but at best, they could only slow it. They could not reverse fate.
Before the wrath of this catastrophe, their desperate resistance was like a mantis raising its arms against a chariot.
In less than thirty seconds, many collapsed from exhaustion.
After the earlier battle, most were already on the brink. They couldn't sustain this high-intensity effort.
"Jihahahaha! It's no use!! Human strength is nothing before a disaster like this!!"
Shiki, seeing the Marines' foolish and naive defiance, laughed even more maniacally.
---
To be continued…