"Vice Admiral Kuzan!"
"What is that over there?!"
The noise from the western coast of Migo Town was anything but subtle. When Golden Lion Shiki made his grand 'entrance', the sky was filled with a dense, dark swarm of pirate ships. Anyone with functioning eyes could see them.
Inside the Marine base, Kyros was just about to send someone to retrieve Yoriichi Tsugikuni when a panicked subordinate shouted behind him, calling out to Kuzan.
Turning his head, Kyros saw something strange in the sky above the western part of town—a massive floating "sphere." Judging by its size, if it exploded, it could devastate the entire western coastline. If it detonated within the town itself, it could easily obliterate half of it.
"Hey! Kyros!"
"You said Yoriichi was training near the shore, right? You mean over there?!"
Kuzan stared grimly at the sphere in the sky, a sense of unease rising in his heart.
Kyros was still frozen, staring at the distant spectacle, unable to answer right away. Seeing his silence, Kuzan turned and grabbed his shoulder.
"Kyros! Answer me!"
"I... I'm not sure."
"It probably is."
Startled by Kuzan's urgency, Kyros stammered, visibly shaken.
He had never witnessed such an eerie and overwhelming scene. This kind of power simply didn't fit into his understanding of what humans were capable of.
"Damn it!"
"Yoriichi must've encountered an enemy."
"To cause such chaos... is it a Devil Fruit power?"
"At this scale, it must be the awakened form of a Devil Fruit. The enemy... must be incredibly strong!"
"Yoriichi, don't you dare die on me!"
Cursing under his breath, Kuzan gave no orders. He simply leapt into the air and flew straight toward the western side of the island.
Only once Kuzan had vanished did Kyros snap out of it. He was about to order the Marines to mobilize when Captain Momonga beat him to it.
"All units, hold your positions!"
"From this moment forward, the branch is on full alert. No one is to leave the base unless absolutely necessary!"
"Kyros, you stay here and guard the branch."
"Binci, Shawn, you're coming with me. We'll follow Vice Admiral Kuzan and scout the area."
As Momonga finished his orders and prepared to move, Kyros stepped forward and grabbed his wrist, objecting.
"Captain Momonga!"
"There's clearly a battle happening over there!"
"Are just the three of you enough?!"
"Wouldn't it be better to gather every officer in the branch and reinforce Vice Admiral Kuzan?"
"If it comes to a fight, wouldn't sheer numbers be in the Navy's favor?"
Kyros had spent over a year training across the Four Blues and had developed a set way of thinking. Before arriving in Migo Town, he had worked under a seasoned Marine Captain, whose philosophy was to always send ten men when one would do. Against pirates, that Captain wouldn't engage unless the odds were at least 3 to 1. When facing unknown enemies, he preferred to mobilize everyone.
After following him for so long, Kyros had adopted some of those habits.
But Momonga clearly had a different style. At Kyros's suggestion, his brow furrowed.
"What good would those green recruits do?"
"If that really is the enemy over there, and they're capable of creating that kind of destruction, then numbers won't make a difference."
"Kyros, guard the base. We'll check it out. Be prepared to set sail at a moment's notice!"
"If the enemy proves too strong, we must at least preserve the G-ICE Branch's core strength."
"Oh, and before we go... evacuate as many civilians from the island as possible."
With that, Momonga shook off Kyros's hand and left with Binci and Shawn at high speed.
Kyros watched them disappear into the distance, his heart heavy. He glanced once more at the distant floating "sphere" and was just about to issue evacuation orders when he saw two fiery slashes suddenly streak across its surface.
The two flames formed an "X" that sliced clean through the entire structure.
The sphere—constructed from shipwreck debris—quickly caught fire and began to burn.
Western Coast of Migo Town
From the massive sphere in front of Shiki, two terrifying aerial slashes burst out. One struck the earth, the other, the sea.
The ground was torn open into a canyon several hundred meters long and unfathomably deep. On the ocean, the slash parted the waves, carving a jagged "scar" that stretched for miles across the surface.
With just two strikes, the earth was split, the sea divided—terrifying power on display.
At the same time, the "sphere" before Shiki began to burn and fall apart.
BOOM!
Suddenly, an explosion erupted from its center. In the next instant, a figure wrapped in flames burst forth from within, soaring high into the sky.
Shiki narrowed his eyes. That blazing figure was none other than Yoriichi Tsugikuni, now ascending into the heavens like a firebird.
The pirates' laughter died instantly the moment Yoriichi appeared. Dozens of them on the shore stared slack-jawed at the figure in the sky, too stunned to speak.
Even Shiki's pupils contracted in disbelief. He immediately swung both sabers, releasing a slash attack.
Flying Slash!
A devastating slash raced toward Yoriichi. But midair, Yoriichi raised his blade and effortlessly parried the attack.
The twin slashes veered away, narrowly missing Yoriichi, and disappeared into the clouds above.
"You broke free?!"
"There's no way a brat like you could escape from my power!"
"This is impossible!"
Shiki raged at the sight. He had used his Devil Fruit to its full potential, yet still couldn't contain Yoriichi. It was a result he simply couldn't accept.
Snarling, Shiki landed on the ground. The moment his feet touched down, the earth began to quake violently.
[Lion Might: Earth Coil]
The ground detached from gravity. Countless chunks of rock and dirt floated into the air and quickly formed four massive lion-shaped constructs, each towering over a hundred meters tall.
Two of the lions lunged, slashing their paws toward Yoriichi midair.
"What a terrifying ability."
"To develop a Devil Fruit to this degree... no ordinary human could ever stand against such might."
"With power like that, destroying an entire country would be child's play."
"Truly worthy of a legendary pirate."
Yoriichi looked calmly at the four enormous lions, then turned his piercing gaze to Shiki below.
"If I let you continue this rampage, Migo Town will be destroyed."
"This time, even without Kuzan's help, I will cut you down!"
"The moment you touched the ground, your defeat was sealed."
As the lions' massive claws swung down, Yoriichi stepped through the air using [Moonwalk], narrowly dodging. But the two stationary lions suddenly opened their mouths and launched a barrage of stone arrows at him.
In an instant, Yoriichi swung his blade a thousand times, forming an invisible wall of slashes in front of him. The incoming stone arrows shattered upon contact, crumbling into dust as they fell.
Yoriichi dropped rapidly toward the ground, and the moment his feet touched down, he vanished without a sound.
Only a beat later did the sonic boom catch up.
"It's time for the legend to end!"
Without a whisper, Yoriichi reappeared behind Golden Lion Shiki. His sword, now glowing red-hot, was already swinging toward Shiki's neck.
Only when the blade was inches from contact did his Conqueror's Haki ignite along the edge.
The sky thundered.
BOOOOM!!!
Lightning cracked as the blade sliced through Shiki's neck and streaked toward the ocean, the force of the strike continuing forward as a flying slash that slammed into the sea.
At that moment, the lingering pain in Shiki's missing arm finally disappeared.
His mind had never felt so clear.
And yet-
"Why... am I looking at the sky... from this angle?"
✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦
100 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter
For Advance Chapters, please visit and consider joining me on P(a)treon!
p(a)treon.com/Lnee
You can also access my other translated fics on P(a)treon!