Cross stared blankly at Shūsui in his hand, then at the corpse on the ground. He opened his mouth but didn't know what to say. He understood that Mankervis's final strike was a plea for death, an unwillingness to live out the rest of his days rotting in Impel Down.
Having understood the other's intent, Cross's face filled with regret, and he sighed helplessly, "If you'd been willing to rot in Impel Down for a decade or so, you might have had a chance to get out when that straw hat kid finally showed up!" He shook his head. "Now, it's all for nothing!" He didn't desecrate the body.
As the saying goes: better a bad life than a good death! What's so bad about being in prison? As long as you're alive, you might just break out and become a hero again… Ptooey! How can I, a Marine upholding justice, speak from the perspective of an evil ambitious villain?! I should be applauding! Good riddance! Die, you rotten bastard! This is what you get for colluding with pirates! This is what you get for ordering others to kill your own brother and hunting down your own sister!
Cross's face was righteous as he inwardly cursed the man, then urged the stone giant bird beneath him towards the fiercest part of the fire. Since he had already decided to become the male version of Big Mom, he naturally wouldn't forget to create a fire Apostle.
Doma City was situated amongst mountains.
Although centuries of change had transformed many of its wooden houses into brick-and-stone structures, there were still many wooden buildings, especially in the common residential areas of the lower and middle city, where at least a third were still made of wood.
Consequently, the city, affected by the war, was already ablaze, the fires raging so fiercely that they illuminated the entire city of Thomas and some nearby mountains.
Before long, Cross, riding the stone giant bird, gazed down at a whole row of wooden houses engulfed in raging flames. He immediately activated his ability.
"Enliven: Homunculus!"
As his words fell, a shimmering emerald-green light emanated from Cross's body, instantly bathing the entire surroundings in a natural green hue, even overpowering the glow of the flames. Soon, numerous emerald-green light particles diffused from his body like dandelions, gradually merging into the inferno below.
Om—!
The firelight intertwined with the light of life. The raging flames, under the miraculous power of the Devil Fruit, came alive. A grotesque human face appeared within the fire, and the surrounding flames twisted with it, as if dancing. Following this, the surrounding flames continuously converged towards the central grotesque face, gradually forming a fire giant nearly ten meters tall. Its face was hideous and malevolent, with a pair of long, upward-curving horns, a crown of fire hovering above its head, and a giant flaming sword in its hand.
"Master!"
The fire giant knelt, its voice deep and hoarse, expressing its subservience to Cross in mid-air.
"From today forth, you are my third Apostle. You shall be known as the Fire Giant Surtur!!!" Cross's face lit up with joy, having named him after a famous figure from Norse mythology.
In Norse mythology, Surtur is the guardian of Muspelheim, the first fire giant born in the primordial era before the world existed. He is not only a crucial figure in Ragnarök but also the one who killed Freyr, the God of Fertility, and set Asgard and the World Tree ablaze during Ragnarök.
"Master, Surtur serves you!" Fire Giant Surtur lowered his head, speaking with both respect and excitement.
"Very well, then go!"
Cross waved his hand grandly, his voice ringing out, "Scour all pirates from this city for me!"
"Yes, Master!"
Surtur responded solemnly, then rose to his feet. Gripping his flaming greatsword, he strode towards the lower city district.
Cross flew on the stone giant bird above Surtur, watching as the surrounding flames, like spirits, continuously converged on him wherever he passed, integrating into his body. This caused his flaming form to grow taller little by little. Before long, he even surpassed the height of the giant Vice Admiral Lacroix.
"Die!"
The terrifying Fire Giant walked through Doma City, swinging his flaming greatsword horizontally, beginning his assault on the pirates within the city.
The Roberts Legion pirates seemed startled by Surtur, then quickly reacted, launching their counterattack, hacking and stabbing at Surtur with swords and guns, and bombarding him with cannons.
Bang bang bang bang... bang bang bang bang...
Boom, boom, boom, boom...
Intense gunfire and cannon fire erupted. Countless lead bullets and cannonballs flew like rain, all striking Surtur's body. However, moments later, the pirates stared in dumbfounded silence, realizing all their attacks were futile. Not only could they not harm him in the slightest, but the flaming greatsword in his hand cut down many of them.
"ARGH! ARGH! ARGH—!"
"What kind of monster is this?!"
"Monster! It's a monster!"
"Run! We'll be burned alive!"
"..."
Countless people watched as humanoid torches struggled and ran wildly through the streets, emitting horrifying screams of agony, before finally burning to death and collapsing into piles of charred remains. This scene was enough to shatter anyone's courage.
Moreover, Marduk in the sky was continuously unleashing lightning. Powerful bolts descended from above, directly striking down many pirates, further depleting the Roberts Legion's fighting force.
It could be said that if Roberts hadn't constantly used his Pump-Pump Fruit ability, maintaining his "Encouragement Aura" and greatly boosting the pirates' courage and strength, the Roberts Legion would have long since collapsed.
But now, Roberts could no longer hold out. Facing Sakazuki's relentless assault, despite Roberts's desperate resistance, large areas of his body were still severely burned by the scorching magma. His metal armor, instead of protecting him, became excessively hot due to the external influence, causing Roberts to grimace in pain.
Thump—!
Suddenly, Sakazuki found an opening in Roberts's defenses. His magma-transformed arm swung out powerfully, striking hard against Gae Bulg's shaft. The immense force caused Gae Bulg to tremble, and even made Roberts lose his grip on the weapon. It instantly flew from his hand, falling to the ground with a "clang."
"...Damn it!"
Roberts's face showed alarm. Without a second thought, he retreated. Having lost his convenient weapon, he didn't want to directly touch magma that was thousands of degrees hot with his own body. However, Sakazuki wasn't about to let this opportunity slip away.
"Hellhound!!!"
Sakazuki's eyes were wide with fury as he roared and punched. His magma-transformed arm rapidly extended over ten meters, piercing directly through Roberts 's chest like a cannonball.
Instantly, Roberts's retreating steps halted, an expression of disbelief on his face as he involuntarily looked down at the horrifying empty hole in his chest.
"I... I'll die here... Is this the end...?"
"I'm so unwilling... gwuah—"
Bartholomew painfully coughed up a large mouthful of blood, then fell straight backward, hitting the ground with a heavy thud.
Suddenly, scenes from his past flashed before his eyes: fighting alongside the army as a youth, gaining fame on the battlefield, later earning the king's trust, being granted command of the entire nation's army, repeatedly defeating enemy nations, thus earning the title "Sword of Ashibi'" – those were his moments of greatest glory.
"From the nation's protector to the nation's destroyer... Hehe~ How ironic..." he mumbled to himself, his eyes gradually losing their light, and his breathing slowly ceased.
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