Sakazuki's expression twisted with suspicion. His molten fist simmered as his voice thundered across the grove.
"Who is this brat who dares mock death? Kuma! Speak! What have you been plotting behind the Marines' back?"
Tyrant Kuma looked genuinely bewildered. Though he wore the mantle of a Warlord, his loyalty had never belonged to the Marines. His post was simply a disguise, a cover for his true allegiance to the Revolutionary Army.
But this young man? Kuma searched his memories. He didn't recall any slacker-looking youth among their ranks. Could he perhaps be connected to Sabo?
Sentomaru stepped forward, his eyes widening as if he had just remembered something.
"I know who this is! He's Zero Division Captain Ashveil of the Whitebeard Pirates. Just days ago, I heard reports he beheaded Jack the Drought!"
Sakazuki's brows furrowed, and the memory clicked. He had indeed glanced at such a report in the Marshal's office earlier. But with the world focused on the impending war against Whitebeard, that detail had been easy to ignore.
To meet this "Ashveil" so soon — fate seemed to mock him.
But to Sakazuki, it changed nothing. Defeating one of Kaido's calamities meant little. To him, even Edward Newgate himself, the strongest man alive, was still pirate scum. What chance did a mere captain of Whitebeard's fleet have?
The magma admiral clenched his fists tighter, heat waves pouring from his body until the air itself rippled.
"So that's all you are. One of Whitebeard's dogs. Don't make me laugh. Do you think relics of the old era could ever produce formidable subordinates?"
He barked out a cruel laugh, his voice cutting through the chaos.
"Hahaha! Pathetic."
Kuma shifted his gaze toward Ashveil, finally speaking in his heavy baritone.
"I don't know you, Ashveil."
The young man shrugged lazily, his tone calm, as though the Admiral's rage was no more troublesome than the buzzing of an insect.
"Of course you don't. I'm not here to reminisce. I came to ask you for something. Send me to a certain place."
Then Ashveil's eyes flicked toward Sakazuki. "But it seems you're the one being threatened with handcuffs. That would interfere with your ability, wouldn't it? So, as a return favor…"
His lips curled faintly, almost in mockery.
"…I'll just kill Sakazuki. The simplest solution."
He said it without hesitation, as if declaring he would swat a fly.
The entire grove fell silent. Mouths hung open in disbelief.
Was this kid insane? To openly declare the death of Admiral Akainu? Even the Four Emperors would think twice before making such a claim.
Kuma remained silent, but in his chest stirred something unfamiliar. He was a man about to surrender his humanity to the World Government's modifications, a soldier ready to be turned into a lifeless weapon. Perhaps, before losing himself entirely, he wished to witness whether this reckless youth's words carried weight. Could someone under twenty truly strike down an Admiral?
From the forest shadows, Jewelry Bonney's eyes widened. The pirate princess known as the Big Eater leaned forward, her heart racing.
"Kill an Admiral? This guy is a captain under Whitebeard? Could he really have that kind of power?"
Every gaze in the grove fixed on Ashveil. He stood unshaken, posture loose, expression careless, as if the Admiral before him was a nuisance rather than a threat.
Sakazuki's jaw clenched, his teeth grinding audibly. Veins bulged on his forehead, his fury boiling hotter than his magma.
"This world has lost its order. Mice no longer run from cats — they dare bare their teeth!"
He roared, his voice shaking the ground.
"This rotten age, I, Sakazuki, will burn it clean!"
His fist erupted with violent magma.
"Great Eruption!"
With a deafening blast, the Admiral launched his molten fist forward, the very sky dyed crimson as the air warped from heat.
At the same time, Sentomaru moved. His blackened battle-axe shimmered with [Armament Haki], the dense coating gleaming like polished obsidian.
"You loudmouthed brat, I'll crush you myself!"
He brought the axe down toward Ashveil's skull with full force, confident no one could withstand such an attack.
Ashveil? He merely yawned.
From her vantage, Bonney's expression twisted in disbelief.
"He's frozen… motionless? Don't tell me he's paralyzed with fear!" She shook her head. "So much for big words. This fight's going to be over before it begins."
Even she knew — against Admiral-level combat power, survival often meant retreat.
But Kuma's usually stone-like face showed something different. His lips tightened ever so slightly. He had seen enough to know: appearances deceived.
The answer came in the next instant.
The blazing magma fist, hot enough to incinerate steel, struck Ashveil's raised hand. And then — vanished. The energy, the heat, the destructive might, all of it disappeared, sucked into Ashveil's body as though swallowed by an abyss.
Gasps rippled across the grove.
"What?!"
Before shock could settle, Sentomaru's axe came cleaving down, a blow strong enough to cleave through diamond. But instead of tearing flesh, his weapon met an unseen barrier. A surge of [Conqueror's Haki] burst outward, rippling like waves.
The force rebounded instantly, the axe shattering to pieces in Sentomaru's grip. Pain shot through his arms as if striking an immovable mountain. His eyes bulged.
"What kind of ability is this?!"
He barely had time to process the thought before the backlash hit. An invisible explosion of force hurled him into the air like a ragdoll.
"Impossible—!"
His scream cut short as his body slammed into the forest floor, carving a crater into the earth. His legs pointed skyward while his head was buried in the soil, unconscious before he even registered what had happened.
The Captain of the Science Unit, famed for his defense, felled in a single strike.
Bonney's jaw dropped, her heartbeat hammering in her chest.
"Is this real? He absorbed Akainu's magma like it was nothing, and then— Sentomaru, the strongest defense in the world, knocked out instantly?"
Her lips trembled.
"This guy… is he even human? People from the New World can't all be like this…"
Ashveil stood calmly amid the stunned silence, his hands loose at his sides, his eyes half-lidded. To him, it was nothing more than brushing dust from his shoulder.
And everyone watching knew in their hearts — a monster had stepped onto the stage.
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