"Garp!"
"Everyone, be careful!"
"Vice Admiral Garp!"
Countless marines shouted in panic, many of them instantly overwhelmed with fear.
The thunderstorm above—blinding lightning tearing through the sky beneath the swirling black clouds—turned the entire world into a blinding white void.
But this was not light that brought hope.
It was the radiance of destruction.
Everyone watching felt their hearts tremble.
As the one directly beneath the falling thunderstorm, Garp felt it even more intensely. The pressure alone made his entire body feel like his cells were screaming.
Only Elior truly knew the real magnitude of the attack.
This was 900 million volts of lightning.
And even that wasn't Elior's limit. His former maximum was one billion volts, but as he grew stronger, his current peak had risen to 1.6 billion volts. The drawback was the overwhelming energy drain it caused.
He wouldn't use that now—there were still many enemies left to kill. He needed his strength for when he eventually confronted the mysterious weapon of the Celestial Dragons… or even Imu.
Even so, the attack he unleashed now far exceeded the 700 million volts he used during the Marineford war, which had blasted Akainu unconscious despite his elemental defense.
And now—Garp had no such protection.
The moment the ice sphere shattered, Garp saw the 900 million–volt thunderstorm descending.
The light was so intense that he could barely open his eyes. Every instinct in his body screamed in terror.
Yet still, he didn't fear for himself.
Garp had fought too many battles in his life.
The only things he feared losing were his friends… his family.
But this thunderstorm was falling too fast.
He couldn't evade it.
And he wasn't the kind of man who would try.
Armament Haki covered his entire body in an instant.
And then Garp threw himself straight into the descending lightning.
RUMBLE—!!
SIZZLE—!!
Crackling arcs of electricity roared across the battlefield, deafening in their ferocity.
The thunderstorm fell like a colossal waterfall of light.
Garp was swallowed whole.
When the lightning hit the ice—
BOOOOM!!!
The ice sheet across a two–kilometer radius was instantly blasted apart, overturning in massive slabs.
Everyone in the area—pirates, marines, Germa soldiers—was consumed by the raging destruction.
Countless weaker fighters died instantly.
The thunderstorm pillar tore through the ice, plunged into the sea, pierced the depths, and reached ten thousand meters below.
Deep beneath the ocean, Sea Kings trembled in fear.
Only the strongest — admirals, Yonko executives, and top pirates — had escaped in time. And even they were shaken.
There was only one thought in their minds:
Elior is terrifying.
The sheer pressure of the lightning made their bodies tremble out of instinct. Even the top fighters felt like their cells were rebelling against them.
How could ordinary soldiers withstand that?
The marines were collapsing from pure fear, shaking uncontrollably.
And inevitably, one thought began spreading through the battlefield:
Did Garp… survive that?
Sengoku, Tsuru, and the high-ranking officers felt a chill crawl down their spines.
Zephyr had already fallen.
The Marine's morale was hanging by a thread.
If they lost Garp too…
It was unthinkable.
But the lightning had been too powerful. Sengoku knew even he wouldn't dare take that attack head-on.
Kaido felt his scalp go numb. His defense was monstrous, but even he doubted whether he could withstand such a strike.
Big Mom?
Elior?
Maybe them.
Or perhaps Imu or some unknown divine weapon of the World Government.
But Kaido? He had no certainty.
As the thunderstorm finally faded and the smoke dispersed, people saw a figure far in the distance—shaking violently on the ice.
Garp.
"Garp!!"
"Vice Admiral Garp!!"
The marines screamed again.
Even from afar, many couldn't clearly see his condition.
His entire body had turned pitch black — not from Haki, but from being scorched by lightning. Smoke rose from his skin. Anyone near him would have smelled burning flesh.
Garp's condition was catastrophic. His legs were trembling. His consciousness was fading.
If he hadn't coated his entire body with Armament Haki, he would have died instantly.
But even that couldn't save him from severe damage.
His current state looked like a single touch could knock him over forever.
Before him was a massive crater, two kilometers wide, rapidly filling with seawater.
He was on the brink of death.
Sengoku and the others saw immediately that Garp was only standing through sheer monstrous willpower.
Garp was dying.
Elior descended slowly, stopping six meters above the ice—directly over Garp.
From that height, he looked down on him like a god observing a defeated mortal.
"Elior!"
"You bastard!"
Sengoku and the others panicked as Elior appeared again, ready to charge forward.
Kaido and the others intercepted them once more.
The battle reignited.
The mid- and lower-level forces continued to fall rapidly. Unlike the elites, they couldn't survive fatal wounds. Injury meant death.
War was always tragic.
But without war, no new era could be born.
To destroy the old age, blood had to be spilled.
As Sengoku and the others were restrained again—
Elior looked down at Garp.
"You want to avenge your loved ones… but now, what can you do to me?"
Elior smiled.
He could see that Garp's eyelids were collapsing over and over, held open only by willpower.
"You…"
Garp couldn't even form words.
His rage, grief, and unwillingness—all of it dissolved into helplessness.
Elior didn't speak further. Villains who talk too much die unnecessarily—he had no intention of joining them.
He raised his hand toward Garp.
Behind him, countless ice arrows formed — like Kizaru's Yasakani no Magatama — each one coated in Armament Haki, all aimed directly at the dying vice admiral.
At the same time, over the sea, Fujitora rushed forward desperately.
His heart was overflowing with dread.
Garp cannot die.
Elior was about to deliver the final blow.
Just like Zephyr—who had already fallen.
Garp must not follow him.
But halfway through his charge, a massive ice wall erupted from the sea and Fujitora slammed into it headfirst.
"Damn it!"
He swung his blade—
But at that same moment—
WHOOOSH—WHOOOSH—WHOOOSH—!!
The countless ice arrows behind Elior flew toward Garp, who could no longer stand, let alone resist.
He was impaled by all of them.
Fujitora, though blind, could hear the sickening sound—arrows tearing through flesh.
He roared and slashed again, splitting the ice wall—
But another wall rose instantly to block him.
And Garp…
Was hit again.
And again.
Just like Whitebeard being shot by the Blackbeard Pirates.
Blood and shredded flesh splattered across the ice.
Finally, Garp collapsed—helpless, consumed by pain and fury alike.
Until the very end, he never screamed.
He only clenched his teeth, furrowed his brow, tightened his fists, and endured.
And he glared at Elior—
Until he could glare no more.
Then he fell.
And like Whitebeard—
standing upright.