Magellan clenched his fists, venom dripping from his body as he took two steps forward, his jaw tight.
"Poison Dragon!" he roared.
Behind him, three enormous dragons of liquid poison materialized, their massive forms radiating a choking miasma. The air turned sour and heavy, the stench enough to burn the lungs.
Upon spotting Ashveil, the dragons shrieked and bared their fangs. Thick purple liquid dripped from their jaws, hissing as it corroded the stone floor. Their roars rattled the prison walls like thunder.
"Go!" Magellan shouted.
At his command, the three poison dragons surged forward at terrifying speed, weaving through the air from different angles to tear their prey apart.
"Be careful, Zero Division Captain!" Ace yelled from behind the bars, his voice edged with urgency.
Ashveil, however, only allowed the corner of his mouth to twitch into a faint smile. His eyes gleamed with cold confidence.
"Don't worry, Ace. With me here, I'll see you out of this place soon," he said, his voice calm, almost reassuring.
He didn't move.
The dragons loomed closer, filling his field of vision. Then, as if they had collided with an invisible wall, they stopped. Their jaws gnashed, their bodies writhing violently, before dissolving into clouds of poisonous gas that quickly dispersed.
The prisoners gasped.
"What just happened?!"
"He didn't even dodge!"
"How can he block something like that…?"
Even Douglas Bullet, who was never impressed easily, narrowed his eyes with excitement. Magellan's poison dragons weren't something one could face head-on. Yet this man had done so without flinching.
Bullet's lips curled upward. "So this is the man it takes the Admirals to restrain? Hah… I want to fight you even more now." His blood boiled. Not since Roger had anyone stirred this kind of hunger within him.
As the poisonous haze scattered, a faint ripple pulsed outward from Ashveil. The pressure surrounding him thickened, his Conqueror's Haki forming a subtle barrier that shimmered in the air.
"Magellan," Ashveil said evenly, "your Poison Dragons are useless against me."
Beads of sweat gathered on the Warden's forehead. He clenched his teeth as realization struck him—his venom, his dragons, his gas… none of it had any effect. The barrier of Haki around Ashveil simply repelled everything.
Even without knowing the exact nature of his opponent's ability, Magellan understood one truth: this was a wall he could not break.
"Vice Admiral Mole!" Magellan barked, his gaze darting to the rear. "Has the Den Den Mushi not connected yet? Call for reinforcements, now!"
But no response came.
"Mole?" Magellan tried again, his voice straining with urgency.
"Are you looking for him?" Ashveil asked softly, amusement flickering in his eyes. He tilted his chin toward Mole.
Magellan turned—and his stomach sank.
Vice Admiral Mole was already pinned against the cold stone floor, crushed beneath an unseen weight. His Den Den Mushi lay shattered in pieces beside him. His body trembled, blood dripping from his mouth as though the very air were suffocating him.
"This isn't just ordinary Conqueror's Haki…" Magellan whispered, his eyes widening.
It was Haoshoku Hakei. Ashveil had concentrated his willpower into tangible force, a refined technique so rare that only a handful in the world had ever achieved it.
And Ashveil was doing it in the middle of a battle, while suppressing Magellan at the same time.
The only person Magellan knew capable of wielding Conqueror's Haki like this was Red-Haired Shanks. But even Shanks couldn't unleash such devastating precision.
His despair deepened. If Ashveil was here, then Impel Down's iron walls were meaningless. The "inescapable prison" was already broken in spirit.
Ashveil stepped forward, his voice low but laced with authority. "Give up, Magellan. Even if you trained for another hundred years, you would still never be my equal."
His words cut like blades. The kingly aura rolling off him pressed down on everyone present, as though the sea itself had chosen him.
From the surrounding cells, cheers erupted.
"Well done, Ashveil! To corner the Warden of Impel Down like this, you're the first!" Crocodile said, a smirk tugging at his lips.
"Hah! What a pathetic Warden—completely helpless before Ashveil!" Big Barrel jeered, his voice booming with laughter.
"Turn this hell upside down, Ashveil! You're incredible!" Crescent Hunter shrieked, his painted face gleaming with sweat.
Shiryu of the Rain stared, disbelief etched across his face. He, of all people, knew Magellan's strength. He had been captured by this very man. For the Poison-Poison Fruit's powers to be rendered meaningless—it was unthinkable.
Even the strongest among them, Bullet and the Red Count, couldn't help but feel respect. Power was one thing, but to face Magellan with such unshaken composure—that was the mark of a true king.
The prisoners, long crushed beneath Magellan's tyranny, now felt a swelling satisfaction. To see their feared Warden trembling, powerless, was intoxicating.
Ashveil's presence had changed everything.
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