"For our homeland—kill them!"
"For our children—we'll fight to the end!"
···
At that moment, Belo Betty's Cheer-Cheer Fruit ability ignited a wildfire of courage in the hearts of the people. Once-terrified civilians now raised weapons with trembling but determined hands, charging headlong at the CP agents with no thought for their own survival.
The square erupted into brutal chaos. With eyes blazing like torches, the townsfolk swung their blades and clubs with primal fury. There was no technique, no training—only the raw, searing fire of vengeance.
Even when a CP agent's "Shigan" pierced clean through a villager's chest, the dying rebel still lunged forward, clamping down with his teeth and tearing at his enemy's ears and nose with bloody desperation.
The tragic scene made Issho—Fujitora, the blind swordsman—tighten his grip on his blade.
He knew this newfound strength was borrowed, the result of a Devil Fruit's influence. He also knew it would lead to more needless deaths. But it was more than magic—it was the people's deepest, most primal cry for retribution.
Watching so many civilians fall in their bid for freedom, Issho's rage boiled over. He threw himself into the fray, cutting down CP agents with merciless precision. Every strike of his katana was aimed at those who slaughtered innocents without hesitation.
Even when a CP0 assassin moved to block him, Issho released a crushing technique—Gravity Tiger—smashing the elite agent into pulp with a single devastating blow.
He understood in that instant: after today, the path of "justice" he walked would never again align with the World Government or the Navy.
"Damn it!! Where the hell are the Marines?!"
Fos Saint and Kanaiver Saint, two of the Divine Knight Order's strongest, were being pummeled mercilessly by Monkey D. Dragon himself. The wounded Gust Saint had reengaged Karasu in a vicious battle, while Morley clashed with yet another of the Knights.
High above, Enel's fury reached its peak.
First the blind swordsman had stolen his spotlight. Now Karasu had stolen his kill. Again and again they dismissed him—mocked the god of thunder himself!
"You'll all pay the price!"
'Ten Thousand Thunders!!'
Enel unleashed a storm of divine wrath. Lightning cascaded in endless columns from the thunderclouds, smashing down upon the Divine Knights. Forced to burn through their Armament Haki to defend themselves, they could only grit their teeth and endure the relentless strikes.
And above it all, his deadliest weapon was forming—the Thunder Welcome, a colossal sphere of destruction.
Satisfied with the brewing chaos, Enel transformed into living lightning and hurled himself down toward the battlefield, eyes locked on a new Knight to annihilate.
"Another Logia?! Hah! But the Rumble-Rumble Fruit is no less than a Mythical Zoan! Once I kill you, I'll claim it for myself!"
One of the Divine Knights, clad in an opulent noble's suit, sneered at Enel. Though the Knights coveted Zoan fruits most—especially the rare Mythical kind that enhanced both body and power—they would gladly accept legendary Paramecia or Logia abilities such as the Rumble-Rumble, Paw-Paw, or Gravity Fruits.
"Revolutionaries… so many of their officers are here?!"
Garlin Saint's expression hardened as he took in the battlefield.
Dragon had brought almost the entire Revolutionary Army. Alongside them stood Souta Kiryuu—the wielder of the Gravity Fruit, a fighter on par with an admiral. And now, even outlaws like Enel and Moria had joined the fray.
The Divine Knight Order faced a coalition that could topple the world itself.
"You dare bring everything you have for the sake of Souta Kiryuu?" Garlin Saint's eyes burned with malice. "Then I'll end all of you in one stroke!"
He shot upward with Geppo, his target clear: Souta Kiryuu. Capture him first. Crush the Revolutionary Army after.
"Old man! You've gone without a Devil Fruit for years. Still yearning for the Azure Dragon's power, aren't you?"
Souta Kiryuu's voice boomed like thunder. His dragon body coiled in the sky, eyes sparking with fury.
"Then let me show you the power of my artificial Azure Dragon Fruit!"
'One Hundred Million Volts—Thunder Dragon Torch!!'
He drew deeply from the storm, devouring its lightning. A colossal dragon of living thunder roared into existence, rivaling Kaido's own Flame Dragon Torch in sheer terror. Even the Thunder Welcome sphere Enel had gathered was drained away, forced to start forming anew.
"What?!"
Garlin Saint's face twisted in shock. This was no mere imitation—the scale of power was monstrous.
"That ability… should be mine!!"
Bellowing, Garlin cloaked his supreme sword in overwhelming Conqueror's Haki, the black-red lightning crackling like reality itself unraveling. He swung with a force that split the heavens, his blade cleaving straight for the thunder dragon.
"Such terrifying Conqueror's coating!"
Souta Kiryuu's pupils tightened. Even he had to admit—the sheer force of Garlin's strike was staggering. This was the man who had scarred Whitebeard's chest in his youth, one of the few to ever wound the strongest man alive. Roger had done it. Rocks had done it. And Garlin Saint, father of "Red-Haired" Shanks, had done it.
Whitebeard never bore scars on his back—only his chest. To see Garlin Saint again in Shanks' face had always stirred old pain and bitter memories.
And yet, the clash was inevitable.
Thunder dragon met Conqueror's Haki. The collision split the skies and shook the earth.
The entire Sorbet Kingdom quaked. Out at sea, Marines, pirates, and treasure hunters alike paused mid-battle, staring in awe. On land, both Revolutionaries and Divine Knights staggered under the force of the impact.
"To think… Souta Kiryuu could unleash such a terrifying move. To clash evenly with Garlin Saint's supreme Haki…"
Dragon's eyes widened. If Souta could already fight at this level, then once he mastered Conqueror's coating, he might surpass even Kaido—reaching heights once reserved only for legends like Roger and Rocks.
The explosion was cataclysmic. Garlin Saint plummeted, smashing into the ground and carving a crater hundreds of meters wide. Souta's thunder-dragon form unraveled, shrinking back, even his mighty divine-dragon state forcibly suppressed. He reverted to his standard hundred-meter azure dragon body, battered but unbroken.
"Ugh!"
Blood sprayed from his maw, but Souta swallowed it back down. The lingering black-red lightning of Garlin's Conqueror's coating still crackled across his scales, tearing through flesh and forcing his body to heal and break anew.
The pain was immense—enough to force him back to the ground, to rob him of flight.
"This Conqueror's coating… damn it hurts!!"
Souta clenched his fangs, enduring as his body fought desperately to recover.
It only fueled his hunger. He had glimpsed the summit of strength—and he needed that power. Without Conqueror's coating, he was still a step behind the world's very strongest.
He had to master it.
In the smoking crater, Garlin Saint dragged himself upright, his body charred and smoldering. Yet his eyes never left the dragon in the sky.
"That damned Vegapunk… what kind of monster did he create?!"
He spat blood, teeth grinding in rage.
This Souta Kiryuu was more terrifying than Kaido had ever been when Garlin himself had once captured him. Back then, Garlin had sought to reclaim and replicate the Azure Dragon Fruit. He had failed.
And now, standing before him was something even more terrifying.
A dragon that could rival legends.