The storm above the battlefield tore through the skies, lightning cracking violently, rain hammering down like sheets of silver steel. The air itself seemed to tremble with the fall of a true conqueror.
Ryuki collapsed to her knees, eyes wide and unseeing.
"Orimo…?" she whispered, voice trembling.
Auransa's hands shook as tears rolled down his cheeks.
"I have no reason to fight… none…"
Equa Rome slammed his fist against the ground, rage and grief mingling.
"You saved my life… while I couldn't save yours!" His head bowed, body trembling.
On the Axe Pirates' ship, Lavender Petal shook violently, eyes wild.
"I… I shouldn't have seen the future. It happened because I saw it… I'm… going insane…"
Then Morgan's cursed necklace flared, bending the wills of the Axe Pirates. Their eyes glazed over, bodies rising mechanically, obedience replacing thought.
Morgan steadied his breath, muscles tensed, and with one swift, fluid motion — swish! — he cut through the throat of Uruma's colossal Buddha-form body.
Blood gushed like a crimson waterfall. The giant form staggered and collapsed, cracking the earth beneath it.
"Your era is over, old man," Morgan muttered coldly.
Uruma's eyes glistened with tears as he exhaled his final breaths, voice breaking with every word.
"Where… are you, my son? Are… you alright, Sora? You… you aren't hurt, are you? I… I'm sorry… Dad… wasn't there to protect you…"
His chest heaved, each breath slower than the last.
"Dad… will protect you from the heavens. I… I swear… In this life, with… this old body…"
Lightning tore across the storm-laden sky, striking the battlefield as if mourning the passing of a legend from the old era.
Uruma's voice faltered, slowed, and dimmed.
"My old body… couldn't… keep up… Sorry… Sora…"
The life drained from him as blood mixed with rain, soaking the battlefield in red and water. His colossal body lay still, silent, forever gone.
Meanwhile, inside the navy headquarters, Sora Nithel sat, unaware of the death of his father — the weight of loss yet to reach him.
The battlefield roared around the fallen, rain pelting the earth, lightning illuminating devastation, and the echoes of a fallen era whispered through the storm.