Chapter 72: The Crow Descends on Hell
Levi's arrival was not an approach; it was an impact.
The air over the Calm Belt screamed as he tore through it, a black meteor trailing condensed spiritual fury. He didn't bother with the Gates of Justice, the external guards, or the besieging Red Hair Pirates ships. His target was the heart of the fortress.
His Reiatsu, held in tight control during the Marineford duel, now erupted with cataclysmic intent. It wasn't a wave of pressure meant to intimidate; it was a focused, sculpted weapon. As he reached the apex above the towering prison, he halted mid-air, the force of his stop creating a visible shockwave in the clouds.
Below, the battle was chaotic. On the frozen sea approach, the Red Hair Pirates' ships traded cannon fire with Marine vessels and Impel Down's external defenses. Closer to the entrance, he could see the distinct fighting styles—Benn Beckman's precise, space-warping shots keeping a swath of Marines pinned, Yasopp's impossible sniping picking off guards on the battlements. And at the very entrance, a figure with blazing red hair and a single arm fought with controlled, devastating power against a desperate, bloodied Gion and a contingent of the prison's strongest guards.
Shanks had breached the front door.
But Levi's concern wasn't the perimeter. It was the deep, subterranean tremor he felt—the riot on Level 6, the clash of monstrous Haki and Magellan's venom. And the specific, fading spiritual signature of Silvers Rayleigh, locked in a desperate stalemate.
No more subtlety. No more games.
He raised a hand, fingers splayed toward the sky. The vast, swirling reservoir of his Reiatsu—7,500 points of pure spiritual power—condensed above Impel Down. The air darkened. The very light seemed to be sucked into a single, growing point of absolute blackness. It elongated, sharpened, becoming a colossal blade of void, a sword carved from the absence of light and hope.
Reiatsu Manifestation: Zanmato of the Abyss.
With a thought, he brought it down.
There was no sound of cutting. There was a profound, vacuum-like silence as the spiritual blade made contact with the seastone-reinforced roof of Impel Down. Then, a deep, groaning crunch as impossibly durable materials yielded not to physical force, but to soul-rending negation.
The black blade sank through the structure like a hot knife through spectral butter. It passed through LV1: Crimson Hell, where Buggy and Mr. 3 were leading a panicked mob. It sliced through LV2: Beast Hell, where monstrous jailer beasts howled in sudden terror. It cleaved through LV3: Starvation Hell, LV4: Blazing Hell, and LV5: Freezing Hell without resistance.
In each level, prisoners and guards alike froze, looking up as a seamless, perfect, meter-wide shaft of darkness punched through the ceiling and the floor below, descending into the depths. No debris fell. The material wasn't destroyed; it was erased along the blade's path.
Finally, it reached LV6: Eternal Hell.
In the corridor choked with poison and raging Haki, the ceiling directly above the standoff between Rayleigh/Magellan and the mass of Level 6 prisoners simply vanished. A column of pale, outside light flooded the perpetual darkness, illuminating the shocked, upturned faces of Douglas Bullet, Avalo Pizarro, Catarina Devon, and a grinning, opportunistic Blackbeard. It shone on Magellan's venom-dripping form and Rayleigh's weary, bloodied stance.
Through that perfectly cylindrical shaft, descending not with a fall but with a controlled, gravitational authority, came Levi.
He landed in the center of the frozen battleground, his boots making no sound on the etched stone floor. The colossal Reiatsu blade above dissipated into swirling black mist that coiled around him like a mantle. The shaft of light from the surface illuminated him from behind, casting a long, predatory shadow across the gathered legends of the underworld.
The silence was absolute. The riot, the rage, the desperation—all choked off by the sheer, overwhelming presence that had just carved through the world's most secure prison as if it were paper.
Levi's eyes, cold and luminescent with banked spiritual power, swept the scene. They passed over Blackbeard, who took an involuntary step back, his smile faltering. They passed over the other prisoners, their defiance crumbling into primal fear. They rested on Magellan, who stared in a mixture of horror and awe. Finally, they settled on Rayleigh.
Rayleigh met his gaze. In the old legend's eyes, Levi saw no surprise. Only a grim acceptance, and deep within, the faint, programmed flicker of the geas Levi had implanted—the compulsion that tied Rayleigh's survival to his own.
"I told you I'd return," Levi said, his voice echoing in the stark silence. He wasn't talking to Rayleigh alone. He was addressing the entire floor. "I see the guests have gotten rowdy."
He took a step forward, toward the mass of Level 6 prisoners. The step was casual, but the spiritual pressure that radiated from him with the movement was a physical wall. It didn't press them down; it walled them in. It felt like the very air had turned to seastone, closing around their spirits.
"The party," Levi stated, his tone devoid of all emotion, "is over. You have two choices. Return to your cells quietly. Or I will dismantle your souls and scatter them into the Calm Belt. Choose."
It was no bluff. The evidence of his power was the shaft of daylight above, the path he had casually carved through a legendary fortress. The Reiatsu weighing down on them was alien, absolute, and promised annihilation.
Douglas Bullet snarled, his pride warring with instinct. But before he could move, Levi's gaze snapped to him. A single, focused pulse of Reiatsu—Soul Crush—hammered into Bullet's spirit. The massive man didn't fall; he folded, dropping to one knee with a gasp, his eyes wide with a terror he hadn't felt since his defeat by Roger.
That was all it took.
The fight bled out of the others. Avalo Pizarro looked away. Catarina Devon shrunk back. The lesser prisoners simply turned and shuffled back toward their open cells, the will to fight extinguished by a force they couldn't comprehend.
Only Blackbeard remained, his crew behind him. "Zehahaha…!" His laugh was strained. "Admiral Black Crow! What an entrance! We were just… discussing terms with these fine gentlemen!"
Levi ignored him. He looked at Magellan. "Seal the floor. Now."
Magellan, shaken but professional, nodded. He began to wave his guards forward, herding the broken prisoners back into their cells.
Levi then finally addressed Rayleigh. "You held the line. Your debt is paid. The Straw Hat and his friends?"
"Gone," Rayleigh said hoarsely. "Up and out. Before… all this." He gestured vaguely at the shaft and the cowed prisoners.
"Good." Levi's lips twitched in something that wasn't a smile. "Then our business here is concluded. The Red Hair Pirates are at the gate. I will deal with them. You…" He locked eyes with Rayleigh. "You will wait here. You are my prisoner. That has not changed."
The unspoken command in his gaze reinforced the geas: Wait. Your role is not yet done.
Rayleigh gave a slow, weary nod.
Satisfied, Levi looked up through the shaft he had created, toward the sounds of battle far above. Shanks was here. The Emperor who had humiliated Marineford, who sought to steal his prize.
A cold, focused fury settled over Levi. Marineford was his stage. Whitebeard was his trophy. This interference was a personal insult.
He didn't leap. He simply willed himself upward, a reverse fall, propelled by concentrated Reiatsu. He shot back up the perfect tunnel he had carved, a black comet returning to the sky, leaving a silenced hell and a reinforced legend in his wake.
He had quelled the inferno below. Now, he would extinguish the fire at the door.
(End of Chapter)
✨If you're enjoying this story, consider supporting me on Patreon —
Patreon.com/TofuChan
💕Patreon members get early access to chapters, bonus content, and voting power on future ideas.💕
Every bit of support helps me write more and faster. Thank you so much for reading! 🥰
Bonus Chapter For Every 100 Power Stones
Lets hit the goal of 200 Patreon Members now for 5 Extra Chapters 💕