Black smoke coiled skyward, embers drifting in the acrid air. Amidst the scorched wasteland, a figure staggered in and out of sight through the flames—a charred silhouette radiating an aura so chilling it set every nerve on edge.
Darren narrowed his eyes.
The North Blue Fleet's relentless, five-minute bombardment could not have been meaningless. It shouldn't have been.
Even if Golden Lion had shrouded himself in Armament Haki from head to toe, his stamina was finite. He could not possibly have maintained such defense for so long. Once that shield broke, his flesh should have been laid bare before the storm.
Every body has its limit.
Even Garp, the Hero of the Marines, had once been cut in his sleep by the likes of Axe-Hand Morgan—a mere scratch, but proof enough.
Even Whitebeard at Marineford, when stripped of Haki, had been pierced by bullets, blades, and cannon fire.
Had Darren not cultivated his "Indestructible Body" to rival Kaido's, he doubted he could have endured the North Blue Fleet's apocalyptic barrage—an assault greater than any Buster Call.
A blistering wind swept across the battlefield, peeling away the veil of smoke.
And there he was.
The Golden Lion.
The Marines gasped as one, weapons rising instinctively toward the disfigured shadow.
Darren raised a hand, halting them.
The figure that emerged was scarcely human.
Golden hair once proud and flowing now hung in scorched, brittle clumps. His upper clothes were blasted away, leaving only tatters clinging to a gaunt, bloodied frame.
Much of his flesh was ulcerated and blackened, muscle sloughing into crimson sludge. Blood and melted tissue dripped to the ground, thick as tar.
Bullet holes riddled him. Scars crossed his body like burns upon iron. Half his face was gone—obliterated. The surviving eye bulged grotesquely, veins bursting red across its surface.
He looked like something risen from hell itself.
The Golden Lion wheezed, each breath a hiss of fire. His body trembled uncontrollably, yet the hand clutching his blade never wavered.
"Hah…"
A warped smile twisted his ruined lips, gums gleaming red.
"...Hahahah… JIHAHAHAHA!!"
The laugh began low and ragged, swelling until it clawed at the heavens. A demon's roar of defiance.
"To think I'd be pushed this far!"
His burning gaze cut to Darren.
"You've got guts, brat… Even lacing your fleet's fire with Seastone! Were you not afraid of catching yourself in your own trap?"
Darren pulled a cigar from his coat, bit the end, and lit it with calm finality. Smoke curled from his mouth as he exhaled.
"Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt prey," he said. His eyes sharpened. "And in this cage, you are the lion."
"Too strong, Golden Lion."
Reaching down, Darren plunged his fingers into a wound in his chest, tearing out a jagged fragment.
Clink, clink, clink.
A Seastone bullet struck the earth.
His face drained of color, but his eyes only burned hotter.
"I have to take this risk," he growled, dragging another out.
Clink, clink, clink.
One after another, he ripped them free.
Thanks to his Indestructible Body, none had pierced too deep; they lodged only in flesh already torn by Shiki's blades.
"If I don't finish you here," Darren spat, "I'll live the rest of my life in fear."
By the time the last bullet hit the dirt, his breathing was ragged, his lips pale.
The Golden Lion's eye flickered with something like respect—before he broke into fresh laughter.
"Jihahaha!" His body shuddered, blood flowing freely from his mouth, but his gaze burned brighter. "You're insane… You revealed weapons hidden for years, all for the sake of my head."
He sneered, teeth crimson.
"The rumors were true. You're no Marine… You act more like a pirate."
Contempt still laced his words, but in his eye burned fire.
"Then let me show you what true pirate terror looks like!"
He drew a deep breath, raising his mangled hand.
Darren's pupils constricted.
Far off, Doflamingo, Momonga, and every Marine paled, horror dawning.
No… it couldn't be…
"This thing…" Shiki rasped, his hand closing over the massive wheel embedded in his skull. "Such a nuisance. I can't even feel the pain anymore."
His savage grin split his ruined face. "You've been itching to tear this out, haven't you? Then watch."
Darren's eyes widened.
With a brutal wrench, the Golden Lion ripped the rudder free.
Screech!
The bloodstained wood carved an arc through the air, scattering droplets of crimson.
The battlefield froze.
Then—
BOOOOM!!!
Power erupted from him like the collapse of mountains, like oceans splitting apart.
Crimson-black lightning ripped the air as Conqueror's Haki flooded the island.
The world itself seemed to buckle—color draining, air thickening, the very land cracking under the weight of his unleashed spirit.
"JIHAHAHAHA!!! Come, brat!" Golden Lion roared, raising his twin blades. His laughter was wild, unhinged, triumphant. "Don't you dare die so easily!"
It was the lion's final roar.
To be continued...