Magnus felt like his body had become a giant furnace, heat surging higher and higher, so hot it might burn him to ash.
Luckily, the power from his Devil Fruit could still cool him down a little.
Otherwise he might have ignited on his own already.
But the power from breaking his limiters was terrifying.
Even four Admiral-class powerhouses couldn't stop him.
The only pity was that, after pouring all his will into his body, Magnus no longer had the leeway to coat attacks with Conqueror's Will.
Otherwise, after those two headshots, Stephens and Grindwin would have been nothing but headless corpses.
Still—
If he couldn't deal with those undying contract holders tied to Imu, he could certainly deal with the Admirals outside.
And after all that effort Imu spent to surround and kill him—
He broke out anyway.
The moment Magnus did that, Imu had already lost.
What Magnus had to do now—
Was become the final straw that breaks the camel's back.
"W-White Wolf Magnus?!"
"Why is he still alive?"
"Where are the Divine Knights?"
"…"
When Magnus stepped back onto the field, every marine despaired.
They didn't know what he'd gone through down in the rift, nor that Magnus had surfaced precisely because, in his current state, he couldn't finish the Divine Knights.
But ordinary marines didn't think that way.
All they knew was: the Divine Knights had gone to swarm Magnus—yet Magnus appeared, and the Divine Knights did not.
In an instant, Magnus became the face of terror.
Marine officers had kept shouting: if they held on until the Divine Knights finished Magnus, victory would be theirs.
Now every slogan sounded like a joke.
"I—I surrender!"
"Don't kill me!"
"We yield!"
"…"
Conviction collapses in a heartbeat. Not every marine is fearless before death; even their "justice" can be outweighed by their own lives.
Magnus's appearance shattered not only their belief, but their will to fight.
The marines had already been at an absolute disadvantage.
Now the Divine Knights were nowhere to be seen while the White Wolf's leader still lived. In such a state, even Ardent and Portman Nissen had to admit—
They had lost.
And that instant of wavering was exactly what Magnus needed.
"Everyone, fall back!"
Magnus's voice rang across the chaos.
"This battle ends here!"
Some pirates, eyes red with killing, wanted to keep chasing. Though they followed Magnus, loyalty bought by interests was never reliable.
But as Magnus traded a glance with Harald, Harald's Conqueror's Will erupted, and the pirates cooled at once.
At the same time—
Magnus appeared before Ardent and Portman Nissen.
"All marine officers—retreat at once!"
Imu's voice followed Magnus's. She had used a teleportation array to drop into the rift; the fastest way back up was naturally the same.
But that meant the group that had gathered would scatter again.
Imu could no longer worry about that. For eight hundred years she had ruled this world; the instant Magnus moved, she'd guessed his aim—she had to cut losses.
Yes.
The plan to encircle and kill Magnus had failed.
With this eruption of power, even if Magnus couldn't kill the undying, they could not keep him penned in.
Magnus had truly come into his own.
If they wanted to keep him now, they would have to force him to fight to the death.
And his current state surely wouldn't last.
But even if it wouldn't, once he broke the encirclement he could still escape, and at Magnus's speed, no one in the world could catch him.
Worse—the chance to force him to stay was something she herself had buried.
No—if Magnus possessed this strength, there was no keeping him regardless.
Imu would never admit a mistake in judgment.
Swarming Magnus was not wrong—if he died, the rest would crumble.
But as long as Magnus lived—
Even if everyone outside died, he could rise again.
He had a lifespan as long as hers.
Magnus could afford to lose.
And if he could lose and recover, then so could she.
As long as the marines' losses weren't catastrophic—
The World Government's sheer weight could still suppress Magnus.
Magnus, for his part, aimed to widen the gains.
Everyone else was withdrawing—only Magnus didn't. While Imu's side had yet to regroup, he appeared first before the two old marine pillars, Ardent and Portman Nissen.
"You two old-timers—come with me."
Ardent and Portman Nissen mustered themselves to counter when Magnus suddenly arrived—but he only swatted once to pierce their Haki guards.
Had they not just fought before, they might have resisted. But after battling the two giant heroes, then getting ambushed and grievously wounded by Harald—
They were lucky to muster a tenth of their strength.
So the marines could only watch as their Fleet Admiral and Chief of Staff were swatted away and snatched to the other side.
"Admiral Ardent!"
"Chief Portman!"
Marine officers roared with bloodshot eyes, but everything happened in a flash. Magnus had wanted to press the advantage further—he'd even thought of sprinting over to slug Kong.
But Imu had returned, and with her the Divine Knights and CP elites. If Magnus kept hammering the marines, even if they couldn't stop him, they would never stand idle.
Then it would be Magnus pounding the navy while they pounded the White Wolf Pirates.
And so came the scene that made the marines seethe.
Ardent, Portman Nissen, Hains Oran.
One Fleet Admiral. One Chief of Staff. One Admiral.
The White Wolf side had captured three of the navy's leadership in one go.
Had Imu arrived a moment later—
Even Ortega, still half-dead on the ground, would have been hauled off.
Then the entire navy would be down to Kong, a lone Admiral commander.
Even now, the state of things was humiliation enough for the marines—and the World Government.
With Harald, Takiichi, Dorry and Brogy at his side, and Rocks—who had rushed in at the war's end hoping for a grand fight only to find little left to do—
Magnus finally released his overclocked state.
"Whew. Imu—let's talk."
(End of Chapter)
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