He was terrified.
Utterly, completely terrified.
Spandam's legs trembled like jelly, his mind spinning as regret clawed through his chest.
Why didn't I run faster?!
Why did I waste time swaggering around like a peacock?!
He wanted to slap himself. Hard. Twice. Maybe three times.
But he couldn't even lift a finger now.
Because Arthur's Conqueror's Haki had locked onto him.
The crushing pressure froze his body in place. Even thought itself became impossible—his brain seized, his lungs forgot how to breathe.
He simply couldn't comprehend how a human being could possess such overwhelming presence—
how just one look could make his heart hammer like it was about to explode.
Thud!
With a strangled cry, Spandam collapsed to his knees.
His pride shattered as he wailed, snot and tears streaming down his face.
"Please don't kill me! Take Robin—take Franky—take whoever you want! Just spare me, I beg you!"
Whatever shred of dignity he once had evaporated.
He looked less like a World Government officer and more like a pitiful hostage.
Arthur's expression didn't change. He didn't even blink.
"You must die."
His eyes snapped open, lightning flashing in their depths.
The next instant, the ground cracked beneath his feet as he kicked off—
BOOM!
The entire stone bridge exploded outward. Chunks of rubble lifted into the air… and froze midair, suspended by the sheer pressure radiating from him. Gravity itself seemed to bow before his will.
Spandam couldn't move, couldn't think—just stared blankly as Arthur blurred toward him like death incarnate.
His lips quivered. So this is how I die.
He closed his eyes. He could already feel the wind of that fatal kick slicing toward him.
Then—
"Life Return! Kami-e: Tekkai Kenpo—Paper-Body Form!"
A thunderous voice cut through the chaos.
A black shadow streaked across the bridge—Rob Lucci, forcing his battered body to move once more.
His "Life Return" technique compressed every fiber of his muscles and fur, abandoning brute strength for pure speed.
It was his self-created pinnacle form—his fastest state.
"Tekkai: Rankyaku—Empty Wood!"
BOOM!
CRASH!
"Aaagh!"
"Urgh—!"
He collided with Arthur's kick head-on. The air screamed as two forces clashed.
But the result was inevitable.
Arthur's raw power far surpassed anything Lucci's body could withstand.
Even using his counter technique Empty Wood to redirect force, the sheer magnitude of the attack was overwhelming.
Still—he'd managed to deflect enough.
The blow that should've turned Spandam into mist instead blasted both Lucci and Spandam off their feet, sending them flying like rag dolls.
Both hit the ground hard, blood spraying from their mouths. Alive—but barely.
Arthur straightened, lightning still crackling around his body.
For the first time since entering Enies Lobby… he'd been forced back a few steps.
He blinked, then laughed—a low, dangerous sound.
"Interesting."
This was the first time since merging with the Third Raikage that anyone had forced him to retreat.
And it was by Rob Lucci's own hand.
A rare grin tugged at his lips.
This one might actually be worth killing properly.
"Let's see if you can take another."
He blurred forward, his leg arcing down like a falling thunderbolt.
"Hmph! I blocked you once—I'll do it again!" Lucci snarled, spitting blood but grinning fiercely.
"Vice-Director, take the prisoners and go! I'll handle this!"
He crossed his arms, calling out again:
"Tekkai! Empty Wood!"
Lightning flared—
Arthur smirked.
"You're an idiot."
He stopped short, his kick halting inches from Lucci's guard.
The CP9 agent blinked, thrown off by the sudden feint.
"Wha—?"
Arthur tilted his head, eyes gleaming with mischief.
"Ever played KOF '97?"
"What are you—?"
Lucci's confusion lasted less than a heartbeat.
Because Arthur's hands were already on his head.
"Nice hairstyle. Let me give it a little charge."
A wicked grin. Then—
Zzzzzzzzzt!
"AAAAAAGHHHH!"
A blinding current of blue-white lightning surged from Arthur's palms, flooding into Lucci's skull.
His entire body convulsed violently.
His fur stood on end. His mouth twisted into a soundless scream as smoke curled from his lips.
The smell of burning hair—and meat—filled the air.
Anyone watching might've mistaken it for a barbecue.
When Arthur finally released him, Lucci collapsed with a heavy thud.
His body twitched once, blood leaking from nose, ears, and eyes.
"Would've been a waste to use medicine on you," Arthur muttered with a look of disgust, brushing his hands clean.
He turned slowly toward Spandam, who sat frozen in place, face pale as parchment.
Then—
"Watch out!"
Robin's sudden scream cut through the tension.
Arthur's instincts flared—his Observation Haki warning him an instant before the attack hit.
He spun and threw a fist backward, Haki coating his arm in obsidian.
"Rokushiki: Maximum Rokuougan!!"
"RAAAH—!"
BOOM!
The collision shook the entire bridge.
A blinding shockwave ripped outward, cracking the stone beneath their feet.
Lucci—burned, bloodied, barely conscious—had forced his broken body to move again.
His final, desperate Six Kings Gun met Arthur's Haki-infused punch in midair.
The result was one-sided.
The bridge shattered. The surrounding air distorted from the impact.
Both combatants were engulfed in smoke and debris.
When the dust settled, Lucci's body was gone.
Arthur stood unmoving, lightning sparking faintly around him.
Far above, a small black dot arced through the sky—then came crashing down in the distance.
BOOM!
Lucci's body slammed into the deck of a massive battleship—one of twenty Marine ships that had suddenly appeared beyond the Gates of Justice.
Arthur's eyes narrowed.
So. The Marines had arrived.
Spandam, realizing what that meant, let out a cry of hysterical laughter.
"Hahaha! Saved! I'm saved! Marines! Over here! I'm still alive!"
Tears of relief streamed down his face as he jumped up and down, waving like a madman.
But his laughter died the moment he met Arthur's gaze.
The purple-haired man was smiling faintly.
And that was somehow far, far worse.
"You look… happy," Arthur said, voice dropping to a deadly whisper.
Spandam froze. His blood ran cold.
He'd just remembered—
there was still one person between him and those ships.
And that person was a monster.
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