Marigold and Sandersonia stayed where they were. Neither of them advanced. Neither interfered. The space between Hancock and the Tenryuubito remained clear, handed exclusively to the older sister's decision.
The obese man adjusted the white cloak over his shoulders and lifted his chin.
"My name is Saint Velcior Roswald." He opened his arms, showing off the inflated suit. "A Celestial Dragon of pure bloodline. You exist to serve me."
He stepped onto the still-hot debris, ignoring the destroyed scene around him.
"This is taking too long." His finger pointed at Hancock again. "You should be on your knees. My time is worth more than the life of anyone here."
His gaze ran over her body without retreat.
"You have a suitable body." He tilted his head slightly. "If you behave, maybe I'll allow you to keep breathing after you serve me."
Hancock did not reply.
Her body vanished.
The displacement was instant.
She reappeared in front of him, less than a step away.
The Tenryuubito recoiled half a centimeter, air leaving his open mouth before any command could come out.
"You—"
The sentence didn't finish.
The kick went up from below, direct, with no visible windup.
CRACK!
The glass helmet shattered on impact. Fragments arced briefly before hitting the ground. His neck snapped back in the same motion.
His body lost balance.
The second impact came before the fall.
Hancock's heel slammed into his chest, crushing the center of the cloak against his own ribcage.
BOOOM!
The ground gave a few centimeters under the combined force of the impact. Air was forced out of his lungs in a single broken sound.
His body dropped to the side.
Blood spread across shattered marble fragments. His skull showed a visible deformation. His mouth still moved, but no articulated sound came out.
His fingers twitched once.
Then stopped.
Saint Velcior Roswald did not move again.
Hancock kept her foot planted for one second longer before drawing her leg back. Her eyes stayed fixed on the inert body.
"Pathetic. I wanted to torture him, but he died from a single kick. And they still call them gods." Hancock didn't look away from the corpse as she spoke.
Marigold remained a few steps behind. Her eyes grew wet, but she didn't lower her head. Her hands clenched at her sides, nails pressing into her skin until they left marks.
Sandersonia tilted her chin slightly. A short smile appeared, not mocking, but confirming.
Hancock's direct brutality, executed without hesitation and without unnecessary prolonging, set the pace. The action left no margin for doubt. The first of them had fallen. The structure holding up that title of "god" had been broken with a single move.
Marigold advanced half a step, aligning her body. Sandersonia did the same. Neither spoke. Neither looked away from the scene. What they felt stayed contained, but their positioning changed. Shoulders aligned. Chins lifted. Breathing steady.
The decision was clear.
Hancock turned and walked to Riser. Fire still consumed parts of the surrounding structures, but the immediate space was open.
She stopped in front of him.
"Dear… did I do well?" Hancock kept her chin raised, but her fingers interlaced for an instant before separating. "Wasn't it too fast?"
Riser wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in.
"You did very well, Hancock. But there are still many left for you and your sisters to kill."
He leaned in and kissed her. The gesture was direct, not drawn out beyond what was necessary.
Riser let her go right after.
Hancock took a single deep breath and turned to her sisters.
"Marigold and Sandersonia, let's go. Today is the day of our revenge."
Both moved without hesitation.
Mary Geoise was still burning.
Riser activated Observation Haki.
The expansion was controlled, deliberate. His perception covered every remaining sector of the upper complex. Corridors, balconies, inner halls, side courtyards. Nothing escaped the active range of the technique. No movement occurred without being captured within the expanded field.
With the two Holy Knights already reduced to ashes, there was no immediate structured force protecting the Celestial Dragons in that sector.
Hancock and her sisters spread out.
Doors were kicked in.
Windows exploded against the floor.
Men dressed in white and gold tried to run through side corridors. They didn't get far. Some fell after the first hit. Others were dragged back to the center of their own mansions.
Hancock did not pull back.
Some died quickly, the direct strike ending the movement in the same instant. Others met a slower end, forced to face their own fragility before the final second.
Sandersonia crushed one of them against the broken marble at the main entrance. Marigold threw another through an already cracked column, the impact splitting stone and body at the same time.
Screams echoed through different wings.
Some doors burst open from the inside out.
Women marked by metal collars emerged through smoke. Chains still locked to their wrists. Eyes fixed. No command. No hesitation.
One of them ripped her own collar off with another's help. Another grabbed a marble shard from the floor. A group advanced together.
The Celestial Dragons backed away until there was no space left.
Some begged.
Others tried to command.
No order was obeyed.
Collars were put back on.
Now around their necks.
Men who demanded reverence were shoved to the ground and dragged by the same chains they had used for years. Polished marble was replaced by dust and blood.
The executions were uneven.
Some died on the first blow.
Others held on long enough to understand no rescue was coming.
Riser kept Haki active through the entire process. No immediate reinforcements approached that specific sector. No organized force crossed the burning perimeter.
When the last relevant movement ceased within the technique's reach, he deactivated Observation Haki.
Silence began replacing screams.
Mary Geoise was still burning.
But tyranny, in that section of the complex, had ended.
Hancock emerged between broken structures and walked toward Riser.
Her dress was marked by dark splashes that weren't hers. Blood still ran in thin lines down her arm and along the side of her face, mixed with soot from the burning columns. The smile remained on her lips, calm and satisfied, contrasting with the devastated scene around her.
Her steps were slow.
Her eyes were fixed on him.
There was something different in her posture. The recent brutality still vibrated in her body. The contrast between her delicate face and the red stains created an image that was unsettling and, at the same time, hypnotic.
She stopped a few steps from him.
Riser held position.
"I can see you had fun, Hancock." He tilted his face slightly as he looked at her.
"Yes, husband, thank you very much." Hancock stepped closer. "My sisters and I killed a ghost that had been chasing us for a long time today."
"I'm glad." Riser replied without looking away.
Hancock turned her face to the side for a moment.
A twisted metal surface reflected part of her image. The irregular shine showed a face marked with dried blood, strands of hair out of place, and dark stains on the fabric.
Her smile weakened.
Her body stiffened slightly.
'He's looking.' 'I'm covered in blood.' 'I look horrible.'
She lifted a hand to her face, touching the stained side. The motion was quick, almost automatic. Then she took half a step back, positioning herself slightly behind his shoulder, as if trying to hide part of her body.
"What is it, Hancock?" Riser turned slightly toward her.
"Don't look at me." She averted her face and raised her arm like a shield. "I'm ugly."
Riser let out a short laugh.
The sound crossed the still-smoking space without hesitation.
Hancock stepped back again, her gaze lowered now. Her eyelids trembled before closing for a second. When they opened again, her eyes were watery.
"I'm dirty." Her voice came softer. "Covered in blood."
"Hancock, forget that." Riser stepped closer and touched her chin, lifting her face. "You are the most beautiful woman in this world. Being ugly is something you will never be."
"Really?" She looked up, still wet-eyed.
"Yes." He kept the answer simple.
Hancock dragged the back of her hand across her eyes, wiping the tears before they fell. Then she rubbed some of the blood from her face with her other hand, clearing stains that were still running.
Her smile returned slowly.
"That's the smile I want to see." Riser kept his hand at her chin for one more second before letting go.
Hancock leaned into him without hesitation. Her hands rose to Riser's chest, fingers clutching the fabric as she rested her forehead against his shoulder.
"If you weren't here…" she slid her hand down his arm until her fingers laced with his. "None of this would have been possible."
Her body pressed closer, almost seeking shelter.
"I waited for this day for so long." Her face lifted slowly, eyes locked on his. "And you gave me this."
"Are you sure you want to waste the rest of the Celestial Dragons?" Riser ran his hand along the side of her face, wiping a trace of blood that had remained near her hairline.
"It doesn't matter, my sisters and some women are taking revenge on them." Hancock lifted her chin, fingers still gripping his clothes. "They won't get any rest. Not today."
She pressed her lips to Riser's chest for an instant, a brief gesture, then lifted her gaze again.
"I just needed you to see." The smile returned. "That I'm not that slave anymore."
Mary Geoise kept burning around them, but Hancock stayed there, pressed to him, as if nothing else in that moment mattered.
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