"You will never be a slave again." Riser kept his eyes fixed on her. "What happened in the past died here."
Hancock stayed close, her fingers gripping the fabric of his clothes.
"I know you would never allow it."
Riser slid a hand through her hair and moved her back just enough to look at her clearly.
What had been done in the past had died there and would never happen again.
As long as I stand above this world, no one will ever touch her as property; if anything even dares to try, I will erase it from existence.
He released her hand and took half a step forward.
"Now I need to make sure your words are true."
Hancock tilted her head slightly.
"How?"
"I'm going to involve myself in the war between the God's Knights and the Revolutionary Army."
The corridors of Mary Geoise were still burning in distant sectors, but at that point the flames had already been controlled by Riser himself minutes earlier, stabilizing the immediate area for movement.
The war was not concentrated there.
It was happening further below.
Between the inner halls and the fortified structures where the Holy Knights had retreated to contain Dragon and his forces.
If that confrontation followed its natural course, the God's Knights would win.
If they won, the remaining Celestial Dragons would survive under a new power structure.
The root of the throne would regenerate.
Riser would not allow that.
Hancock kept her eyes on him for several seconds before answering.
"If that is your decision, I trust you."
He did not reply immediately.
The activation was silent.
Observation Haki expanded in a controlled way, covering specific sectors of the battlefield below. Movements were identified. Sword impacts. Coordinated displacements. Organized advances by the Knights.
The reading was complete.
Then Riser closed his eyes for one second.
The communication was established.
His mind reached Kalifa.
Kalifa.
The response came instantly.
Yes, Riser-sama.
Mary Geoise. Upper central sector. Bring Alvida and Nojiko with you. Now.
Understood.
The link ended.
Hancock noticed the slight shift in his posture.
Space behind them distorted.
A vertical line appeared on the partially destroyed wall.
The surface cracked into a rectangular shape.
A doorknob emerged.
CLICK.
The door opened.
Kalifa stepped out first, posture aligned, gaze firm. Her dress was intact, without marks of battle.
The shift in scenery made Alvida pause for half a second. Her gaze moved across cracked columns, broken marble, and banners burning in scattered points. The smell of heated stone still lingered in the air, mixed with light smoke rising from shattered structures.
She slowly turned her head.
"So this is the sacred home of the gods?" She placed a hand on her waist and lifted her chin. "I expected more gold and fewer holes in the floor."
Her eyes passed over a statue split in half.
"They actually lived here?" She kicked a marble fragment with disdain. "Apparently their divinity didn't survive a renovation."
She walked a few steps forward, examining the partially collapsed ceiling.
"Riser-sama, I must say… destroying the ultimate symbol of the world like it's an old house is quite dramatic. I approve."
The comment sounded far too light for the scene.
Nojiko came last, calm steps, silently studying the surroundings.
The contrast between histories was obvious. She had grown up hearing distant stories about that place, exaggerated myths about the untouchable residence of the Celestial Dragons. Seeing broken marble beneath her feet made everything strangely ordinary.
The legendary grandeur was nothing but construction.
Now it was in ruins.
The door stayed open for one second before disappearing as if it had never existed.
Hancock looked at the wall where the portal had appeared.
"Why are they here?"
Kalifa also turned her gaze toward Riser. The question wasn't repeated, but the expectation was clear.
The surrounding sector remained devastated. Leaning columns still released small particles of dust that slowly fell onto the already cracked floor.
Riser stood still for a moment.
"They will help you kill the rest."
Distant flames crackled in isolated points.
"With Kalifa's ability, you can return to the Phoenix Nest afterward."
The silence that followed was not doubt.
Hancock studied Alvida for a second, then Nojiko, then Kalifa.
What had begun as personal revenge was now becoming a systematic operation.
Alvida broke into a wide grin.
"Oh, so there are still more of these gods running around?" She snapped her fingers. "Perfect. I was worried the fun had ended too early."
Kalifa adjusted her glasses with minimal precision.
"Internal routes have already been mapped. I can open doors directly to the remaining residential sectors."
She touched the air in front of her.
A rectangular outline began to form.
Nojiko stayed silent for several seconds, but her focus wasn't on the doors or the corridors.
It was on the ground beneath their feet.
On the drag marks.
On the iron rings fixed into the walls.
Hancock noticed.
She knew that look.
She trusted Riser completely and knew all of this was also meant to protect her, something that touched her more deeply than any words, so she would not question his decision or try to monopolize her revenge, because she had already moved past the past enough to allow her sisters and even other women to participate.
But anger was not exclusive to them.
"Riser-sama."
"What is it?"
"This is the place where people are taken from their islands and forced to serve as slaves."
"Yes."
Nojiko's fingers slowly curled.
A small arc of electricity ran across her skin, controlled, concentrated at her fingertips before fading.
"Any specific orders?"
"No." Riser kept his tone steady. "Do whatever you want."
Nojiko tilted her head slightly.
"Thank you."
She turned toward the side corridor.
The first step was calm.
The second firmer.
Electricity ran across her arms again, stronger now, briefly lighting the walls marked by old chains.
Hancock watched in silence.
Once again, she understood that she and her sisters were not the only ones with scars in this world.
Revenge was not isolated.
It was shared.
Kalifa completed the door formation.
The rectangular surface stabilized, revealing an intact inner corridor lit by golden lamps flickering irregularly.
Alvida rolled her shoulder once before moving forward.
"Leave some alive long enough to beg." She gave a short grin. "Or at least try."
She crossed the threshold without hesitation.
Nojiko followed another wing, electricity concentrated in her hands, blue light reflecting on walls marked by old iron fixtures.
Hancock remained in front of Riser for a few more seconds.
There was no longer doubt or hesitation in her eyes.
She stepped forward and touched his chest with the tip of her fingers.
"Come back whole."
Riser held her hand for a moment.
"I don't lose."
She held his gaze for one second longer before turning away.
The dress still carried dark stains from the earlier execution, but her posture was firm.
Hancock walked in the opposite direction of Kalifa, following the trail of destruction left by Sandersonia and Marigold.
Riser remained still until their presence moved far enough away.
The upper sector was empty now.
Only broken structures and leaning columns marked what remained of that part of Mary Geoise.
The Mangekyō Sharingan rotated slowly.
The red pupils became the only stable point within the distortion forming around Riser's body. Matter around him fragmented into controlled spirals, pulled toward the center of his gaze.
First his feet vanished. Then his torso. His shoulders were absorbed in absolute silence.
The last thing to disappear was his eye.
___
KAMUI DIMENSION
Riser appeared on a platform suspended in absolute emptiness. The ground beneath his feet was solid, perfectly stable, as if it existed only because he decided it should.
The black cloak remained intact, without a single trace of the flames still consuming Mary Geoise. The Mangekyō Sharingan remained active, rotating slowly and steadily.
He simply walked.
Each step produced a dry, controlled sound against the smooth surface. Other platforms floated at different levels, arranged in geometric layers stretching as far as the eye could see.
Riser moved deeper into the dimension.
Ahead, the void responded to his silent command.
He raised his right hand.
Space folded.
A rectangular surface began forming in the air, like a screen suspended in nothingness. The image stabilized gradually, gaining contour and depth.
The external scene appeared.
It was not Mary Geoise.
It was another sector of the conflict.
Dragon stood upright, his body leaning forward as he held position against Figarland Shamrock. The wind spun around him in concentrated currents, compressing the advance of the opposing blade.
Shamrock did not retreat.
His posture was clean and firm, with no wasted movement. Each strike forced Dragon to push his control even further.
Riser watched without changing expression.
He's going to lose. No matter how much he resists.
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