I let Krieg spread chaos across the island while I took to the skies to observe the situation from above. Winds swept around me as I slowly flew over the immense umbrella trees towering over the island, their gigantic leaves sometimes hiding entire districts beneath their shadows.
Just as I expected, the Heartless were not blindly massacring everything they found.
Quite the opposite.
A large portion of the tourists, merchants, and even the island staff were completely ignored. Some Heartless even walked around them without sparing them a glance, pursuing only specific targets through the streets.
From above, I could watch several scenes unfolding simultaneously.
One pirate tried to take advantage of the chaos to stab a merchant and steal his cashbox.
He didn't even get the chance to strike.
A pirate Heartless easily deflected his blade before knocking him unconscious with a punch under the grateful gaze of the merchant. The pirate Heartless picked up the criminal and carried him toward the beach where I was supposedly waiting.
Further away, a group of three pirates was trying to force their way into a hotel where several families had taken refuge.
They were intercepted by Krieg's pirate Heartless.
The humanoid fake pirates charged brutally, their swords coated in blackened Armament Haki as they sliced through the attackers' weapons before mercilessly beating them down. One of the criminals attempted to flee…
But a chain burst out from an alleyway and wrapped around his ankle before violently throwing him against a wall. Krieg stepped out of the alley, his terrifying appearance making the refugees tremble, yet he didn't even look at them. He had the three pirates carried toward the beach.
I watched Krieg speak with the managers of three different hotels, all of whom agreed immediately, though I couldn't really hear what he asked of them.
With a few well-placed threats and plenty of violence aimed at the worst elements, he had gathered all the innocents into three large hotels in the center of the island. About ten Heartless now guarded each entrance, motionless like living statues.
Thanks to that, his troops could focus entirely on the hunt.
…He really thinks like a war leader now.
I continued flying over the city center before noticing a much more interesting commotion.
There…
Were fighters capable of resisting.
A black-haired man with a strange flaming "3" hairstyle was blocking off an entire street. His hands produced massive white wax structures erupting from the ground to form walls, cages, and even giant handcuffs meant to immobilize the pirate Heartless.
"Candle Wall!"
An enormous wax wall crushed several pirate Heartless against the ground while others remained trapped up to their shoulders inside hardened white masses.
Beside him, a little girl wearing a pink cowboy hat rapidly drew strange symbols on sheets of paper and scraps.
"Miss Goldenweek, hurry up!!" shouted the candle man.
She seemed perfectly calm despite the chaos.
Her drawings began glowing faintly before she slapped them onto several attacking Heartless…
But nothing happened.
The creatures kept advancing without any reaction.
The little girl slowly blinked.
"…It's not working."
The real spectacle, however…
Was elsewhere.
A female Marine officer with pink hair charged through the streets with a cigarette hanging from her lips, completely ignoring the explosions and screams around her.
With every movement of her arms, black iron bars appeared in the air to imprison the pirate Heartless.
"Awase Baori!"
She spread her arms, and long black bars extended several meters before she brought her arms back together, causing the bars to slam shut around the pirate Heartless.
A Devil Fruit user tied to imprisonment?
Interesting.
For a few seconds, she genuinely seemed to gain the upper hand.
Then—
The first imprisoned Heartless raised their swords.
Black.
Coated in Haki.
CRACK.
The bars exploded under their strikes, drawing a stunned look from the Marine woman.
"What?!"
The pirate Heartless immediately lunged at her.
The candle man tried to intervene.
"Candle Champion!"
A gigantic wax fist smashed several creatures aside before creating a new path to flee with the little girl.
But the result was exactly the same.
The Haki-enhanced blades brutally cut through the hardened wax, destroying constructions supposedly known for being extremely durable.
The candle man turned pale.
"T-That's impossible!!"
Too late.
The pirate Heartless had already surrounded them.
I slowly descended from the sky, carefully observing the scene as the three captives were forced to their knees by the pirate Heartless. Contrary to what most people would have expected… they were not injured. The creatures were simply holding them immobilized, swords pointed at them, visibly waiting for my instructions.
I took a few seconds to analyze their hearts.
The female Marine possessed a deep blue heart. Stable. Strict. Almost rigid. The kind of person who followed the rules to the letter without really questioning whether they were just or not. Not evil… but incapable of easily stepping outside the framework.
Ultimately, the closest thing to true neutrality.
The candle man, meanwhile, had a fairly pronounced green heart. Interesting. That meant he rarely harmed innocents and mostly directed his violence toward people worse than himself. Opportunistic, probably… but not needlessly cruel.
As for the little girl…
Her golden heart shone surprisingly brightly.
I observed her for a moment, intrigued.
Considering the way she fought, she probably only intervened in complicated or dangerous situations… which meant she spent most of her time surrounded by criminals without necessarily resembling them herself.
After a few seconds of observation, I smiled faintly.
Well… might as well make this memorable.
I gently clapped my hands.
CLAP.
The sound echoed through the silent street.
All of them immediately looked up.
I slowly descended from the sky under Sora's appearance, the tails of my coat fluttering in the wind while several Shadows appeared behind me like silent guards.
The two civilians—or rather, the two bounty hunters—instantly turned pale.
The Marine woman, meanwhile, furrowed her brows sharply.
I smiled.
A calm smile.
But unsettling enough to make everyone uncomfortable.
"Hello."
My feet touched the ground softly.
"I am Sora."
I lightly crossed my arms behind my back.
"A pleasure to meet you."
The silence lasted half a second before the Marine woman immediately snapped.
"Hina is furious!"
She stood back up despite the swords pointed at her.
"You completely ruined Hina's vacation with your monster invasion!"
Her cigarette trembled slightly between her lips from sheer irritation.
"And Hina will make you pay for this personally!"
I tilted my head slightly.
…She really talks about herself in the third person.
Interesting.
Beside her, the candle man swallowed nervously before trying to smile politely despite the situation.
"Uh… well… nice to meet you too?"
He slightly raised a hand despite the Heartless surrounding him.
"I'm Mr. 3. Independent bounty hunter!"
The little girl calmly raised her hand as well.
"Miss Goldenweek."
She seemed far less panicked than her partner.
Mr. 3 immediately continued with a nervous laugh.
"Listen… now that we've introduced ourselves properly… would it be possible for us to leave?"
Mr. 3 discreetly pointed at the black blades aimed at their throats with a strained smile.
"Politely… if possible?"
Beside him, Miss Goldenweek simply nodded, perfectly calm despite the situation.
"We won't cause any more trouble."
Hina shot them an incredulous look, as if she had just heard the most shameful thing imaginable.
"Seriously?!"
Mr. 3 leaned slightly closer to her before replying in a low voice, all while maintaining his stiff smile.
"Well excuse me, but I know how to recognize when I'm completely at a disadvantage!"
He cast a panicked glance at the Heartless surrounding them.
"These creatures are using Haki when even the boss struggles with that!!"
…
Silence fell for half a second.
Then Mr. 3's face suddenly turned white.
His eyes widened.
And he immediately slapped both hands over his mouth.
He had said too much.
I smiled faintly at his reaction.
"'The boss,' hm?"
The poor man turned deathly pale.
"P-Please ignore that part…"
I deliberately let an uncomfortable silence linger before calmly continuing:
"You are not leaving."
The three of them immediately tensed up.
However, I slightly raised one hand.
"But don't worry. I have no intention of hurting you."
Well…
I tilted my head slightly with a stranger smile.
"Not intentionally, at least."
Even Miss Goldenweek finally looked up at me.
"You see…" I continued calmly, "I recently signed a pact with a certain lord of the underworld."
Dark flames briefly appeared around my hand before disappearing.
"And that agreement requires me to provide participants for his arena."
I looked at the three captives one after another.
"And honestly… I think you make an interesting team for a first attempt."
Hina immediately pulled against her chains.
"Hina absolutely refuses to participate in the whims of a criminal like you!"
Her gaze was literally burning with anger.
"Hina is a Rear Admiral of the Marines!"
I simply shrugged.
"And yet here you are, captured."
She gritted her teeth.
Beside her, Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek exchanged a far more pragmatic look. The fear was still there… but learning that I didn't intend to kill them outright had slightly reassured them.
I continued calmly:
"If you win… you'll receive a reward personally chosen by the master of the coliseum himself."
I crossed my arms.
"Two members of a rookie pirate crew have already received extremely useful abilities… and even one of my Heartless obtained an interesting reward."
I deliberately let a pause settle.
"It's not rigged."
Then I added with amusement:
"And if you'd rather fight alone… that's possible too."
Mr. 3's face instantly became horrified.
"ALONE?!"
He immediately turned toward Hina.
"Listen, Miss Marine, I'm going to be honest… I would MUCH rather temporarily cooperate with you than die separately in some infernal coliseum!"
Hina glared at him.
"Hina refuses to cooperate with criminals."
"And I refuse to die!!"
Miss Goldenweek calmly raised her hand.
"Statistically… as a group of three… the chances increase."
Mr. 3 immediately pointed at the little girl.
"There! Even she understands!"
Hina closed her eyes for a few seconds, visibly fighting off a massive headache.
Then she finally exhaled.
"…Hina accepts."
Mr. 3's relief was almost physically visible.
I smiled faintly before taking back to the skies, leaving several Heartless to escort the trio toward the main beach.
When they arrived at the shoreline…
They froze.
Around fifty other captives were already there.
Pirates.
Criminals.
Some injured.
Others completely terrified.
And among them…
Several well-known faces from West Blue and North Blue.
Rookies already carrying bounties worth tens of millions of berries. Some were still struggling against shadow chains while others stared at the Heartless with absolute fear.
One of them immediately recognized Hina.
"R-Rear Admiral Hina?!"
Another turned pale upon seeing Sora floating above the group.
"Damn it… he's really taking us to hell…"
I summoned several Shadows in front of each prisoner. The small black creatures silently emerged from the ground before remaining perfectly still.
The captives instinctively stepped back, some still trying to understand why these monsters were watching them instead of simply killing them.
Around them, Krieg maintained perfect control of the situation.
His dagger-tipped chains stretched in every direction like living serpents, linking the prisoners together or stabbing into the ground to form a true mobile prison. Every time someone tried to move a little too quickly, a blade immediately slid beneath their throat.
The atmosphere was heavy.
Silent.
Even the most arrogant pirates had understood that they were absolutely in no position to negotiate.
I slowly descended into the center of the group before raising one hand.
A soft light immediately spread outward.
"Heal."
The prisoners' wounds began to close under their stunned gazes. Cuts, minor fractures, burns… everything gradually disappeared. Several pirates stared at me in confusion.
"Why is he healing us…?"
"No idea…"
Hina slightly furrowed her brows as she watched the scene in silence, while Mr. 3 looked on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
As for me, I calmly observed them.
Then I began sorting them.
Mentally first.
Then physically.
The weakest were gathered on one side of the beach. Mostly low-level pirates, a few local criminals, and several rookies who had mainly survived thanks to numbers.
Cannon fodder.
The others were far more interesting.
Devil Fruit users. Bounty hunters. A few pirate officers who had already fought in the Grand Line.
I finally turned toward them.
"You are going to fight in Hades' coliseum."
A shiver immediately ran through the group.
I calmly continued:
"The weakest will fight together."
I pointed toward the first group.
"Ten against the arena."
The people concerned instantly turned pale.
"The others…"
I lightly crossed my arms.
"You'll have a choice. Solo. Duo. Trio."
One pirate tried to protest.
"And if we refuse—"
One of Krieg's chains instantly shot across the sand before stabbing into the ground just millimeters from his head.
Silence immediately returned.
I smiled faintly.
"Glad to see we understand each other."
Even Hina remained silent this time.
After the earlier demonstration…
No one wanted to test my patience.
I then turned toward Krieg.
"Keep them in line."
The Heartless slowly nodded while his chains tightened slightly around the captives.
I then raised my hand toward the first group of ten.
"Hades."
Blue flames immediately exploded around them.
The pirates screamed in shock as space violently distorted before swallowing them whole.
A few seconds later, I appeared inside the coliseum.
Hades was already seated in his lodge, an enormous grin on his face as he saw so many participants arriving.
I quickly explained my idea to him while the first ten prisoners appeared in the center of the arena, completely panicked.
The god of the underworld burst into laughter.
"Ten at the same time?"
He cast an amused glance toward the unfortunate captives.
"Technically, that bends the rules a little…"
He paused.
Then shrugged.
"But honestly… they wouldn't even survive the first round alone."
He didn't even bother hiding it.
The ten prisoners immediately turned pale.
Hades suddenly stood up before summoning his microphone in an explosion of green flames.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!"
The broadcast instantly activated through every Heartless in the world.
"The next session promises to be especially exciting!"
The screens displayed the ten terrified prisoners standing in the middle of the arena.
"Our dear Sora has captured FIFTY participants!"
Flames exploded behind him while the infernal stands roared.
"And they will now fight…"
His grin widened enormously.
"ONE AFTER ANOTHER IN MY COLISEUM!!"
Inside the arena, the first ten participants finally realized one essential thing.
They were no longer on the Grand Line.
They were inside the domain of a god.
And the spectacle…
Had only just begun.
(Author's Note: Prepare yourselves for the coliseum, hahahahaha… and especially for the Marines' reaction when they see one of their own inside ^^)