"The Gorosei have made their move!"
"Rogers Darren's head—did it just explode?!"
"That… that must be one of the Gorosei's powers!"
"Saint Saturn—he looks like a demon out of legend!"
"Horns… a spider's body… and those black flames—is that the Gyuki?!"
"…"
Saint Saturn's sudden transformation plunged the already panicked representatives into sheer terror. Faces turned ghost-pale, bodies shoved and trampled one another in frantic desperation.
For reasons they couldn't articulate, the moment one of the Gorosei revealed a monstrous form and that chilling, otherworldly aura, a primal terror surged through them—far sharper than anything they felt toward Rogers Darren.
The highest authority of the World Government… now resembled a villain more terrifying than the man they had just declared war on.
"Excellency, did it work?"
Through the chaos, Stussy slipped behind Saint Saturn like a shadow.
Behind her mask, she watched the flames and smoke consuming the Stairway to Heaven, her brow faintly furrowed.
Saint Saturn's lips curled. "Don't underestimate that brat. That blast could crush a Vice Admiral, but I doubt it will kill him."
"Prepare yourself, Stussy," Saint Warcury said calmly beside her. "It's time to prove your loyalty—and your skill."
"Yes, Excellency." She bowed, though she caught a fleeting heaviness deep in his eyes.
Then—
A violent roar erupted.
Saint Warcury's body expanded, muscles swelling into a mountain-sized behemoth. In mere seconds, he had transformed into a colossal boar, towering over the plaza, tusks gleaming as he let out a deafening roar.
Fengxi.
"Insolent brat! How dare you trespass upon the Holy Land? You've chosen your grave!"
His thunderous bellow morphed into a tangible shockwave, laced with savage Conqueror's Haki, tearing outward as if the sky itself were splitting open.
Crackle!
Stussy's pupils shrank. She staggered back a step, paling.
Where the blast passed, the plaza shattered, tiles splitting apart. Even the steps of the Stairway to Heaven cracked and buckled, black-and-red lightning racing upward toward the flame-wreathed figure.
Such terrifying Conqueror's Haki!
Both Stussy and Doflamingo felt their hearts seize, their limbs locking. The weight of Saint Warcury's aura bore down on them like the pressure of a collapsing mountain.
And this wasn't even directed at them—just residual force.
If that power had been aimed at them directly, the result was unthinkable.
But then—
Doflamingo and Stussy's eyes snapped open.
A jet-black military boot emerged from the inferno, stamping firmly onto the ground.
The moment it landed, an overwhelming aura tore through the air, warping the light itself.
Black lightning and violent air currents burst outward, clashing against Saint Warcury's Conqueror's Haki with earth-splitting force.
The collision was apocalyptic—shockwaves rippling like tidal rings, exploding through the sky. Above Pangaea Castle, the sea of clouds ripped open, carved apart as though by a giant's blade.
"Long time no see, old geezer." Darren stepped out fully, black lightning coiling around him, Conqueror's Haki erupting like a storm. "Attacking me without even saying hello… rude."
"There's no place for mercy when dealing with filth like you."
A voice hissed beside him.
So fast!
Stussy and Doflamingo's hearts leaped.
A skeletal warhorse wrapped in black fire had crossed the Stairway to Heaven in an instant, appearing beside Darren before a single sound reached the crowd. Only after did faint, ember-like hoofprints manifest along the steps.
Izambaron V. Nusjuro Saint—Bakotsu.
In his hand, the Demon Blade Shodai Kitetsu burned with cold violet flame. His slash tore through the air, aimed directly at Darren's skull.
Got him.
Triumph flickered across Nusjuro's eyes.
Smirks curved the lips of Saint Warcury and Saint Saturn.
After all, Saturn's initial explosion of smoke and flame, and Warcury's overwhelming Conqueror's Haki, were only distractions meant to blind Darren's senses.
To hide the true killing blow—
Bakotsu Nusjuro Saint's hypersonic strike.
"It's over," Nusjuro whispered. "Die."
A single slash fell.
Clang!
Boom!!
The sound of metal against stone echoed across the plaza—followed by a quake that rattled the Stairway to Heaven.
The Gorosei's confident smiles froze. Their pupils constricted sharply.
Rumble…
The steps cracked. Earth split apart around the impact.
Saint Nusjuro stared in disbelief.
He dodged it?!
His Demon Blade Kitetsu had slammed into the ground. Frost spread from the blade's edge.
But now—
that legendary sword was pinned beneath a military boot.
Darren's boot.
He turned, a mocking smile curling at the corner of his lips. His black-crimson gaze shimmered with eerie calm.
"I was talking about you, old man," he said lightly. "Sneaking up on me without even saying hello?"
To be continued...