It was a world of peace, with no sounds of war, no cries of despair—only the happy memories of a single man.
His life flashed before his eyes, a fleeting montage of moments that Kyros savored one last time.
But when he reached out to touch the bubbles of memory, they shattered like reflections in the water.
"No!" Kyros screamed in despair, trying to stop his world from collapsing. But an illusion was just an illusion, and reality always reasserts itself.
"Rebecca! Scarlett!"
Kyros's eyes shot open, his hand reaching for his wife and daughter, but grasping at nothing but a fading dream.
The clamor, the stench of ruin, and the searing pain in his body quickly pulled him back to the present.
When he saw that King Riku was still alive, Kyros felt a wave of relief.
He pushed himself up, ready to continue the fight. By the time he had his sword back in hand, there was only one enemy left.
Soon, as Kyros watched, Doflamingo drove Akainu back. The Admiral seized the opportunity to retreat, no longer troubling Dressrosa.
"Thank goodness," Kyros thought, his spirits lifting. He rushed to King Riku's side and helped his father-in-law to his feet.
"Your Majesty, are you alright?" Kyros asked with concern.
"I'm not dead yet. The Marines are finally gone," King Riku said with relief, though his heart was still heavy with worry. Doflamingo and his pirates, after all, had not left.
The victory belonged to Doflamingo, not to King Riku.
The survivors were all cheering, thanking Doflamingo and the Donquixote Pirates. King Riku was not a part of their celebration. Although his final stand had not been without valor, the people had already lost faith in him, pinning all their hopes on Doflamingo instead.
This was exactly what Doflamingo had wanted. All he needed now was the right spark to ignite the fuse, and King Riku would have to say goodbye to his throne.
The Tontatta tribe was swift. Seeing Akainu's retreat, they immediately flew over to offer their congratulations.
"Doflamingolando! Thank you for driving away the Marines and saving Dressrosa! You are our great hero!" Leo and the others landed on Doflamingo's shoulder, their voices united in gratitude.
"It was nothing. We're friends, after all. No need to be so formal," Doflamingo said politely, looking at the excited dwarves.
Seeing that the danger had passed, the surviving citizens also began to gather around. He was their savior, after all, and deserved their thanks.
But King Riku and his party were faster. With Kyros's help, the king dragged his injured body before Doflamingo to express his gratitude.
"Captain Doflamingo, thank you for saving Dressrosa," King Riku said, bowing deeply in a grand gesture of respect.
His gratitude was sincere; Doflamingo could feel it. But sincerity wouldn't save him. In Doflamingo's eyes, anyone who stood in his way had to be removed.
Kyros bowed as well.
The approaching crowd saw this and stopped in their tracks. They wanted nothing to do with King Riku; the sight of him made them feel sick.
Before Doflamingo could speak, the dwarves on his shoulder began to jeer. "King Riku, stop the act! Doflamingolando doesn't need your thanks!"
King Riku straightened up. Seeing the dwarves' flushed faces and hearing their furious accusations, he felt a deep sense of shame and said nothing.
"What? You played deaf and dumb when you sold us out, and now you're pulling this stunt?" Kabu demanded angrily.
Thump.
King Riku fell to his knees before Doflamingo, his head bowed in atonement.
"I am sorry. It is all my fault. I will accept any punishment you see fit," he said in a low voice.
"Your Majesty!" Kyros moved to help him up, but the king refused.
Leo and the others had never witnessed such a scene and didn't know what to do. The atmosphere between them grew heavy and solemn.
Doflamingo and his crew watched with great interest, curious to see what King Riku would do next.
"King Riku, just die! We see through your act!"
"You are not fit to be our king!"
The angry shouts of the citizens broke the silence, their words like whips lashing out at the king.
King Riku's heart ached, the guilt and self-blame already tormenting him. Now, he had to endure the condemnation of his own people.
"Silence!"
Kyros's eyes were red with fury as he silenced the crowd.
King Riku rose to his feet. Seeing the anger on his subjects' faces, he prepared to kneel once more.
Just as he was about to, Kyros grabbed his arm, whispering in his ear, "Your Majesty, you mustn't! You are the king of Dressrosa!"
"This is my burden to bear, Kyros. Say no more."
With that, he knelt before his people.
Kyros was powerless to stop him, a deep sadness welling in his heart. What immense pain, guilt, and self-reproach could drive a king to kneel before his own subjects?
A man's pride is worth more than gold. With this act, King Riku had set a precedent, becoming the first king to kneel in atonement to his own people. But would they accept his apology?
No.
At first, the sight of their king kneeling before them had shaken the citizens to their core. This was their king, a man who held their lives in his hands. Who could have imagined that he would one day kneel before them?
Shock and disbelief filled their hearts. It felt like a dream.
"You know, I'm actually a little impressed by the old guy," Enel remarked.
"Hmph. He's just a weak king," Diamante scoffed. "A king kneeling to his subjects is a disgrace. If he were stronger, this shameful display would never have happened."
"Well…" Hearing Diamante's words, Enel reconsidered and fell silent, feeling a bit embarrassed.
The other members of the Donquixote Family agreed with Diamante. Kneeling was a sign of weakness.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. King Riku's act had both pros and cons. But what Doflamingo saw was the helplessness and compromise of a king.
For a king to have to resort to such means to beg for his people's forgiveness… it was truly pathetic.
The dwarves had initially been satisfied with the king's apology, but after hearing Diamante's words, they, too, began to see him as weak.
The citizens of Dressrosa were also influenced. Though shocked at first, their shock soon turned into a deep sense of humiliation.
"King Riku, just die! We don't need a king like you! How can a king who kneels to his own people protect us?"
Once they came to their senses, the citizens' humiliation turned to rage, and they began to curse him.
Kyros couldn't bear it any longer. He moved to draw his sword, but King Riku grabbed his leg, stopping him.
"Why, Your Majesty?" Kyros asked, confused.
King Riku didn't answer, simply enduring the people's torrent of abuse.
BOOM!
A sudden, massive explosion silenced the crowd, their attention drawn to the distance.
The Donquixote Pirates also turned to look. Doflamingo activated his Observation Haki and immediately saw the battle unfolding far away.
'As expected of the King Punch. That power is quite impressive,' Doflamingo thought to himself.
In the world Doflamingo perceived, Elizabello II had just unleashed his full-power King Punch, blowing away half of Akainu's body.
Legend had it that even an Emperor of the Sea would be defeated, killed on the spot, if struck by the King Punch. Whether that was true or not, no one could say for sure.
Elizabello II stared in excitement at the result of his attack, thinking to himself that a Marine Admiral wasn't so tough after all.
Behind him, Viola and the others looked on in shock.
Had the first Admiral to be killed by a King Punch just been born?
But unlike their excitement and shock, the Marines showed no surprise at all. They didn't believe for a second that a mere king could defeat an Admiral.
And sure enough, Akainu's grievously injured body quickly began to regenerate. His foul expression was unchanged, making it impossible to read his mood, but the magma churning in his hands was a clear sign of his displeasure.
"How is that possible? I'm sure I hit him!" Elizabello II exclaimed in disbelief.
Viola and the others fell silent, a sense of dread creeping over them.
Minutes earlier, Akainu and his men had arrived. Their warship was still some distance away, and fearing that Doflamingo might pursue them, Akainu had decided to commandeer Elizabello II's ship. As fate would have it, he discovered the last remnants of King Riku's family.
"Elizabello II, the king of the Prodence Kingdom, here in Dressrosa, harboring the remnants of the Riku family. You are all to be executed," Akainu said without a shred of mercy.
"Admiral Akainu, you can have our ship, but can't you just let this one slide?" Elizabello II pleaded, bowing his head.
But what kind of man was Akainu? Pleading with him was like asking the Grim Reaper for a second chance.
Naturally, their negotiations broke down, which led to the fight.
Elizabello II was breathing heavily, his body exhausted. Although he had been preparing his King Punch, he hadn't had enough time to fully charge it, preventing him from unleashing its full power.
Akainu stared coldly at the ship full of criminals, marking them all for death.
"Go, now, Your Highness!" Tank Lepanto urged Viola.
"But…" Viola began, but Lepanto cut her off.
"Go, niece Viola! I'll hold them off!" Elizabello II said with grim determination. He knew he was doomed, but King Riku's children had to survive. He had given his word.
Tears welled in Viola's eyes. She thanked him, then quickly turned to flee.
As for the other princess, Scarlett, she had been hiding in the cabin the whole time, daring only to peek out at the commotion, too afraid to make a sound.
"Remnants of the Riku family, you won't escape! Great Eruption!"
Akainu's attention was fixed on Viola. After the humiliation he had suffered here, he would not let anyone from the Riku family escape.
"You coward! Akainu, you're a Marine Admiral! You would attack a child?" Elizabello II cursed, unleashing a weaker version of his King Punch in a desperate attempt to block the attack.
Akainu ignored his words. Cowardly or not, he couldn't care less. As long as he could eliminate evil, it was a good thing.
Elizabello II's attack was no match for Akainu's. It was easily dispatched, and the Admiral immediately gave chase.
Seeing the searing magma flying toward her, Viola was so terrified that she tripped and fell. She tried to get up, but the pain in her leg was excruciating. She could only close her eyes and await her death.
"Your Highness! Run!" Tank Lepanto threw himself in front of the magma, taking the full force of the blast.
Viola opened her eyes to see Lepanto being melted by the magma, and tears streamed down her face.
"Don't… cry… Run…" Lepanto's voice was a whisper, but Viola heard every word.
What did the pain in her leg matter now? Seeing the people protecting her fall one by one, Viola struggled to her feet and ran.
But she was no match for Akainu's speed. He caught up to her in an instant.
"Your Highness!" The soldiers guarding Viola tried to help, but they were blocked by the other Marines.
"Remnant of the Riku family, die!"
With that, Akainu showed no mercy. In his eyes, there were no women or children, only criminals and non-criminals.
"NO!"
King Riku and Kyros, who had been rushing toward the scene, saw this and let out a heart-wrenching scream.
"Father!" Viola reached out a helpless hand, as if trying to grasp her father's.
Behind her, Akainu's magma fist plunged through her heart, the intense heat incinerating her internal organs.
A delicate flower, only seventeen or eighteen years old, was snuffed out at Akainu's hand before she ever had the chance to truly bloom.
"Aaaah! VIOLA!"
King Riku's eyes went wide, tears of blood streaming down his face as he collapsed to his knees, letting out a helpless, agonizing roar.
Tears streaked down Kyros's face.
"Die, Akainu!"
Whether he could win or not didn't matter. Kyros charged, his sword raised.
"Akainu! Akainu! AKAINU!"
Like a mad dog, King Riku was no longer kneeling. He would avenge his daughter.
Even with his broken body, he would make Akainu pay.
Two men, their hearts filled with hatred, threw themselves at Akainu with reckless abandon.
In that moment, life and death no longer mattered.
Akainu looked at them with contempt as they charged. He pulled his fist from Viola's body, the high temperature instantly vaporizing the blood, leaving not a single stain. Viola's body fell to the ground.
Every last one of the Riku family had to die.
Akainu's eyes narrowed, a dangerous aura radiating from his fists.
The next moment, he was in front of them, ready to end it.
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