As though he hadn't noticed the wary, nervous looks from the Marines around him, Shanks walked forward at an unhurried pace.
His eyes moved around, taking in the ruins of Marineford and the countless bodies scattered across the battlefield.
When his gaze fell upon the corpses of the two Admirals, his pupils tightened, and the usual calmness on his face gave way to a rare, grave expression.
He then spread his Observation Haki across the island.
The presence of the Whitebeard Pirates was gone.
Realizing they had already escaped, a faint trace of relief appeared in Shanks's eyes.
He let out a quiet breath, rested one hand on the hilt of Gryphon, and raised his voice. Though he did not shout, his words carried clearly across all of Marineford.
"That's enough. I came here to end this war."
Red-Haired Shanks.
Luffy might have been the man carrying the future of this era, but Shanks was no ordinary pirate either. Whenever he stepped onto a battlefield, even the course of the sea itself seemed to change.
Shanks looked directly at Sengoku.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, there's no reason to continue. If this battle goes on, neither side will gain anything. The Marines will only lose even more."
Sengoku's face twisted with rage.
"End the war?"
He thrust a finger toward Shiki.
"That man murdered two Admirals and reduced Marine Headquarters to ruins! Do you honestly expect us to stand aside and let him leave?"
Unlike the original course of the Summit War, Sengoku was in no mood to calmly accept Shanks's proposal.
Back then, the Marines had succeeded in executing Ace and killing Whitebeard without losing any of their greatest fighting forces.
This time, everything had gone wrong.
Ace had escaped alive. Two Admirals had been killed. Sengoku himself had lost an arm, and Marineford had been almost completely destroyed.
The Marines had not simply failed.
They had lost.
There was no way Sengoku could accept that so easily.
Shanks understood that, and he could not blame him for it.
If two of his own closest companions had been killed before his eyes, a few words about ending the battle would not have been enough to calm his anger either.
Still, that did not change what had to be done.
"I'm not asking you to forgive him," Shanks said. "And I'm not saying the Marines have no right to pursue him after today. But this battle ends here."
"Red Hair…"
"You've already lost this war, whether you want to admit it or not. If you keep fighting now, this won't be a battle anymore. It'll be the destruction of the Marines."
His words struck every Marine still standing.
They were harsh, almost cruel, and they cut straight through the pride of Marine Headquarters. Yet no matter how badly they wanted to reject them, not one of them could deny the truth.
Even if they managed to kill Shiki, how many more Marines would fall with him?
Would Marineford even remain above the sea afterward?
Would Sengoku and Garp survive?
And what would happen if the Red-Haired Pirates joined the fight as well?
Shanks then turned his attention toward Shiki.
There was no doubt who stood at the center of everything that had happened today.
Although Shanks had not seen the live broadcast from the beginning, he had witnessed enough. He had watched Shiki stand against the strongest forces the Marines could gather and tear through them one after another.
"Red-Haired Shanks?" Shiki asked with an amused smile, Oto resting against his shoulder. "Are you planning to persuade me too?"
"To be honest, Shiki, I still can't understand you," Shanks replied. "A man with your strength stayed hidden for so long, only to reveal himself to the entire world like this. I don't know what you're truly after, but you've already accomplished whatever brought you here, haven't you? Why not stop now?"
Shiki gave a careless shrug.
"The Marines were the ones who attacked me first. All because of those disgusting mutts."
His eyes swept across the surviving Marines.
"Instead of protecting the justice they claim to believe in, they chose to protect a group of worthless Celestial Dragons. Someone had to teach them a lesson."
Even Shanks paused when he heard Shiki openly call the Celestial Dragons worthless mutts.
However, his surprise lasted only for a moment.
"I know talking won't change the mind of someone like you," Shanks said, "but think about what happens if the Marines collapse here. Whatever you think of them, they're still the ones keeping countless islands from falling into chaos. For many people, they're the only protection they have."
"Hahahahaha!"
Shiki threw back his head and laughed.
"Shanks, I always knew you were softhearted, but hearing it from your own mouth is something else."
His grin widened.
"Why are you even a pirate? You should've become some wandering adventurer instead. What's the point of flying a pirate flag if you're going to worry about the whole world?"
Shanks ignored the mockery, but his crew did not.
Several figures moved at once.
Benn Beckman, Lucky Roux, Yasopp, and the other officers of the Red-Haired Pirates appeared behind their captain, their attention fixed sharply on Shiki.
Even with the full force of the Red-Haired Pirates standing before him, Shiki remained completely at ease.
His expression did not change in the slightest.
"What's this?" Shiki asked, glancing across them. "Are the Red-Haired Pirates planning to join forces with the Marines and take me down?"
He looked back at Shanks with open amusement.
"Just like when Garp and Roger joined hands against the Rocks Pirates?"
Silence fell over the battlefield.
Most ordinary people had never even heard the name Rocks.
But Shanks and the older Marines knew exactly what it meant.
Rocks D. Xebec.
The man who had once stood at the top of the seas.
Whitebeard, Big Mom, Kaido, and even Golden Shiki had once sailed under his flag. Each of them had later become a legend in their own right, yet they had all once been members of the same monstrous crew.
Rocks had never been satisfied with treasure or adventure. He wanted to stand above the entire world, and anyone in his path—Marine or pirate was nothing more than an obstacle to be crushed.
To bring him down, Garp had been forced to fight alongside Gol D. Roger.
It was a truth the Marines had never been eager to spread.
After all, there was little glory in admitting that the Hero of the Marines had needed the help of the Pirate King to defeat their greatest enemy.
Shanks naturally knew the story.
For a moment, his eyes became distant.
"Well?" Shiki asked. Though he stood between Marine Headquarters and the Red-Haired Pirates, he looked more entertained than concerned. "Do you want to join them and wipe me out here?"
Shanks stared at him for a moment before giving a helpless smile.
"Shiki, I came here to stop a war, not start another one."
"Is that so?" Shiki replied, sounding almost disappointed. "What a shame."
The highest-ranking Marines had listened to the entire exchange in silence.
Sengoku's expression remained dark.
Shiki had now become one of the most dangerous criminals in the world. In the eyes of the Five Elders, the threat he posed had already surpassed even Monkey D. Dragon.
Sengoku wanted nothing more than to keep him here.
But wanting it and being able to do it were two entirely different things.
The strange darkness Shiki controlled was monstrous enough on its own, and his Haki was just as dangerous. Bringing him down would require more than rage and desperation.
It would require preparation.
Marineford was already on the verge of collapse. If the battle continued, most of the Marines who remained would likely be dragged beneath the sea along with the island.
That was a loss the Marines could not endure.
Shanks's arrival had given every side a way to step back without losing what little dignity they had left.
But Sengoku also understood something else.
Shanks claimed that he had come to stop both sides, yet he had clearly drawn a line in front of everyone.
Garp saw it too.
Red Hair isn't protecting that brat.
His eyes narrowed.
He's warning everyone here.
Shanks was not asking the Marines to pardon Shiki.
He was declaring that the war would end now, and if either side refused, the Red-Haired Pirates would step in.
At the moment, he was still willing to settle the matter with words.
But if the Marines attacked Shiki again, Shanks would not hesitate to answer with force.
Sengoku closed his eyes.
His remaining fist trembled at his side.
After a long silence, he finally let out a heavy breath.
"The war… is over."
The Marines around him stared in disbelief.
This time, there were no cheers.
The Marines had failed to accomplish their goal.
Fire Fist Ace was still alive and had already escaped aboard a pirate ship. Whitebeard was dead, but the public execution that was supposed to display the absolute power of Marine Headquarters had become a humiliation before the entire world.
And now, the highest-ranking officer still standing had personally declared the battle finished.
Where was the justice in that?
Why had their comrades died?
What had all those sacrifices been for?
But Sengoku's decision had already been made.
Garp felt some of the weight leave his chest as well.
This war had been harder on him than anyone knew.
Ace had stood on the execution platform, and Luffy had thrown himself into the middle of Marineford to save him. If the battle continued, there was no telling what might happen to either of them.
Of everyone present, Garp's heart had been pulled in the most painful directions.
On one side was his duty as a Marine. He wanted the Marines to win, and he wanted the justice he had served for decades to prevail.
On the other side were his grandsons.
Duty and family had torn at him until he could barely tell which choice was right anymore.
Now, at last, the fighting was over.
And if there was one true victor in this war, it was Shiki.
He had gained fame that would shake the entire world, obtained three extraordinarily powerful Devil Fruits, and secured several people who would prove useful to his plans in the future.
Shiki turned as though he were finally ready to leave.
Then he smiled.
Shanks's expression changed at once.
His Future Sight showed him what was about to happen—but by the time he moved, it was already too late.
Far above Marineford, the massive prison of Impel Down suddenly began to fall.
Shiki had released it.
The enormous structure plunged straight toward the ruined island while Shiki slowly rose higher into the sky.
"Well, the war's over, so I'll be leaving now," he called down casually. "Holding something that big in the air was getting tiring, you know."
"Damn you, Shiki!" Sengoku roared. "No matter what—!"
But Shiki was already too far away to hear the rest.
Shanks sighed and looked up at the descending prison. His hand tightened around Gryphon.
"Honestly…"
In the next instant, Shanks, the officers of the Red-Haired Pirates, and Garp moved together.
BOOM!
Their combined attacks tore Impel Down apart before it could strike the island.
Even so, the force of the impact was too much for what remained of Marineford.
The shattered headquarters finally collapsed beneath the sea.
A short while later, the Red Force waited nearby.
Shanks surfaced beside it, swimming with one arm while still holding Gryphon.
Lucky Roux leaned over the railing.
"Captain, you could've dropped the sword."
Shanks looked up at him.
"Not a chance, now pull me up first."
"Right, right."
As the remains of Marineford disappeared beneath the sea, the war that had shaken the world finally came to an end.
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