Just as the confrontation reached its breaking point, Joy Boy suddenly spoke.
"Do you really want to get rid of those shackles? I can help you."
The moment those words were spoken, every Giant froze in disbelief.
"What?!"
Even Loki was visibly surprised.
The bandages covering his eyes shifted slightly as he lowered his head, silently staring at Joy Boy.
Under everyone's watchful gaze, Joy Boy floated through the air until he reached Loki's wrist. He extended a hand and gently placed it on the Sea Stone shackle.
Seeing Joy Boy genuinely intending to remove Loki's restraints, the Giant Tribe immediately erupted into chaos.
The two captains of the Giant Warrior Pirates, Dorry and Brogy, charged forward at once.
"You can't release him!!"
Unfortunately, they were already too late.
Joy Boy narrowed his eyes as rings of white energy rippled outward from his palm.
The Sea Stone shackle trembled briefly before a sharp crack echoed through the mountain.
The restraint sprang open and crashed heavily onto the ground.
Dorry and Brogy stopped abruptly.
Both stared at Joy Boy's back in complete disbelief.
Loki slowly lowered his gaze toward his now unbound wrist.
He flexed his fingers and rotated his hand, savoring the long-lost feeling as immense power gradually surged back through his body.
A smile slowly spread across his face.
Joy Boy then descended to Loki's ankles and, just as effortlessly, removed the remaining Sea Stone shackles.
Now, not a single restraint remained on Loki's body.
He slowly raised his head toward the sky.
Stretching both arms wide, he basked beneath the sunlight, his face twisting into an expression of pure exhilaration.
The Giants watching this scene clenched their jaws so tightly that they nearly cracked their teeth.
Hatred burned in every pair of eyes.
Many wished they could split Loki apart with a single swing of their axes.
Joy Boy floated back into the air and smiled.
"Freedom after being confined for so long, it feels wonderful, doesn't it?"
Loki slowly lowered his head to look at him.
Despite Joy Boy being the one who had released him, there wasn't even a trace of gratitude in his expression.
Instead, he spoke with open ridicule.
"Are you trying to tell me that my freedom was something you gave me?"
Joy Boy tilted his head slightly.
"That's not what I mean. I've always believed that everyone is born free. No person, and nothing else, has the right to take that freedom away."
Loki let out a dismissive laugh.
"There you go again. Ever since we met in Elbaph, all you've talked about is freedom. Freedom this, freedom that. I've heard it so many times my ears are tired of it. You're incredibly irritating."
Joy Boy smiled apologetically.
"Then I suppose I should apologize. True freedom isn't something that can simply be talked about."
Loki rolled his neck.
A series of loud cracks echoed through the air.
Without warning, the white bandages covering his eyes disintegrated into ash and scattered with the wind.
Beneath them lay scarred skin and a pair of crimson-gold eyes.
Within those eyes burned blazing flames, like two miniature suns.
Wherever his gaze landed, the surrounding air became unbearably hot, and the space itself gradually took on a crimson hue.
Joy Boy maintained his playful smile.
Patting the white cloud-like shirt covering his body, he exaggeratedly exclaimed,
"It's getting so hot! I'm about to burn up!"
As soon as he finished speaking, his body truly seemed to ignite.
White, cloud-like flames surged around him, releasing powerful currents of air that instantly dispersed the scorching heat surrounding him.
A sharp glimmer flashed across Loki's eyes.
"You truly are powerful."
He grinned.
"But no matter what, you're only a false Sun God."
Joy Boy narrowed his eyes slightly.
"A false one?"
Loki slowly turned his head, sweeping his gaze across the surrounding Giants and members of the Mink Tribe.
His voice remained cold and indifferent.
"A true god has no interest in the strength of insects. At best, you're merely someone standing close to divinity."
He paused briefly before his tone grew even colder.
"And someone standing close to a god is often more hypocritical than an ordinary human."
Whoosh!
The brown sun-shaped tattoos covering Loki's body suddenly erupted with dazzling golden light.
His long golden curls transformed into blazing crimson-gold flames.
His already enormous physique expanded even further.
Behind him, a massive crimson-gold sun disc materialized out of thin air.
"I..."
"...am the true Sun God!!"
A colossal pillar of flames burst from Loki's body and shot straight into the heavens, as though attempting to connect directly with the sun itself.
An incomparably scorching wave swept across the battlefield.
The earth instantly became charred black.
Everyone present immediately released their Armament Haki with all their strength to withstand the overwhelming heat.
Even so, only a handful remained unharmed.
Most of those present suffered burns, grimacing in pain as the unbearable temperature assaulted their bodies.
Joy Boy responded once again.
A far stronger wave of white cloud-like energy erupted from his body, expanding into a vast white domain that enveloped both himself and everyone standing behind him.
At the same time, the Drums of Liberation began to echo across the battlefield.
Boom... Boom Doom... Boom...
The rhythmic heartbeat resounded through everyone's bodies.
Those who had been burned immediately felt the pain disappear.
Their strained expressions gradually relaxed, replaced by renewed vitality and exhilaration.
Standing opposite Joy Boy was a world dyed crimson.
Within that blazing domain, nothing remained untouched.
Only Loki stood proudly at its center.
The pupils within his eyes had vanished entirely, replaced by glowing crimson-gold light.
The mocking smile he had worn moments earlier was gone.
In its place was an overwhelming aura of authority and power that seemed capable of crushing everything before it.
Dorry and Brogy could restrain themselves no longer.
The two Giant Warrior Pirates captains stepped forward simultaneously.
Coating their enormous weapons in Armament Haki, they swung with all their might.
A terrifying shockwave erupted across the battlefield.
"Hakoku!!"
Loki remained expressionless.
He calmly thrust both hands forward.
The crimson-gold sun disc behind him instantly appeared before his body before rapidly expanding into an enormous radiant shield.
"Apollo's Shield."
Boom!!
Hakoku collided violently with the blazing sun disc.
The impact unleashed massive waves of Haki that spread in every direction.
The ground instantly shattered apart.
Countless enormous cracks raced across the battlefield like gigantic serpents.
When the devastating clash finally subsided, the sun disc was still floating before Loki.
Its brilliance had faded considerably after blocking Hakoku.
Moments later, it dissolved into countless golden particles of light.
Those particles drifted through the air before gathering behind Loki's neck, forming a much smaller crimson-gold sun disc.
Loki slowly spread his arms.
His massive body rose effortlessly into the sky, hovering high above the ground.
Wrapped in blazing crimson-gold flames with the radiant sun disc behind his neck, he truly resembled a divine being descending upon the world.
Dorry and Brogy's expressions became incomparably grim.
Both slowly lifted their heads, silently staring at the transformed Loki.
Nearby, Joy Boy floated cross-legged in midair.
Resting one hand against his chin, he tilted his head thoughtfully before smiling.
"The Human, Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Sun God Apollo."
"How interesting."
===
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