"My... my fleet..."
Shiki the Golden Lion's mind went blank as he stared blankly at the hellscape before him.
The invincible fleet that had taken him decades to build, the force that should have helped him conquer the world, had been torn to shreds in mere seconds by that unreasonable super storm.
This was the foundation of his ambition!
"RAAAAAAAGH——!!!"
An uncontrollable madness surged from the depths of his heart. The Golden Lion's eyes instantly filled with bloodshot veins, his golden hair standing on end as his terrifying Haki spiraled out of control, erupting wildly in all directions!
"Unforgivable... UNFORGIVABLE!!"
"Navy brat!! I'll take your life!!"
Abandoning any attempt to save his fleet, he went completely mad, transforming into a golden streak that tore across the sky as he plunged headfirst into the still-raging storm.
With the power of his Float-Float Fruit, he was confident he could move freely in any complex aerial environment.
However, when he actually charged into this chaotic domain created by Kane, he was horrified to discover how terribly wrong he had been.
To the east was an upward hurricane, to the west a downward pressure zone, above him were sweeping turbulent flows, and beneath him were tearing whirlpools.
His proud Float-Float Fruit ability became extremely difficult to control at this moment.
He could make himself float, but he couldn't counteract the insane power coming from the entire atmospheric environment!
His entire body felt like it had been thrown into a high-speed centrifuge operating in all directions without any blind spots.
Simply maintaining a stable posture was exceptionally difficult as he was tossed about by the violent winds, tumbling up and down in a wretched manner.
This was Kane's absolute domain!
"Damn it! What kind of ability is this?!"
The Golden Lion roared, swinging his famous swords "Cherry Ten" and "Withered Tree" to counterattack.
But in the raging airflow, even keeping his body upright became a luxury.
The domineering slashes that should have been capable of cutting islands became twisted and distorted due to his severe imbalance.
The golden Sword Aura had barely left his blades when it was mercilessly torn apart by the raging currents around him, instantly shattering into scattered golden lights that dissipated in the rainstorm, unable to coalesce into form, let alone clear a path!
At the center of the storm was absolute tranquility.
Kane hovered there, sitting cross-legged.
His eyes glowed with an eerie cyan light, half his body already transformed into violent winds and lightning. Strange cyan patterns covered his face like porcelain about to shatter.
This was the sign of his Devil Fruit ability being pushed to its limit, with both his stamina and life force being crazily overdrawn.
Kane watched the golden streak recklessly charging through the storm, his lips twisting into a distorted grin.
Time was running out.
Kane focused his mind intensely, controlling every wisp of airflow in the storm with meticulous precision.
His gaze pierced through the layers of rain, accurately locking onto an object tumbling wildly through the air.
A broken ship's rudder from a pirate ship.
"You're the one."
Kane's voice was hoarse and dry.
"Come... to me!"
He extended his right hand, fingers clenching empty air!
An invisible wind, like a flexible tentacle, wrapped around the rudder rolling through the storm.
Aim!
Accelerate!
Kane poured the last shred of compressed wind pressure he could muster, madly injecting it into the storm!
Within the tempest, a colossal wave deliberately amplified by Kane crashed down upon Golden Lion like a mountain collapsing!
"Ugh!"
Caught off guard, Golden Lion was struck by this tremendous force, his blood and energy churning violently. His body briefly lost balance mid-air.
In a battle between masters, a single moment is enough!
"Vacuum Prison!"
Kane roared under his breath.
Hum—!
The air within a hundred meters around Golden Lion was instantly evacuated!
An extreme sense of suffocation and weightlessness struck simultaneously, his mind going blank. More critically, he lost all perception of sound and airflow!
"Damn it!" Golden Lion's instincts screamed in alarm.
Now!
"Go."
Kane's eyes showed not a flicker of emotion as he clenched his fist sharply!
Whoosh—!!!
The wooden ship's helm, enveloped in extreme wind pressure, broke the sound barrier. With an ear-splitting shriek, it transformed into an indiscernible black streak, shooting forth violently!
Golden Lion's battle-hardened Observation Haki had already traced the trajectory of death, but his unbalanced posture and the vacuum environment rendered him incapable of any effective evasion!
He could only watch helplessly as that black shadow rapidly expanded in his pupils!
Kane mustered his last ounce of strength and roared:
"Damn you... get it in!!"
"No—"
Squelch—!!!
A sickening, dull sound of penetration echoed.
The rapidly spinning ship's helm pierced straight through the center, deeply and mercilessly, impaling Shiki the Golden Lion's skull!
"Grah——————!!!"
Golden Lion's body stiffened abruptly, his forward momentum halting instantly.
His eyes bulged, bloodshot, as he lifted a disbelieving hand to touch the top of his head.
His fingertips met the warm, sticky sensation of brain matter and blood, and... the cold, hard texture of wood.
This strike was deeper, straighter, and possessed a more absurdly perfect symmetry than the image Kane remembered from that newspaper.
"Kuh... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
A distorted, agonized scream erupted from Golden Lion's mouth.
The excruciating pain was too much for even his battle-hardened body to endure.
Haki, willpower, strength—all crumbled in that instant.
His consciousness faded rapidly, the world spinning before his eyes.
In his blurring vision, he saw the navy brat standing before him, wearing a genuinely heartfelt smile.
"Senior Shiki."
The brat's voice pierced clearly into his fading consciousness.
"Your era... is over."
Boom!
Shiki the Golden Lion—a man who once stood at the very pinnacle of the seas, a peer of Roger and Whitebeard—could no longer maintain his flight ability. He plummeted straight down from the sky.
Falling into the cold graveyard below, formed from the wreckage of his own fleet.
A generation's maritime overlord.
Thus, his combat power crumbled.
The legend...
Had come to an end.