Chapter 406 - 245

Chapter 245: Judgment of Light!!"Hmm——?!"Luffy's brows knitted together abruptly, his gaze locking onto that sudden, glaring speck of golden light.Kizaru shouldn't have been here, and he had even less reason to intervene in the battlefield at this moment.Right now, anyone could see that Golden Lion was at the end of his tether.That broken body was crumbling like weathered rock, flesh splitting into fine fissures in the air, the failure of his organs sounding almost like the hiss of time slipping away.In such a battered state, any extra impact could be the final gust of wind that brought him down.Rashly intervening under these circumstances was tantamount to placing oneself in opposition to two top-tier powerhouses simultaneously.A slight misstep could trigger an unpredictable pincer attack; this was by no means a wise move.But at the very moment his doubts arose, Luffy's Observation Haki washed over the edge of the entire Sky Island like a tidal wave.His pupils contracted sharply....The battlefield in the distance was shrouded in smoke and roars.Amidst the hoarse commands of their officers, Marine Soldiers built a defensive line with their own flesh and blood, fighting to the death against the violent beasts pouring out from the island.Their uniforms were soaked in blood, grime, and mud; their arms trembled incessantly from swinging their blades for so long, and every breath scorched their exhausted lungs.Fear followed them like a shadow!!Beneath their feet was a ten-thousand-meter drop, before their eyes were hideous fangs, and their ears echoed with the cries of civilians and the roars of giant beasts.This was clearly a painting of purgatory!But when that faint yet resilient ray of golden light pierced the dim sky, sparks of fire suddenly erupted in every pair of upturned eyes."It's Admiral Kizaru...!"A young Marine Soldier stumbled, parrying a beast's claw, his cracked lips bleeding as he rasped out those words.But that voice was like a spark, instantly igniting the crumbling front line."The Admiral is here! He really came——!""Hold on! Escort the last batch of civilians out!!""Leave the top to the Admiral! Leave the bottom to us!!"Something was reviving amidst the roars.It was a fighting spirit, smelling of iron, struggling to crawl up from the abyss of despair.They gripped their swords once more, facing the incoming shadows.The sound of blades striking bone, the roars of comrades, the drumming of their own hearts.All of this converged into an unprecedented conviction:This battlefield was truly desperate.The legend of the old era roared in the sky, the emperor of the new era fought with all his might, and the world seemed ready to collapse at any moment.But precisely because of that, the golden figure standing in the sky became the unspoken anchor for everyone.——The Admiral is right there!!Thus, the front line, which had been on the verge of collapse, stabilized once more.Marine Soldiers used their scarred bodies as shields, pushing the trapped civilians one by one toward the escape ships.Every swing of their blades was fiercer, every step steadier.Because they knew that beneath this crazy sky, they were not fighting alone.What that golden light represented was the most solid pillar supporting justice upon this raging sea...."Sigh——!"Luffy pulled himself out of his brief distraction, his gaze sweeping over the Marines fighting like an ant colony in the distance.The faces beneath those blood-stained uniforms were clearly filled with fear and exhaustion, yet whenever they looked at that speck of golden light in the sky, flames of near-stubbornness would ignite in their eyes.He didn't understand.Why could these people entrust their faith entirely to someone else?Why could a distant light make them forget life and death?But he understood one thing: at this moment, he shouldn't intervene anymore."Tsk... how boring."Luffy curled his lip and released his tightly clenched right fist.The black and red arcs of electricity wrapped around it receded like a tide, leaving only a few faint streams of light dancing between his fingers before dissipating, as if no destructive power had ever been gathered there."It was hard enough finding a punching bag that could take a hit——"Although he said that, there wasn't much regret in his eyes.When his gaze turned to his companions beside him, that bit of gloom had turned into a knowing smile."Let's go!!"His voice was as loud as usual, but it paused slightly as it swept over the battlefield below.He took one last glance at the Sky Island, intertwined with roars, hope, and sacrifice, and then turned away without hesitation."Zoro! Sanji!!"..."Jiehahahaha——!!"Wild laughter exploded like thunder; Golden Lionstood proudly in the void, his broken body erupting with a heart-stopping pressure at this moment.He stared fixedly at that increasingly brilliant golden light, a flash of realization and even more intense fighting spirit crossing his murky eyes."I remember now... You're that flash brat who used to follow behind Sengoku, only good for shooting cold arrows, right?!""Twenty-some years... Heh, you actually managed to become an Admiral?"His voice was as hoarse as sandpaper rubbing, yet it carried an arrogance that pierced the clouds.With every word he spat out, the black and red lightning wrapping around his body grew more violent, dancing like countless prison dragons on his hunched torso.Those two famous blades that had once clashed with Roger's — "oto" and "Kogarashi" — were held firmly in his hands, slowly crossed before his chest."You want my, Shiki's, life..."He arched his body and dove, his decaying cape snapping violently behind him, his entire being transforming into a sharp sword tearing through the firmament."Then bring out some real skill to trade for it!!"Before the words had even faded, his figure had already shot out!He left countless twisted afterimages in his descent, and with every slight deflection, a golden slash, solid as reality, erupted from the void!Ten, a hundred, a thousand... the slashes no longer followed physical trajectories; they began to spiral, intertwine, and proliferate, like a violent dragon swarm with a life of its own, spreading rapidly across the entire airspace with him at its core!"My sword——"Roars resonated with the whistling of swords, the sky dyed into a burning gold."Can cut even the sky into fragments!!"[Heavenly Cross: Void Scar]That giant net of death, woven from pure slashes, carrying the final pride and madness of an old-era overlord, covered down toward the brightest point of the golden light...!..."Kowai ne..."Kizaru still pursed his lips, uttering that signature, unhurried exclamation.He even had the leisure to raise his hand and gently adjust his slightly slipping tea-colored sunglasses.However, beneath the lenses.Those eyes, always half-closed and exuding laziness and weariness, were now completely open.Cold, sharp, like light compressed to the extreme before a supernova explosion."My, my..."He murmured, his arms calmly raised and steadily crossed before his chest."The reverberations of the old era should just exit the stage quietly."With the intersection of his arms as the center, time seemed to be gripped and stretched by an invisible hand.The golden slashes pouring from the sky, the sharp edges capable of slicing the island to pieces, seemed to have crashed into an absolutely viscous ocean of light, their speed visibly slowing and freezing!"This sky has been made too muddy and too dim by your blood and dreams."For the first time, Kizaru's voice lost all its teasing tone, leaving only a kind of oracle-like emptiness and indifference.His crossed arms slowly separated to the sides.As if pushing open a door of light leading to a New World."Why not...""Shine forever."[Yasakani no Magatama: Eternal Day Kagura]A point of extremely concentrated gold was born at the center of the cross.Then, that point of golden light bloomed silently.It transformed into a cross-shaped star body composed purely of light, sharp-edged and perfectly structured, as if formed by the layering of countless purest light prisms.It expanded outward, and wherever it passed, space itself began to "glow".Rock, dust, the aftermath of the slashes, scattered flesh, drifting clouds... the boundaries of all material and non-material things were melting, assimilated into a part of that eternal radiance.It was a brief rewriting of the physical laws in this area.Returning all things to light.Boom————!!!Vision was completely swallowed by pure white and golden yellow, and hearing was left only with a roar like the beginning of the universe.The outline of the Sky Island melted and evaporated in the light.The last thing captured in the frame was only that cross-shaped star of light suspended in the center of destruction, and before it, that golden silhouette with arms spread wide, like a god or a demon.And the final wild laughter and slashes of the old-era overlord had all vanished silently into this "Eternal Day".Drip.Drip, drip.Thick blood splattered onto the ground; the sound was crisp, yet more piercing than thunder, breaking the silence bit by bit.In the center of the ruins, two figures stood motionless, several meters apart."Kowai ne..."Kizaru slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air that smelled of charred remains, breaking the silence.His signature yellow-striped suit was now stained dark red, two intersecting slash marks running diagonally from his left shoulder to his right abdomen, deep enough to see bone.The edges of the wounds were wreathed in lingering wisps of black and red electric snakes—the tyrannical will left behind by Conquerors Haki Coating."I almost got'sliced to pieces' by you, old-timer... Truly, a monster.""Jie... Jiehahaha..."Golden Lion's laughter was even more desiccated than his broken body.He struggled to lift his head; half his body was a strange charred black, the injury from being instantly scorched by extreme light and heat.The most lethal injury was a searing white light mark that had almost pierced his chest, its edges still emitting air distorted by high heat."I... really didn't expect this. A slippery, treacherous brat like you, who only knew how to hide in the distance and shoot cold arrows... in the end, you would actually choose to take my sword with your own body?"His murky eyes rolled, staring fixedly at Kizaru's two hideous wounds, filled with confusion, and even a trace of absurdity."Can't be helped~"Kizaru took a light breath and shrugged slightly.This action, usually so effortless, now caused him to knit his brows imperceptibly."If I didn't finish it quickly... you probably would have died on your own, right?"Golden Lion was taken aback.The last bit of wildness and mockery in his eyes receded rapidly like a receding tide.He gazed deeply, deeply at the Admiral before him, who was covered in blood yet still standing straight."Jie... Hahahahaha!!!"Golden Lion suddenly burst into wild laughter; the laughter tugged at his shattered internal organs, blood gushing from his mouth and nose.Yet he laughed even more wantonly, even more crazily, as if he had discovered the most absurd joke in the world."Interesting! Too interesting!! A guy like you... Borsalino!""A bastard like you, who believes in 'Ambiguous Justice' and is forever unfathomable... to think there would come a time when you absolutely had to 'personally' and 'quickly' finish off an enemy?!""Your 'Justice'... what exactly is it?! Huh?!"He no longer looked at Kizaru; his blood-stained head lifted with difficulty, inch by inch, his unfocused gaze struggling to focus, casting toward the horizon outside the ruins, dyed golden-red by the setting sun.Blood droplets trickled down his jaw and hair tips, splashing onto the ground like vivid, tragic flowers.In a daze, the flow of time became strange.Roger's words on the execution platform, "Do you want my treasure?"...The world-shaking storm at the Battle of Edd War that buried his ambition and his legs...The determination of severing his own feet in Impel Down...And these past twenty years, on the Sky Island, facing the vast sea of clouds, the crazy blueprints he had drawn and overturned again and again...Countless images, countless voices, countless ambitions and regrets, like a revolving lantern, spun and exploded in his collapsing mind, until all the light, shadow, and noise collapsed and froze.Froze on a face wearing a straw hat, smiling incredibly heartily.——Gol D. Roger.His nemesis, the only man he acknowledged, who stood at the pinnacle of that sea."Heh... hehe..."Golden Lion's laughter faded, turning into an inexplicable wheezing sound, mixed with blood foam."I never thought... Roger.""I spent my whole life dominating the world, and in the end... I would end up just like you.""Dying at the hands... of the Marines.""This is truly... a great irony!!!"The last sentence, he almost roared out, using up the last bit of strength in his broken body.He flung his arms open, an action that caused the light mark on his chest to rupture again, blood pouring down like a waterfall, gathering into a shocking pool of blood beneath him.But he seemed not to notice, just lifting his head, letting that golden hair, which had long lost its luster and was as withered as dead grass, dance wildly in the wind carrying smoke and residual heat.Like an aging lion, dying, yet still refusing to bow its head."Come on! Brat!!"He roared, his eyes devoid of confusion or fear, leaving only a kind of near-liberating, burned-out calm."Kill me!! With your light——!!""Ah..."Kizaru seemed to sigh very lightly, his voice dissipating in the wind."Even if you didn't say it..."He calmly raised his right hand. He extended his index finger, and at its tip, a point of light, pure to the extreme and compressed to the extreme, gathered silently.It flickered quietly, the surrounding space slightly distorted because it couldn't bear its mass.Golden Lion looked at that point of light, his mouth slowly curling, revealing a twisted, satisfied smile.——Shoo!There was no earth-shattering momentum, only a short, almost inaudible sound of something breaking through the air.That thin, extremely condensed beam of searing white light had already shot out.It accurately and gently pierced through Golden Lion's raised brow.Bringing up a spray of hot, splashing blood, it traced a short and tragic arc in the final afterglow of the sunset.Golden Lion's wildly dancing hair suddenly froze.His magnificent body, with arms spread wide, trembled slightly.That arrogant gaze, which had burned for an entire era, suddenly extinguished, like a candle in the wind.No unwilling roars, no final struggles.He just slowly, straightly, fell backward, with that complex and indescribable expression frozen on his face.Bang.A dull thud.The flying dust gently settled, covering his chest which no longer rose or fell.The "Flying Pirate" who once made the World Government tremble, who drank at the pinnacle of the era with Whitebeard and Roger, the legendary great pirate Golden Lion Shiki...In this setting sun's afterglow, amidst the ruins and smoke,Returned to eternal silence.Kizaru slowly lowered his hand, the light at his fingertips dissipating.He stood there quietly, looking at the body that was gradually losing its warmth, and then looked up at the setting sun on the horizon, which had finally sunk more than halfway, like blood.His sunglasses reflected the last light, making his eyes unreadable.Only his blood-stained suit swayed gently in the rising evening breeze.