Chapter 178: End
That single move had caught Eulia completely off guard.
He stood beneath the ruined remains of the office, looking up at the shattered walls and collapsed beams. His expression was grim.
He did not believe this was coincidence.
One coincidence could be dismissed.
Two could be luck.
But when coincidences stacked on top of one another, they stopped being coincidences and became inevitability.
The sword wave had just happened to tear toward his office. Axel and Lucci had just happened to crash into the open and destroy the timing of his plan. Everything had unfolded in exactly the worst possible way for him.
Eulia soon reached a conclusion.
All of this had been within Axel's calculations.
Which meant he had been exposed from the very beginning.
That was the worst possible outcome.
But considering the worst outcome was also the first step in building a precise plan.
Eulia lowered his gaze and began to think.
At the harbor, where the sea breeze carried a faint briny scent, Lucci lay sprawled across the ground. A long skid mark stretched behind him, proof that his landing had been anything but gentle.
The weather was sunny, but it was still early spring. The air carried a chill.
Lucci's skin pressed against the cold ground, yet he barely felt it.
His body was just as cold.
The previous blow had disrupted his blood flow, obstructing circulation and starving his heart of what it needed. For a brief moment, he had nearly blacked out. His limbs had gone numb, his body icy, his consciousness barely clinging to the edge.
Lucci moved his fingers slightly, checking his condition.
Then he activated Life Return.
His muscles contracted and relaxed in controlled rhythm, forcing his circulation to recover.
A breeze brushed past his cheek. His disheveled hair remained pressed against the ground.
Along with the wind came a small figure.
Axel appeared in front of him again.
That body was slender and small. Outside the training grounds of CP9, he was probably smaller than any enemy Lucci had ever fought.
Yet in Lucci's eyes, Axel no longer seemed small.
Not compared to a grown man.
Not even compared to a giant dozens of times his size.
Lucci frowned inwardly.
Fortunately, his Devil Fruit was a Zoan. His recovery was far beyond that of an ordinary human.
This time, however, he did not choose close combat.
He used Soru to retreat, keeping his distance while whipping his leopard tail through the air.
Rankyaku tore out from his tail and flew toward Axel, who was also moving with Soru.
Axel did not retreat.
He met it head-on.
With a casual swing of his wooden blade, sword energy burst forward and slammed into Lucci's Rankyaku.
The sky rang with the sharp collision of both attacks.
On the Judicial Ship, the Chief Judge stood calmly at the prow, frowning as he watched the battle. He still held a cup of tea in his hand, though he had long forgotten to drink it.
A Marine officer in a captain's uniform stepped closer, his voice tense.
"Chief Judge, please return to the cabin. It's dangerous here."
Axel and Lucci were fighting several hundred meters away, yet the winds from their clashes still reached the ship. The sharp flashes cutting through the air were far beyond anything he could block.
The Chief Judge remained composed.
"It's fine. Captain Axel knows his limits."
The Marine officer was stunned.
The Chief Judge himself was also faintly surprised by his own words.
He did not know when it had started, but somewhere along the way, he had begun paying attention to that child.
At first, he had simply thought of Axel as an audacious brat who had somehow involved himself in an incident concerning the Celestial Dragons. His impression had been poor. A child who dared to commit such an offense had still been spared punishment. For the sake of balance between the Marines and the World Government, the Chief Judge had chosen to accept it in silence.
But after meeting Axel, his thoughts began to change.
The first time he saw him in person, the Chief Judge had been surprised.
Not because of his appearance. At his age, he had long since stopped caring about such things.
It was the wisdom and depth in Axel's eyes.
Was this truly a child?
If he had not seen it himself, he would not have believed it from anyone else. Perhaps that was why, back then, he had quietly allowed Axel's unorthodox departure from the Judicial Ship.
Their second meeting had been at Enies Lobby.
That child had threatened the World Government for the sake of a shipwright's life.
At the time, the Chief Judge could not help but wonder whether the justice he had spent his life upholding was even worth as much as a child's conviction.
He had tolerated too much.
Enies Lobby's jury, made up of convicted criminals with malicious hearts, was something he had always known about. He had allowed it all the same.
Justice had been within his reach, yet it had felt impossibly distant.
He was the one responsible for judging justice, yet he had condoned injustice.
In that regard, perhaps he was not even as upright as a ten-year-old child.
And now, in their third meeting, that same child remained sharp-tongued and careless, yet showed astonishing strength.
Justice and ability.
If Axel survived and grew for a few more years, he would become a remarkable figure.
"Chief Judge, watch out!"
The Marine officer lunged forward and tackled him to the deck.
A moment later, a huge sword wave swept past the prow, slicing off part of the ship's edge before flying onward.
The Marine officer stared after the receding slash, cold sweat running down his back. In all his years of battle, this was the closest he had ever come to death.
He raised his voice, unable to hide his distress.
"Chief Judge, sir, let's return to the cabin!"
The Judicial Ship's cabin was built with several layers of steel. Even sword energy like that would not cut through it easily. At the moment, it was the safest place available.
Of course, the better option would be to move the Judicial Ship farther away.
But for the dignity of Enies Lobby, that was impossible.
This time, the Chief Judge did not refuse.
He, too, felt a lingering chill from the slash that had nearly taken off his scalp.
In his heart, he added another label to Axel.
Reckless.
He had only just said the child knew his limits, and the next moment, that same child had nearly served him a sword wave.
If the Marine officer had not pulled him down, his old bones might have ended right there.
After escaping with Blueno, Jabra did not go after Tom.
Instead, he rushed to locate the other CP9 members. He needed to gather them and assist Lucci.
Using their prearranged signal, he quickly called the others together.
It did not take long for the rest to arrive.
At first, they thought Jabra had found something useful. Instead, he came back empty-handed.
Then he said one sentence, and everyone's expression changed.
Kumadori tilted his head, his voice solemn and theatrical.
"Yoyo. Forgive this humble one's presumption, but what did you just say?"
Jabra gritted his teeth.
"Lucci is at a disadvantage. We need to help him."
No one accepted it immediately.
Kaku's usual smile faded into seriousness.
"That is Lucci we are talking about. How is that possible?"
Califia adjusted her glasses, disbelief clear in her eyes.
"Jabra, this is not the time for one of your lies."
Jabra's temper flared.
When he lied, they believed him.
Now that he was telling the truth, they doubted him.
"I'll show you proof."
He pointed at the unconscious Blueno nearby, then pulled open his own clothes, revealing the wounds across his body.
"Now do you believe me?"
Only then did the others fall silent.
So the commotion outside really was caused by Lucci fighting that child.
There was no more time to think.
They moved at once.
Meanwhile, the battle at the harbor had only lasted a short while.
Because of the damage Axel's Vector Manipulation caused in close combat, Lucci soon reached his limit.
He dropped to one knee, one hand braced against the ground.
Only the justice in his heart kept him from collapsing entirely.
But anyone could see he was at the end of his strength.
Then a voice sounded.
"I'm done fighting."
Flat.
Lazy.
With a hint of indifference.
It sounded like a child who had suddenly decided he no longer wanted to play.
For a moment, even Lucci failed to react.
.....
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