Even through the bandages covering his eyes, that colossal silhouette was impossible to miss, and Observation Haki had given him an even clearer picture of the battle that had just unfolded.
The giant imprisoned beneath Treasure Tree Adam, the cursed prince who possessed the Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Nidhogg—
Loki.
The anticipation building inside him could no longer be contained.
"That guy… seems to possess a power rather similar to mine."
Loki murmured to himself before turning toward the enormous hammer that had remained silent behind him for so long.
"Hey, Iron Thunder. Maybe he could tame you too."
"If he can, going with him wouldn't be so bad."
He gave a low chuckle.
"I'm stuck rotting away in a place like this, but there's no reason you should have to rot here with me. You've already waited long enough."
Loki had become so absorbed in talking that only after finishing did he suddenly remember something. A self-mocking smile tugged at his lips.
"Almost forgot. You're chained up with Seastone too, so you can't even answer me."
"Eh, don't get discouraged. I'm not abandoning you."
He paused.
"But if I really do spend the rest of my life trapped here, then I'd rather you at least be free."
Then Loki's grin widened.
"Still, more than any of that…"
"What I really want is a proper fight with that guy!"
He threw back his head in laughter, his tongue hanging carelessly from his mouth as he unleashed his presence without restraint.
"Dogyahahahahaha!"
…
"As expected. With a disturbance that huge, he noticed too."
Jarul and Gaban both sensed the surge coming from deep within the Underworld and turned in the same direction.
"That guy is a pretty 'huge' fighting force himself," Gaban said. "In a sense, he and Cain are monsters on the same scale."
Then he suddenly whipped around toward Jarul.
"Wait a second."
His expression changed.
"Jarul, don't tell me you're thinking about letting Loki out so he can fight Cain."
"No, no."
Jarul waved the idea away immediately.
"I would never do that. Elbaf as it stands now is not ready to welcome that prince back."
Even if they released Loki, there was no guarantee he would obediently follow instructions.
And if Loki and Cain genuinely fought, the one that would suffer most would be Elbaf itself.
There was simply no reason to take that risk.
Jarul paused before adding,
"Besides, I have no right to release him on my own just to make him fight one of our friends."
"Friend?"
"Yes."
Jarul turned toward Cain, who had already approached them, and extended one enormous hand.
"You passed the trial, Cain."
"From this moment onward, you are a friend of Elbaf."
Then his expression became serious.
"But you must not let word of this arrangement spread outside."
"I understand what you're worried about."
Cain brought Bella with him and hopped lightly onto Jarul's extended finger.
"Don't worry. I'll keep it secret."
Jarul looked at the comparatively tiny figure standing steadily on his knuckle and quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Truthfully, when he had come here, he had been prepared to die enforcing the absolute rule he himself had helped establish.
If Gaban hadn't kicked him out of the path of Cain's attack, and if Loki's sudden burst of presence hadn't given Jarul a convenient way to step back from the confrontation, he might not have accepted Cain so readily.
Cain, meanwhile, didn't immediately start asking questions when Loki came up.
This was Elbaf's internal affair. As someone who had only just been accepted as a friend, showing too much curiosity would be inappropriate.
Besides, he wasn't Luffy. He didn't need to react to every mysterious thing by immediately demanding to know everything about it.
There was another matter Cain wanted to discuss anyway.
So he shifted the conversation toward Thor.
…
"The child is called Thor?"
After hearing Cain's explanation, Jarul let out a heavy sigh.
"That woman truly was beyond reason."
Then his tone changed.
"But you can rest easy."
"Even if the child was created artificially, the blood of our former king flows through him. And now that he is free from that woman's control, he is one of Elbaf's Giants all the same."
"No one can change that."
Gaban sat on Jarul's other palm with his arms folded.
"Hajrudin, though…"
He sounded rather displeased.
"Something this important happened and that brat didn't even think to come home and tell us?"
"Don't blame him too much."
Cain waved a hand.
"Kids who leave home to make their own way rarely tell their families every time they run into trouble."
"It's not because they're ashamed to ask for help. They just don't want their family worrying about them."
As for how Cain knew Thor carried Elbaf's royal blood in the first place, the answer ultimately traced back to the World Government.
Cain happened to know a spy inside it extremely well.
Stussy.
That woman had dug into practically everything she could get her hands on, and Thor's bloodline had been no exception.
It was through that channel that both the World Government and the Marines had eventually learned the truth of his origins.
"Besides, Hajrudin didn't really suffer much."
Cain decided to defend him a little further.
"He only picked up some minor injuries."
"Right now, he and his crew are working to raise money so they can establish a new Giant Warrior Pirates."
Being stuck between several different factions and constantly passing information back and forth really was exhausting.
That thought reminded Cain of something else.
He turned toward Gaban.
"You probably know the organization he's working for right now too."
"It's Buggy's."
"Buggy?"
Gaban raised an eyebrow, then looked toward Jarul.
"Well, Jarul, sounds like the kid's doing pretty well for himself outside."
"Guess we don't need to worry too much."
He grinned.
"I'll give little Buggy a call later and tell him to look after Hajrudin properly."
"Hmph."
Jarul immediately frowned.
"If a warrior leaves home to temper himself, only to have his elders arrange everything for him from behind the scenes…"
"Then he has no right to call himself a Giant of Elbaf."
"Oh. Fair enough."
Gaban shrugged.
Then his tone changed completely.
"In that case, I'll tell little Buggy to give him a few extra brutal jobs instead."
"Make sure the brat gets properly tempered."
Jarul nodded in satisfaction.
"That's more like it."
Cain listened to the two of them seamlessly switch from helping Hajrudin to deliberately making his life harder, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
He had only wanted to give Hajrudin a little help since the guy would probably end up connected to Luffy eventually.
Somehow, he seemed to have made things worse instead.
'Hajrudin… forgive me.'
…
By the time Cain and the others returned from the battlefield to the small tavern near the harbor, quite a bit of time had passed.
That was inevitable.
Cain's previous fight had involved attacks spanning more than ten thousand meters. There was no way anyone sensible would hold something like that right beside the tavern.
The Giants who had been knocked unconscious by Cain's Conqueror's Haki had already woken up by the time they returned, and they immediately crowded around to celebrate their new friend.
A lively banquet soon erupted.
It served both to celebrate Cain passing Elbaf's trial and to welcome him and Uta properly.
Huge mugs slammed together, booming laughter filled the room, and the entire tavern became wonderfully chaotic.
Even setting everything else aside, the sheer scale of the food, cups, tables, and furniture inside a Giant tavern was enough to amaze Cain and Uta.
Partway through the celebration, however, Cain, Gaban, and Jarul all developed strangely complicated expressions at almost the same time.
"That guy really doesn't give up, does he?"
Gaban shook his head while holding a drinking mug almost as large as his own body.
"Doesn't he get tired?"
Cain couldn't resist commenting as well.
Jarul put down his cup and glanced into the distance.
"Leaving him like that somehow feels wrong."
"Should we go take a look?"
Naturally, they were talking about Loki.
The prince had been releasing his presence continuously ever since Cain's battle ended.
The distance was far too great for that pressure to reach the tavern itself, much less disrupt the banquet.
But Cain, Gaban, and Jarul were all exceptionally powerful.
Even from this far away, Loki's completely undisguised presence was impossible for any of them to overlook.
"Huh? What?"
Uta noticed their expressions and wandered over.
"What are you three talking about?"
…
Meanwhile, Loki was still beneath Treasure Tree Adam with his tongue hanging out, panting heavily.
"Hah… hah…"
His head remained turned expectantly toward the distance.
"…Where are they?"
"How come nobody's here yet?!"
…
At the same time, in another part of Elbaf—
the Sun World.
Above Aurust Castle, eerie blue-black lightning suddenly exploded across the sky, illuminating the ruined structure in violent flashes.
Inside the castle, pale white flames silently rose from the shattered floor.
The flames intertwined into a sinister five-pointed magic circle.
When the fire finally dispersed, two cloaked figures were already standing within it.
"The power of the Ancient Giants…"
One of them spoke coldly.
"It is time for it to return to the World Government."