Although the blade was broken, it remained extraordinarily sharp.
The Sōzai in Finn's hand suddenly pressed down against Shiki's Kogarashi with overwhelming force.
Then brutal gravitational pressure erupted immediately. Before Shiki could raise his other sword, Oto, to defend himself, Finn kicked it aside, deflecting the blade harmlessly.
After just one exchange, a flicker of regret passed through Finn's eyes.
Finn's broken sword pressed hard against Shiki's Kogarashi. The two men stood face to face, weapons locked between them. As their eyes met, Finn whispered quietly, "Shiki, you've grown old and useless."
Shiki, who'd been resisting Finn's gravitational pressure with every ounce of remaining strength, heard those words. A fierce, angry light flashed in his bloodshot eyes. "Arrogant boy!"
The moment he finished speaking, Shiki loosened the grip on his other hand. The sword Oto directly swung out in a sweeping arc, stabbing toward Finn's exposed side.
Just like back at Marineford. The same moves. The same tactics.
And just like at Marineford, Finn made no attempt to dodge. He simply wrapped Armament Haki around his waist and abdomen, hardening the defense.
The next second, the sharp blade Oto pierced fiercely toward Finn's torso.
But unfortunately for Shiki, it was blocked completely by the Haki coating. Not even a drop of blood was drawn.
"I was mistaken," Finn said, his voice carrying strange gentleness. "You're not old. You're only in your early fifties, still in what should be your prime years. How can I casually call someone old at that age?"
He paused, and genuine regret filled his eyes as he continued. "But you are useless now, Shiki. Two years ago, your sword could severely wound me, pierce straight through my body. But two years later, it can't even break through my Haki. You've suffered tremendously these past two years, while I've become someone completely different from who I was."
The moment he finished speaking, Finn exerted devastating force. The powerful gravity immediately shattered Shiki's resistance. With a single overwhelming blow, he sent the Golden Lion flying backward.
Shiki's legs dripped blood continuously, leaving a red trail. His sword hand pressed against Kogarashi, but he couldn't withstand the pressure. He flew backwards over ten meters, nearly forced back through Impel Down's shattered entrance.
Only then did he manage to dissipate the momentum, standing shakily on his mutilated stumps. He looked at Finn's powerful figure with an expression that was difficult to read.
Shiki clenched his hands, attempting to manifest Armament Haki. Black coloring briefly flickered across his skin, emerging for just an instant before rapidly retreating, fading before it could even wrap around his blade.
At the same time, visible pain flashed across Shiki's features. A thin trace of bright red blood seeped out from beneath the ship's rudder still embedded in his skull.
Two years ago at Marine Headquarters, during that catastrophic battle at Marineford, Shiki had already lost the ability to unleash his Conqueror's Haki.
But his Observation and Armament Haki had remained functional, skillfully wielded.
However, for the following two years, he'd been imprisoned in the deepest cage of Impel Down's Infinite Hell. It had taken him over half a year just to recover from his most severe injuries.
But what kind of merciful place was Impel Down?
Did anyone truly believe prisoners could undergo proper rehabilitation training there?
He'd barely eaten, barely drunk anything decent. His physical condition had deteriorated constantly. He suffered from persistent headaches. The rudder that had lodged in his skull during the Battle of Edd War continued tormenting him without mercy, a constant source of agony.
Now, his physical fitness had declined to catastrophic lows. Even his Haki could no longer be properly manifested.
The only things that still made Shiki formidable were the two swords in his hands and the power of the Float-Float Fruit itself.
But even with those advantages, when he'd encountered Magellan inside the prison, he'd chosen to evade the Deputy Warden's attacks rather than fight. And now, facing Finn blocking his escape route...
Even when he tried to give everything he had left, he couldn't even break through Finn's Haki.
A hero shouldn't be spoken of after defeat, they said.
Now the hero was old. This was what that looked like.
Seeing that Shiki made no move to continue attacking, Finn raised one hand toward the assembled Marines and prison guards. "Stand down. Don't attack."
Magellan hesitated, clearly conflicted. But when he saw his superior, Warden Mescas, nod permission, he reluctantly backed away, though his body remained tense and ready.
"If my spirit's still standing… then I'm not finished. I'm not useless. Isn't that right?" Shiki said, a crooked, defiant grin tugging at his mouth as he stared straight at Finn.
"I'm well aware of how arrogant you are, Golden Lion," Finn replied evenly. "You remain as proud as ever. Your spirit burns as bright as it always has. But to me, you're finished, Shiki. No matter how incredibly proud you may be, today you won't be stepping away from this prisoner's graveyard called Impel Down."
Finn raised his broken sword, pointing it directly at the legendary pirate.
After a brief pause, he continued with weight in every word. "The days when you and Roger competed for supremacy across the seas are over. This is a new era now. You're a remnant of the old age, Shiki. There's no ship in this new era that can carry someone like you!"
Shiki stood silent for a long moment. Then he murmured softly, almost to himself, "A remnant of the old era? In just two years, I've become nothing but a remnant?"
"Two years is more than enough time," Finn said with absolute seriousness.
"Jihahahahah..." Shiki suddenly burst into laughter.
Then, mirroring Finn's gesture, he raised his own sword and pointed it back. "In the new era, there's no ship that can carry me? Perhaps you're right, Finn. Perhaps that's exactly true. But I've finally broken free from Impel Down's cage. I've breathed the long-lost air of freedom again. It wasn't meaningless that I cut off these legs."
His voice grew stronger, more resolute.
"If severing my own limbs was the price to stand here and fight you, then these legs were worth cutting off! Whether it's the new era or the old era, you don't need to speak words meant to dampen my spirit..."
After another brief pause, Shiki declared with magnificent pride, "There's no point in saying more. A useless man deserves to face a broken sword. Today is perfect. Come, Finn! Use that broken blade in your hand to cut down the spirit of this useless man!"
Finn laughed genuinely at that response. "Well said. You're truly worthy of being the Golden Lion who impressed me so deeply the first time I saw you in North Blue. Even if you've committed a thousand sins, your spirit remains indomitable. Today, let me cut down your spirit here!"
The moment he finished speaking, Finn raised his hand and positioned the broken sword Sōzai horizontally across his chest. He gripped the handle with one hand while his other hand stroked along the broken blade with careful reverence.
Wherever his palm passed, Armament Haki flowed like liquid clouds, transforming Sōzai into a blade of pure darkness. Simultaneously, the water-like power of his Devil Fruit that constantly emanated from his body was completely withdrawn, pulled inward.
This sword was filled entirely with Haki and nothing else.
"One-Sword Style: Cloud Flowing Tiger," Finn said softly.
Shiki was a ruthless and decisive warrior. At this moment, despite having no legs below the ankles, he actually stood planted on those bleeding stumps. All the Float-Float Fruit's power within his body was restrained, pulled back.
Then he slowly raised his sword, Kogarashi. His eyes were bloodshot, the rudder in his skull trembling faintly. Bright red blood flowed steadily from his forehead, painting crimson streaks down his face.
At this moment, the Kogarashi in his hand suddenly rolled up with powerful Armament Haki, forcibly turning the blade into a black sword through sheer willpower.
"Lion's Might: Roar of the Lion King!" Shiki shouted, his voice low and intense.
The moment he finished speaking, both Finn and Shiki moved.
Their speed could not be called particularly fast or slow. Everyone standing at Impel Down's harbor could clearly see the distance between them closing steadily.
Then the blades in their hands collided with devastating force.
First came the clash of Armament Haki, a shockwave that swept outward and cleared everything around the two combatants.
Then an invisible pressure, like the confrontation between a lion and a tiger, burst forth from both warriors.
Conqueror's Haki.
Shiki's presence felt like a desperate lion, cornered but fearless of death. His golden hair had been turned blood-red by the crimson flowing from beneath the rudder.
Finn's presence felt like a tiger descending from the mountain, utterly unstoppable. The broken blade of Sōzai in his hand cut through Shiki's Armament Haki like paper.
Two extraordinarily powerful waves of Conqueror's Haki erupted simultaneously, causing many jailers at the port to collapse unconscious on the spot. The originally calm sea became suddenly turbulent, waves crashing. The sky itself darkened, growing ominous.
But just when everyone thought the situation would deteriorate further, suddenly, everyone seemed to hear something strange.
A wailing cry.
No one could identify where the wailing originated, but it was visibly obvious that Finn's presence instantly overwhelmed Shiki's desperate lion completely.
The next second, blood sprayed in a red arc.
The famous sword in Shiki's hand, Kogarashi, was cut cleanly in half by the broken sword in Finn's hand.
As a result, an enormous wound appeared across Shiki's chest, so deep that bone was visible beneath the split flesh.
CLANG.
The severed portion of Kogarashi fell to the ground along with the broken section, ringing like a funeral bell.
At the same time, the surging momentum of their Haki confrontation subsided silently. The danger vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Looking again, it seemed as though the two men were simply standing face to face, conversing calmly, with none of the intensity that had existed mere breaths ago.
Shiki looked down at the devastating wound across his chest. A smile played at the corners of his lips. "We've fought three times now. The first time, you only managed to leave a scratch on my face, while I stabbed you completely through the chest. The second time, at Marineford, both you and I were wounded by that bastard Sengoku's attack. And this third time? I failed to injure you at all, yet you've left me with this wound..."
"Isn't that significant improvement?" Finn slowly returned Sōzai to its sheath, his voice quiet.
"No," Shiki shook his head slowly. "I should say that I've regressed too much."
Finn was silent for a moment. Then he smiled slightly. "Indeed. You are the weakest you've ever been."
"The new era has no ship that can carry me?" Shiki suddenly asked.
"A Marine warship could give you a ride," Finn replied with dark humor. "But I suspect you wouldn't want to take it."
"What proud spirit," Shiki suddenly closed his eyes, his voice carrying deep sadness.
Before Finn could respond, Shiki spoke again. "Impel Down... now that I've escaped, there's no reason for me to return inside those walls. Finn, although we're enemies, for the sake of North Blue, please give me a quick death."
Finn felt a complex rush of emotions seeing Shiki standing there with closed eyes, accepting his fate.
To be honest, he was absolutely reluctant to kill Shiki. After all, in his mind, Impel Down was essentially a powerful Devil Fruit breeding facility. It wouldn't be too late to kill Shiki after someone ate the Dark-Dark Fruit and he could claim the Float-Float Fruit for his own purposes.
That had been his original plan all along.
But at this moment, looking at Shiki's proud bearing even in defeat, his eyes closed in dignified acceptance, Finn found he couldn't speak the words of refusal.
"Forget it," Finn sighed internally. "Why should I humiliate a hero for personal gain? It would only make me appear small and petty."
Then he unsheathed the Sōzai once more and spoke quietly. "This sword is called Sōzai. It ranks among the twenty-one Great Grade blades. I obtained it in North Blue, and it has accompanied me through battles for nearly seven years. Although it's broken now, I've never discarded it. Today, I will present this sword to you, my old friend from North Blue."
Upon hearing this, Shiki opened his eyes. He looked at the broken blade in Finn's hand, and his smile widened genuinely. "Thank you for this honor."
The moment he finished speaking, Finn no longer hesitated. He stepped forward and wrapped his arm around Shiki's shoulders in what might have been an embrace. At the same time, the broken blade in his hand moved with surgical precision, piercing through Shiki's chest and breaking his heart cleanly.
"Cough." A trace of blood leaked from the corner of Shiki's mouth. His eyes gradually became unfocused, losing their sharp clarity.
In these final moments of his life, his thoughts drifted back to the Battle of Edd War.
"If there hadn't been that storm," Shiki murmured softly, his voice fading. "What would the world have looked like? Roger... Finn..."
"Then perhaps it wouldn't have been Roger's turn to become King," Finn replied gently, supporting the dying legend. "You, Shiki, would have been unrivaled across the entire world."
"Unrivaled across the world?" Shiki's voice was barely a whisper now.
Then, gathering his final breath, he laughed. "JIHAHAHAhahaha..."
The laughter rang out across Impel Down's port one last time, echoing off stone and water.
Then silence fell.
Golden Lion Shiki, a legend of his era, died there in Finn's arms.