Pa! Pa! Pa!
The crisp sound of palm against flesh echoed softly.
Shendu wasn't striking hard—his claws brushed across Blackbeard's cheek with a gentleness that almost resembled affection.
Almost.
Yet the cold seeping through that touch made Blackbeard's heart lurch violently.
He'd stared down Whitebeard once and still found the courage to fight.
But facing these two monsters—father and son, demons birthed from the abyss—
he couldn't even summon the will to lift a hand.
Terror.
Darkness.
A chill that scraped the soul.
The aura radiating from Shendu and his son was like hell itself yawning open, eager to drag the world down into endless night.
"It seems you've forgotten who I am," Shendu said calmly.
Blackbeard blinked, utterly bewildered, and nodded dumbly.
Forgot?
Brother, we've never even met!
You sure you've got the right guy?!
Then—his blood ran cold.
The hideous, draconic figure before him shimmered and shifted, becoming that of an utterly ordinary middle-aged man.
The kind of face you'd forget the moment you turned away.
Except Blackbeard remembered.
His pupils shrank. His knees buckled. His mind flashed with fragments of that cursed day—
the tavern, that bartender, that monster.
"It's… it's you."
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to— the one who kicked you is dead! It wasn't me! Please—just let me live!"
He scrambled backward, clawing at the dirt, trembling so hard his teeth clacked.
Inwardly, he was already cursing Burgess' entire bloodline.
Why did you kick that man?
He was just sitting there!
You absolute idiot!
"Too late," Shendu said flatly.
"If you hadn't provoked Ronn, none of this would've happened."
The demon form returned. Scarlet eyes gleamed like blood-soaked rubies.
He raised a claw—
but a massive shadow stepped between them.
"Father, don't."
"He looks… so pitiful."
Even Shendu froze.
Pitiful?
He slapped his own forehead.
Of course—the Heart-Softening Spray was still active.
Anyone who looked even slightly miserable would tug at the boy's empathy.
Blackbeard's survival instincts flared.
He threw himself at the dragon's leg, bawling like a child.
"Please! Spare me! I'll do anything—anything! Just let me live!"
The younger dragon wavered, his frown trembling.
And then—
The Great Slap arrived.
Late, perhaps. But never absent.
With one thunderous swing, Shendu smacked his son clear across the clearing.
"Enough!"
He strode toward Blackbeard, eyes blazing—
but an unseen force slammed him sideways into a massive tree.
Boom!
Leaves fluttered down as Shendu slid to the ground, dazed.
Then, realizing what had just happened, he began to wail dramatically.
"My foolish son! I just wanted revenge! Can't you grant your poor father that?!"
The demon dragon blinked, confusion flickering before his eyes hardened.
"Then I'll take revenge for you."
His gaze turned toward Blackbeard—murder in his eyes.
"Wait, wait, wait! I'm miserable! Look at me, I'm pathetic!"
Blackbeard's crying grew louder, his face twisted in despair.
The higher Shendu's voice rose, the deeper the confusion spread across his son's face.
After a few back-and-forths of emotional whiplash, the young dragon froze entirely—his eyes flickering between pity and fury like broken glass.
Then—
A violet portal opened beside them, showing the familiar glow of the tavern.
Gray Wolf stumbled out, panting, holding a flask.
"S-sorry, Shendu bro."
"I was watching the fight through Thor's magic mirror, and, uh… I realized the Heart-Softening Spray got tampered with."
"My kid might've… peed in it. Or added… something else."
"Anyway! Here's the antidote!"
Before anyone could react, he splashed the liquid straight onto the dragon's face.
Gradually, the younger dragon's eyes cleared.
As soon as he blinked awake, Gray Wolf bolted back into the portal and vanished.
No way I'm sticking around for that explanation.
"Son! You're alive!" Shendu sobbed, clutching him in relief.
But the relief didn't last.
An immense wave of killing intent erupted from the dragon's body.
"Old man."
"Did you enjoy your little spray game?"
Shendu froze, hand slipping toward his belt.
Too late.
Lightning answered.
BOOM!
A bolt as thick as a man's arm struck him square in the chest, hurling him backward in an explosion of dirt and fire.
The air itself screamed with thunder.
The ground cracked open—then clenched shut again, trapping Shendu's body up to the neck.
"Son! Listen—!"
Dozens more bolts fell like judgment, pounding the earth in a deafening rhythm.
Meanwhile, Blackbeard tried to slink away, dragging the unconscious Ace behind him.
But a familiar, crushing Conqueror's Haki swept across the air.
A silver-haired shadow appeared, blade gleaming.
"R–Rayleigh!"
Terror seized him again.
"You old fossil, why aren't you dead yet?!"
Rayleigh's sword flashed.
Slash!
Blackbeard screamed as his right arm spun through the air, landing beside him.
Ace tumbled free.
Shendu, still half-buried, roared out:
"Brother Rayleigh! Kill that bastard for me! I'll owe you one!"
Rayleigh didn't hesitate.
"If Ace survives today, that's payment enough."
He raised his sword again.
"No problem."
From the dirt, the demon dragon snarled:
"Old man, maybe worry about surviving yourself!"
He kicked Shendu's face into the ground for good measure.
Two days of weepy bonding had left him permanently traumatized.
Then—
the world shook.
A divine, boundless pressure surged from the edge of the amusement park.
Both dragons froze mid-battle.
Above the clouds, Keisha and Morgana's eyes widened.
Time seemed to stop.
Every Marine soldier, every officer—all stood motionless.
They couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't even lift their weapons.
This was beyond Conqueror's Haki.
It was divinity made manifest.
An overwhelming, radiant force pressed down upon them, commanding silence.
Even the air trembled.
"So this is… what a god feels like," someone whispered.
Majestic. Absolute. Unyielding.
The very heavens bowed to its presence.
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