Chapter 11 - The Five Elders !
The Room of Authority.
Dead silence.
In the massive eyeball of the surveillance Den Den Mushi, the image was crystal clear: Garp's face, wearing that cruel smile, and his index finger pointing straight through the screen.
"Your turn is coming soon."
That sentence was like a curse from the abyss.
It pierced through the barrier of space and exploded in the ears of the five old men.
Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro, the bald Elder holding the Shodai Kitetsu, watched the veins on the back of his hand bulge. His grip trembled uncontrollably.
Saint Marcus Mars, the blonde Elder, felt the muscles in his face twitch violently. It was a twisted expression formed from extreme rage mixed with a deeper, primal terror.
"How can he be here?!"
"Impossible! The defenses of Mary Geoise are perfect!"
"How did he get inside?!"
"This power... this power is several times stronger than it was at Marineford two years ago!"
"What was he doing during those two years?! What kind of monster has he become!"
The five men who stood at the pinnacle of the world, who had looked down upon all living things for eight hundred years...
For the first time, they felt an emotion named "fear" from a single man.
"Activate the 'Heaven's Shield'!"
Saint Jaygarcia Saturn barked the hoarse command.
His voice trembled slightly from the shock he couldn't suppress.
VROOOOM!!!
Ear-piercing sirens resonated throughout the entirety of Mary Geoise.
Above the pristine white outer walls of Pangaea Castle, an energy barrier—invisible to the naked eye—instantly rose.
Like a giant inverted bowl, it completely sealed off the plaza area where Garp stood.
A subtle ripple passed through the air, as if space itself were being solidified by this power.
"Useless."
Garp looked at the invisible barrier and spat out the single word with utter contempt.
He slowly raised his right fist.
Inside the Room of Authority, Nusjuro saw this and shouted in disbelief.
"Is he going to attack the Heaven's Shield?"
"That is ancient technology that even Vegapunk couldn't analyze!"
"Even if the Four Emperors combined their strength, they couldn't break it from the outside!"
"The fool! Does he think his fist can rival the crystallized wisdom of eight hundred years?!"
His words hadn't even finished landing.
On the plaza, Garp moved.
The target of his fist wasn't the invisible barrier above him.
It was the ground beneath his feet—the pavement laid with pure white stone.
BOOM!
The fist slammed down.
There was no deafening explosion. There was only a dull, suffocating thud of impact.
The terrifying force didn't leak out in the slightest; every ounce of it was driven deep into the bedrock of the Holy Land.
The next instant.
CRACK!
The entirety of Mary Geoise lurched violently.
In the Room of Authority, the floor beneath the five Elders' feet shook massively, sending documents on the table scattering everywhere.
An official monitoring the systems lost his balance and slammed heavily onto the floor.
"What is happening?!"
"Report! Devastating shockwaves detected in the A-1 stratum structure!"
"Massive fissures appearing in the foundation of Pangaea Castle!"
"Energy supply to 'Heaven's Shield' is becoming unstable!"
"OVERLOAD WARNING! OVERLOAD WARNING!"
The shrill alarms mixed with the panicked reports of the officials.
In the distance, Pangaea Castle—the symbol of the World Government's eternal rule—swayed violently like a leaf in the wind.
Above the walls, the energy barrier that had just risen began to emit an unstable light, flickering wildly due to the shifting foundation!
"He isn't attacking the shield!"
Nusjuro's voice cracked with a tremor. "He intends to destroy all of Mary Geoise from the underground up!"
"The madman!"
Saint Shepherd Ju Peter, the Warrior God of Agriculture, let out a beast-like roar.
"We cannot wait any longer! We will handle this personally!"
Saint Topman Warcury, the Warrior God of Justice, stood up abruptly, his body radiating an aura of rage so intense it felt violent.
"SUMMON!"
A look of absolute resolve flashed through Saturn's eyes.
He bit his own index finger. Crimson blood dripped onto the floor.
He crouched down. With that bleeding finger, he rapidly drew a pentagram magic circle on the polished floor that flickered with an ominous black light.
The other four Elders stepped into the circle simultaneously.
The black light flared intensely.
The figures of the five men began to twist and blur in the light, as if melting into another unknown dimension.
Holy Land Plaza.
Garp slowly retracted his fist, preparing to throw a second punch.
This next one would be enough to completely pulverize the foundation of Mary Geoise.
But just as he was about to strike again.
The ground beneath his feet lit up without warning.
A pentagram magic circle, identical to the one in the Room of Authority, appeared.
Ominous black pillars of light shot into the sky.
RIIIIIIP!
The space around Garp was forcibly torn open by an irresistible force.
Streaks of black lightning detonated out of thin air within the cracks, emitting ear-piercing shrieks!
Five figures—radiating an aura so ancient, evil, and powerful that it would make lesser gods suffocate—slowly rose from the pitch-black formation.
A monster with the upper body of a man and the lower body of a spider, crowned with ox horns. (Gyuki)
A skeletal horse wielding a long blade, composed of chilling white bone. (Bakotsu)
A colossal sand worm with a hideous, gaping maw capable of swallowing the heavens. (Sandworm)
A giant bird with wings that blotted out the sun, crying out with a shrill, ghostly shriek. (Itsumade)
A massive boar with tusks turned outward and a mane like steel needles, exuding a tyrannical aura. (Fengxi)
Five figures descended before Garp.
The instant they appeared...
The sky over Mary Geoise—the cloudless blue dome—was instantly dyed a blood-soaked dark red!
The air became foul and viscous, as if injected with deadly poison.
A primal fear, stemming from the deepest instincts of life, choked the throats of every conscious being nearby.
A few Captains of the Guard, who had barely managed to stay awake under Garp's earlier Conqueror's Haki, looked at the five figures.
Their legs gave out instantly. They knelt on the ground, shaking like sieves.
They lost even the courage to make a sound.
Their wills were completely crushed in that instant.
It was as if the entire world was wailing at their arrival.
Five Demon Gods looked down upon Garp, who stood in the center of the magic circle.
Time seemed to freeze.
Garp slowly lowered the fist he had prepared to throw.
He didn't look up immediately.
His gaze remained level.
First, he looked at the spider-monster with the horns.
Then the skeletal horse.
Then the worm, the bird, the boar.
He looked over the five figures—beings powerful enough to make the world tremble—one by one.
His expression didn't look like a man facing gods.
It looked more like a butcher in a slaughterhouse, selecting which livestock to kill today.
Silence reigned supreme.
Crack.
A crisp sound broke the dead silence.
Garp rolled his neck, his vertebrae popping loudly.
Then.
Under those five pairs of inhuman eyes filled with tyranny and killing intent...
He smiled.
It wasn't the boisterous smile of a hero, nor the kind smile of an old man.
It was the smile of a hunter who had finally watched all his prey walk into the trap—a smile filled with genuine pleasure and cruelty.
"Oh? You're all here?"
His voice wasn't loud, yet it traveled clearly into the ears of the five Demon Gods.
"Perfect."
"Saves me the trouble of finding you one by one."
(To be Continued)