The world of Elbaf had fallen silent. The audacity of Ace's challenge had stunned the crowd, but now, a suffocating terror took hold. The shadow falling over the arena wasn't just blocking the sun; it felt like the arrival of a natural disaster.
Kaido of the Hundred Beasts loomed amidst the ruins of the sacred ring. He rested his spiked club on one shoulder, wearing a look of heavy, drunken boredom as he took a long, gurgling swig from his giant gourd.
"Worororo…" he grumbled, eyes sliding from Big Mom's fury to Ace's blazing form. A wide, bloodthirsty grin split his face. "Two Emperors in one place? Perfect! Let's have a real war!"
He hoisted the club. The air around it crackled, black-red lightning manifesting from Haki so dense it felt like gravity had shifted. He coiled his muscles, ready to unleash a blow that would shatter the island itself.
He never got the chance.
A figure materialized between the three Emperors. No explosion, no fanfare. Just an old man with flowing red hair and round sunglasses. He didn't radiate a crushing aura. He didn't crackle with lightning. He just… stood there. Yet, his presence was an undeniable fact. He raised a hand, palm open, and caught Kaido's island-splitting club with a quiet, dull thud.
The impact kicked up a hurricane of raw force, tearing up the ground for a hundred meters, but the old man didn't slide back an inch.
Kaido stared. The drunken haze cleared from his eyes, replaced by a flicker of genuine shock. He hadn't felt pressure like this in decades.
The old man sighed—the sound of a parent tired of breaking up fights. He looked at the three warring Emperors like they were unruly children.
"Honestly," Scopper Gaban said, his voice flat. "Can't you kids and this old hag play nice for five minutes?"
The disrespect was palpable. Big Mom let out a screech of unbridled rage. "Scopper Gaban! You dare speak to me that way, you relic of a dead king?!"
"I dare," Gaban replied, not even looking at her. His eyes were locked on the monster whose club he still held. "You've had your fun, Kaido. But this is sacred land. Go home. Sleep it off."
"Worororo… You think you can order me around, old man?" Kaido growled, bearing down with all his might. The ground cracked beneath Gaban's sandals, but his stance didn't waver.
"I'm not ordering you," Gaban said, his lazy tone hardening into something sharp as sea stone. "I'm telling you. This isn't your party. And these children aren't your toys."
He gave a slight push. Kaido, the World's Strongest Creature, stumbled back, eyes widening in disbelief.
Ace watched from the sidelines, mute. Gaban. His father's left hand. A legend like Rayleigh. He was witnessing a piece of his own history—power so casual it defied logic.
It was in that moment of impossible standoff that a new sound echoed across Elbaf. Not a roar, but a deep, rhythmic thudding from the roots of the World Tree. Like a giant heart waking up. Then came the grinding screech of ancient stone tearing apart.
Every head turned. The giants looked toward the World Tree in abject horror.
"The dungeons!" Regent Jarl roared. "The Seal of the Accursed has been broken!"
A wave of Haki washed over the island, colder and sharper than anything Ace had ever felt. It reeked of rotting, ancient resentment.
The earth at the base of the World Tree exploded. From the chasm, a figure rose on a pillar of dark energy. A giant, twisted and scarred, eyes bound by a tattered cloth. His presence was a vortex of unadulterated malice.
Prince Loki, the Shame of Elbaf, was free.
He stood there for a moment, head tilted, listening to the terrified silence of his people. A slow, cruel smile stretched his face.
"So," he whispered, a grating sound like dry leaves on stone. "This is what freedom smells like."
He wasn't alone. The air shimmered, revealing Shiryu of the Rain. He sheathed his blade, flicking a single drop of blood to the ground, and offered a mocking bow to the assembled Emperors.
The puzzle snapped together in Ace's mind with horrifying clarity. The Davy Back Fight. The duel. It was all a diversion. A magnificent puppet show to hide the real prize.
Zehahahaha…
The laugh wasn't audible, but it rang in everyone's minds. Blackbeard's gambit was revealed. He hadn't come to fight. He had come to incite a civil war and steal a kingdom from the inside out.
Kaido let his club fall to his side, that manic grin returning. "Worororo! Now this looks like a real party!"
Big Mom stared at the freed prince, her conquest plans suddenly very complicated by a new piece on the board.
Scopper Gaban just rubbed his temples. "Five minutes," he muttered to himself. "That's all I asked for."
The standoff was broken. The game was over. A new, far more terrifying war for the soul of Elbaf had begun.
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