"Moo-hooo~~!"
The roar of the mythical Minotaur shook the heavens. The earth trembled and split apart beneath the creature's hooves as monstrous waves rose across the sea. Clouds of dust billowed skyward, blotting out the sun. The very air trembled from the pressure.
And yet—
For those who stood at the pinnacle of this world, that earth-shattering might was little more than a gust of wind brushing their faces.
The bull-headed giant, the Five Elder known as Jupiter, knew that too well. He understood his thunderous sonic roars meant nothing to Sugisawa Yuuto.
He wasn't roaring to intimidate.
He was roaring to assist.
To create an opportunity—for the one hidden in the shadows.
From the beginning, two of the Five Elders had come to this battlefield.
Jupiter, the bull-headed giant, commanded openly from the light, orchestrating the battle's flow.
But the other… had hidden himself completely from sight, lying in wait for a single, fatal moment.
And now—that moment had come.
Using the dust storm and the chaos stirred by Jupiter's rampage as cover, the second Elder finally made his move.
A blade, gleaming with a strange spectral light, cut silently through the air—slipping through space itself—aimed straight for Yuuto's back, without a whisper of warning.
It was a perfect strike.
A flawless killing blow.
The depth of this man's concealment was terrifying. Not even the Observation Haki of legends like Roger or Rocks could sense his presence. Even those capable of seeing glimpses of the future through Observation Haki could not predict this strike.
It was as if a god's hand had reached forth—inescapable and absolute.
And this time, Sugisawa Yuuto failed to detect it in time.
The ghostly green blade pierced straight toward his heart.
"Nani?!"
All across the battlefield, the strongest fighters felt it—an unexplainable jolt in their hearts. Heads turned in unison.
"Who was that?"
"When did he appear?!"
"I didn't sense anything at all!"
"What happened?!"
"The Commander—Commander Sugisawa's been attacked!"
"President! President!!"
The anxious voices of the Fairy Tail girls echoed through the chaos.
"Calm down! The President's fine," Erza said in a firm, low voice.
"That's right! Believe in him!" Mira, Robin, and the others cried out, their eyes locked on Yuuto's form. "The President won't be killed by something like that!"
And indeed—though Yuuto had taken the blow head-on—
Clang!
A sharp, metallic sound rang out, like steel striking steel.
The lethal blade failed to pierce him. It couldn't even scratch the surface of his body.
"N-Nani?!"
The attacking Elder—Venus, Zambalong Nasujuro—froze in disbelief, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints. He could not accept what he was seeing.
He had waited, hidden for so long, for this one perfect chance.
And now, even after seizing it, his blade—the First Generation Guiche, one of the world's most supreme swords—hadn't even broken the man's defense.
Impossible. Absolutely impossible!
His swordsmanship had been honed over centuries. His Devil Fruit granted him deadly precision. The fusion of blade, mastery, and power should have made this strike invincible.
And yet—his assassination had failed.
What kind of monster had a body so unyielding that even his god-tier blade could not cut it?
As Nasujuro stared, frozen in shock, an overwhelming sense of dread flooded his mind.
"Fall back, Nasujuro!" Jupiter roared desperately.
But his warning came too late.
Sugisawa Yuuto's hand shot out behind him, seizing the Venus Elder's face in an iron grip.
"I was wondering when you'd show yourself," Yuuto said, smiling coldly. "If you hadn't come out on your own, I really wouldn't have found where you were hiding."
With that, he tightened his grip, shifting into a stance like a bowler ready to throw.
Then—
Whoosh!
BOOM!
The Elder's body was driven into the ground with a thunderous crash, shaking the battlefield once more.
The world seemed to split in half from the impact.