Sabaody Islands, Live Broadcast Plaza.
"What just happened?!"
"There's suddenly a massive sandstorm!"
"The live feed—it's completely covered by dust and wind!"
"Wait, look! It's the Five Elders! They've gone berserk!"
"That's right! Lord Peter must be getting serious now!"
The entire plaza erupted into chaos. Reporters, spectators, and onlookers shouted over one another as the live broadcast flickered with static and dust.
"Hey, look! Behind the Four Emperors—behind Sugisawa Yuuto! There's someone there!"
"Wait, really?! When did that person appear?!"
"I don't know—I didn't notice at all! It's like he just appeared out of nowhere!"
Gasps spread through the square as the figure on the broadcast lunged forward.
"That man's blade—he pierced through Fairy Tail's line!"
"President Sugisawa! The Four Emperors—he's been assassinated!"
"This… this can't be real! Who could possibly have the guts to attack that man and succeed?!"
The uproar was deafening.
"No! The assassination failed!"
The sky island monk Urouge slammed down his drink, eyes narrowing.
"I don't know how that guy managed to sneak up behind a Sea Emperor like that," said Capone Bege, captain of the Flame Tank Pirates, "but killing him? That's another matter entirely."
"And the fool who fails to kill an Emperor," murmured Eustass Kid, "has only one fate waiting for him…"
As Kid's words fell, the broadcast image cleared.
On the massive screen, Sugisawa Yuuto was shown gripping the head of the Venus Elder with one hand—then slamming it into the earth like a thrown bowling ball.
The shockwave shattered the dust storm, sending tremors rippling across the entire battlefield.
At Naval Headquarters, atop the ruined ground, the once-trembling earth fell silent again.
There—half-buried in the cracked ground—stood a grotesque sight.
A man's upper body was planted headfirst into the earth, his legs twitching helplessly in the air like an overturned insect.
"Jiehahahaha!"
The golden-maned pirate Shiki, known as the Golden Lion, burst into mocking laughter.
"You got what you deserved! Trying to launch a sneak attack—serves you right!"
"Who do you think our President is, anyway?!" shouted one of the Fairy Tail members proudly. "How dare anyone try to ambush him!"
"Shut up!!!"
The shout came from Figaland Garin, leader of the Knights of God, who was still locked in battle with Gildarts. His furious glare silenced the laughter instantly.
Others might not have known the truth—but he did.
In this operation, the World Government hadn't sent just one of the Five Elders. They had sent two.
"Hey, hey… you've got to be kidding me…"
The agents of CP0—the World Government's elite operatives—whispered among themselves, their faces pale.
"Although I really don't want to think it's true…" one muttered.
"But that uniform… that presence…"
"It can't be anyone else, can it?"
Even though only the lower half of the man's body was visible, they could all tell.
Those who served directly under the Five Elders knew their bearing—their clothes—their aura.
Even from a glimpse, they could identify him beyond all doubt.
"Nasujuro!!!"
The bull-headed Jupiter Elder, Lord Peter, roared out and rushed forward in a panic.
In two long strides, he reached the spot where the Venus Elder had been buried headfirst. Grabbing the man's legs, he yanked him free from the ground.
The sound of stone and soil cracking echoed through the air.
The moment the Jupiter Elder called out, realization spread like wildfire across the ranks of the World Government, CP units, and Marine Headquarters officers watching.
Faces went pale. Eyes widened.
"Nasujuro!"
"Lord Nasujuro!!!"
"That man—he's really one of the Five Elders!"
"The Financial Valkyrie himself—Five Elder Zambalong V. Nasujuro!"
"The second-highest authority in the world!"
"One of the Five Elders… blown away by that man!!!"
The crowd's voices trembled between disbelief and horror.
On that day, the world witnessed the unthinkable—
A Five Elder, one of the supreme rulers of the world, humiliated and crushed by Sugisawa Yuuto.
...
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