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Chapter 13: Battle in G12 [2]
The transformation was absolute.
The sun, now a brilliant orange crescent on the horizon, bathed the parade ground in the weak light of dawn.
But I was the true source of light. I stood, wreathed in a corona of white-hot solar fire, my body radiating an arrogance so profound it was a physical force.
My shadow stretched long and terrible behind me.
The 300 soldiers were frozen. Their rifles, which moments ago had been instruments of death, now trembled in their hands. They weren't looking at a pirate. They were looking at a god.
"W-What... what is this power?" Commodore Grubb stammered, his one good hand clawing at the molten slag that had been his other arm.
His Enchanted Healing Factor (Body: 50) was useless against an injury inflicted by the sun itself. The wound was instantly cauterized, the steel and flesh fused.
"This," I boomed, my voice an avalanche, "is the power of pride.
I released his arm. He stumbled back, his face a mask of agony and disbelief.
"R-Riyon! Vasco! Status!" I heard Elara's frantic voice from the Den Den Mushi.
"I'm... fine," Riyon's pained grunt came from across the plaza. He was pushing himself up, his ribs clearly broken, staring at me with a mixture of pain and absolute awe. He had seen this at Whisperwind, but not like this. Not as a dawn.
"Never better, little bird!" Vasco's cheerful voice replied. He was standing on a pile of unconscious Marine officers, twirling 'Parsley' on his finger.
"The Captain... he's even more beautifully monstrous than I imagined!"
Grubb, to his credit, was a true zealot. His Will was strong..
"Monster... Devil... it doesn't matter!" he roared, his iron jaw cracking with the force of his voice. "You are an enemy of Justice! Rokushiki: Tekkai! Gansei! (Iron Body: Rock Breaker!)"
He coated his remaining arm and body in a flawless Armament Haki and charged. He was still a Commodore-level powerhouse. He was still a threat.
He threw a Strength: 55 punch, aimed straight at my heart.
[System Analysis: Opponent Combat Power: Commodore. Host Combat Power: Emperor.]
[Action: Futile.]
I did not move. I did not dodge. I simply stood.
BOOM.
His Haki-infused fist, a blow that could shatter a galleon, connected squarely with my chest.
A shockwave exploded outward, cracking the stone beneath my feet.
And my body did not move. Not one single inch.
Grubb's eyes, wide with horror, looked down. His fist was still pressed against my chest. But his arm... his arm was shattered.
From the knuckles to the shoulder, his bones had pulverized from the sheer, immovable fact of my existence.
My passive heat, combined with my divine-level "stats," had met his Haki-infused punch and found it wanting.
"You... you..." he gurgled, blood trickling from his speaker-grill.
"Your 'Justice' is a joke," I said, my voice dangerously soft. "Your 'Order' is a cage. And your 'Gods' are vermin."
I raised my hand, my index finger pointed at him.
"I am the son of Garp. I am the man who killed Saint Charlos. I am 'Suncorch' Luthor. And I am your executioner."
The soldiers finally broke. "F-Fire! Fire at will! Bring him down!"
A thousand bullets, and a dozen cannonballs from the fortress walls, streaked toward me.
"Captain!" Riyon yelled.
"Silence," I commanded.
I held my hand up.
"My 'pride' is my sin? Then let my sin be my shield."
A small, miniature sun, no bigger than a marble, formed at my fingertip. It was a dense, perfect sphere of solar energy.
"This... is the source of my power," I whispered.
And then, I let it expand.
"Sunshine: Solar Shield."
It wasn't a wall. It was a sphere. A perfect, 30-foot-wide dome of translucent, golden energy that erupted around me, Riyon, and Vasco.
The bullets, the cannonballs, all of it... hit the shield.
And vaporized.
They didn't bounce. They didn't explode. They simply ceased to exist, their kinetic energy and mass consumed by the pure, solar heat.
The plaza was silent again, save for the hiss of my shield.
"Gods... among us..." a soldier dropped his rifle and fell to his knees.
"You see, Commodore?" I said, looking at Grubb, who was now on his knees, his one remaining arm shattered, his body broken. "This is the difference between us. Your 'Justice' is a lie you tell yourself to justify your cruelty. My Pride... is a fact."
I walked toward him, the shield shrinking to a skin-tight aura around my body.
"But do not worry. I will be merciful."
I raised my hand, palm-flat, like a blade.
"You are a 'True Believer.' So, I will send you to your 'gods' personally."
"No... stop... I... I am a Commodore of the Marines... I am..."
"You are nothing."
I did not bless him with a named attack. I did not give him the honor of a grand finish.
I simply chopped my hand down, wreathed in solar fire.
"Divine Axe.
The air screamed.
There was no explosion. Just a sound, like a bell.
And Commodore "Ironjaw" Grubb, from the top of his head to his groin, was split in two. His halves fell, cauterized instantly.
Dead.
[SYSTEM CHIME: High-Ranked Enemy Defeated: Commodore "Ironjaw" Grubb]
[Quest Triggered: Marine Hunter Route (1/4)]
[1. Defeat a Marine Captain -> +200 EP] (Auto-Completed via Helio)
[2. Defeat a Vice Admiral -> (0/1)]
[Rewards: +200 EP (Retroactive), +3 Unallocated Stat Points]
I stood over the body, the sun now fully risen, bathing me in its glory. I was at my peak.
I turned to the 300 terrified, broken soldiers.
"Leave," I boomed.
They stared..
"This base... is now mine. You have ten seconds to drop your weapons and flee... or you will join him."
It took less than five. It was a rout. They scrambled, they fell, they trampled each other in their haste to escape the plaza, to get away from the sun-god who had just effortlessly executed their leader.
I looked at Riyon, who was clutching his ribs and grinning like a madman. I looked at Vasco, who was already inspecting the Commodore's body, as if considering how to cook it.
I walked to the edge of the parade ground, looking down at the Purgatory in the distance, where Elara was no doubt watching through a spyglass, her mind blown.
"Elara," I said into the Den Den Mushi, my voice calm. "The base is secure. Bring the ship into the dock. Tell Riyon... to find the infirmary. And tell Vasco..."
I looked at the massive, now-empty fortress.
"...tell him he has a new kitchen."
( To be continued).