Chapter 23 : Over!!

Ian stood at the edge of a vast basin. Once a plain, this area had sunk dramatically due to the intense clash between two colossal monsters.

In the center of the basin, immense, smooth chasms crisscrossed the landscape, as if carved by a giant wielding a sword capable of rending the heavens and the earth.

The battle against the Akazaya Nine was over.

Infected by Queen's virus, the samurai of the Akazaya Nine were nearly eradicated. The combined onslaught of the two All-Star had quickly led to their downfall. They had no chance to hide or regroup for a counterattack.

King had thoroughly incinerated them with his flames.

Yet, Momonosuke remained alive.

His robust physique, inherited from Kozuki Oden, lived up to its reputation. Despite being struck by Queen's specialized virus, he clung to life. However, he was barely conscious, his body scorched and discarded, mumbling incoherently with his eyes shut.

The only one still concerned about him seemed to be Shimotsuki Yasuie, who had been defeated by Yamato. Tied up with spider silk and lying on the ground like a bound caterpillar, Yasuie was covered in burns and sobbed uncontrollably.

"It's over. The Kozuki family is finished, and this country is doomed," he lamented.

"It's going to end," King said flatly, standing beside Ian with his arms crossed.

"Mhahahaha! And rightly so!" Queen exclaimed with enthusiasm. "Of course, it's Boss Kaido's victory!"

Indeed, at the bottom of the enormous basin, the battle between the two titans had reached its conclusion.

"Kozuki Oden! Is this all you've got?!" 

Kaido's form had become increasingly grotesque. His scales darkened, his upper body muscles bulged, his teeth became razor-sharp, and his eyebrows resembled ominous storm clouds.

He was more monster than man.

Kaido wielded a massive Hassaikai with both hands, Conqueror's Haki lightning crackling around him, tearing the earth and shaking the sky.

Hassaikai descended like a torrential downpour. 

"Conquest of the Sea!!"

At this moment, Kozuki Oden lay in tatters. His head was badly injured and bleeding, one eye completely swollen shut. He could barely hold his blade up to fend off Kaido's relentless attacks.

The brief distraction had shifted the tide of the battle decisively.

Kaido's successive heavy blows had forced Kozuki Oden's two Swords to falter. This moment of weakness was all Kaido needed to deliver a series of crushing strikes.

With a thunderous crash, the disc-like bun on Kozuki Oden's head shattered, and he was blasted to the ground as if struck by lightning.

"You can't protect anything!" Kaido roared triumphantly, leaping into the air. He transformed into a massive green dragon, flames pouring from his mouth. "This is the best ending for you!"

"Heat Breath!!"

The intense, magma-like flames engulfed the green dragon, transforming it into a colossal, thousand-meter-long flame dragon.

"Flame Dragon Torch!"

The flame dragon's head was cloaked in pitch-black Conqueror's Haki, which radiated ominously across the sky.

"Rising Dragon: Flame Bagua!!"

The fire dragon descended with immense force.

This was the most powerful attack, combining Kaido's Devil Fruit abilities with his Haki.

Ian's eyes narrowed as he watched the dragon plummet from the sky. 

It was almost physical, capable of manifesting both Haki and flames. 

He also wanted to pilot a Gundam. Given that this was all about controlling flames, it seemed logical that Kaido could wield such power himself.

Just as these thoughts crossed his mind, the fire dragon smashed into the ground, creating a crater where Kozuki Oden had been struck.

Rumble!

The earth shook violently, instantly turning the ground into molten magma. A tremendous explosion followed, akin to a supervolcanic eruption, sending volcanic ash hundreds of kilometers into the air. The flames and smoke surged like a tidal wave toward the basin's edge.

"Are we standing a little too close?" Queen suddenly remarked.

"Isn't it too close?" 

"Isn't that a bit too close?"

The shockwaves from the flames and explosions were almost at their faces.

"Imperial Flame!"

In the critical moment, King came through, raising his hand to unleash a massive fire dragon hundreds of meters long. It collided with the oncoming wave of explosive flames, halting the approaching tsunami.

The volcanic eruption-like phenomenon continued for quite some time, as if the very crust had been breached by Kaido, releasing the magma from below, eagerly bursting through to the surface.

It wasn't until nearly two minutes later that the flames finally died down, and the thick smoke began to clear. Amidst the flowing lava, a massive figure emerged, carrying a man.

"Dad!! It's Dad!!"

Yamato joyfully jumped up, clutching Ian's neck and shaking with excitement, "Dad won!!"

Emerging from the magma was, of course, Kaido.

And in his grasp was none other than Kozuki Oden, now little more than a charred corpse.

On the ground, Shimotsuki Yasuie was weeping uncontrollably.

Nearby, perfectly timed, Kozuki Momonosuke had succumbed to his illness, defeated by the virus.

Ian suddenly felt a bit dazed.

He looked up; behind Kaido, the sun was slowly rising over the distant mountains.

Oh, is it dawn?

What a long night it has been.

One Day Later

Flower Capital

The capital city of Wano was already adorned with festive decorations.

The news of Orochi's request for the Beasts Pirates' help in crushing the Kozuki family's rebellion had spread throughout the city, and it was racing to other regions of the country even faster.

An even more shocking piece of news was that, in three days, Shogun Orochi would publicly execute the criminal Kozuki Oden in the Flower Capital.

At this moment, in the heart of the Flower Capital, within the castle built atop a giant tree, the celebratory feast continued, having extended from yesterday into today.

Below the castle, in a street-side prison cage.

Kozuki Oden, wrapped in bandages and shackled with Sea-Prism Stone chains, sat slumped in the cramped cell.

The man's eyes were dim, unmoving, enduring the pointed fingers and whispers of those outside the cell.

He had lost everything and yet could still change nothing.

Above the castle, on the winding tree trunk, Ian stood, overlooking the entire Flower Capital. "What do you think Kaido-sensei's words meant?"

Yamato sat beside him on the edge of the tree, swinging her slender legs.

Both of them had bruised faces.

Ignoring Kaido's orders and heading to the battlefield, of course, led to a thorough beating from Kaido once the war was over.

But what really concerned Ian wasn't the beating itself.

How many times has he been beaten already?

It wasn't the beating that troubled him so much as what Kaido had said right after, as he looked at Ian with a profound expression and said, "You'd better be prepared."

Prepared for what?

Kaido-sensei, why are you speaking in riddles? This makes me really anxious.

"Could it be that we're going to set sail?"

Yamato looked up with anticipation. Her two front teeth were missing, knocked out by Kaido yesterday, though she was at the age where she was about to lose them anyway.

"Not a chance."

Ian thought he must be really foolish to have asked Yamato. "Forget it, we'll find out soon enough."

Kaido wouldn't be trying to harm me, would he?

"But that guy is really annoying!"

Yamato suddenly complained.

She was referring to Orochi.

Ian recalled the scene from yesterday when the Beasts Pirates returned to the Flower Capital with the captured Oden Kozuki.

Orochi, unable to contain his impatience, came forward and made grandiose declarations to the nearly carbonized Oden Kozuki.

Ian almost thought Orochi had defeated Oden himself.

And today, Orochi attended the banquet while sending his subordinates to hunt down the remnants of the Kozuki family throughout the Flower Capital.

What he considered remnants.

Ian could see from here as Orochi's warriors caused waves of slaughter across the streets. The once festive Flower Capital was now undercurrents of turmoil.

Yamato was right; he is truly an insufferable guy.

Ian thought.

Nevertheless, in three days, the execution of Oden Kozuki would begin.

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