A raging inferno engulfed the battlefield, erupting outward like a colossal fireball that swallowed the sky itself. It surged across the cracked, battered earth, the searing heat hissing against the ground and making it snap and sizzle.
Pirates who had dared raise their heads now collapsed in terror, pressing their faces to the scorched earth. The blaze painted their pale, frozen expressions in harsh relief, exposing every trembling breath, every wide-eyed moment of despair.
Within the sea of flames, Queen's massive form rolled wildly, his skin and armor ablaze. His agonized screams tore through the din, a chorus of raw pain that reverberated across the devastated base.
Bullet's pupils dilated. Bloodlust ignited in his gaze—deep, red, murderous. Queen was vulnerable. If he struck now, he could end it. The humiliation, the torment, the poisonous agony forced on him—he would return it all tenfold.
He braced to leap, feet coiling for the strike.
But a firm hand seized his shoulder.
"No, Bullet. We're done here. We need to go."
Bullet blinked, fury pausing for the briefest moment.
Beside him, Darren's fingers sparked with arcs of electricity. In the silent rhythm of invisible magnetism, weapons and wreckage scattered across the blood-soaked ground flew skyward—rifles, swords, broken machinery—twisting, warping, melting in the air.
Forged in midair, a sleek, silver vessel shaped like a streamlined ark hovered before them. Gleaming under the flickering firelight, it looked like a chariot crafted from battle itself.
Darren threw the unconscious Señor onto the craft and stepped forward—
Until a roar cracked the sky.
"DARREN!! BULLET!! YOU CURSED FOOLS—HOW DARE YOU!!"
The voice was thunder and storm, raw wrath made sound. Lightning streaked across the heavens. Wind howled like a beast uncaged.
Far above, the clouds churned. From their depths, a colossal silhouette writhed through the heavens.
Wreathed in wind and lightning, its every movement tore the skies asunder. The air bent around it. The world itself seemed to recoil.
"That's... a dragon!"
"Kaido-sama!! It's him!!"
"We're saved!! They're finished now!!"
Excitement flared like wildfire in the eyes of the watching Beasts Pirates. Despair flipped to euphoria in an instant. They shouted, screamed, voices overlapping.
A slicing shriek tore through the air. A screech like a blade cleaving the sky.
Dark green wind blades ripped through the cloud cover—dozens, then hundreds—sweeping down like death itself.
Darren's gaze sharpened. Without hesitation, he raised a single arm.
Metal answered his call, coalescing into a domed shield before him and Bullet. Haki surged across its surface, turning steel black with armored will.
This was Kaido's Kaifu—no ordinary wind. It cut like wrath incarnate.
Blade after blade rained down, slicing deep gashes into the shield, peeling away metal like bark from a tree.
The last gust struck—and the shield shattered.
Through the falling shards, the dragon's titanic head emerged. It broke through the cloud bank like a mountain falling from heaven.
Kaido saw his base in ruin, his men fallen, the bodies scattered across scorched earth.
His golden slit pupils flooded with bloodshot rage.
The dragon's roar shook the skies.
From the depths of his throat, a fireball formed—massive, molten, terrifying.
"Damn it—it's that move again!"
Bullet's eyes narrowed. He remembered the chaos. The trap. The pain.
Kaido had used this very breath to subdue them once before.
Bullet's lip curled into a sneer. His arm surged with Haki, cloaking in a sheen of lethal black.
"That won't work again. Not on us."
"Bullet. Kaido's mine. Watch our rear."
The calm voice belonged to Darren.
Bullet growled, instinct clashing with pride.
He didn't like taking orders. Not from anyone.
His gaze scanned the skies. A black blur streaked through the smoke.
Wings of flame cut the air.
He dove like a predator, aiming not at them, but behind—
Front and rear. A coordinated strike.
"DAMN YOU, DARREN! I'M NOT YOUR DAMN UNDERLING!!"
Bullet cursed—but his body obeyed.
Earth and steel surged up to greet him. His body was swallowed in stone, in metal, in power.
A ten-meter colossus.
The giant raised its arm. A single swing—aimed at the diving Pteranodon.
Air screamed. Shockwaves bloomed.
A coin flicked into the air.
Darren stood tall, hair tousled in the gale. His finger aimed.
The coin spun—glowing blue.
Aimed straight for Kaido's flaming maw.
Two warriors. Back to back.
Two titans. Facing death head-on.
Scarlet flame erupted from Kaido's jaws.
A blue cannon roared from Darren's finger.
King launched golden laser beams.
The giant hurled its fist like a falling meteor.
"Magnetic Overload — Railgun!!"
"Medium Bullet — Super Heavy Cannon!!"
A heartbeat of silence.
Explosions rocked the heavens.
Shockwaves blasted in all directions.
The Beasts Pirates were thrown—blinded by white light, ears shattered by sound.
The island cracked. Chasms yawned open. The sea rose—towering waves surged toward the land.
As if the world had shattered.