The Great Battle Ends! Kozuki Oden's Public Execution

Ian stood at the edge of a massive basin.

This had originally been a plain, but after the fierce battle between two monsters, the entire area had been gouged into a deep depression.

Moreover, the basin was covered in enormous, smooth chasms, like marks left by a sky-piercing giant swinging colossal blades capable of tearing heaven and earth apart.

The battle with the Nine Red Scabbards had already ended.

After being infected with Uncle Queen's virus, the Scabbard samurai had practically been finished. Faced with the ferocious assault of the two uncles, they were wiped out before long.

This time, they had no way to hide and wait for another chance to resist.

Uncle King had burned them clean with a single blaze.

However, Kozuki Momonosuke was still alive.

The powerful physique he had inherited from Kozuki Oden truly lived up to its reputation. Even after being infected with Uncle Queen's specially made virus, he had somehow yet to die.

Still, even if he was alive, he was nearly done for. His entire body had turned black as he lay tossed aside, his eyes tightly shut while he muttered something under his breath.

The only one still concerned about him was probably Shimotsuki Yasuie, who had been defeated by Yamato, bound up in spider silk again, and left crawling on the ground like a caterpillar.

This man, also covered in burns, wept uncontrollably.

It was over. The Kozuki Family was finished, and so was this country.

"It's ending."

Standing beside Ian with his arms folded across his chest, King spoke calmly.

"Mwahahaha! Naturally!"

Queen laughed excitedly. "Of course it's Boss Kaido's victory!"

At the bottom of the enormous basin, the battle between the two monsters had indeed reached its end.

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

Teacher Kai's appearance had grown increasingly ferocious. The color of the scales on his body had deepened, the muscles of his upper body bulged, his teeth had become incomparably sharp, and his brows layered over one another like clouds.

He looked even more like a monster now.

The monster gripped his iron club with both hands as Conqueror's Haki lightning crackled in every direction, tearing through the earth and shaking the heavens.

The iron club came down like a rainstorm. "Kunitari Ryuseigun!!"

His opponent, Kozuki Oden, was already battered all over, blood streaming from his head. One of his eyes could no longer open, and he could only barely fend off Kaido's assault with his blades.

That brief moment of distraction earlier had directly determined the course of the battle.

Kozuki Oden's twin swords finally stiffened for an instant beneath Kaido's relentless barrage, and that instant of stiffness was enough for Kaido to land several consecutive blows on Kozuki Oden's body.

"Gah!"

The disk-like topknot on the man's head was smashed apart in an instant, and he himself was struck as though by lightning, blasted straight into the depths of the earth.

"You can't protect anything!"

Kaido shot into the air and transformed into a gigantic azure dragon. Flames poured from his mouth. "This is the ending most fitting for you!"

"Fire Dragon Great Torch!!"

Dense, magma-like flames instantly enveloped the azure dragon, turning it into a flaming dragon thousands of meters long!

"Rising Dragon!"

The flaming dragon's head was cloaked in Black Haki, and Haki lightning once more radiated toward every corner of the sky.

"Flame Eight Trigrams!!"

The flaming dragon crashed down.

This was Teacher Kai's strongest strike after combining his powers with Haki.

Ian narrowed his eyes as he watched the fire dragon descend from the sky.

Flames that were almost tangible, capable even of being infused with Haki.

There was something to work with here.

I want to pilot a mecha too.

They both controlled flames. There was no reason Teacher Kai could do it while he could not, right?

The moment that thought crossed his mind, the fire dragon slammed into the ground, striking the hole Kozuki Oden had been smashed into.

Boom!

The earth shook violently. The ground within the basin instantly melted into magma, followed by a terrifying explosion. Like a supervolcano erupting, it hurled volcanic ash hundreds, even thousands of meters into the air, while flames and smoke surged toward the basin's edge like tidal waves.

"Aren't we standing a little too close?"

Queen suddenly said.

A little too close? They were practically right on top of it.

The flames and the explosion's Shockwave were about to hit them in the face.

"Fire Dragon Emperor!"

At the critical moment, Uncle King was still reliable. With a raised hand, he unleashed a gigantic fire dragon hundreds of meters long. It collided with the oncoming explosive wave of flames in an instant, stopping the tsunami from drawing closer.

This volcano-like phenomenon lasted for a long time, as though Teacher Kai had truly smashed through the earth's crust, giving the underground magma an outlet and letting it surge desperately toward the surface.

Nearly two minutes later, the flames finally died out and the thick smoke gradually dispersed. From the roiling lava, a massive figure emerged, striding forward with a man in one hand.

"Dad!! It's Dad!!"

Yamato leaped up in delight, clinging to Ian's neck and swinging like a pendulum. "Dad won!!"

The one who had walked out of the magma was, of course, Teacher Kai.

And Kozuki Oden, now looking like a piece of charred coal, was dangling from his hand.

Shimotsuki Yasuie lay sprawled on the ground, weeping bitterly.

Not far away, Kozuki Momonosuke finally failed to hold on. His body had been defeated by illness.

Ian suddenly found the light glaring.

He raised his head. Behind Teacher Kai, beyond the distant mountains, the sun was slowly rising.

Oh, was it dawn?

What a long night.

A day later.

Flower Capital.

The capital city of Wano Country had been decked out in lights and decorations.

News that General Orochi had asked the Beasts Pirates for help in crushing the Kozuki Family's treasonous plot had already spread throughout the city, and was spreading even faster to the rest of the country.

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

At this moment, in the castle keep built atop the giant tree at the center of the Flower Capital, the celebratory banquet was still ongoing, having continued since yesterday.

Below the castle keep, inside a street-side cage.

Kozuki Oden sat slumped in the cramped cell, his entire body wrapped in bandages and bound by Seastone chains.

The man's eyes were dim and lifeless. He did not move, allowing the people outside the cage to point and whisper at him.

He had lost everything, yet he still could not change anything.

Above the castle keep, on a winding branch that stretched across the air, Ian stood looking down over the entire Flower Capital. "What do you think Teacher Kai meant by that?"

Yamato sat beside him at the edge of the branch, swinging her two slender legs.

Both of them were bruised and swollen.

They had disobeyed Teacher Kai's orders and gone to the battlefield on their own, so naturally, Teacher Kai had given them a beating after the war ended.

But that beating was not what Ian cared about.

How many beatings had he already taken?

It was just that after beating him yesterday, Teacher Kai had suddenly looked at him meaningfully and said, "You brat should start getting ready."

Ready for what?

Teacher Kai, why were you speaking in riddles too? You were making him feel uneasy.

"Could it be that he's going to let us go out to sea?"

Yamato tilted her head up expectantly. Two of her little white front teeth were missing, knocked out by Teacher Kai yesterday. Though, to be fair, she was at the age when she should have been losing them anyway.

"How could that be?"

Ian felt like an idiot for even thinking of asking Yamato. "Forget it. We'll probably find out soon enough."

Teacher Kai wouldn't hurt me, right?

"Still, that guy is really annoying!"

Yamato suddenly said irritably.

She was talking about Kurozumi Orochi.

Ian recalled when the Beasts Pirates had brought the captured Kozuki Oden back to the Flower Capital yesterday.

Kurozumi Orochi had rushed over impatiently and launched into a tirade at Kozuki Oden, who had nearly been burned into charcoal.

Ian had almost thought Kurozumi Orochi was the one who had defeated Kozuki Oden.

And today, while attending the banquet, Kurozumi Orochi had sent his samurai to begin a massive hunt through the Flower Capital for the Kozuki Family's remaining supporters.

The remaining supporters, in his eyes.

Even from here, Ian could see Orochi's samurai stirring up wave after wave of slaughter through the streets. Beneath the brightly decorated Flower Capital, dark currents were surging.

Yamato was right. What an obnoxious guy.

Ian thought.

But no matter what, three days later, Kozuki Oden's execution would begin.