When the Curtain Fell

For the Marines and the Whitebeard Pirates, whether this war ended in victory or defeat,

the result awaiting them would be utter devastation.

But the Maud Pirates were different.

Victory or defeat,

Maud would always watch over his companions' safety.

Only when everyone was safe could it be called victory.

Even in defeat, he would ensure that everyone withdrew safely.

At this moment,

Maud sat upright upon the Shadow Throne.

This action meant that victory was already within his grasp.

On the battlefield,

the situation, which had been constantly shifting, gradually became clearer.

The fewer than one thousand pirates still fighting under the banner of the Whitebeard Pirates found it difficult to effectively withstand the Marines' assault.

At the same time, the Marines, who had been suppressing the Whitebeard Pirates and the other pirates, likewise found it difficult to withstand the Maud Pirates' assault, greatly enhanced by shadow.

As time passed,

the Marines suffered casualties, and the Whitebeard Pirates suffered casualties as well.

Only the Maud Pirates remained standing.

All of this stemmed from Maud's Shadow of All Beings.

Maud's gaze swept across the battlefield as he watched, from the perspective of a bystander, this war that was about to reach its end.

Directly before him was Fujitora, trapped beneath the assault of an endless tide of shadows.

To outsiders, it looked like a trapped beast struggling in desperation.

Unable to break free from his current predicament, Fujitora naturally could not assist the Marines on the battlefield.

The injuries on his body were also steadily worsening.

The only thing worth being grateful for was that after Maud trapped him, he had not raised his blade against the Marines on the field.

Otherwise—

With Maud's overwhelming and terrifying power, combined with the full firepower of the Maud Pirates, the Marines would