A Victory Without Suspense

The beach looked as if it had been struck by a meteor shower, riddled with circular craters. Umit lay quietly in one of the largest.

Umit... had lost?

The thought came to him unbidden. He had been racking his brains to buy himself a little more time, only for Umit to fall before him. The fighting spirit that had filled him suddenly ebbed away. If Umit had lost, then their fight had no meaning anymore.

Besides, everyone else had already fallen.

Deep Sea, Grey Knight, Flying Rabbit, Red Hat... His former comrades, who like him had once made their names on the sea, lay sprawled across the ground. Some were still barely breathing; others had already gone cold.

They'd lost!

Seeing the scene before him, Marcus finally understood their situation.

A crushing defeat.

An utter, unmitigated defeat.

A failure so complete that nothing remained! Their pride and their substance had both vanished into thin air with Umit's fall.

Then, to his surprise, he realized he wasn't all that disappointed. He felt so calm that it almost made him suspicious of himself. But... well, perhaps this was for the best. It was about time for the curtain to fall. A wild boar like him, so fond of wallowing in his own mud pit, was never suited to a place like the New World.

Still,

The curtain didn't have to fall in such an ugly way.

"Explode!"

He locked onto Aleus, flying behind him with Observation Haki, spread his hands, and activated his ability. Heat rapidly gathered in the air, which began to expand. The next instant, an explosion erupted. A storm of high-temperature, high-pressure gas swept over Aleus, its roar deafening.

The blast wave also propelled Marcus toward the ground, accelerating his fall.

The instant his body touched the ground, he activated his ability again, granting the earth an extremely high degree of elasticity. His body, covered in Armament Haki, slammed into the springy ground. He was completely unharmed, and the rebound hurled him back up—

"BAM!!!"

A slender, pale hand caught Marcus by the head, stopping his rebound and slamming him hard into the ground.

This time, the elasticity he'd imbued into the earth had vanished. The back of Marcus's head made intimate contact with the rock beneath him.

The whole series of events

had unfolded in an instant.

Blood was already running from the back of Marcus's head, but he still looked dazed, as if he hadn't processed what had happened.

"You looked so dejected, I thought you were going to surrender! And then you pull a stunt like that? You were trying to catch me off guard, huh?" Aleus pressed a hand against Marcus's forehead. The pair of black wings on his back slowly folded away. "So, what do you say? Want to consider surrendering? I'm very interested in your ability."

Marcus's head was spinning. The pain at the back of his skull left him dazed, and it felt as if needles were stabbing his brain. He couldn't mount any meaningful resistance.

His heart turned cold.

He was too strong! The gap between them... was too great! Even Lord Umit's punches wouldn't have knocked him down so effortlessly. He couldn't even fight back, only lie on the ground like a salted fish, at his mercy. The vast gulf in their strength made it painfully clear to Marcus that Lord Umit's defeat had been inevitable.

"Lord Umit, he..."

"Dead."

"He's dead? That's... like a dream. How did he die? Lord Umit, I mean?"

"I beat him to death."

Aleus replied casually, "His fists were hard. If we're talking solely about Armament Haki, he'd probably rank eighth or ninth among everyone I've ever met. But all he had was a hard punch. He was completely lacking in speed!"

He was telling the truth.

The fight between Umit and Aleus had been fairly straightforward, nowhere near as dazzling or varied as the battle between Marcus and Eschbach.

Of course,

That was judging it from the perspective of entertainment. Umit wasn't an ability user, so naturally he didn't have as many flashy tricks as ability users. Some people might prefer the feel of fist meeting flesh... Hmm, putting it that way, he shouldn't jump to conclusions so hastily. Everyone had their own tastes.

In short, Umit and Aleus had traded blows at a pace too fast for anyone with poor eyesight to follow. All they could see were waves of shock that tore across the beach, leaving crater after crater in place of the original Mushroom Rock and giving Dressrosa a new landmark.

At first, Umit seemed to have the upper hand against Aleus. He'd even broken several of Aleus's bones.

But he couldn't build on that advantage. Aleus quickly figured out Umit's methods and confirmed that the King of Maritime Transport had no other cards to play. Unwilling to drag things out and give Joker a show, Aleus used his superior speed to end the fight, which had never been in doubt.

To be fair, Umit wasn't weak.

As a giant of the Dark World and a guest of Big Mom, Umit was one of the top fighters in the New World.

Aleus was simply stronger.

And not just by a little. He was overwhelmingly stronger. The moment Umit faced Aleus, he was reduced to the weaker man.

"Eighth or ninth? Is Lord Umit really that bad?"

"The Whitebeard Pirates are just that strong."

Aleus's words left Marcus speechless for a moment.

How had he forgotten? The Ekmondo Kingdom flew the flag of the Whitebeard Pirates. It was only natural that Aleus had crossed paths with them. No wonder Umit ranked eighth or ninth when compared to the Whitebeard Pirates.

"Hey, give me a straight answer. Are you surrendering?"

Aleus's right hand was still pressed against Marcus's head.

"Surrender... Your Highness, the Black Prince, I'm sorry!" Marcus endured the pain and forced an ugly, tooth-baring smile. "I may just be a wild boar who likes rolling around in a mud pit, but..."

"BAM—!!"

Before Marcus could show his resolve and determination, his head struck the solid earth again, like a ball.

This time,

Aleus deliberately used Spirit Pressure to attack Marcus's soul. As expected, Marcus passed out completely.

"You talk too much. If you won't surrender, then don't! I'm not going to force you. Why keep quacking on like a duck..." Aleus stood up, holding Marcus by his bald head, and tossed the unconscious man aside. "Eschbach, keep an eye on him. Don't let him die. I'm very interested in his ability, so bring him along when we head back."

After dealing with the only target since landing on the island who had managed to pique his interest, Aleus rolled his eyes and looked toward the distant clusters of buildings stretching across the horizon. His lips curled into a bright smile.

He even raised his right hand and waved.

He might as well have shoved it in Doflamingo's face and called out, "Hello!"