Akira spoke with such nonchalance, yet every word boomed like thunder in the ears of the five Knights of God behind Gunko.
The God Valley Incident, which had taken place thirty-two years ago, had long since been erased from history. Not only that incident, but even the island where God Valley was located had vanished from the maps.
For that very reason, even among the Marines, there were only a handful who knew about it. And aside from Garp, who had taken part in the God Valley Incident, no one in Marine Headquarters—not even Marshal Sengoku—knew that they had participated in that hunting game.
Most importantly, they could be certain this was their first time meeting Akira.
Even if Garp, who had been there during the incident, had told Akira about them, there was no way Akira could have recognized them the moment they met!
The five Knights of God weren't the only ones wearing disbelieving expressions. The Three Admirals behind Akira also looked up at him.
Although they were Admirals of Marine Headquarters, they had only been in their teens or twenties when the God Valley Incident broke out. Kuzan, the youngest, had been only eleven. So they knew nothing about the incident. Even after gradually coming of age and eventually becoming Admirals, they had only noticed some suspicious details through confidential Marine Headquarters files and records about Rocks, the sea's former overlord who had once dominated the oceans.
Of course, none of that mattered.
What mattered was that even the Three Admirals of Marine Headquarters knew nothing about the God Valley Incident, while Akira, who had only been a Headquarters Vice Admiral until recently, knew it inside out. He had even named the five people before them as participants in the God Valley Hunting Game. For some reason, it made them feel as though they were still young in Akira's presence!
"You actually know about the God Valley Incident!"
After a brief moment of shock, the long-haired woman beside Gunko took a sudden step forward. The skeleton-faced man reflexively grabbed his long-handled scythe, while the hooded man immediately leaped backward, bringing his spear up in front of him in a fighting stance.
In response to their sudden reactions, Akira calmly stepped forward and said, "I told you already. You lot are nothing but a bunch of nobodies, and you're not qualified to negotiate with me. Return to the Holy Land at once and have the Five Elders come speak with me in person."
He paused briefly, then abruptly changed tack, saying something even more shocking: "No, the Five Elders haven't reacted at all. Instead, you came to Marine Headquarters through a teleportation array. Should I take that to mean the ones who sent you here weren't the Five Elders, but—Imu!"
At the name "Imu," all six Knights of God, Gunko included, changed expression.
"Damn it, you actually know of Lord Im's existence!"
"You know too much!"
As they spoke, a flash of murderous intent appeared in their eyes. Gunko, at their head, quietly activated her Devil Fruit ability, and a massive arrow wrapped in bandages appeared in midair, hurtling toward Akira at astonishing speed.
The sudden attack caught the Three Admirals behind Akira and Gion, who stood just one step away from him, completely off guard.
First, they barely knew the name Imu. They hadn't expected Akira merely saying it to make the other side panic so badly, let alone launch an attack without hesitation.
Although Gion had learned that Imu existed, she hadn't expected Imu's existence to be such a closely guarded secret that simply saying the name would instantly ignite a war. Only now did she finally understand why Akira hadn't let her rush to investigate the truth about the Flower Chamber and Imu.
"Fireflies think they can outshine the moon?"
Before the Three Admirals or Gion could react, Akira's voice suddenly brimmed with killing intent.
The next second, Akira reached back and grabbed the hilt of the long sword at Gion's waist.
The moment Akira gripped the hilt and drew the blade, black-and-red Conqueror's Haki erupted in full view. But the Haki didn't pour out from Akira's body or from beneath his feet. It shot out bizarrely from within the scabbard.
Before the blade had even cleared the scabbard, the terrifying Conqueror's Haki had already covered the rooftop.
Boom, boom, boom—
The massive arrow that had just shot toward Akira and appeared before him shattered inch by inch beneath the crushing force of the Conqueror's Haki, turning to ash that scattered through the air.
Watching the arrow she had released shatter into ash under the force of the Conqueror's Haki, Gunko's pupils contracted. Her face filled with terror as she cried, "Conqueror's Haki!"
"No, this is impossible!"
The long-haired woman beside Gunko also widened her eyes and said in disbelief, "It's even more powerful than Rocks's Conqueror's Haki was back then. Who are you?"
"Damn it, I can't take much more!"
The instant the Conqueror's Haki swept over them, the other two Knights of God felt as if their bodies and souls were being torn apart. They couldn't move, and an unprecedented terror welled up in their hearts.
Under the horrified gazes of the Knights of God, Akira gripped the hilt and drew Gion's sword from its scabbard without the slightest hesitation, swift and decisive.
Whoom—
The instant the blade left its scabbard, an even more domineering wave of Conqueror's Haki surged outward from Akira, churning the blazing clouds and sweeping toward the Knights of God like an avalanche.
A low-frequency vibration rippled through the air. Gunko and the other five Knights of God could no longer hold their ground. All of them were forced backward, completely against their will.
"Get out of here!"
"Tell Imu that from this moment on, Nika isn't the only one you need to fear. You'll have to fear me, Akira, too!"
As his words fell, he swung the long sword, wrapped in Conqueror's Haki that the system had raised to its highest level.
In an instant, fierce winds tore across the rooftop, and faint thunder rumbled in the sky above. A visible shockwave rippled through the air, mingling with the black-and-red Conqueror's Haki as it swept Gunko and the other five Knights of God into its path.
"Ughhh—!"
Several uncontrollable cries of pain rang out in quick succession. The six Knights of God who had just arrived through the teleportation array were swept up by the Conqueror's Haki like six cannonballs, rocketing skyward toward the Holy Land atop the Red Line.
"!!!!"
The Three Admirals behind Akira all widened their eyes, their faces full of shock.
They didn't know how strong the Knights of God who had suddenly appeared on the rooftop were, but the sheer terror of the Conqueror's Haki Akira had just released far surpassed anything they could have imagined.
After all, among the Conqueror's Haki users they knew of, even Pirate King Roger, who had been executed in Loguetown sixteen years ago, could not have sent someone flying that high and that far with Conqueror's Haki alone.
At that moment, Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan were all utterly awed by Akira's power. They finally understood the true source of the confidence behind his mutiny.
It wasn't the officers and soldiers who had pledged their loyalty to Akira after receiving his help over the years. Akira himself possessed the qualities of a king.
After blasting the six Knights of God away with a single sword swing, Akira returned the long sword to Gion's scabbard. Then he turned and looked down at the warships drawing near beyond Marineford's outer wall.
"Borsalino, sink those warships. They're an eyesore!"
"Roger—"
Borsalino snapped out of his shock and decisively unleashed his Goro Goro no Mi ability, leaping into the air.
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