While Setsuna mutilated himself behind the door, chaos erupted outside.
Hancock's exquisite face suddenly twisted. Clutching her heaving chest, she screamed in terror, "Something's wrong! Lord Setsuna's aura—it's weakening rapidly!"
She was not the only one. Zephyr and the others looked equally alarmed.
They could clearly sense the suffocatingly powerful aura inside the room draining away, like a candle flame being swallowed by darkness, liable to go out at any moment.
"Someone ambushed Lord Setsuna!" Fury blazed in Hancock's eyes. "We have to go in and save him right now!"
But a Flame Barrier abruptly rose, blocking her path.
"No!" Ace's voice was low and resolute. "Have you forgotten the captain's orders? No matter what happens inside, nobody is allowed in!"
Hancock glared at him, fierce Conqueror's Haki radiating from her. "Ace! Are you trying to take this chance to get Lord Setsuna killed so you can take his place as captain?"
Ace drew a deep breath, his gaze unwavering. "Hancock, you should know the captain's strength better than I do. He's the World's Strongest Man!"
Unexpectedly, Hancock's cheeks flushed crimson, her long eyelashes trembling slightly. "Of course Lord Setsuna is the strongest... even with all three of us—"
Ace looked utterly baffled. What the hell are you blushing for?
He raised his head, his gaze blazing. "Don't you have even that much faith in the captain?"
Hancock froze, but her anger soon flared again. "But Lord Setsuna's aura has weakened to almost nothing! What if something happens—"
While the two remained locked in argument, the aura behind the door suddenly surged.
The energy that had nearly faded away swelled explosively in an instant, becoming even more immense and profound than before.
"See?" Ace breathed a sigh of relief, the corners of his mouth lifting. "I told you the captain