Oden's anguished cry

After Marco pushed himself nearly to exhaustion, he finally managed to keep Oden alive—barely.

The Phoenix's regenerative blue flames burned on the deck for a long time, struggling to maintain the fragile balance between repairing flesh and avoiding further aggravation of his injuries.

Marco's breathing had long since grown ragged, and cold sweat trickled down his forehead onto the deck.

His hands never stopped moving. Blue flames flickered between his palms, as though he were battling some invisible force.

But the outcome—

Was still cruel.

That attack had not been mere lightning.

It had been Rock's Conqueror's Haki, carried by lightning, piercing Oden's very existence.

An act of will on that level had inflicted damage Marco could not repair.

His blue flames could heal flesh and stabilize internal organs, but they could not dispel the lingering will inside Oden's body, oppressive and repelling everything that approached it.

Eventually, Marco's movements slowed.

He gritted his teeth, but he still had no choice but to stop.

"...I can't."

For the first time, his voice sounded utterly helpless.

"If I keep going, his body will only break down faster."

"His life...is out of danger."

"But that wound—I can't heal it."

A brief, deathly silence fell over the deck.

Hearing those words, Izo, who had been standing guard beside them, seemed to lose every ounce of strength.

He stood rooted to the spot, staring at the unconscious Oden. His lips trembled, but not a word came out.

This was the lord he had followed since childhood, the man he had sworn to serve until death.

He was also the future upon which Wano Country had pinned its hopes.

Nekomamushi and Inuarashi lowered their heads together, their fists clenched so tightly that their knuckles turned white, yet neither could even roar in anger.

That helplessness