Above Onigashima.
The flames dispersed.
Black-red thunder gradually vanished into the depths of the clouds, while smoke and dust slowly settled.
At the center of the enormous crater, Kaido had reverted to human form.
He lay on his back, drenched in blood, his chest heaving violently.
Blood continued to seep from the wounds left by shattered scales, while his spiked club had flown from his grip and embedded itself in a broken rock wall nearby.
He was not dead yet.
But everyone could see that Kaido of the Beasts had completely lost the strength to keep fighting.
Garp landed at the edge of the crater.
Steam still rose from his fist, and Haki arcs flickered between his knuckles.
The old man said nothing. He merely looked down at the Emperor of the Sea he had personally smashed into the ground.
Kaido lay at the bottom of the crater, staring up at the sky, his breathing heavy and ragged.
Through his blurred vision, he saw that nearly burned-up Vivre Card again.
Kaido looked at it and suddenly grinned. It was an ugly, exhausted smile.
"Old hag..."
His voice was so low that only he could barely hear it.
"This time..."
"Don't laugh at how badly I lost again..."
At the edge of the crater.
King's pupils contracted.
"Kaido!"
He forced his severely wounded body to rush toward the crater, but in the next instant, a towering figure blocked his path.
Zephyr had already returned to human form.
Jack was dead, King was severely injured, and the Beasts Pirates' top-level combat strength had nearly been completely shattered.
The purple-haired old man raised an arm, his gaze cold and hard.
"It ends here."
King stared fixedly at Zephyr, his chest rising and falling sharply as the flames behind him flickered.
But his injuries