A few minutes earlier, on Ian Island.
"Huh? What are they running from?"
Watching the Red Hair Pirates below sprint off like huskies let loose, Loa stared blankly, wondering what had gotten into them.
He understood a moment later. Dragon Body and Observation Haki sounded the alarm at the same time, bringing him a sense of impending death he hadn't felt in a long while.
And the source of that danger was Hook, directly below him.
"If it's coming from there..." Loa looked down at the spot where the lightning had grown so dense it looked like liquid and quietly swallowed.
"Wait, how powerful is this thing when it explodes?"
The Thunder Stone gave him his answer the next second.
It had enough power to wipe everything out!
KRA-KA-BOOM!
A terrifying Vibration erupted. In an instant, several deep cracks stretching hundreds of meters split the ground.
Only then did the thunderous blast reach Loa's ears. The sudden noise sent a sharp pain through them, and two streams of blood ran down his cheeks.
Amid that deafening roar, even his brain seemed to shake, leaving him dizzy.
Even so, Loa forced himself to focus. He beat his wings hard and shot upward.
Run. Get as far away as possible!
Dragon Body and Observation Haki told him that was his only chance of survival.
But he had started a beat later than Shanks and the others. By the time he moved, an irresistible force unlike anything he had ever felt slammed into his back.
Pfft!
His two dragon wings, hard enough to cut steel, snapped instantly. The impact tore through his Ice Armor and Dragon Scales and struck his back without mercy, forcing a mouthful of dark blood from his throat.
The next second, Loa was sent flying like a baseball struck