The light around the towering figure grew ever more dazzling, like the sun itself. As the attack arrived, a blinding radiance burst forth. In an instant, it lit up the heavens and earth, plunging everyone on the island into a world of white.
Everyone shut their eyes at once. Even Wuli and the others could only rely on their senses. A few people tried to force their eyes open, but the light blinded them, robbing them of their sight forever.
The island shone so brightly that it could be seen clearly from distant islands. Civilians, pirates, and Marines alike stared in shock, wondering what had happened there.
BOOM!
The two forces collided. Their power was so immense that, at the moment of impact, there was no sound at all. The world seemed to fall deathly still. Then came a crack, as though something had broken. A terrifying surge of force erupted from the island and swept outward. The air burst in rippling waves, the sea in the distance rose sharply, and the island began to shake.
CRACK!
A huge fissure opened in the ground, then spread rapidly. Before the horrified eyes of everyone watching, the entire island began to split apart. The fissure widened into a bottomless abyss.
Far below, patches of dark red appeared and kept spreading, as though something were waking. Soon the bottom of the abyss glowed crimson, and waves of scorching heat rose from it.
Some people had been standing directly over the fissure. Before they could escape, the ground split beneath their feet. They caught the edge and clung to it, narrowly avoiding a fall.
"What is that?" They looked down, and their terror deepened. "It's magma!"
The flowing, dark-red heat beneath the abyss was volcanic magma. The volcano, long dormant, was awakening. Scorching magma