Qualities of a King

With his tough physique, Dawn withstood the explosion. He wrapped himself in dark energy and swallowed the flying rubble to prevent further injury, but the blast's impact still made his blood churn.

He emerged from the smoke and dust, looking somewhat disheveled but otherwise unharmed.

However, just as he steadied himself and looked up, he saw a sight that horrified him beyond measure and made his eyes split with rage.

Boom raised his right hand. An invisible ripple suddenly spread out from him. The air around Robin—above, below, left, right, within several meters—began to twist violently like water disturbed by a stone, giving off a dark crimson glow like red-hot iron.

The glowing air became extremely unstable bombs, forming an airtight, deadly encirclement that trapped Robin firmly at its center.

At such close range, those flickering air bombs were practically pressed against her skin. Even if she used Geppo or Soru, the slightest movement would make her body touch those unstable explosives ahead of time.

Robin was instantly driven into a desperate situation. Sweat slid down from her temple, yet her deep blue eyes remained astonishingly calm.

She looked at Dawn, who was staring at her, her eyes filled with an inseparable reluctance and a trace of resolve.

She parted her lips without making a sound, but Dawn clearly "read" her lips.

She was saying, "Goodbye."

Boom's wild, triumphant laughter rang out, filled with the cruelty of certain victory:

"Hahaha! For justice, die! Boom!"

"Robin!!!"

Dawn's mind went blank in that instant! Watching Robin about to be blown to pieces before his very eyes, the gut-wrenching terror and fury within him exploded.

A power long rooted deep within his blood and soul was completely awakened by those extreme emotions.

An incomparably terrifying, invisible will surged out from Dawn like a tangible tsunami shockwave.

In an instant, the sky seemed to darken, and the pressure of a king that made all living souls tremble descended upon the world.

Conqueror's Haki! Awakened under the impact of extreme emotion!

Boom, who bore the brunt of it, still had his smug laughter frozen on his face when it felt as though an invisible hammer of immense weight had smashed brutally into his head.

A buzzing instantly filled his ears. His vision went dark, and his consciousness fell into complete daze and chaos. His once-sharp, clouded eyes rolled white, and his body began to shake uncontrollably, nearly toppling headfirst to the ground.

Without time to properly sense this newly awakened power within him, Dawn's formerly aqua-blue pupils had already been completely dyed red by lingering fear and overwhelming killing intent.

He locked onto Boom, who had lost all ability to resist in that instant. Dawn thrust out his right hand, fingers curled into a claw, aimed at Boom.

[Dark Water]!

A terrifying force of attraction erupted instantly. Still reeling from the Conqueror's Haki, with his mind in chaos and body rigid, Boom had no power to resist that immense pull. Like a kite with its string cut, he was yanked toward Dawn in an instant.

Dawn's right hand accurately seized Boom by the throat, lifting his entire body off the ground as though he were a chick.

The Devil Fruit power within Boom was instantly stripped away, turning him back into an ordinary old man.

The air explosives surrounding Robin rapidly dimmed the instant they lost the support of his power. The distorted air returned to normal, and the deadly danger was suddenly dispelled.

Robin felt the pressure around her loosen, and the suffocating oppression vanished. She staggered a step and nearly collapsed, but Stella, who had barely struggled back up and returned to human form, caught her in time.

"Cough... cough cough..."

With his throat gripped, Boom's face rapidly changed from red to purple. He struggled futilely, trying to pry open Dawn's iron-clad fingers with both hands while his feet kicked helplessly in the air.

Dawn stared at the old face in his hand, twisted by suffocation and terror. His voice was hoarse, every word seeming to be squeezed out from the depths of hell, filled with endless killing intent:

"You almost... got me. I never expected you to have mastered Devil Fruit awakening... How insidious. Still, I should thank you. By using Robin's life, you reminded me... that I must remain extremely cautious when facing any enemy."

The smooth sailing of the past half year had caused him to lower his guard subconsciously. Rather than concealing himself and infiltrating, he had chosen the most direct approach: a frontal assault on an enemy stronghold whose intelligence was unknown.

That desperate situation just now could have been avoided. He had learned this lesson at the cost of nearly losing Robin, and it was now carved into his heart.

His thoughts raced, but the strength in his hand did not lessen in the slightest. Dawn no longer hesitated. His other free hand suddenly pressed against Boom's chest.

Darkness surged in his palm as a torrent of water, compressed to the absolute limit within another dimension long ago, was released in an instant and blasted toward Boom's heart from nearly point-blank range.

[Giant Torrent]!

Splat—!

Boom's chest caved inward as though struck by a high-speed armor-piercing round, then a huge hole exploded open in the corresponding spot on his back.

The compressed seawater burst forth the instant it touched his body, spraying from his back together with pulverized organs and fragments of bone.

Boom's body convulsed violently once, and his struggles instantly ceased. His wide eyes still held unimaginable terror and unwillingness, but the breath of life rapidly guttered out like a candle in the wind.

Dawn released his hand. Boom's corpse fell limply to the ground like a tattered sack, blood gushing from the hole in his chest and quickly dyeing the earth beneath him red.

TO BE CONTINUED