Year after year of war and slaughter.
Countless people had died in battle, countless people had suffered, and countless homes had been destroyed.
This war had dragged on far, far too long.
He had long since wanted to end it, to stop people from bleeding and sacrificing their lives.
The sooner the final battle came, the sooner it would all end.
Joy Boy slowly rose to his feet, a straw hat on his head and his back straight. Immense Haki simmered around him as he gazed toward the distant battlefield and issued his orders in a deep voice.
"Everyone, heed my command!"
"All forces, attack!"
There were no grand declarations, only the simplest, purest, most unwavering determination to protect.
The images on the Sky Screen shifted rapidly, and the final bloodshed of the decisive war came to an end.
The entire Ancient Land lay devastated, its mountains and rivers shattered, its blood flowing in streams.
This final battle, into which both sides had poured everything they possessed and fought until their supplies were exhausted, had been brutal beyond measure.
The Divine Race's individual fighting strength remained overwhelmingly powerful. Divine fire burned mountains and boiled seas, while their divine bodies withstood the impact of Haki head-on. Countless members of the Knights charged through the bloodshed, one after another, fearless in the face of death. They fell in droves before finally overwhelming the members of the Royal Family one by one.
To minimize his comrades' casualties, Joy Boy had never backed down for even a moment.
He had stayed at the very forefront of the battlefield, pushing his strength to its limits. Alone, he held off the Royal Family's strongest fighters, enduring the most terrifying pressure and damage of the entire war.
In the end, he led the Knights, despite their devastating