"Urgh... Just a little longer, and I can get out!"
The excruciating pain made Garp cough up blood.
But he only saw a vertical, perfectly straight slash sweep past from behind before his arm was severed in that instant.
Yet Garp lived up to his reputation as the toughest man at Marine Headquarters. The agony only intensified his will to survive.
He unleashed another Haki-infused punch, using the recoil to propel himself forward, and actually reached a point just a few meters from the domain's edge.
Freedom and survival were right before his eyes.
He raced forward, trying to charge out in one final burst.
Everyone outside watched his every move.
Garp had a chance!
But none of them knew that Roy, at the center of the Shrine, was murmuring softly.
"Heh, you've withstood the ordinary Slashes, and you've seen hope."
"But you still haven't noticed that the fatal blow has already bared its fangs and locked on to you."
"Enhanced Slash: Hachi!"
As his words fell, the Cursed Energy within the domain abruptly converged on a single slash, aimed straight at Garp.
At the same time, Garp was only three meters from the exit, then two, then one.
But suddenly, an enormous slash swept across, cutting viciously toward Garp.
"It's over!"
In that instant, despair filled Garp's heart as a lethal threat bore down on him.
Already at the end of his strength, he had no way to block this fatal blow.
"Haha, looks like I won't get to see that brat Luffy, or Ace, Dragon, Sengoku, and the others again."
He closed his eyes in despair, left with nothing to do but await death.
"Mr. Garp, don't give up!"
But at the critical moment, an anxious voice rang out.
Garp felt someone shove him forcefully aside.
Crack!
Squelch!
The surviving Marines cried out in shock.
"No! Impossible! How could Admiral Kuzan die? This is impossible!"
"Admiral Kuzan..."
When Garp opened his eyes again, he saw a sight he would never forget for the rest of his life.
Even though Kuzan had used Elementalization, the slash had still struck across his entire body, shredding his abdomen and spilling his internal organs.
Even now, Elementalization could be seen coursing rapidly through him, as though desperately trying to repair his body.
"Mr. Garp..."
Kuzan looked at the Garp he had saved and gave a relieved smile.
Then, with the last of his strength, he activated the Ice-Ice Fruit's power and froze himself completely.
Soon, only a figure like ice crystal remained where he stood.
"No! Kuzan! You bastard! Why did you save me? It shouldn't have been this way!"
Finally coming to his senses, Garp cried out in despair.
He understood.
Just as he was about to be cut down, Kuzan had rushed into the domain and shoved him aside.
But Kuzan himself had been too late to escape and could only take that fatal blow in his place.
Yet the slash had been too fast, its power absurd, and it had grievously wounded him.
It had even been about to cut him in half.
Although he had successfully used Elementalization afterward and barely avoided being severed at the waist.
With injuries this severe, his life was still hanging by a thread.
Having understood everything, Garp stared with bloodshot eyes full of venomous hatred at Roy, who had dismissed the domain and descended from the Shrine.
"Roy! You Calamity!"
"If I survive today, I'll hunt you down through ten thousand generations for the rest of my life, or may I die a terrible death!"
An oppressive silence hung over the scene, broken only by the desperate roars of Garp, the Navy Hero.
The surviving Marines felt the same.
They could not accept it.
They had lost this battle completely.
Magellan was dead, and the two Vice Admirals and several Rear Admirals had all been cut down.
Now even Garp, the hero of Marine Headquarters, had lost his left arm.
And his disciple, Marine Admiral Kuzan, had nearly been severed at the waist.
Had he not activated Elementalization at the last moment, he would already have been cut in half.
But faced with Garp's roars, Roy merely frowned and said nothing.
Bullet and Red were silent as well.
At this point, Garp and the surviving Marines were nothing more than defeated foes, no longer posing the slightest threat.
But just then, a pirate criminal rushed in in a panic.
"Bad news, Lord Roy!"
"Someone used their ability to scout the distant seas and saw warships approaching fast! What should we do?"
As those words fell, the atmosphere instantly grew tense.
"Damn it, reinforcements from Marine Headquarters came too quickly. We're on the back foot now. This is troublesome."
"Hmph, what's there to fear? Marine Headquarters isn't all-powerful. As long as the three of us work together, how hard could it be to fight our way out?"
Red's brow furrowed deeply. He clearly had not expected Marine Headquarters to encircle them so quickly.
Bullet, meanwhile, wore a disdainful expression, seemingly not taking Marine Headquarters seriously.
Even so, a trace of urgency remained in his voice.
After all, after fighting so fiercely for so long, everyone was at the end of their strength.
If they confronted Marine Headquarters head-on again, their chances of victory would be slim indeed.
Nearby, Garp laughed aloud upon learning that reinforcements from Marine Headquarters had arrived, though his laughter carried a desolate note.
"Hahaha! Roy, you can't escape!"
"Sengoku and the others have already surrounded you. The only thing waiting for you is execution!"
The other surviving Marines also felt a weight lift from their shoulders.
At last, reinforcements had arrived.
Then their sacrifices would not have been in vain.
Yet Roy's expression remained calm, while a strange glint flickered in his eyes.
"Heh heh heh, Garp, are you that eager to see me dead? Looks like I've given you far too much reason to hate me."
"But I'll wager that your hopes are doomed to come to nothing."
Garp's face twisted as he raised his right hand, the only one he could still move, and pointed a trembling finger at Roy.
"Roy, you're too arrogant! You have no idea how powerful Marine Headquarters is!"
"Marine Headquarters is indeed powerful. But what if they have a weakness too?"
Garp's expression froze.
The smugness still on his face instantly turned ashen, followed by a panic he could not conceal.
What did Roy mean by a weakness?
Could it be...
"You... the weakness you mean is us?"
"You want to take us prisoner and use us as hostages!"
At these words, the surviving Marines, who had still been secretly rejoicing, were dumbstruck.
Prisoners, hostages... Those were terms their navy had always used for pirates.
Yet now they were the ones facing that fate.
Beside them, Red and Bullet understood as well, then broke into wicked grins.
"Heh heh, just what I'd expect from Roy, a born Calamity. I'm impressed. When it comes to doing evil, I'm willing to call you the strongest."
"Heh heh, this scheme may be vicious, but it certainly works right now. I like it. So, Garp, will you surrender with some dignity, or shall I help you along?"
Garp's eyes were bloodshot, his breathing as heavy as an ox's.
He wanted to argue, wanted to die in the line of duty right there.
He absolutely refused to become Marine Headquarters' weak spot.
But...
"Hehe, Garp, think about your family. Think about your comrades. What will they do if you die in the line of duty?"
"Also, if you dare kill yourself, believe me when I say this. I'll torture these fewer than forty survivors to death one by one, right before your eyes."
"Just think how much your family would suffer. And these survivors, already losers, can all die today!"
To Roy, Garp and the others were precisely the key to whether they could leave safely.
Someone as ruthless as him naturally would not let Garp die so easily.
At that thought, he slaughtered five of the surviving Marines on the spot.
Coupled with one cutting remark after another, he kept tormenting Garp.
"Roy! You bastard, you Calamity! These Marines are all innocent... Stop this slaughter!"
Garp's eyes were bloodshot, and he wanted nothing more than to charge forward and fight Roy to the death.
Yet in the end, he did not dare make a move.
Because he knew that the lives of these survivors rested in Roy's hands.
With Roy's viciousness, he was absolutely capable of torturing them to death.
Before you continue