Opposite him, the blond-haired boy in the pitch-black feather cloak stood composed.
He waited a few breaths before slowly drawing the long blade at his waist.
The instant the blade left its sheath, that slowness exploded into lightning speed!
"Underworld Slash: Road to the Underworld!"
A sense of danger pierced his skull like an ice pick-every inch of Kyros's flesh screamed.
His well-trained Observation Haki blared a frantic warning, but it was a fraction too late.
Darkness swallowed the daylight like a tide, and crimson surged across his vision like a sea of blood.
All that remained between heaven and earth was that light that cleaved through everything.
Shh-
A crisp snapping sound came from behind him.
The black-and-red edge had already swept through the colosseum, its remaining force tearing through distant houses, field ridges, and mountain crests, leaving a straight scar.
The entire arena fell deathly silent.
Tens of thousands of eyes followed that trajectory rigidly, looking at the Corrida Colosseum, neatly sliced apart, and the spectators who had collapsed on either side of the smooth cut.
Crack.
A faint sound of splitting.
Clang-
The helmet, split in two, fell to the ground, followed by half a broken sword.
Splat.
A mist of blood sprayed out.
The hero, his armor shattered and weapon broken, dropped to one knee. Scarlet blood spilled from the wound across his chest, soaking the stone tiles beneath him.
"Kyros?!"
"Captain-"
A girl's startled cry and a deep voice rang out at the same time.
Not just the two hundred thousand spectators present, but everyone watching through Visual Den Den Mushi mechanically turned their heads toward the figure kneeling in the arena.
Dressrosa's glory had fallen.
At that same moment, even the clouds overhead split along a straight line.
Sunlight poured through that long, narrow