Meanwhile, on the ground below.
Jaygarcia Saturn was completely immobilized, bound tightly by several luminous golden chains. Or rather, it was Imu, hidden within that vessel, who was truly restrained.
After centuries, it felt the breath of death once more! This was the first time Imu had felt a genuine threat to its life since Joy Boy!
The threat came from the skies above. From a mysterious man wearing a mask. And from the colossal golden sphere of energy gathering power overhead, poised to deliver a single, fatal strike.
A long-suppressed wave of panic and fury detonated within Imu's soul. Its will manifested as a silent shriek that tore through space, transmitting through the supreme spiritual link to issue the most urgent command to every surviving lackey still alive.
"Destroy these chains!"
"At any cost!"
On the other side of the battlefield.
The Five Elders, Saint Garling, and their entourage, who had been trying to prevent Rocks, Whitebeard, and their allies from retreating, all froze in unison. The imperial decree detonated directly inside their minds. The emotion within the command was no longer the usual detached majesty. Instead, it was... panic. Desperation.
Had their god panicked?
The thought flashed in their minds for a fraction of a second before being drowned out by absolute loyalty.
The Five Elders and the Holy Knights led by Saint Garling did not hesitate for a moment.
They instantly abandoned every enemy in front of them, their bodies transforming into streaks of differently colored light as they rushed madly toward Jaygarcia Saturn, who was bound by the golden chains and possessed by Imu.
"Hmm?"
Whitebeard halted his assault. Watching those figures suddenly flee the battlefield in panic, he merely let out a cold snort and made no move to stop them.
Rocks and Gol D. Roger also turned their heads, watching the frantic retreat with eyes full of amusement.
They didn't intervene. For one, they needed to organize their own people and evacuate this island at maximum speed before it became a graveyard.
For another, they genuinely wanted to see just how far the World Government's supreme combatants could go when facing that man's power.
This was the final, and best, opportunity to gauge the gap between themselves and that mysterious masked man. Watching coldly from the sidelines was the optimal choice.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Several streaks of light tore through the atmosphere, their sonic booms echoing violently.
The Five Elders and Saint Garling, accompanied by several elite Holy Knights, quickly arrived beneath Saturn.
Looking up at the slender yet divinely radiant golden chains, each of their expressions twisted with desperate fanaticism.
"Attack!"
Bakotsu, gripping the Shodai Kitetsu, let out a hoarse roar. He poured every remaining ounce of dark energy and Haki in his body into the blade.
The Shodai Kitetsu's eerie crimson glow merged with ominous black miasma, slashing out a pitch-black sword aura that devoured light itself.
The aura howled, striking directly at the thickest chain across Saturn's chest.
Simultaneously, the other Five Elders unleashed their ultimate techniques.
One Elder thrust both palms forward, his supreme Conqueror's Haki forming an invisible cannonball that plowed a deep trench through the earth.
Another transformed into some ancient mythical beast, spewing a corrosive breath capable of melting steel. Saint Garling's slash was equally ruthless.
His blade wreathed in pitch-black Armament Haki moved like lightning, striking with pinpoint precision at the chain's runic nodes.
Several attacks representing the pinnacle of the world's power struck those seemingly fragile golden chains at the exact same second.
And then.
Nothing happened.
Every seemingly world-shattering strike—the pitch-black sword aura, the invisible shockwaves, the razor-sharp slashes—was silently swallowed the instant they touched the golden chains.
There was no explosion. Not a single sound echoed. On the slender chains, only concentric golden ripples spread outward. Not even the faintest crack was left behind.
Countless sacred and profound golden runes flowed along the chains of their own accord, radiating a divine aura. As if alive, they silently mocked this group of overreaching insects.
Time seemed to stand still. The expressions of the Five Elders and Saint Garling's group shifted at an agonizingly slow pace from desperation to shock. Then from shock to a profound, creeping terror and disbelief that rose from the depths of their consciousness.
How was this possible? How could this be!
The power they took pride in, the supreme authority bestowed upon them by Lord Imu after centuries of ruling the world, was as insignificant as dust before these few chains. They weren't even worthy of making it tremble.
'I cannot comprehend it. Yet I am utterly awestruck.'
An absurd thought forced its way into one of the Five Elders' minds, completely beyond his control.
Just as they stood paralyzed, unsure of what to do, a voice drifted down from the heavens, laced with mockery and undisguised contempt, ringing with crystal clarity in every ear.
"Stop wasting your energy."
The tone was calm, yet carried an unquestionable pressure that froze the Five Elders and the others in place, causing them to instinctively halt their futile attacks.
The voice paused, as if savoring the expressions on their faces, before continuing with the icy coldness of a verdict:
"A few pieces of trash like you could never hope to break my Chains of Light."
Trash.
The word struck the faces and souls of the Five Elders and Saint Garling like a red-hot branding iron. Who were they? The highest echelon of World Nobles, the "gods" among the Celestial Dragons, beings who had stood at the apex of the world for eight centuries, looking down upon all life! Yet in this man's mouth, they had become... trash?
Humiliation, rage, unwillingness to accept it... Countless emotions churned in their chests, only to be ruthlessly suppressed by an insurmountable terror, leaving them utterly unable to utter a single rebuttal.
Because they knew. They dared not refute what that person said. Why? Because they were completely powerless against him, because he was an existence far beyond their reach!
High above, Lucian's Observation Haki had already taken in the entirety of God Valley. He "saw" that Rocks, Gol D. Roger, Garp, and their respective groups, under Whitebeard's cover, had mostly retreated to the coastline and were boarding their ships in an orderly fashion.
He also "saw" the other side of the island, where a few abandoned Celestial Dragons in tattered yet ornate gowns were screaming in impotent fury amidst the ruins, cursing the Marines who had left them behind.
Sadly, no one cared whether they lived or died. The clearing of the battlefield was essentially complete.
Lucian's voice sounded once more, this time carrying the unmistakable weight of finality.
"Besides, you don't have much time left to live anyway."
The moment the words left his lips, at the zenith of the sky, the canopy dyed pure gold grew blindingly bright and fiercely hot. A terrifying energy, powerful enough to make all of God Valley tremble, began its descent. Overwhelming killing intent instantly shrouded the entire island.