Fragments of the shattered throne lay scattered across the stone floor, and the vast hall hung heavy with the pungent, sharp scent of ozone.
Moriah lay sprawled in the ruins, his pale skin scorched black in patches where electrical arcs still flickered and hissed. He breathed in ragged gasps. In this secluded corner of the Florian Triangle, it had been far too long since he had faced an enemy that didn't just fight him, but systematically dismantled him.
"Yahahaha! With this level of skill, you dare call yourself the ruler of these waters?"
Enel hovered barefoot half a meter above the ground, his body wreathed in crackling blue light. He held his golden staff in a casual, downward grip, his face twisted into an expression of profound boredom.
"If this is all you have to offer, this battle is a waste of my time."
Enel's right hand struck the thunder drum on his back.
"60 Million Volts: Thunder Dragon!"
A dull, heavy boom echoed through the hall. Violent blue lightning gushed from the drum's surface, twisting and snapping in the air until it formed the likeness of a ferocious, single-horned dragon. It roared, diving straight for the bloated Warlord.
The strike was blinding. The light reflected in Moriah's wide, terrified eyes, illuminating every stitch on his face. Just as the dragon was about to consume him, the shadow beneath Moriah's feet rippled.
"Doppelman!"
Moriah's voice cracked into a shriek. In an instant, his massive physical form collapsed into a two-dimensional plane, replaced by his own pitch-black shadow.
Boom!
The Thunder Dragon slammed into the stone floor. The explosive force pulverized the bricks within a ten-meter radius, leaving a scorched crater where Moriah had been a second before.
Moriah's true body materialized in the shadows near the corridor entrance. He coughed violently, cold sweat soaking into the seams of his neck as he trembled from the brush with death.
"You dodged?" Enel landed lightly, raising an eyebrow in mild surprise before a sneer returned to his lips. "Shadow displacement. You've certainly mastered the art of scurrying like a rat in a gutter."
"You arrogant brat!"
Moriah pulled himself upright against the wall. The humiliation of being toyed with like common prey snapped his remaining sanity. For ten years, he had staked everything on the "quantity" of his army to find his revenge against Kaido.
"If you want to see Hell so badly, I'll grant your wish!" Moriah threw his arms wide, fingers hooked like talons. He let out a piercing shriek that rattled the castle's foundations. "Shadow's Asgard!"
With that command, the entirety of Thriller Bark seemed to waken.
Countless shadows detached themselves from the zombie soldiers across the island. Like a black tide flowing backward, they converged toward the center of the hall, funneling into Moriah.
His body began to swell violently. His already massive frame rose to nearly ten meters, muscles piling atop one another in grotesque layers. A decade of accumulated malice and the soul fluctuations of thousands transformed into a tangible, billowing black mist.
At the back of the hall, Sabo observed the growing monstrosity. "He's forcibly inflating his mass," he noted, feeling the turbulence in the air pressure. "Destructive power or not, his mind can't support that many souls. Ace, the guy is trading his sanity for weight."
Ace remained seated, watching the transformation with a detached gaze. "A powerhouse who has lost his spirit will always hide behind size to cover his weakness." He glanced at Enel. "Stop playing around. Before he stuffs himself to death, show him what it means to be truly untouchable."
"Yahahaha! Suits me perfectly!"
Enel looked at the mountain-like Moriah, whose every step sent cracks spiderwebbing through the earth, without a flicker of fear.
"Die!!!"
Moriah roared, his fist wreathed in a black aura, smashing down with enough pressure to topple a mountain. To an ordinary man, the strike was a blur of impossible speed; to lightning, it was a clumsy, agonizingly slow descent.
Enel vanished into a bolt of white light and reappeared an instant later, standing directly atop Moriah's plunging fist.
"Too big. Too slow. Too heavy."
Enel's voice was as sharp as a needle, piercing Moriah's eardrums. "Against a 'God,' your movements are like crawling through sun-baked glue."
He raised an index finger, a point of blindingly white lightning condensing at the tip.
"100 Million Volts: God's Killer Spear!"
Without warning—too fast for the sound of thunder to even follow—a thick spear of blue-white lightning pierced through Moriah's chest.
The strike didn't just destroy muscle; the high-frequency vibration shattered the Shadow-Shadow Fruit's hold on the stolen souls. Moriah's body spasmed as thousands of shadows wailed, erupting from his mouth and nose like startled birds and scattering into the mist.
Brook stood nearby, his empty eye sockets tracking the chaotic exodus. One shadow streaked through the air and snapped into place beneath his feet. The part of him he had lost years ago had finally returned.
As the light faded, Moriah's body deflated like a punctured balloon, collapsing limply into the rubble. Blood gushed as he lay amongst the debris, gasping for air. The numbness of the lightning remained, but a deeper despair took hold: the leader of these intruders hadn't even stood up to fight him.
Ace walked toward him, stopping a few meters away. He looked down at the failure who had once vied for supremacy with a Yonko.
The silence made Moriah's skin crawl.
"What... what do you want?" Moriah's voice was a hoarse wreck.
"I'm considering a question," Ace said plainly. "The world knows you as 'Gekko Moriah.' But I think, before that defeat in the New World—in the Wano Country you swore to protect—the people were more used to calling you 'Kozuki Moriah'?"
Moriah's pupils contracted to needlepoints. He looked as though he had been struck by a second bolt of lightning. Ignoring his injuries, he clawed at the stone beneath him, his nails screeching against the floor.
"You... how could you know that name?!" his voice distorted with shock. "That was twenty years ago! No one is left who knows! Who are you?!"
"Who I am isn't the point. What matters is whether you remember the people who gave you that name. Or the companions you led into the New World, only to watch them be erased."
Ace took a step forward, his aura descending like a crushing abyss. For a moment, Moriah felt as though the world itself had abandoned him.
"You hid in this mist to avoid the pain of loss, creating dolls that feel nothing. You call it strength, but it's just a slow suicide. You are an insult to the companions who died for you, and an insult to the country that honored you with the name 'Kozuki'."
Moriah's ferocity crumbled. He lowered his head into his hands, letting out heart-wrenching, suppressed whimpers.
"What do you know? That monster... he isn't something a 'human' can defeat. Living things break. They die. Only shadows... only zombies are eternal..."
"Eternal trash. Nothing more."
Ace's cold voice cut through the self-deception.
"I know you were once a swordsman. I know the national treasure of Wano, the Black Blade Shusui, is in your possession. If you want revenge for those dead companions—if you want to return to Wano and reclaim your dignity—then pick up your sword and find the Haki you buried twenty years ago."
Ace met Moriah's eyes, his tone absolute. "Hiding here to toy with corpses, you will never kill Kaido. But follow me, and I will let you see with your own eyes how I drag that arrogant 'Beast' from his throne."
Moriah was stunned. He had expected a conqueror who would strip him of everything. He hadn't expected the price of his life to be a chance at revenge.
"Follow you?" Moriah smiled miserably. "To be your lapdog?"
"No. I don't need lapdogs. I need warriors. I'm not just stopping at Kaido. I'm going to crush the World Government, the Four Emperors, and everything that sits above this sea."
A wildfire ignited in Ace's eyes—a flame that threatened to burn the old era to ash. "I don't need you as you are now. I need a 'Shadow Spear' to clear my path. You will keep your title as a Warlord, serving as a mole for the Eclipse Pirates within the Government. Train your body. Reclaim your Haki. Stop playing with dolls and never let me see this meaningless flab on you again."
Ace extended his hand.
A heavy silence fell. Sabo, Enel, and Shark watched from the shadows. They understood: Ace was reshaping a broken legend's backbone. Killing Moriah was easy, but rekindling a twenty-year-old hatred would create the most vicious hound on the sea.
Moriah's hand trembled. He reached out and grasped Ace's.
Divine Fire flowed from Ace's palm, knitting Moriah's wounds and stirring the dormant embers of his warrior's spirit.
"Kee... Kishishishi..."
Moriah began to laugh—low at first, then louder, filled with the madness of a man betting his last coin. "Subverting the world, is it? Better than playing with corpses. If you're playing for those stakes, I'll bet my life on your hand!"
He struggled to his feet, lowering his head toward Ace. He didn't kneel, but the submission in his posture was absolute.
"In that case, I will follow in your wake and witness the legend. I await your orders, Captain Ace!"
Ace nodded, a satisfied smile touching his lips.
"Good. Carina will set up a Communication Contract with you. Also, keep an eye on Bartholomew Kuma. Tell him I want to speak with him about 'Bonney.' I have a way to save her."
Ace turned toward his crew. "To celebrate our new associate—bring out the ale! We feast!"
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