NOVEL NEXT Chapter 15: King of Thunder—Ghidorah
"WAAAHHHH... DAMN IT, IT HURTS!!"
Blackbeard, his face blackened and drenched in sweat, thrashed on the ground in agony after being poisoned.
He clawed desperately at his chest like a man suffering severe withdrawal, rolling on the floor and howling in pain.
Without hesitation, Shiryu dashed to his side, took out his last vial of antidote, and stabbed it into Blackbeard with a "shunk".
Watching Blackbeard's eyes bulge from the injection, Shiryu clenched his cigar between his teeth and grinned savagely.
"Captain, you're a real man. You even dared to swallow Magellan's poison."
Blackbeard, eyes wide and bloodshot, forced a bitter smile through the pain.
As if he had done it willingly!
How the hell could anyone have predicted that lunatic would do something like that in front of everyone?!
"Shi...ryu..."
Magellan's expression darkened, his teeth grinding as he stared daggers at Shiryu.
He'd betrayed him.
Not only that—he'd sided with that man.
"Why?"
"I already promised you a full pardon—so why would you do this?"
"Why?" Shiryu scoffed coldly, cigar smoke curling from his lips.
"What future do I have staying here? In the end, you'd just lock me up again. If that's the case... might as well go all the way."
"You..."
Magellan had no words to refute him.
He knew Shiryu's nature. The man wasn't wrong—if he had stayed, the killings would've continued.
But this blatant, open betrayal—it still infuriated him to the core.
"D-Damn it... That nearly killed me...!"
Groaning, Blackbeard forced himself off the ground. The black tint on his face had faded quite a bit.
BOOM!
Suddenly, a deafening crack echoed from above.
The entire space trembled violently as the ceiling above them completely shattered, sending massive chunks of stone and ice crashing down from the upper levels.
"It's collapsing!!"
The prisoners all gaped upward at the gaping void, their minds going blank.
BOOM! SMASH!
A falling boulder crushed one unfortunate inmate, splattering him into a pool of blood.
The gruesome sight snapped everyone else out of their stupor. Screams erupted in panic.
"Impel Down's collapsing!"
"RUN!!"
"Don't leave me! I don't wanna die here!"
Chaos consumed the Level 6 prisoners as they stampeded toward the exit. Screams, shouts, and terror filled the entire floor.
Blackbeard's eyes flashed with reluctance—but quickly he shouted for Shiryu and the others to retreat.
The fruit was important... but staying alive was even more so.
In an instant, only Kizaru and Magellan remained standing where they were, unmoving.
As the sixth-floor ceiling gave way, the Freezing Hell of Level 5 collapsed into Level 6—just as Ghidorah's Graviton Beam blasted into the now-exposed fifth-floor ceiling again.
With no one left to interfere, the beam's violent energy spread like wildfire, punching straight through the next ceiling above.
BOOOOOOOM—
The thunderous quake shook all of Impel Down.
And in the very moment the fifth ceiling was ripped open, scorching-hot, glowing red magma came pouring down like a waterfall—instantly flooding the level below with blinding light.
The escaping prisoners instinctively turned around, attracted by the crimson glow.
"Haha... No need to run anymore—look!"
"Magma... it's magma! Haha, we're saved! That stuff melts steel!"
Eyes wide with excitement, many of them paused in their tracks.
To them, the falling magma seemed like a lifeline—a destructive force that could kill their oppressor.
But a second later, that hope turned into sheer horror.
Bathed in red light, the Three-Headed Beast stood unscathed, roaring skyward as the magma poured down like a river from the heavens.
A magnificent—yet apocalyptic—sight.
The very magma they believed no one could resist exploded and scattered across the creature's heads, causing no damage whatsoever.
Unbelievable.
This monster wasn't even afraid of magma!?
What the hell is it made of?! Is it really immune to all poison, all weapons?!
The snow and ice from above instantly evaporated upon touching the magma, turning into thick white mist laced with volcanic ash.
The murky fog, influenced by Ghidorah's electromagnetic interference, gradually thickened into dark gray clouds—which soon gathered into roiling thunderclouds.
Crackling... hissing... buzzing...
"Run!!"
"Help me!!"
"MOVE!!"
"Die, all of you!"
Seeing the mass of crackling lightning overhead, the prisoners completely lost their minds.
They shoved, trampled, and even killed each other in panic. "Chaos" didn't even begin to describe the scene.
BOOOOM...
The storm clouds continued to expand. Thunder rumbled ominously inside.
"Heh heh heh..."
A deep, gravelly voice chuckled darkly.
As if answering the laughter, a single streak of blue lightning split the sky with a sharp CRACK, striking the ground squarely beneath the beast.
BOOM!
Magma exploded in every direction as the ground beneath split and cracked.
And then the thunderstorm truly began.
Massive bolts of lightning rained down like a torrential downpour, bombarding Ghidorah's position endlessly.
"Terrifying..."
Kizaru, clutching his wounded shoulder, looked on with growing dread.
"Is there really nothing we can do...?"
Electric light and sparks lit up the space. Magellan's face was dark with unwillingness—his eyes full of frustration.
"So terrifying... What can we do?" Kizaru said, glancing at Magellan.
Then, steeling his resolve, he made a decision:
"We need to retreat and report this to Sengoku—immediately."
Magellan knew Kizaru was right. He alone couldn't stop that monster.
With a brief glance of mutual understanding, the two men turned and bolted toward the upper levels of Impel Down.
And so, Level 6 was left with only Ghidorah.
No one remained to hinder him now.
His Graviton Beams grew even more reckless—unleashed in torrents like raging floods.
The smaller storm clouds, affected by the electromagnetic pulses, became even more volatile.
Lightning poured down like a monsoon, pounding the ground beneath him over and over again—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
"Hahahaha!!"
As the land that had long imprisoned him began to loosen, Ghidorah ceased his beam and let out a triumphant roar to the sky.
The magma-covered ground trembled violently and split apart into massive fractures.
CRACK... CRACK... CRACK...
With a thunderous BOOM, the earth bulged upward from beneath his neck—something was about to break free.
BANG!
An explosive shockwave launched shattered stone high into the air—blown away by a massive pair of fleshy wings.
ROOOAARRR!
"THUNDER STORM!!"
With a thunderous cry, two enormous wings spread open with a BOOM, each stretching over 500 meters.
The wings swept across the ground like twin blades, merging with the descending lightning.
The storm surged as Ghidorah's towering form finally tore free from the collapsing stone and magma.
Crackling with electricity and radiating with power, Ghidorah howled with rage.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Behind him, the ground ruptured again—two massive tails, each nearly 100 meters thick, erupted upward.
Covered in jagged spikes, the tails cracked like whips and smashed the black stone pressing against his back.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The giant wings flapped violently, stirring a roaring hurricane.
With an earth-shattering BOOM, Ghidorah's mighty body finally rose from the shattered ground—
SPLASH... BOOM... CRASH...
Magma and debris fell away, plunging into the pitch-black crater below, as Ghidorah emerged in full, landing on the surface with a seismic thud.
"HAHAHAHA... I'M FREE!!"
"Pirate World—prepare to greet your new King of the Skies!!"
Only someone like Kevin, with his screw-loose brain, would shout something that absurd.
ROOOOAAARRRR!!
Jiro rolled his eyes at Kevin in disdain, then tilted his head back and roared, venting centuries of rage and repression.
The wild, bestial cry shook the very foundations of Impel Down.
Ghidorah ignored the antics of the two idiots.
Instead, he raised his head toward the upper floors, golden eyes gleaming with excitement.
Then, with a powerful flap of his wings, he tore through the thunderclouds with a crackling ZIIIING—
Riding the force of a thousand thunders, he soared upward, blasting through the fractured dome above...
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