One Piece: Surrounded at Marineford? Just kidding!

The words fell into the bronze stone slab. Even the wind in the underworld passage stopped. The explosions from the distant battlefield were shut out. The air was as thick as a pot of boiled blood. The strong stench of blood mixed with the musty smell of rust, suffocating everyone's mouths and noses.

Halding's massive body seemed to be cast in molten iron. The handle of his giant warhammer was embedded in his palm. The veins on the back of his hands bulged. He stared at the crack in the bronze door. His Adam's apple bobbed, making a dry, grinding sound. He opened his mouth, but his vocal cords seemed to have been snapped. Loki's eyes were bloodshot. There was no madness. No mockery. Only coldness. Halding's stomach churned.

The laughter ceased. Loki's voice was low and menacing, each word dripping with blood. The firelight flickered within the cell, casting distorted crimson shadows on the rough stone walls. His body, pierced by chains, appeared and disappeared intermittently. Dark metal gnawed into his collarbone. Blood trickled down the iron rings. Plop. Plop. Drops of blood shattered the deathly silence.

Loki looked up. His hair was disheveled. That night, ten years ago. A night drowned in blood.

"Harald is not naturally insane."

"You bunch of idiots always thought he was senile."

"You all think he went mad from practicing cultivation. That's all bullshit."

Loki leaned forward. The main chain was taut. With a loud crash, it snapped open. He stared at Halding outside the door.

"He has been corrupted."

"His mind was corrupted by something deep within the roots of the World Tree."

"That is an evil that does not belong to this world."

"It took root in his soul like a parasite, devouring all his reason."

Hajrudin heard those words from the roots of the World Tree. His skull felt like it had been struck by a hammer. The World Tree was the faith of Elbaf. Loki's words shattered that faith. Hajrudin's breathing quickened. His eyes were bloodshot. He tried to find a flaw. He couldn't. Elder Aruru's ambiguous words from years ago. All the sense of incongruity fermented in his mind now.

Loki closed his eyes. His body trembled slightly. The heavy chains made a soft, clanging sound.

"Which night the castle is hell?"

"The old man's eyes turned pure black. The whites of his eyes disappeared."

"He couldn't recognize anyone. He had become a wild beast."

Loki inhaled a mouthful of dust. He coughed violently. He coughed up a mouthful of bloody saliva.

"He wielded a giant axe, a symbol of royal power. He carried out indiscriminate slaughter."

"The giant axe tore through flesh and blood. Bones were crushed."

Outside the passage. Luffy stood there. He didn't urge him. He didn't interrupt. His palms were sweating. His Observation Haki detected Loki's emotional fluctuations. His eyes were sore.

Zoro gripped the Wado Ichimonji. His knuckles were deathly white. Sanji took a drag of his cigarette. The acrid smoke filled his lungs. A bitter taste spread through him.

Usopp collapsed to the ground. Chopper covered his mouth, tears welling up in his eyes.

"You think I killed those hundreds of elite soldiers?"

Loki opened his eyes. Bloodshot veins filled his eyeballs. He gave a chilling laugh.

"That old codger, Yaruru, told you this, and you believed him for ten years."

"Use your muscle-filled brains to think."

"That's Elbaf's strongest guard."

"How could they possibly stand there and let me chop them?"

Loki raised the volume. The sound waves shook the dust off the top of the tunnel.

"They were there to stop the mad king."

"They dared not draw their swords against their monarch."

"They could only use their flesh and blood to fill that giant axe."

His eye split open. Blood streamed down his cheek, dripping onto the chains.

"They lined up in a row, arms outstretched."

"They tried to block the old man with their bodies."

"The giant axe swung down. It severed the neck. It cleaved the chest open."

"Scalding hot entrails spilled all over the floor."

"They died without their hands gripping the handles of their weapons."

"They died tragically at the hands of the very monarch they served."

Words are like rusty, dull knives, slicing open the hearts of the giants outside the door.

Halding's pupils contracted. His breathing stopped. His heart was clamped in iron clamps. Images of corpses strewn across the field from ten years ago flashed before his eyes.

He rushed to the scene with Aruru. Limbs and severed bodies littered the ground. The faces of his dead brothers showed no anger, only shock and sorrow. He understood then. It was despair for their monarch.

The heavily wounded giant behind him was struck as if by lightning. His arm convulsed.

Clang.

The tattered heavy shield and battle axe fell, crashing onto the bronze slab.

The truth shattered their preconceptions. The demon they had hated for ten years had taken the blame for the king. The revered king was a butcher.

Loki ignored what was happening outside.

"I heard screams and rushed back."

His chest heaved. The thick chains were stretched taut, creaking loudly.

"The hall was full of corpses. The blood was up to our ankles."

"There's no one alive in the entire castle. Except for that mad old man."

"The old man stood amidst the mountains of corpses and seas of blood."

His voice was hoarse, as if he had a red-hot iron in his throat.

"He was covered in blood. His giant axe was dripping with bits of flesh."

He raised his axe and swung it at me. Every blow was deadly.

Loki shut his mouth. His breathing echoed.

"Just when I was about to give up."

"Which evil force has briefly relaxed its guard?"

"The old man regained a sliver of consciousness."

Pain flashed in his eyes.

He stopped moving.

"His pure black eyes faded. He saw corpses all over the ground."

"I saw the Imperial Guard commander with half his body cut off."

"The giant axe fell into the blood."

Loki tilted his head back.

"The old man saw the terrible scene and shed tears."

"The Iron Monarch shed blood-red tears."

Loki lowered his head, staring at Hajrudin.

"That once high and mighty king suddenly collapsed to his knees, kneeling in a pool of blood."

He raised his right arm, which was wrapped in chains. He gripped it tightly. His knuckles turned white.

He grabbed my arm. His fingernails dug until they bled.

"His face was covered in blood and tears. He begged me like a coward."

"What did he beg me for?"

"He begged me to kill him with my own hands."

A furious roar reverberated. Shattered rocks flew through the air.

He said he couldn't control that force.

"He said if I didn't die, the whole of Elbaf would be slaughtered."

"He forced me to take action. To cut off the source. To save the country."

The roar turned into panting. The massive body leaned against the stone wall.

The passage to the underworld was deathly silent.

Hajrudin swayed precariously. Tears mingled with blood, splashing onto the bronze slab. He finally understood why Loki hadn't resisted, why he had willingly been nailed to the nail, and why Aruru had covered up the truth.

Loki slowly raised his head and looked at Hajrudin.

"What do you think?"

"What does it feel like to chop an axe into your father's neck?"