Outside the palace of Dressrosa was a warfront surrounded by fire, smoke, and shattered stone. Gardens once as clean and pure as snowflakes had been transformed into craters and ashes, with thick clouds above as the fight among kings and admirals continued ruthlessly.
Solian's boots scraped on shattered marble as he caught himself, gasping, the air around him rippling with heat. Opposite him, Admiral Green Bull — Ryokugyu — was unmoving, his body half-assimilated into twisting vines and jagged branches that pulsed with green life. His smile was relaxed, almost mocking, but his eyes were sharp with genuine killing intent.
"You've got nerve, kid," Green Bull stretched out his fingers, vines encasing his arms. "Most pirates would be running by now."
Solian brushed at a thin streak of blood from his lip with the back of his hand. Crackle and spat, his Solar Rift powers trembled in the crease at the bottom of his shoulders, delicate sparks that flashed from his flesh. He sensed the island's presence behind him — his own kind, his folk, all counting on him to stand.
Running had never been an option.
Wordlessly, Solian dissolved forward, teleporting a few feet in shafts of golden light. With every reappearing, he fired searing plasma blasts, forcing Green Bull to fend them off with walls of armored bark and roots.
Each collision shook the air with a deep boom, further splintering the earth, as Green Bull charged through the salvo as if on a stroll through summer rain.
Meanwhile, not far from the palace gates, Itachi also had his own storm to ride.
Vice Admirals Onigumo and Doberman attacked with ruthless precision, their years of battle experience reflected in every movement.
Onigumo's strange, spider-like arms — summoned through his Devil Fruit — lashed out at terrifying speed, each blade looking to cut deep. Doberman, heavier and more menacing, attacked with unrelenting force, each strike of his black-coated sword able to shatter Itachi's defense.
Itachi moved among them, cloak rippling, his Sharingan eyes — those gloomy, whirling spirals — tracing all movement. With his new Storm-Storm Fruit powers, he had an uncanny flexibility. A wind bubble shielded his form, fending off grazing blows, yet the Vice Admirals persevered, sensing that if they once let down, death lay before them.
A shallow cut traced itself across Itachi's cheek. The blood was thin, more insult than injury, but it was the first time either Vice Admiral had touched him.
Itachi's expression didn't change.
If anything, he looked. amused.
Back at the center of the battle, the earth itself rebelled.
Green Bull placed a foot upon the ground, and the ground trembled as if it were alive. Huge vines burst forth from crevices, vine-thick as towers, unwinding towards Solian with mountains behind them.
The Admiral's Awakening.
In an instant, the palace courtyard was a thicket of a nightmare forest, and the air filled with the scent of sap and wet wood. Trees erupted from shattered stone, their branches tearing like the claws of angry gods.
Solian gritted his teeth. Let this forest grow unchecked, and Dressrosa itself would be lost.
He gestured his hand upwards.
Solar Rift energy built up around him, the golden plasma congealing into a blinding sphere above his palm. Incandescent heat, causing the nearest vines to curl and wither. And then, utilising all that he had been trained in during months of instruction, Solian pulled the blinding light into his flesh — not firing it outwards, but pulling it in into his own body.
A new method, hammered out of desperation and fury.
Solar Mantle.
His body ignited in a controlled inferno, thin layers of plasma hardening around him like a second skin. His crimson cloak melted away, replaced by the shimmering golden armor of living solar energy. The vines that tried to grasp him now burned away before they could touch.
Solian stepped forward — and the battlefield trembled.
Green Bull's lazy smirk finally faltered.
"You're full of surprises," the Admiral muttered, planting his feet.
Then he let loose hell.
Vines became spears and stormed down, hundreds at a time. Solian teleported among them, burning like a comet across the battlefield. Every forward blink dissolved another bit of forest, but it wasn't enough. Green Bull was everywhere, the roots deepening, consuming the very life of the island.
In the distance, sounds of battles clashed on.
Kael yelped orders to Dressrosan troops, attacking in coordinated efforts against Rear Admiral Lonz and his men, while Milo detonated hidden explosives under the feet of another Rear Admiral, creating precious seconds. Vance — laughing hysterically, blood streaming down his arms — clashed with the third Rear Admiral near the harbor, trading brutal blows.
It was chaos, but their chaos. Dressrosa would not be conquered without a struggle.
Solian's gasps came in rough breaths. The Solar Mantle roared within him, consuming his endurance with every second.
He had to conclude this.
However, Green Bull still toyed with him — the Admiral was not yet revealing his full capacity.
Another ferocious vine whip struck towards him.
Solian spread his Haki to its limits, Observation and Armament spilling into his instincts. Time froze. He sensed the weight of the attack, the Admiral's breath, even the tiny cracks forming on the roots of the forest beneath their feet.
He brought up his right arm, plasma whirling faster than ever.
The world held its breath for one heartbeat.
Then Solian vanished in a flash of light — no teleport, no attack — but something between. A new motion.
A Solar Rift Pulse.
He returned a split second later, inches from Green Bull's chest, fist drawn back.
That was the end of the chapter in that moment — energy crackling, the island holding its breath — as Solian unleashed all he had.