Coronascend

The vibrations and shockwaves were felt even in the deepest levels of the fortress. The roof collapsed inwards, crushing and killing only those on the top floor before the rust spread completely and it crumbled to almost nothing.

It was a massacre; the crushed bodies and blood of the prisoners and guards on the top floor were everywhere. It was a gruesome and gut-wrenching sight. Dolffie flew down, the flames still enveloping his body. He looked at the mess, the result of his actions, and clenched his fist. There was a small flicker of green in his eyes, but that was all it was - a flicker before he descended further, rusting the floor and hovering above all the inmates on the second floor.

Their eyes widened in shock and horror as they looked at Dolffie. In their eyes, he was a demon in flames. He continued to descend as the guards fired relentlessly, but in vain. The flames rusted any metal that came in contact with them. It left the guards baffled and terrified, each with the same question running through their minds: 'What is this thing?

Dolffie knew his target was at the deepest level, so he decided to waste no time and started the descent headfirst. He descended at lightning speed, rusting away all the metal in his path. Occasionally he blew out the flames at his feet to speed himself up, resulting in shockwaves that killed more people on the floors and destroyed the fortress. The rust he left behind did not disappear or stop, but spread rapidly, destroying the floors of the fortress and causing many to fall to their deaths. 

[Emergency Evacuation!!]

A malfunctioning loudspeaker blared incessantly, but it was hopeless, how could they evacuate when the ground beneath their feet was crumbling?

The guards outside watched in tears and hopelessness as the fortress they had sworn to protect with everything they had slowly crumbled to the ground.

With a heavy heart, the only remaining supervisor gave the order: "Retreat..."

His insides were crushed and he knew they had to leave, staying here would only lead to more deaths, those inside were mostly criminals and clan devils anyway.

"I said retreat!!" 

Most of them were injured and would die without treatment, so they needed to go back or signal the base to inform Falcon. 

"Supervisor Arah!" 

One of the new recruits, mostly unwounded, approached and helped him to his feet.

"Where shall we retreat to?" he asked in a shaky voice.

"Arg... There's an iron door that leads to an emergency escape tunnel connected to the sea at the foot of the mountain, there are some submarines in there that we can use to get out under the island."

The recruit was silent as the sound of all the pants and moans of pain were drowned out by the blaring speaker and the sounds of Dolffie's rusting explosions.

The Supervisor could feel the recruit's body tense as a particularly loud explosion rang out. The iron fortress was now reflecting the shockwaves and force of Dolffie's attacks back into itself, making the iron rust faster, but the dragonscale essence was still holding on. That's the only reason they're unaffected for now.

"S-supervisor..." the boy's body tensed even more as he held back tears and fear.

"What is that thing?" he asked in a trembling voice.

Images of Dolffie's body completely engulfed in flames haunted his mind, the blood, the chilling grin spreading across his face as those flames destroyed everything, those unrepentant crimson eyes, it was a nightmare he would have forever.

Arah was silent, holding back his own emotions before replying, "Clan Devil, what we saw back there... is the truth behind the giants... their true selves... evil, vile and unrepentant."

The boy, barely over twenty, couldn't hold back the tears, the questions, it was too much.

"B-but they are killing their own people."

"They'll kill anyone who gets in their way, whether it's one of their own or someone else's."

"How can they be so cruel?" he burst into heavy tears.

This time Arah remained silent, keeping the answer to himself, for all the cadets had to learn on their own, "We are all cruel, the Resistance and the Clans, the only difference is the limit, most have limits to their cruelty and greed, but not the Clans. Their goal was to become the embodiment of all that is wrong with the world, and so far... they have succeeded.

They continued on towards the foot of the mountain when they heard the sound of a deep, throaty mechanical roar, accompanied by the sound of rocks and trees being crushed. They all stopped and looked around frantically. There were only fallen trees, smashed boulders and dead animals in sight, and no one could locate the source of the sound.

Arah sensed something was wrong, being a war veteran and expert in mechanics, he recognised the sound as that of an AMX-56 Leclerc, a powerful battle tank capable of travelling at over seventy kilometres per hour. It is equipped with advanced suspension systems that enhance its mobility over rough terrain. While it can traverse uneven terrain and navigate through forested areas, its primary design focus is on combat effectiveness. He had no idea anyone on Baby Island owned such a dangerous tool, but he also wondered if it might be Falcon.

"Keep moving!" he shouted at the cadets, wishing his comrades were there. Images of their horrified faces as they lost all life after being blown away flashed through his mind and he clenched his fist. They were in this mess because they had underestimated the unknown, if that tank had really been sent by Falcon to help them, then with its speciality it should be heading for the fortress, not them, and there was no way Falcon would send a battle tank for such a threat, even if he had somehow gotten wind of what had happened.

As the group moved as fast as they could to the foot of the mountain, the sounds of the tank grew louder and more threatening by the second. Arah didn't want to tell the cadets anything so as not to panic them any further, so he kept painfully quiet before the boy who was helping him started to speak, looking ahead, his eyes drained.

"What are Falcon and the others going to say when..." but before he could finish, the massive tank appeared from behind an extremely large boulder and charged at them at full speed. Arah barely had time to react before the boy pushed him out of the way with all the strength he had left. The last thing he saw was the boy, so young, innocent and weak, crying.

He fell hard and rolled to the ground, stopping near another large boulder. His body hurt, but all he could think of was the wounded cadets in the tank's path. He looked around, groaning in pain, trying to find a way to get back on his feet before his eyes landed on the boulder. He crawled towards it, leaning against it for support, just before there were loud, deafening screams, accompanied by the roar of the engine and... the crushing of bodies and bones.

Arah was frozen, his body too shocked and frightened to move. It gave way and he slumped to the ground before a loud explosion, the force and shock waves of which were largely blocked by the boulder, but which still blew him away and caused him further damage. The sound of the tank's engine lingered for a while before fading to the sound of the hatch opening and closing.

Nothing had really sunk in yet, the pain, everything. So he began to crawl, his eyes filled with tears and blood dripping from his forehead. His vision was blurred and his body was falling apart, but he didn't care. He crawled and crawled, then stopped when he saw the aftermath. 

All the cadets, every single one of them... were dead. Their bodies brutally crushed, their blood staining the green grass crimson. Arah couldn't move as his heart beat fast, its loud pounding becoming the only sound he could hear.

"Uh..ha..no.." He crawled closer and tried to reach out, but his body was too weak to continue. He stopped trying and lay powerless in the crimson grace, crying, before he heard footsteps and struggled to look up. He could see straight ahead, and at that moment he wished for nothing but death, for all hope was lost. The entrance to the escape tunnel at the foot of the mountain was blocked by a huge boulder that the tank had shot down.

Who would do such a thing? And why? The people they killed were just... children.

As he cried silently, sobbing in the blood of his kin, he felt a shadow close in on him. He lifted his head to see someone in a very strange dressing with a red and white obi belt with a carrot pin in the middle. Were they the culprit?

They knelt before him, their faces covered except for their bright golden yellow eyes. He didn't understand why they were showing themselves, but he guessed they just wanted to finish him off, but before they did, he had a few words to say.

He clenched his fist and spoke with venom, his eyes bloodshot as he gritted his teeth, "I wish for death to fall upon all of you Clan Devils!"

The Clan Devil just looked at him, his reflection in their eyes before they spoke, "Then we both have the same wish."

Arah was left speechless and confused before the stranger turned to walk away. They looked back at him over their shoulder before speaking, "Try not to die for a few more hours. Falcon should send a team to check on you as soon as the news of the fall of Bogo Fortress spreads and is reported, make sure you tell him everything you remember and everything that happened here, and tell him that Alabasta is the one behind it all.