Chapters · Final Saga › Elbaf

Chapter 1169: My Death Cannot Come Soon Enough

Arc: Elbaf · Saga: Final Saga · Released:

Summary

An all-flashback chapter set 14 years ago on Elbaf’s Sun World, cross-cutting between Gaban’s house and the massacre at Aurust Castle. At Gaban’s house a young Shanks and Gaban discuss that Garp told Shanks Captain Roger had a son, and lay out the mechanics of the covenant with the “Great One” (Imu) in Marijoa: both Shanks and King Harald signed the shallowest (“Shallows”) covenant, which already means you cannot resist Imu within range; the deeper covenant that makes one a Holy Knight of God grants an undying body, superhuman strength, and the power to open an Abyss for travel — but binds the signer utterly to Imu’s voice at any distance. Meanwhile at Aurust Castle, Harald — having signed the deeper covenant to add Elbaf to the World Government — is seized by Imu’s control and forced to cut down his own castle guards, becoming immortal (“144 years of life, down the drain”). Realizing the WG tricked him and intends to enslave Elbaf’s giants as battle-slaves, Harald begs Loki to kill him and eat the “Treasure of Elbaf” (a forbidden devil fruit) before Imu-controlled Harald can take it — “if you eat that fruit, it will be the end of the world.” Imu’s control overrides Harald (“I’ll eat that fruit and take Ragnir for myself”; “I will give this country over to Imu”), he stabs Chief Jarul (who survives thanks to his helmet), and as Shanks and Gaban look on the treasure chest holding the forbidden fruit is thrown by an unseen hand — “Whoa!!! Who did that?!”

New reveals

• The truth of the Aurust Castle massacre: Harald, not Loki, killed the ~113 castle guards — under Imu’s remote mind-control via the Holy Knights’ covenant. Loki was blamed/framed. (pp. 4–18)
• Harald was made immortal (“I truly am immortal!!”; “this undying body is a wonderful thing”; “144 years of life”). He begs to be killed because he cannot die and Imu is overriding his body and thoughts. (pp. 5–6, 19)
• The covenant has tiers. The “Shallows Covenant” (shallowest) already means “we can’t resist as long as we’re within that freak’s range.” The deeper covenant grants Holy Knights: an undying body, superhuman strength, and the ability to generate an Abyss (long-distance travel) — in exchange you cannot defy the orders of the Great One, whose voice reaches you at any range. (pp. 8–9)
• Shanks signed the Shallows Covenant with the Great One in Marijoa, alongside Harald. (p. 8)
• The WG’s deception: joining the Knights of God to “add Elbaf to the government” actually meant handing Elbaf’s people over “to be their slaves in battle.” (pp. 12)
• The Treasure of Elbaf / forbidden devil fruit: Harald orders “Feed the Treasure of Elbaf to Loki!!”; Jarul warns “if you eat that fruit, it will be the end of the world.” Imu-controlled Harald counters “I’ll eat that fruit and take Ragnir for myself.” (pp. 12, 16–19)
• Roger had a son: Garp told Shanks so, and marveled the child “survived the navy’s search.” (p. 3)
• Jarul survived Harald’s blade because “the helmet saved my life.” (p. 18)

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Shown (flashback): King Harald, Prince Loki, Jarul, Scopper Gaban, Shanks
• Mentioned: Imu (“the Great One”), Roger, Garp, Buggy, Ragnir
• Groups / concepts: Holy Knights, Abyss Pentagram, Rocks Pirates (color spread), Elbaf Royal Family
• Locations: Elbaf (Sun World; Gaban’s house), Aurust Castle, Mariejois

Notable panels

• Pages 1–2 — Color spread: the Rocks Pirates. A full-color group portrait under a “ROCKS” logo (skull + flame). Visible: a cake-eating pink-haired woman in a skull pirate hat (plausibly a young Charlotte Linlin), a large curly-blond-haired giant, hat-wearing gunmen, a central reclining figure eating grapes, a figure biting a large key, a tiger. Reads as a Rocks-crew roster tease. See proposed The Rocks Pirates.
• Page 3 — Chapter title over the caption “14 years ago, Sun World, Elbaph — Gaban’s House”; Shanks (scar, red hair, laughing) and Gaban (round glasses, floral shirt) discuss Roger’s son.
• Page 5 — The chapter-title line: Harald screams “Quickly… kill me!! My death cannot come soon enough!!!”
• Pages 8–9 — Gaban explains the covenant tiers and the Holy Knights’ powers; a silhouetted Holy Knight with flaming eyes and a sword.
• Page 17 — Harald stabs Jarul with the blade Jarul once gave him (“Now you can have it back”); “I’ll eat that fruit and take Ragnir for myself.”
• Page 19 — The forbidden-fruit chest is revealed, then hurled by an unseen figure — “Whoa!!! Who did that?!” (cliffhanger).

Open questions raised

• Who threw the treasure chest at the end? (An unseen hand — Shanks? Gaban? an outside intruder?)
• Did Harald sign the deeper covenant (making him a Holy Knight) — and is that the source of both his immortality and Imu’s total control?
• What exactly is “Ragnir,” and how does it relate to the Treasure of Elbaf / the fruit Loki eventually holds?
• If the covenant grants immortality, is Loki’s own “cannot die” curse the same mechanism, the fruit, or his Ancient-Giant blood?
• Who ultimately ate the forbidden fruit (Loki, per prior accounts) and how does that square with Harald’s plea?