Chapters · Final Saga › Elbaf

Chapter 1170: Contrary

Arc: Elbaf · Saga: Final Saga · Released:

Summary

The chapter tells, in flashback, the truth of “the horrible day” at Aurust Castle ~14 years ago. Loki battles the castle’s self-moving guardian hammer — revealed to be “Ragnir,” so heavy no one can lift it and housing a tiny squirrel-like creature — to claim the national-treasure devil fruit that “has lain dormant for centuries” because “no one could eat it.” Meanwhile King Harald has become a scaled, horned, god-deluded monster; Gaban and a red-haired Shanks fight to contain him, and Gaban explains the only way to hurt such a foe is a barrage of hits carrying the Color of the Supreme King (Conqueror’s Haki). In an intercut backstory Gaban recounts how the Holy Knights (“Knights of God”) came again and again to reclaim “the son of our commander,” a red-haired child, and were beaten back each time — Shanks shivers “to think of the life I might’ve had.” Loki eats the fruit (the guardian “chose” him); Harald confirms Loki carries “the blood of the Supreme King.” Battered into a brief lucid spell, Harald reveals the horror: he is being controlled — “I suspect that my very thoughts are being influenced by someone else” — begs forgiveness for burning down the Brewers Village (Queen Estrid’s home, “won’t bring her back”), thanks Loki “for what you did for Ida,” tells him to get along with his brother and lead Elbaf, and forces Loki to end his life before the control returns. Loki, weeping, strikes his father down with a lightning blow. Harald’s last words: “I love you too, son… My son!! Loki!! …all that matters is Elbaph’s future!!!” Cover: reader-request illustration of Jimbei as an eel-railroad station worker handing out eel bentos.

New reveals

• The massacre was mind-control. Harald tells Loki his god-delusion and rampage are not his own will: “I’m beginning to think of myself as a god. Not exactly. I suspect that my very thoughts are being influenced by someone else” (p. 14). The controller is unidentified — a new open question layered onto The Truth of the Aurust Castle Massacre.
• Harald forced his own killing. Lucid “only for the moment,” he demands Loki finish him “before the control takes over again” (p. 15); Loki rages that “even the lowest excuse for a father wouldn’t do that — forcing your son to end your own life?!” (p. 14). The “patricide” the nation condemns Loki for was a mercy killing at Harald’s own command.
• Harald burned the Brewers Village. In his madness he razed Brewers Village — Queen Estrid’s (Loki’s dead mother’s) home — “burning down the Brewers Village won’t bring her back” (p. 14).
• Loki has “the blood of the Supreme King.” Harald: “Loki… you possess… the blood of the Supreme King!!” (p. 13) — Conqueror’s-Haki bloodline confirmed in the royal (Ancient-Giant) line.
• Loki ate the national-treasure fruit — SHOWN. “So you ate it… Loki” (p. 12). The fruit “has lain dormant for centuries… not because no one chose to eat it, but because no one could… That devil fruit is a national treasure… was chosen by Ragnir” (p. 4). Still unnamed as a fruit.
• Ragnir is the guardian hammer. The self-moving, impossibly heavy war-hammer Loki wields in the present (Ch. 1141–Ch. 1143) is shown originating here as the guardian of the national treasure — “Does this mean you’re supposed to be the guardian of the national treasure?! How does a hammer move on its own?!” (p. 8) — and it houses a small squirrel-like creature revealed when Loki smashes it (pp. 9–11).
• The Holy Knights’ weakness = Conqueror’s Haki. Gaban: “if these guys have any weakness, it’s against those of us who can infuse our attacks with the color of the Supreme King — give him enough consecutive hits, and we can manage to knock him out of commission” (pp. 5–6). A foe here is remarked to “have Supreme King Haki too! That’s a first!” (p. 9).
• Shanks = the Holy Knights’ commander’s red-haired son (strong on-page evidence). Gaban recounts the Knights “came after us several times, trying to take you back” — flashback: “He must be the son of our commander! Hand the boy over!! We know you have a child with red hair!!” (pp. 6–7). Shanks (adult, present with Gaban) reflects: “you were the one who taught me about the despair of what it means to become a Knight of God… makes me shiver to think of the life I might’ve had” and “I want to save Harald somehow, Gaban!!” (p. 7). See Shanks Figarland Connection.

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Prince Loki (flashback — eats the fruit, kills controlled Harald), King Harald (flashback — the controlled god-monster; dies), Scopper Gaban (flashback), Shanks (flashback — adult red-haired ally; the hunted red-haired child), Ragnir (first shown — the guardian hammer), Ida (mentioned — “what you did for Ida”), Estrid (implied — “her,” the Brewers Village), Sommers (mentioned — “that Sommers guy”), Hajrudin (mentioned — “your brother”), Garling (referenced — “our commander”), Jinbei + Luffy (cover only)
• Groups / families: Holy Knights (“Knights of God”), Celestial Dragons, Figarland, Elbaf Royal Family, Giants
• Locations: Aurust Castle, Elbaf, Brewers Village (mentioned — burned)
• Concepts / techniques: the “Color of the Supreme King” / Conqueror’s Haki (Haki); the unnamed national-treasure devil fruit

Notable panels

• p. 1 (cover): Reader-request illustration — “Jimbei as a station worker for the eel railroad giving passengers eel bentos for lunch,” by 420 Land. Jimbei (in a conductor’s cap) hands eel bento to passengers beside a black eel-shaped train (car “10”); one child in a straw hat with “56” on his shirt is young Luffy. Decorative reader-request art (not a serialized cover story).
• pp. 2–3: Loki, hit by a hammer, rages “who threw this hammer at me?!!” then finds he can’t lift it — “there’s no way it’s that heavy!!”; “is this castle falling apart or something?!” A Holy Knight enters after the fruit — “I might as well get that devil fruit now…”
• p. 4: The scaled, horned god-monster (Harald) amid the wreckage; the national-treasure fruit’s lore — “no one could eat it… was chosen by Ragnir.”
• pp. 5–6: “GABAN!!!” — Gaban explains the Knights of God’s weakness (consecutive Supreme-King-Haki hits); the “how do you know their weakness?” exchange leads into the red-haired-child backstory.
• p. 7: Adult red-haired Shanks with Gaban — “the life I might’ve had”; “I want to save Harald somehow, Gaban!!”; “seems like Loki’s our only hope…”
• pp. 8–11: Loki smashes the guardian hammer (“just give it a… REST!!”); “AAAAH!! MY HAMMER!!”; the little squirrel-creature pops out (“KURURURU…!!”); “he’s got Supreme King Haki too! That’s a first!”; castle flashback of Harald’s rampage (“you must not let Harald have that devil fruit!!!”; “BWAOOOO!!!”).
• pp. 12–13: “So you ate it… Loki”; Loki wields Ragnir against Harald; “Loki… you possess… the blood of the Supreme King!!”
• p. 14: The mind-control reveal — “my very thoughts are being influenced by someone else”; ”…G.F.K.…” (unclear — appears to be Harald’s address to Loki); “burning down the Brewers Village won’t bring her back…”
• p. 15: “I love you too, son.” / “Hurry, now… before the control takes over again!!”; a lightning strike hits the castle.
• pp. 16–17: Harald struck down (“My son!! Loki!!”); the flashback dissolves; “…is Elbaph’s future!!! All that matters…” — “To be continued.”

Open questions raised

• Who controlled King Harald’s mind — making him believe he was a god and driving the massacre? A Devil Fruit, the Holy Knights (“from the sky”), the throne-room demon circle, or a hand as high as Imu?
• What exactly is the national-treasure / royal-line devil fruit Loki ate, and what power did it grant (lightning/thunder, via Ragnir)?
• What is Ragnir — a sentient hammer, the squirrel-creature, or a bonded pair — and why does it “choose” who may eat the fruit?
• What did Loki do “for Ida” that Harald thanks him for with his dying breath?
• Now that his innocence-in-motive is shown, will Elbaf (and Hajrudin) learn the truth of the massacre?