Chapters · Final Saga › Elbaf

Chapter 1186: One More Time

Arc: Elbaf · Saga: Final Saga · Released:

Summary

Cover story (reader request, by Sunadango): Loki secretly draws a “MOMMY” picture of Ida while Ida secretly enjoys it, in the snow. The chapter body is almost entirely the Kingdom of Esperia flashback (~70 years ago, West Blue) continuing Brook’s backstory. In Aurust Castle, King Reuven lies dead and Princess Shuri — now winged and demonic-eyed — stands over him beside the Rumbar-era captain Brook. The Knight of God Saint Manmayer Gurou has come for Shuri because her awakened “bipolar irises,” an extremely rare trait “the Great One” desires. Reuven is already dead when the scene opens (Brook: “that man is already dead”); the killing itself is off-panel and the culprit is left deliberately ambiguous — Gurou insists she “isn’t capable of this kind of bloodshed,” while the Knight’s side frames the king’s death as the price he paid for refusing to hand Shuri over (“if the king dies, the war is over… that’s why he had to pay the price”). Shuri disowns Reuven — she reveals he was not her real father, that she is a Celestial Dragon, and that she wants the protection of “people stronger” than Brook; she disowns Brook and swings a sword-technique (“Gavotte”) at him. In present day, Brook (now a skeleton) tells the Straw Hats — Nami among them — that a sword struck through his skull is how he survived, that Esperia fell, its king dead and its people scattered as refugees, and that Princess Shuri was last seen boarded onto a government ship. Brook confesses he long believed the “demonic princess” was a hallucination — and now wonders if he should have faith in Shuri “just one more time.” The scene snaps to the present-day Elbaf battle at the Walrus School / Western Village: the Straw Hats and giants scramble to break a block of ice (Gunko’s frozen body), while the Holy Knight enemy declares he is unbeatable, mind-controls the giants through their abducted children, and lectures that “800 years ago, thy kind suffered defeat” and “history repeats regardless.” Luffy declares the man his enemy and orders him out — “right now!!”

New reveals

• Shuri stands over the slain King Reuven and disowns him — but the killing is off-panel and the culprit is left ambiguous. Reuven is already dead when the scene opens (Brook, p.4: “that man is already dead”); the killing is never shown and Shuri never confesses to it. Gurou explicitly casts doubt — “I know she’s not capable of this kind of bloodshed!!” (p.4) — and the Knight’s side frames the death as the price for Reuven refusing to hand Shuri over (“if the king dies, the war is over… that’s why he had to pay the price,” p.6). Shuri stands over his corpse, tells Brook to “stop calling him ‘this man’” then flips: Reuven “was not my real father,” “he’s a terrible king who let his people die for nothing,” and she wanted the 16 years she “could’ve spent as a Celestial Dragon” (p.5). This partially pays off the “father-killing princess” seed.
• Shuri awakened a rare-eye power the World Government covets. Gurou: “your eyes… are an extremely rare trait… but her bipolar irises… the Great One desires her” (p.7). It “may not have awakened for me” but has now awakened — the reason a Knight of God came personally to “a backwater like this.”
• Saint Manmayer Gurou — a Knight of God (Holy Knights) — is named on-page for the first time in a name-box (“KNIGHTS OF GOD — ST. MANMAYER GUROU,” p.6). He shares the Manmayer family name with Gunko, connecting the present-day Holy Knight roster to Brook’s oldest backstory.
• Shuri wants to go to the Holy Land and wants “the protection of people stronger” than Brook; she disowns him (“I no longer have any need of you,” “don’t act like I owe you anything!!”), calling him her “pathetic sniveling” ex-protector who “always looked like the perfect little angel” while she now “looks more like a devil” (pp.7–8).
• The Esperia captain who took a sword through his skull is young Brook. On p.9 Shuri drives the sword through Brook’s afro (“SHUNK!!”) as he sings ”…Bond en Avant!!”; on p.10 his crew nurse “Captain Brook” back to health with the sword still stuck through his head (“I’ve never seen anyone survive… with a sword stuck through his head!!”), foreshadowing his eventual skeleton state (p.10).
• Esperia fell. “We lost, Captain… the king’s death sealed it.” Many civilians fled as refugees; Princess Shuri was witnessed “being put onto a government ship” (pp.10–11).
• The Holy Knight can mind-control giants into slaves via their abducted children. In present day: “800 years ago, thy kind suffered defeat… the nature of a race does not change in mere centuries… simply abduct thy children… and I can control thee at will… thou art my slaves!!” (pp.15–16).
• Music-sword techniques named: Brook’s “Bond en Avant” (p.9) and Shuri’s “Gavotte” (p.8) — dance/musical-fencing terms consistent with Esperia’s instrument-maker culture.

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Brook (both Esperia-era captain and present-day skeleton), Princess Shuri, Manmayer Gurou (name-box first appearance), King Reuven (dead), Nami (present-day audience), Luffy (present-day Elbaf battle), Prince Loki & Ida (cover story only)
• Groups / lineage: Holy Knights (“Knights of God”), Moulon Family (“Candelle’s squire”), Manmayer, Giants
• Locations: Esperia / Aurust Castle (flashback), Western Village & Walrus School (“CAFETERIA, WALRUS SCHOOL” caption, p.14), Elbaf
• Concepts: Sun God Nika (“that bad-news guy is Elbaf’s enemy,” p.14), Holy Land / Mariejois (referenced as “the Holy Land,” p.8)
• Techniques: “Bond en Avant” (Brook, p.9), “Gavotte” (Shuri, p.8), “Radical Beam” (a giant, p.14)

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Cover story (reader request by Sunadango): Loki secretly draws a “MOMMY” picture of Ida in the snow while Ida secretly enjoys it, with Loki’s beast familiars (a hound/wolf, a large forked-tongue serpent, and a small lion/beast face). Title page “Chapter 1186: One More Time.”
• Page 2 — Flashback splash: Esperia under siege, ships flanking a domed island city; the king’s forces fight; “NEVER GIVE UP!! …IS INDEPENDENCE!! …OUR ONLY PATH TO SURVIVAL.” A weeping-faced silhouette (young Brook) reacts to a warping shockwave.
• Page 4 — Winged/horned Shuri stands over King Reuven’s body in the cathedral; Brook: “Brook… that man is already dead.”
• Page 6 — Name-box: “KNIGHTS OF GOD — ST. MANMAYER GUROU” first appears; Gurou lounges in an eye-studded coat and goggle-hat.
• Page 7 — “your eyes… are an extremely rare trait… but her bipolar irises… the Great One desires her.”
• Page 9 — Shuri drives the sword through young Brook’s afro (“SHUNK!!”) as he sings ”…Bond en Avant!!”.
• Page 10 — Young Brook nursed back to health with the sword still through his skull (“I’ve never seen anyone survive… with a sword stuck through his head!!”).
• Page 12 — Transition: present-day Straw Hats (Nami, etc.) listen as skeleton-Brook recounts the memory; “if those were not illusions… but real memories.”
• Page 14 — “CAFETERIA, WALRUS SCHOOL” caption; giants and Straw Hats try to break the ice block (Gunko’s frozen body); “that bad-news guy is Elbaf’s enemy, right?!” (Nika).
• Pages 15–16 — The Holy Knight: “800 years ago, thy kind suffered defeat… simply abduct thy children… and I can control thee at will… thou art my slaves!!”
• Page 15 — Luffy (in Elbaf helmet), overflowing with strength: “He’s my enemy!! / I’m overflowing with strength!!”
• Page 17 — Luffy: “You get out… right now!!” (“He’s my enemy!!” echoing from p.15). Final panel: a giant clash. “To be continued!”

Open questions raised

• Is present-day Gunko literally Princess Shuri (age arithmetic aligns; Manmayer surname; winged/rare-eye parallel) — or a descendant/memory-echo? The chapter strengthens but does not confirm the identity.
• What are “bipolar irises” mechanically, and why does “the Great One” (Imu) desire that trait specifically?
• What was the giants’/Elbaf’s “defeat 800 years ago,” and how does it connect to the Void Century?
• Who is the present-day Holy Knight lecturing on p.15–16 (Gurou returned, or another Manmayer/Knight)? He is not captioned in the present-day panels.
• Did Brook see Shuri again after she boarded the government ship — and is his “one more time” a setup for a Shuri/Gunko confrontation?