Chapter 1142: What I'm Afraid Of

A massive serpent dubbed Jormundgandr bursts loose at the Walrus School, and the staff scatter to shield the pupils. Hammer in hand, the principal Kiba rushes the beast head-on while Saul races along a branch overhead to land the finishing blow, proving to the awed children that both were once warriors. Robin and Chopper, having come with Saul, gape at the creature's bulk. The gym instructor Wolf, gravely wounded, cautions that several students have drifted off in a daze, lured down to the shore by one of Gunko's arrows, and tells Saul on no account to lay hands on them. With more monsters massing in the woods, the staff blow the horn to rouse the whole nation as the children begin dropping asleep one after another.

Beneath the surface, Loki informs the Straw Hats that leaving one shackle on him has not robbed him of strength. To make the point, he strikes the great tree with Ragnir, summoning a lightning bolt that sets the island's southern flank ablaze and sends the feasting giants scrambling to fight the flames. Back at the school, Ange places the rampaging horrors: that very morning she had the children sketch what frightened them most, and now Loki, Nika, Fenrir, storms, ghosts, and the serpent stalk the branches as breathing nightmares. High above, the Knights of God look on, Killingham behind the conjurings and Sommers musing that love means wounding, while Gunko admits Nika frightens her above all.

Working in concert, the Knights of God lull the Walrus School children into sleep and steer them toward a ship, while the youngsters' nightmares take shape as living monsters. Killingham is implied to be the cause of the slumber. Wolf warns Saul never to touch the sleeping children. The school's principal, Kiba, joins the cast, a former member of the Giant Warrior Pirates. With a strike of Ragnir against the tree, Loki sparks a blaze close to Treasure Tree Adam.

Ange's drawing exercise becomes the chapter's grim pivot, accounting for why each rampaging beast mirrors a particular child's terror. Gunko's admission that Nika scares her most sets up a thread the arc later pursues. The cover continues the Yamato pilgrimage serial, here spotlighting Yamato. The installment is part of the Elbaph Arc.