Chapter 273: The Decisive Battle (4)
Deep within the island lay the true core of destruction.
Three streaks of black, blue, and orange light moved faster than the naked eye could follow, tearing across the ruined battlefield and shattered remains of the island in a frenzy of clashes and collisions.
Every brief exchange unleashed catastrophic torrents of energy.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—!!!
Fists and kicks collided, blades and claws clashed, flames roared, darkness surged—
Every impact blasted apart the clouds high above the sky.
"ZEHAHAHAHA!!! Ace!! Thinking about it now, I really ought to thank your precious little brother Straw Hat Luffy for helping me become this strong!!"
At the center of the violent storm of energy, Marshall D. Teach fought Ace and Marco alone—and still appeared completely at ease.
His black captain's coat whipped wildly in the storm winds, his hair standing on end, his bloodshot eyes overflowing with madness.
Yet when he spoke Luffy's name, the muscles on his face twitched uncontrollably.
Hatred surged from his eyes with overwhelming intensity.
But hidden beneath that hatred was something else—
A trace of instinctive fear buried deep within his soul.
No one knew the terrifying secret hidden within Marshall D. Teach's body.
It was not some simple "abnormal physiology."
From the moment he was born, three completely different souls had coexisted within him.
Those three souls maintained a bizarre balance, supporting one another and granting him monstrous vitality far beyond ordinary humans.
And because of that…
Theoretically, his body could withstand the conflicting curse of three Devil Fruits at once.
That had been his greatest ambition.
His ultimate trump card.
But everything changed after encountering that straw-hatted madman.
The details of that battle had already blurred beneath unbearable agony and the sensation of his soul being torn apart.
All Teach remembered was this:
That seemingly carefree rubber brat had somehow shattered all three of his souls completely.
Destroyed them.
Annihilated them.
At death's door, the fragmented souls forcibly fused together in a twisted and insane rebirth, forging an entirely new soul.
More solid than before—
Yet infinitely more violent and greedy.
A blessing in disguise?
Perhaps.
That death and rebirth of the soul became the cruelest tempering imaginable.
His combat instincts, talent, ambition, and control over power all underwent terrifying evolution.
More importantly…
This newly forged soul achieved an unprecedented level of compatibility with the Dark-Dark Fruit itself.
It was because of this terrifying soul fusion—combined with insane training and rapidly evolving talent—
That Teach had managed to leap from merely obtaining the Dark-Dark Fruit to achieving Devil Fruit Awakening in less than three months.
A realm countless Devil Fruit users dreamed of reaching but could never attain in their entire lives.
That battle had cost him the chance to wield multiple supreme Devil Fruits and become an unprecedented "multi-fruit emperor."
But in exchange—
He stepped onto a far more extreme, pure, and terrifying path.
Abandoning quantity…
To pursue the absolute pinnacle of a single power.
That was what created the current Marshall D. Teach—
The one true king of darkness.
The monster standing before Flame Emperor Ace and Marco the Phoenix, suppressing both with absolute darkness.
"DON'T YOU DARE SET YOUR SIGHTS ON MY BROTHER—!!!"
Ace's roar exploded like a volcano erupting through the earth.
Orange-red flames erupted around his body, transforming him into a blazing god of fire.
Within his palms, destructive energy compressed and condensed endlessly.
In the blink of an eye, a massive flaming lotus over ten meters wide bloomed brilliantly in his hands.
At the same time—
High above in the sky, Marco had already merged with the heavens themselves.
He condensed every ounce of his phoenix flames into his right claw.
His wings folded inward as he transformed into an azure meteor, diving downward with unstoppable force.
"Calamity Flame Lotus: Full Bloom!"
"Phoenix Art: Falling Star Seal!"
One from above.
One from below.
The flaming lotus and falling star descended simultaneously upon Teach.
Two completely different forms of destruction converged into an inescapable killing zone.
The terrifying pressure alone was enough to make even powerful warriors despair.
Yet at the center of certain death—
Blackbeard Teach suddenly burst into deafening laughter.
"ZEHAHAHAHA!!! FOOLS! ABSOLUTE FOOLS!! DON'T YOU GET IT YET?!"
He spread his arms wide as though embracing the attacks themselves, his face twisting with manic excitement.
"Devil Fruit users… can NEVER truly oppose darkness!!!"
Before his words even finished—
The darkness around him suddenly transformed.
BUZZ— BUZZ— BUZZ—!!!
The thick darkness erupted outward violently.
Nine deep, rotating dark voids materialized around him like black stars connected to separate abyssal dimensions.
They aligned according to a mysterious pattern—
Like a constellation of darkness itself.
The darkness expanded, collapsed, and compressed into a single black core no larger than a fist—
Yet radiating terrifying gravitational force capable of swallowing heaven and earth.
"Infernal Abyss: Eternal Devouring—!!!"
BOOOOOOM—!!!!!!!!!
The black core exploded instantly into a massive distorted dark mural.
Everything in its path—
Light.
Flames.
Energy.
Matter.
All existence itself—
Was dragged inward, twisted apart, and devoured completely.
Not even residual shockwaves remained.
…
"T-That's…"
"No… impossible!!"
"Commander Ace! Commander Marco!!"
Disbelief and bone-deep terror seized the hearts of every Whitebeard commander.
They simply could not accept it.
The combined ultimate attack of Ace and Marco…
Had been completely swallowed by Blackbeard Teach.
"Heh… fighting me while worrying about something else?"
A cold mocking voice suddenly whispered into Vista's ear.
Shiryu glanced toward Vista, who had momentarily frozen in shock at the distant battle.
A cruel smile spread across his face.
SWISH!
Both Shiryu and his sword Raiu vanished instantly into the surrounding shadows.
"Not good—!!"
Vista's instincts screamed danger.
Forcing down his concern for Ace and Marco, he pushed his Observation Haki to its absolute limit.
At nearly the same moment—
BOOM—!!
Jozu once again smashed the enraged Burgess away like a ragdoll, sending him crashing helplessly into a rock wall.
But in the instant after Jozu's full-powered charge ended—
When his body stiffened ever so slightly—
SHING!!!
A blood-red blur suddenly appeared behind him.
Raiu was coated in highly compressed Armament Haki and murderous intent as Shiryu swung viciously toward the connection point between Jozu's diamond neck and shoulder.
"What—?!"
Jozu twisted instinctively—
But the demonic slash was already upon him.
Too fast.
Far too fast.
Faster than even his diamond body could react.
SLASH—!!!
Jozu's supposedly indestructible diamond left arm was severed cleanly at the shoulder by Shiryu's ultimate shadow slash.
The severed arm spun through the air, gleaming brilliantly before crashing heavily onto the battlefield.
"GRAAAHHH—!!!"
Agonizing pain erupted through Jozu's body as blood sprayed everywhere, staining half his body crimson.
"JOZU—!!!"
Vista's eyes turned blood-red instantly.
He knew exactly who Shiryu was.
The former Chief Warden of Impel Down, a monster once spoken of in the same breath as Magellan.
A swordsman whose strength absolutely stood at Admiral-candidate level.
His instincts screamed at him to retreat.
But—
"There's no time to think anymore—!!!!!"
Vista roared like a wild beast.
If Shiryu continued slaughtering through their forces unchecked, the Whitebeard Pirates truly would be annihilated.
BOOM!!
Vista exploded forward, shattering the ground beneath his feet.
His body transformed into a silver streak tearing across the battlefield toward Shiryu.
Rage.
Grief.
The determination to protect his comrades.
Hatred toward Blackbeard's crew.
All of it exploded at once, becoming pure power surging through every vein in his body.
BUZZ—!
The muscles in Vista's arms bulged violently as veins protruded like dragons beneath his skin.
Every ounce of his Armament Haki compressed and circulated at unprecedented intensity.
Pitch-black Haki coated his twin swords completely.
Tiny black sparks crackled across the blades, radiating terrifying destructive force.
"Hm?!"
Shiryu's expression changed instantly.
The playful cruelty vanished from his face for the first time, replaced entirely by seriousness.
"His Armament Haki evolved again during battle?! And this level of pressure…"
He could clearly sense it.
Vista's Haki had crossed into the realm of advanced internal destruction Armament Haki.
"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM—!!!"
Vista's furious roar arrived together with his blades.
His blood-red eyes burned with suicidal determination.
CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG—!!!!!!!!
An endless storm of sword clashes exploded across the battlefield.
CLANG!!
During one particularly violent exchange, Shiryu's arm actually went numb as Vista's enhanced slash forced him back half a step.
"What?!"
Shock flashed through Shiryu's eyes.
Immediately afterward, Vista's twin swords became a whirlwind of silver and black death.
He abandoned all defense entirely.
Every strike was aimed to kill, even at the cost of his own life.
Empowered by his newly evolved Armament Haki, his attacks carried unprecedented penetration and destructive force.
For a brief moment—
Vista actually suppressed Shiryu of the Rain head-on.
Under the relentless barrage, Shiryu was forced backward repeatedly, only barely managing to defend.
For the moment—
He couldn't find even the slightest opening to counterattack.
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