Swordsman Showdown: Soul Judgment
In the sea area that is not far from the Whole Cake Island, but not so far that it can be detected.
"Everyone,"
The white dove, which had been curled up on the deck with its eyes closed, poked its head out from under its wings and stretched its wings in a 'lazy yawn' posture.
"Let's get started."
"Phew~~"
The tall Gion breathed a sigh of relief. After all, the overwhelming Haki of the Whole Cake Island, capable of soaring into the sky and splitting the clouds and seas, was still keenly perceived by these powerful individuals even from dozens of nautical miles away. However, Roman's white doves, which served as a means of communication, seemed to be sound asleep, causing her to worry—
"I thought Roman, you were being suppressed and couldn't even spare the time to make contact."
"No, it's more dangerous than being suppressed."
The white dove shook its head.
"Blackbeard has a technique called 'Darkness-Dark Space,' which can banish people to a dark, alternate dimension. I was just accidentally hit by that technique... But the battle is proceeding as planned, and you can make your move now."
The Blackbeard Pirates aren't just the officers and captains from Whole Cake Chateau; they also have tens of thousands of elite troops on the outskirts and skilled fighters stationed on other islands. If they were to surround Whole Cake Chateau, facing a large group of fighters worth hundreds of millions, a war of attrition would exhaust the Straw Hat crew. Therefore:
"Good!"
His expression turned serious, and Kake, who had Kake his legs spread wide, straightened up, puffed out his chest, raised his head, and tucked in his stomach! His figure, which originally looked only 1.8 meters tall, suddenly became that of Admiral's height '. At the same time, his authoritative voice issued orders to the surrounding warships without needing Den Den Mushi.
"All warships, listen up! Target: Blackbeard Pirates!"
"No prisoners are needed in this battle; kill on sight!!"
With Akainu determined to reform the seas, the qualification to go to Impel Down and serve time in prison is no longer an easy thing to obtain.
Moreover, the Blackbeard Pirates are true pirates, resorting to any means necessary to burn, kill, and plunder! Unlike other pirate crews that establish territories and collect taxes, gradually transforming into 'evil kingdoms,' they are simply 'free pirates.' You could say that each of them deserves to be shot ten times over; they are truly the scum of the earth.
"Roman, be careful over there."
Although it was a joint effort, it couldn't be openly discussed. Therefore, most of the Navy was only responsible for eliminating the Blackbeard Pirates' outer perimeter members, while the officers and Blackbeard—
"Don't worry, 'we' will handle it."
"Can't you have a proper swordsmanship contest with me?"
Zoro stood helplessly on the empty battlefield, with Charlotte Smoothie covered in blood behind him.
"Hey, can you still stand up?"
Zoro tossed a stack of emerald green papers behind him, which landed in the hands of a surprised Smoothie.
"Go help the others, this is my battlefield!"
Feeling the life force flowing into his body from the paper, and the man in front of him with the River of Water in his mouth, holding the Shusui and Sandai Kitetsu in his hands, all three swords as black as ink under the cover of Haki.
How dare you think that I, the second of the Sweet Commanders, am getting in your way?
"Hmph, interesting..."
Absorbing the life force from the paper, Smoothie casually wiped it on her wound, leaving a closed sword scar. Then, she poured her blood back into the longsword in her hand, making the weapon as crimson as the setting sun, even more dangerous and deadly!
"It's up to you, man of the Three-Sword Style."
As Smoothie turned and left cleanly, Zoro grinned at the empty battlefield before him, a smile as fierce as a tiger rising and a dragon opening its eyes.
As for Shiryu, his opponent? He had completely merged into the air, vanished without a trace, returned to nothingness, imperceptible and unattackable. Like a supreme, unpredictable blade, capable of exploding at any moment to injure, he appeared exceptionally dangerous. However:
"I'm going to become the World's Greatest Swordsman, no matter what kind of Devil Fruit it is—"
And don't even think about stopping me!
"Three-Sword Style: Mind's Eye!"
As Zoro slowly closed his eyes, the entire world disappeared before his eyes.
Zoro's Observation Haki doesn't allow him to Future Sight like Luffy, nor does it allow him to see through everything like Roman, but if he simply focuses on a range of ten meters—in that instant, he can perceive all light, smells, sounds, air currents, magnetic field changes...
Countless pieces of information in the air were captured by Zoro's Observation Haki. Whether it was soil, rocks, sand, a gentle breeze, or even the intangible Haki flow, everything was reflected in his mind! It was like:
The slightly sunken ground, the sudden gust of wind, the restrained yet Haki of a blade—
Over there,
Clang—!
A deafening, long, piercing clang echoed across the battlefield, like the sound of two enormous, rapidly spinning steel chainsaws grinding and slicing together.
A tall figure suddenly appeared in the air, wearing a long coat of Impel Down Chief Warden, but the places that indicated military rank had all been replaced with skulls. It was none other than Shiryu of the Rain.
As the two men's black samurai swords clashed, their bodies jolted, and the ground within a radius of dozens of meters beneath their feet trembled before silently collapsing into a pile of powder and sinking in.
The two men's Haki sword light even cut the entire earth into powder!
"Great, this is more interesting!"
Amidst Shiryu's wicked grin, the two world's top swordsmen swung their blades wildly, unleashing massive, whirlwind slashes that caused the others fighting nearby to retreat hastily.
On the other side,
Ah~~
"Be careful, don't look him in the eyes!!"
Henry the Judge killed Charlotte Snack, who had a bounty of 600 million, with a single glance. How could this not terrify the Straw Hat crew and the other executives of Charlotte family? Not everyone is a miracle Divine Doctor like Chopper who can save lives. Even Robin and Jinbe... would not want to face such a dangerous ability, let alone others.
For a time, Captain Henry seemed unstoppable, moving with unparalleled speed and agility! Until—
"Aaaaaah, don't come any closer!! Zombies~~"
Even Captain Henry, who looked like a ghost, was furious when Brook was waving his arms and legs in front of his face!
"You're the only one who has no right to say such things!"
A skeleton being afraid of 'zombies'... What's so strange about that? Is it the pot calling the kettle black?
Since that's the case—
"Ghost Step!"
With a flash, 'The Judge' Henry vanished from his spot like a ghost and suddenly appeared in front of Brook, his Sailor's Knife flashing a chilling light as he slashed at Brooke's skull!
Before gaining his Devil Fruit powers, Henry was a master thief with a bounty of 400 million. He had plundered countless cities and was once known as the 'Devil' in the New World. Ironically, however, this very man eventually ate the 'Judgment-Judgment Fruit'.
"Ahhh, I'm just a poor, afro-haired skeleton—"
Brook, who was forced to retreat by the opponent's strong attack, shouted and swung his 'Soul Solid' to block the attacks, causing the veins on Henry's thin forehead to bulge!
Just a skeleton...
"Look—"
With a nimble twist, a maneuver, and a flick of his Sailor's Knife, Henry opened the noisy skeleton's defenses wide. Of course, his own weapon simultaneously drifted to the side, leaving an opening only enough for a shoulder charge or elbow strike. However:
"My eyes!"
In an instant, a pair of eerie eyes wreathed in flames, searing into the heart, appeared in Brook's empty eye sockets. The tall skeleton froze instantly, as if a machine had been unplugged.
"Heh, I thought skeletons wouldn't fall for that trick."
Captain Henry chuckled coldly. It seemed even skeletons possessed souls and sins. Too easy.
Henry, who had 'instantly killed' Brook, turned to leave in search of his next prey. So he didn't see that a wisp of eerie white flame suddenly began to flicker in the dark eye sockets of the skull behind him, which should have been 'dead'.
That was the flame of hope that remained burning even as one stood on the Sanzu River, facing countless souls of the dead.
It was the look of someone gazing up at heaven from the depths of hell.
"Ah... what a terrifying ability..."
?!
"How is that possible—"
Henry whirled around, staring dumbfounded at the skeleton that had seemingly come back to life! He swore this skeleton was no saintly healer, and the lives it had taken were... well, let's just say it wasn't some kind of saintly figure.
Brook has certainly killed people, whether as a member of the Royal Guard or later as a swordsman in the Rumbar Pirates; the number of people who have fallen to his rapier is considerable.
Now, all the pain he once caused others has come back to haunt him, but Brook silently endures it all.
"Compared to the pain of losing a companion, the pain of 'death' is nothing."
The loneliness and fear of watching companions die one by one before death, the emptiness and solitude after resurrection, the day-to-day fantasy that companions are still by one's side, the Awakening and continuing the journey in song...
"Speaking of sins, I am indeed burdened with them. If this suffering could at least somewhat atone for the sins I have committed, I would not mind bearing it all. But there is one exception: my companions—"
In an instant, the pale white flames in Brook's eyes suddenly ignited, causing Henry, who had eaten the Judgment-Judgment Fruit, to instinctively take a big step back!
He actually saw the Sanzu River, the twin swaying trees, and... in the flames in the other person's eyes.
Countless souls perished!
The Judgment-Judgment Fruit, as a rule-based Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, is not without its limitations. As long as you have enough willpower to endure the pain it brings, as long as you have enough awareness to face everyone you have killed or injured, as long as you have enough conviction to still believe that your killings were not wrong, and are willing to bear all the consequences it brings!
For example,
Garp: Fists and pain are the only way to become strong!
Dragon: Only through sacrifice can we achieve great things, daring to change the world!
Akainu: My heart and actions are as clear as a mirror, and everything I do is for justice!
So the 'judgment ability' can only ultimately burn away unnecessary distractions and burdens, allowing the soul to be further tempered and sublimated! — The pitch blackness rising on Brook's head is the best proof! Of course, the frost outside the pitch blackness can freeze the soul as always.
Brook, who had wandered in the fog for thirty years, had long since come to his senses!
"For my comrades, I fear neither mountains of knives nor seas of fire! Anyone who wants to harm them will have to step over my ashes—"
In an instant, Captain Henry's cold heart, which had just annihilated several powerful opponents, felt as if it had been gripped by an invisible hand, and an extremely terrifying sense of unease surged through him! Before he could even discern the source of the danger, a cold, blue flame rapidly enlarged in his vision.
Look me straight in the eyes—!
????
The world suddenly blurred, and when Henry came to his senses, he found himself standing on an endless river... no, as countless arms held him firmly beneath his feet, he realized with horror that he was standing among billions of corpses!
Looking down, what Henry saw was:
'You unfilial son! How could you...'
The officer who died with his eyes wide open in disbelief.
'Why, when everything I have is yours...'
My cousin lying in a pool of blood,
'God, look upon your believers! I pray not for my own life, but for this evil...'
The nun tied to the wooden frame to serve as a shield
And then even more people surged in from all directions, like a turbid giant wave that instantly engulfed this truly wicked pirate! And then peace returned once more.
······
"Yo ho ho~~ Even though I don't have eyes."
Brook straightened his top hat and turned around, leaving behind only a cold corpse still in a sword-wielding pose.
P. S.: In this book, Brook's "Revive-Revive Fruit" is an upgraded version of the "Judgment-Judgment Fruit," so copying the opponent's skills on the spot is perfectly reasonable. (Confirmed~~)