The Twilight of the Old Gods

The explosions rumbled without end. The sky collapsed.

Rocks stood on the shattered ice field. Black flames wrapped around his blade. One horizontal sweep cleaved through the air, dragging out a long arc of light before cutting straight into the second line of the Knights of God. Metal shields and the people beneath them were sliced apart. Shattered armor and droplets of blood flew outward, clinking as they fell across the ice.

He laughed like a madman.

"What's this?"

Rocks shook the blood from his blade. He tilted his head and bared his teeth, black flames flickering deep in his pupils.

"So this is all the Celestial Dragons' watchdogs can do?"

Whitebeard had no interest in wasting words.

Murakumogiri rose high overhead. The cloud patterns along its back erupted with white light. He brought it down in one slash. A thunderous boom that shattered the atmosphere exploded outward. The shockwave became an invisible wall and slammed straight into the Knights of God's formation. The three knights at the front did not even have time to scream before they were blasted away. Their armor shattered in midair, and their bodies tumbled toward the ice fissure like kites with severed strings.

Saint Galin stood at the very back of the formation, the veins bulging on his sword hand.

He had no time to react.

Whitebeard's second shockwave reached him. The force slammed into the armor over his chest with a dull impact that made the teeth ache. The armor caved inward, its metal edges cutting into his flesh. Saint Galin spat out a mouthful of blood, his body snapping backward. He staggered seven or eight steps before barely regaining his balance.

Blood dripped from his chin, staining the emblem on his chest red.

"Lord Five Elders!"

Several members of the Knights of