"Trying to escape? Not so fast!" Sakazuki roared, drawing on the full power of the Hellforge. "Today, this sky will be your grave!"
Just as all four battlefields reached the height of their fiercest clashes, a miracle no one had anticipated occurred.
In a corner of the world, the simple gravestone on Sphinx Island began to emit a faint white glow. The name "Edward Newgate" on the stone seemed to come alive, its letters beginning to shimmer.
This was not an isolated phenomenon.
In Loguetown in the East Blue, Gol D. Roger's Execution Platform suddenly erupted with a golden pillar of light that shot into the heavens. On an unnamed island along the Grand Line, a gravestone bearing the name "Zephyr" also began to glow. Deep in the New World, Vice Admiral Garp's cenotaph radiated light as warm as the sun.
Across the world, the resting places of all those departed legends awakened at the same moment.
"What... is happening?" In Alabasta, Princess Vivi stared in shock at the countless pillars of light appearing in the distant sky. "Why are so many places glowing?"
In Dressrosa, Doflamingo also sensed the anomaly. Through his Observation Haki, he could perceive the immensely powerful wills contained within those lights.
"Fufufu... wills of this caliber... they've already transcended the boundary between life and death..." Awe crept into Doflamingo's laughter. "These fellows... do they refuse to rest even in death?"
On Sphinx Island, the glow from Whitebeard's gravestone grew ever brighter.
Suddenly, a towering figure slowly emerged from the light. It was the soul projection of the World's Strongest Man-Edward Newgate. Even in the form of a heroic spirit, he still radiated an awe-inspiring majesty.
"Gurararara... looks like the brats have run into trouble..." Whitebeard's heroic spirit gazed down toward the distant battlefield. Though his