Defeating Blackbeard Teach! (Part 2)

"Shichibukai? So what?" Roya sneered.

That status could indeed make most Marines wary. After all, as Shichibukai, they were legally sanctioned pirates authorized by the World Government.

In the world of One Piece, they had once been called one of the three great powers that balanced the world: the Four Emperors, the Marines, and the Shichibukai.

However.

The Shichibukai title might intimidate other Marines, but Roya had no such reservations.

Roya also knew full well that a sinister, cunning schemer like Blackbeard Teach would never start begging for mercy so easily. There had to be some kind of scheme behind it.

Besides, how could Blackbeard Teach, who had easily killed a Whitebeard Pirates commander and subdued Ace, truly be brought down after only a few moves?

Sure enough.

Just as Roya had predicted.

Blackbeard Teach took advantage of the moment to quickly get back on his feet. With lightning speed, he pulled two pistols from his waist, aimed them at Roya, and pulled the triggers.

Bang! Bang!

The two bullets dove toward Roya like ferocious tigers.

With Advanced Observation Haki, how could Roya possibly be hit by those two bullets? He dodged them with ease.

Having witnessed Roya's strength, Blackbeard Teach naturally knew that two bullets could not possibly finish Roya off. This was merely one of his tactics.

"Dark Water!"

Blackbeard Teach stretched out his right hand, transformed into dark matter, aimed it at Roya, and shouted.

"Hmm?"

At once.

Roya felt his body suddenly lurch forward, flying uncontrollably toward Blackbeard's palm.

In an instant.

Roya was seized by Blackbeard's hand, and Blackbeard Teach's other fist immediately slammed heavily into Roya's abdomen.

"Did you feel that?"

"This is the power of darkness. Not only can it devour everything, it can also control gravity."

"Of course, you aren't a Devil Fruit user. If you were, then before my Dark Water, every last one of your fruit powers would become useless!"

Thinking he had gained the upper hand, Blackbeard began speaking with increasing arrogance.

Seeing this.

The Marines aboard the warship were all stunned.

The members of the Blackbeard Pirates, who had been preparing to flee, also regained confidence in their captain, Blackbeard Teach.

"Oh."

Though Roya had taken Blackbeard Teach's punch, he remained completely unfazed, as if he had merely been scratched. He continued mocking him. "So what?"

In truth, under the perception of Roya's Advanced Observation Haki, he had long known Blackbeard would pull this move. The instant he was drawn in by the darkness's gravitational pull, Roya activated Advanced Armament Haki for defense. Combined with Iron Body from the Marine Six Powers, Blackbeard Teach's punch was nothing more than a scratch to him.

To put it plainly.

Roya had deliberately allowed himself to be caught by that dark gravitational force, all to test Blackbeard Teach's strength.

Only after comparing them did he realize that Blackbeard's fist was far weaker than Garp's.

Back then, Garp had sent him flying with a single punch.

Perhaps it could also be said that Blackbeard Teach had become overly confident in his Dark-Dark Fruit power and developed a reliance on it.

"What?! You're completely unharmed?" Blackbeard exclaimed.

Roya had no intention of wasting words on Blackbeard Teach. He raised the sword in his hand and slashed at Blackbeard's chest. At such close range, even if Blackbeard reacted, he had no way to block it.

With a slash.

A bloody wound instantly appeared across Blackbeard Teach's chest. The doubled pain forced him to release Roya and stagger several steps back.

"Pant, pant, pant..."

Blackbeard Teach clutched his wound and gasped heavily. Blood dripped steadily from his body onto the ground, but Blackbeard quickly used the dark matter emitted by his Dark-Dark Fruit power to cover the injury.

Even setting aside the fact that Blackbeard Teach's Dark-Dark Fruit could not turn him into an element to negate attacks like other Logia types, even if it could, it would have been useless. Every one of Roya's attacks was coated in Armament Haki.

Before Armament Haki, elemental transformation was useless unless your Observation Haki was as powerful as that of the Marine Admirals, allowing you to predict an opponent's attack and transform in advance. Otherwise, it was meaningless against Armament Haki.

"Damn it!"

"You brat, you've truly enraged me!"

"Now, I really won't let you go!"

Blackbeard Teach roared again. This time, he looked completely and utterly enraged.

"Dark Hole!"

"Dark Water!"

Blackbeard once again released dark matter to cover the ground. This time, its range was far greater than before. It seemed he wanted to envelop Roya in darkness.

Meanwhile.

Now that he understood Blackbeard's strength, Roya felt that it was nothing special. He no longer had any interest in dragging this out, so he decided to end the battle!

Although Blackbeard's Dark Water could manipulate gravity and pull people toward him, it was not impossible to counter.

As long as your Observation Haki and Armament Haki were powerful enough!

Therefore.

The same move was completely useless against Roya.

Roya braced his body and forcibly resisted the gravitational pull of Dark Water. Then, he slashed out several sword energies in succession, cutting through the dark matter of Dark Hole as though it were tofu.

The sword energies tore through the darkness and shot straight toward Blackbeard.

Thud...

Blackbeard Teach collapsed directly onto the ground, his body covered in wounds as blood flowed freely.

"Rear Admiral Roya won!"

"Rear Admiral Roya actually won!"

"That power is terrifying..."

All the Marines were utterly astonished.

When they had first set out, they had been worried that Roya, a Marine rear admiral, might not be able to suppress Blackbeard Teach.

But now, they were completely convinced by Roya.

"Captain!"

The other members of the Blackbeard Pirates cried out anxiously, intending to rush over and rescue their captain, Blackbeard Teach.

But then.

Roya turned around and glared at them fiercely with sharp eyes. A powerful wave of Conqueror's Haki pressure crashed toward them.

This was Conqueror's Haki of even greater intensity than before!

Thud! Thud!!

Doc Q and the others were all intimidated into unconsciousness, falling backward onto the ground.

The tangible Conqueror's Haki had revealed its true power. It was not something people like them could withstand!

Just then.

The system's voice suddenly rang out.

[Because Blackbeard Teach was overwhelmingly defeated by the host, the Dark-Dark Fruit power felt deeply ashamed of Teach's performance and has come to pledge allegiance!]

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining the Dark-Dark Fruit power and unlocking the Dark-Dark Fruit power's automatic training program!]