No One Was the Eternal Protagonist

"Imu could make ten million mistakes, while I... only had one chance!"

After thinking it over, John decided to drag Alice and Teach away and run.

There was no shame in being unable to win. Being unable to win and unable to run away—that would be truly shameful!

With his wife and child taken away from the battlefield, Rocks fought with fewer and fewer reservations. Kaido and the others watched with their blood boiling and joined the battle one after another.

Pirates did not care about one-on-one duels. They charged together and beat the hell out of a dog that had fallen into the water!

"Let me join the fight too, Rocks!"

"Hold it, Kaido, you bastard! I'm going to kill you!"

"Garp, that guy hurt my companion. He's my prey. Move aside!"

"I'm getting rid of a pest. Don't get in my way!"

"Gurararara, this is quite lively..."

As Kaido, in his dragon form, spewed blazing flames, the haughty Linlin also used revenge against Kaido as an excuse to slash the Ushi-Oni with Ikoku Sovereignty.

Roger and Garp were still at each other's throats, yet both tacitly landed their respective Kamusari and Galaxy Impact on the Ushi-Oni.

Newgate laughed heartily amid this half-hostile, half-friendly atmosphere. Drawing back his fist, he unleashed Quake, its violent shockwaves engulfing everyone.

Attacks in every color came one after another. In an instant, they blasted the Ushi-Oni and the Crown shadow behind it to pieces, wiping out more than half its body.

"Did we get it?"

"It should be dead, right? So many of us attacked together."

The six of them stared intently at the rising smoke. Though they could not be certain yet, they all felt the Ushi-Oni could not have endured it.

After all, those who had attacked were all top-tier powerhouses of this era.

Time slowly passed. As the smoke settled and gradually dispersed, a mangled body supported only by its pelvis and spider-like limbs appeared before the six of them.

The sky suddenly filled with dark clouds, blotting out the sunlight and leaving behind boundless darkness.

Rumble—

A pillar of black lightning crashed down, swallowing the Ushi-Oni's broken body. Immediately afterward, terrifying Conqueror's Haki erupted from within.

Black arcs of lightning spread across the entire island. Marine soldiers and ordinary pirates alike rolled back their eyes, foamed at the mouth, and collapsed unconscious.

Rocks and the other five at the center did not fare much better. The ferocious gale nearly forced their eyes shut, leaving them no choice but to raise their arms before their brows.

Squinting through the flying sand and stones, they could see the Ushi-Oni's broken body rapidly recovering at a visible rate.

Even after it finished recovering, it did not stop. It continued growing and expanding, turning the Crown shadow they had seen before into a solid entity.

A pair of eerie pupils emerged from the Crown shadow, looking down at Rocks with coldness and malice.

A hoarse voice, like rust scraping against rust, spoke calmly.

"New Davy, your wife and son are rapidly moving away from here. It seems they desperately want to live."

"This is a battle between us. Why bring them up?!"

Rocks could not help thinking of his clansmen who had been turned into monsters. In rage, he unleashed unparalleled Haki that scattered the sand and stones, then flashed forward with his sword and slashed down at the Crown shadow.

Sizzle—

The sound of blade cutting through flesh was crystal clear. Rocks watched with his own eyes as the Crown shadow was sliced into three pieces and flung into the air.

Yet no blood or organs spilled out.

Those malicious pupils continued staring at him, while that hoarse, rust-scraping voice continued.

"Imu will do nothing."

The severed body of the Crown shadow, suspended in midair, suddenly shot out two black spikes. Accompanied by a bizarre sound, they pierced through Rocks's chest.

"You will be the one to exterminate your own clan. Go slaughter your wife and child!"

"Idiot, what nonsense are you talking about? This kind of painless attack..."

"Black Transference!"

Before Rocks could finish his mocking words, an incomparably evil power flowed into his body through the black spikes, altering his body and invading his mind.

"Aaaahhh!!!"

His flesh and bones were torn apart and reassembled, while his brain felt as though it were being churned by a drill. The extreme agony forced Rocks to let out a miserable scream.

His face became hideous and grotesque, while demonic fangs like those of a vampire extended from beneath his lips.

As his consciousness blurred, Rocks forcibly dragged himself back with sheer willpower, winning himself a brief moment of clarity.

He frantically drove his Conqueror's Haki to resist and expel the evil power within him.

Massive amounts of black-red lightning erupted from Rocks's body as he staked everything on one final resistance.

"What a tenacious insect."

The Crown shadow sounded as though it were praising him, but in truth, it was too arrogant to inject even a shred more power.

To It, this tiny insect was already under Its control.

"Don't look down on humanity, monster!"

Rocks glared at the Crown shadow, yet John's recent strange behavior surfaced in his mind.

That guy definitely knew something, but unfortunately, I didn't listen to his warning.

"Keep gloating. An even more dangerous fellow is waiting for you!"

Rocks could not help bursting into wild laughter.

In that instant, he saw many things clearly.

History had always made names like Davy, Joy Boy, and Nerona its protagonists, setting off storm after storm.

Yet on the stage called the world, which everyone longed for, there were many more silent, unknown names watching hungrily from the shadows.

Davy and Joy Boy had been kicked off the stage by Nerona, unwilling to accept it and wanting to return...

"The world has never belonged to any individual or group. Sooner or later, new protagonists will take the stage!"

Rocks stared straight into those eerie eyes and spoke words that filled It with utter horror.

"The Void Century will come again. When that time comes, you will be the one cast aside!"

"No matter how hard you struggle or how desperately you beg, you will be swallowed by the tide of the era and trampled beneath the feet of new protagonists!"

"You and I are merely a microcosm. In the future, there will be countless more people like you and me. They will be stronger and more perfect!"

"Be afraid. Fear the day when it arrives..."

"Shut up!"

The Crown shadow forcibly interrupted Rocks, pouring an endless stream of evil power into his body and completely transforming him.

It was afraid.

It remembered Itself, as well as those Kings who had come before It.

It had seized this world, so naturally someone would imitate It and take the world away from Its hands.

It would never allow that day to come. Every possibility had to be strangled in the cradle!

"Go. Kill your wife and child. Make the name Davy disappear completely!"

In the end, the Crown shadow still turned its attention toward Teach.

In Its eyes, only Davy's bloodline was the most likely possibility.

"Aaaahhh!!!"

With a miserable roar, Rocks erupted with an incomparably evil aura—powerful and frigid.

Then the black spikes released their restraints, and Rocks crashed heavily onto the ground.