Sensing the abyssal pressure radiating from Werther, Antonio Alexan made a swift decision and gathered every last bit of life force in his body.
Because of the peculiar nature of his Devil Fruit power, Antonio Alexan did not expend stamina when he fought with it, as Werther had imagined.
Every move Antonio Alexan made consumed life force. Growing trees and healing wounds were no exceptions.
Under normal circumstances, surviving even a month after eating that fruit would have been a miracle if Antonio Alexan fought regularly.
And that was precisely why, after eating it, Antonio Alexan had immediately gone into hiding. Apart from essential practice, he never used its power.
Eating that fruit had been a gamble: could he awaken its power before his life force ran out?
Everything had two sides. A fruit this vicious naturally held tremendous power as well. Once awakened, it would not only replenish the life force it had consumed, but allow life force to recover continuously afterward, much like stamina.
That fruit was the Paramecia-type Luxuriant Tree Fruit.
The Luxuriant Tree Fruit was extraordinarily powerful from the outset, but few people would dare eat a fruit that consumed their life force—least of all Antonio Alexan, who knew exactly what it did.
Yet once awakened, it ranked among the top three fruits in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. That was because the awakened Luxuriant Tree Fruit could grant immortality!
Antonio Alexan raised his scepter and aimed the green orb at its tip toward Werther.
"Die."
Boom! A green beam several meters thick erupted from it.
Everywhere the beam passed, the red stone underfoot shattered into dust. Then even the dust was annihilated, evaporating into nothing.
The terrifying power of this attack nearly defied understanding. It reduced matter to nothing.
The force rushing toward Werther tossed his