The sea breeze carried gunsmoke over the ring-shaped lake.
Gern's right sleeve had long since been shredded, and pale cracks crawled across his exposed skin.
Each breath made those cracks open and close slightly, as though they might shatter at any moment-but they were the mark of Heavenquake!
Smiling, Gern slowly raised his left hand, palm upward. His five fingers gathered strength and clenched with an explosive crack.
"Heavenquake: White Vortex!!"
"BOOM!!" The ground of the entire Deserted Island twisted and buckled like a towel wrung in a giant's grip.
Countless pale pillars of light, each over ten meters across, erupted from underground, instantly vibrating the rocks in their path into vapor at the material level.
"That destructive power is downright unfair, you bastard!" Roger darted between the pillars of light.
Every slash of Ace precisely cleaved the core of a shock wave, and the instant its dark-red blade light collided with the pale energy,
the exploding shock wave tore his cloak into strips. His exposed back was already covered in fine bloody cuts.
"Is that so? Too bad I'm not finished!" Gern smiled, deliberately letting his right hand hang at his side.
The cracks along that arm had spread to his shoulder blade, yet vibration particles were still gathering at his trembling fingertips.
He slammed both hands against the ground. The instant his palms touched the soil, a visible ring of pale ripples spread outward from him.
"Heavenquake: Earth Tremor Kagura!!!"
The earth rose like a blanket lifted by an invisible giant hand. Tens of thousands of tons of rock were hurled into the sky by the shock waves, and the High-Frequency Vibration wrapped around the boulders made them glow dark red like red-hot iron.
Roger's pupils suddenly contracted. The shock waves pressed against his eardrums until they rang,