"Whoosh..." The thick black mist rapidly drew inward, and Saint Saturn's severed spider legs returned to their original state. The newly grown carapace even gleamed with a darker luster.
His enormous body rose again. His eyes locked onto Gern, and he gave a cold, mocking laugh. "A futile attack."
"There is no way you can truly defeat me, on any level." Before his words had faded, several of his freshly regenerated, sharp spider legs snapped straight!
A glob of deep purple-black venom gathered at the sharp tip of each leg, giving off a nauseating stench.
Its corrosive energy made even the surrounding air hiss in agony.
"Death Pierce!"
The next instant, all his spider legs thrust and retracted wildly at an astonishing rate, like powerful springs gone out of control!
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!"
They moved so fast they left countless afterimages, as though dozens-hundreds-of deadly, venom-coated spears were weaving a net of death that covered every possible avenue of escape for Gern!
Yet Gern did not retreat an inch before this furious assault, one that even Luffy in his Nika form would have needed to run and dodge!
Observation Haki flashed in his eyes as he pushed his vibration sensing to its limit. Any attack his opponent launched was bound to make the air vibrate.
As a Heavenquake Person, Gern combined his awakened Devil Fruit ability with Observation Haki to pinpoint the trajectory of every spider leg and the gaps between them.
And so Gern continued walking forward, unhurried, straight into the deadly storm of venomous spears.
His body began making tiny shifts, turns, and tilts of the head, with timing and movements that looked incredibly perilous yet were precisely measured.
Venom skimmed past his hair, the edges of his clothes, and his skin. The vicious gusts it stirred