Facing Shanks's all-out strike, Gern smiled, the devastating torrent and the phantom Griffon reflected in his eyes.
"All those pretty words just to tell me not to dodge? Sigh!"
"But I can say pretty things too..."
As he spoke, Gern, who had never intended to retreat, furiously drew his dark-purple Conqueror's Haki inward!
He tightened his one-handed grip on Eight Desolations. The dark-purple arcs surrounding him no longer erupted outward.
Instead, with a low hum, they flowed like rivers into the sea, drawn into Eight Desolations of his own accord.
In an instant, Eight Desolations' black blade seemed to come alive, greedily devouring Gern's Haki. Its dark-red cracks lit up one after another, radiating a deep, spectral purple glow.
It was not just the blade. Gern's entire body began trembling faintly, and the space around him let out a series of fine cracks, like shattering glass!
"The strong? What does it truly mean to be strong?"
Gern drew a deep breath and raised Eight Desolations slightly. His left foot slid back a step, and the ground behind him collapsed in a spreading fan!
"Is it the single-minded purity of Rocks and Roger, pushing Haki and swordsmanship to their absolute limits?"
"Or is it relying on Devil Fruit powers and combining them with Haki to dominate the seas, like Kaido, Whitebeard, and Big Mom?"
Gern moved, shooting straight forward like a meteor.
"Or is it confronting everything with a mortal body, relying on Physical Combat and Haki honed to perfection, like Garp and Zephyr?"
"No! None of those!" Gern's gaze suddenly sharpened, and Eight Desolations rang at a frequency far beyond anything before!
It was excited!
It was roaring!
It sensed the presence of the man it had once yearned to fight, even if this was only eighty percent of that