A battle they could never win

The Golden Lion's arrogant laughter echoed over G-3 Base...

The absolute confidence and almost tangible pressure of one of the world's greatest fighters proclaimed a single truth: absolute invincibility.

This was the Golden Lion at his peak, without a scratch on him-arrogant, conceited, unrestrained! A titan among pirates!

"Heh." Sakazuki gave no answer. His actions declared his choice.

A torrent of magma erupted from his hand, hurtling straight at the Golden Lion.

At the same time, Gern moved. He swung Eight Desolations fiercely, sending a quake wave tearing through the ground toward the Golden Lion at astonishing speed.

"Oh? So..." Facing their combined attack, the Golden Lion merely gave a scornful smile.

"You've chosen certain death!"

With that, the Golden Lion snapped his fingers lightly. The entire ground suddenly tilted, throwing both Sakazuki's magma and Gern's quake wave off course.

"Too slow." The Golden Lion's voice suddenly came from behind Gern. "And... too weak."

"When did you-!" Before Gern could even turn, searing pain shot through his back.

The Golden Lion's wooden sandal slammed into his spine.

Bam! Gern flew like a kite with its string cut, smashing through three walls before coming to a stop.

"Gern!" Sakazuki roared and charged at the Golden Lion, bringing down his magma fist with devastating force.

Facing the Devil Fruit with the greatest single-target destructive power, the Golden Lion calmly raised Oto. His blade met the magma with a crisp metallic clang.

Even more shockingly, Sakazuki's magma was cleaved clean apart, unable to harm the Golden Lion in the slightest.

"Magma brat." The Golden Lion sneered, his cigar still clenched between his teeth. "You're nowhere near Sengoku."

Before Sakazuki could react, the Golden Lion's other sword, Kogarashi, swept toward him.

At the last possible instant, an Air Quake wave struck from the side, forcing the Golden Lion to withdraw his blade and retreat.

"Tsk, tsk. Newgate's moves?!" He watched the space where he had stood shatter.

The Golden Lion raised an eyebrow. "You really can do it!"

Amid the rubble, Gern withdrew his fist and staggered to his feet, blood staining the corner of his mouth.

"So you're afraid of quakes too!" Gern panted. The Vibration Particles gathering in his left hand had expanded to cover his entire arm.

The Golden Lion narrowed his eyes, his expression mocking.

"Afraid?!" He abruptly raised his sword and pointed its tip at Gern. "Your ability is nothing but a pathetic imitation!"

Gern's gaze turned cold. The Vibration Particles gathered in his left palm suddenly erupted, and the surrounding air began vibrating at high frequency.

Then he spoke slowly, his voice icy. "Try it, and you'll know whether it's an imitation."

"Arrogant brat!" The Golden Lion laughed loudly. His figure vanished, and a second later he appeared before Gern, bringing Oto and Kogarashi down in a crossing slash!

Before the blades reached him, their razor-sharp sword energy had already torn through the air with a piercing shriek.

Clang! Gern's Black Blade: Eight Desolations crashed against the Golden Lion's twin swords. Vibration Particles and Armament Haki clashed fiercely, erupting in blinding sparks.

A terrifying shock wave spread outward from the two of them. The ground beneath their feet instantly collapsed, and spiderweb cracks raced across it.

Elsewhere, Sakazuki seized the opening. His right fist became a gigantic lava fist as he roared, "Great Eruption!"

Scorching magma blasted toward the Golden Lion's back like a volcanic eruption.

"Heh." The Golden Lion scoffed. Without looking back, he stepped on empty air, and the entire space warped under the control of his ability.

Countless towering rock walls rose from the ground, layer after layer forcibly stopping Sakazuki's lava attack.

"Magma brat, stay out of this!" The Golden Lion unleashed a sudden burst of strength.

The force drove Gern back several steps, but he quickly steadied himself, turned his blade, and charged again.

"Heaven Quake: Shatter the Void!" Gern swept his sword horizontally. Quake particles wound around Eight Desolations' Haki-coated edge, forming a pale, high-frequency vibrating slash.

Space shattered like glass in its wake as it drove straight toward the Golden Lion's throat.

A flicker of surprise crossed the Golden Lion's eyes. "Interesting!"

Then he crossed his swords, coated their blades in Armament Haki, and met the strike head-on.

"If that's all you've got, you can't beat me!"

"Is that so?" Gern grinned, then abruptly withdrew his blade in that familiar motion.

Immediately afterward, he clenched his left fist and gathered power. Dark red Ryuo coiled around it like magma, while Vibration Particles frantically collapsed over his knuckles, condensing into a needle-fine point.

"That movement..." The Golden Lion's pupils contracted. For an instant, he seemed to see Garp.

"Black Quake: God-Slaying Nail!!!"

The punch flew, and heaven and earth fell silent.

The next second-

Boom!! An utterly penetrating force pierced through the Golden Lion's body and erupted behind him!

Space shattered like a mirror. From the pitch-black fissures burst a blazing white quake explosion like a supernova.

A tsunami-like blast of air shredded the clouds within a thousand-meter radius along a straight line.

Yet the Golden Lion had not moved an inch. He remained in his defensive stance, though the blast had gouged an enormous trench behind him.

"You... little brat..." After a long moment, the Golden Lion narrowed his eyes. A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

He had been injured!

And at last, he stopped underestimating them.

"Try to stay alive!" The Golden Lion leaped into the air and hovered high overhead, raising both swords. "Lion: Thousand-Cut Valley!"

Countless blades of sword energy poured down like a torrential rain, covering all of G-3 Base.

Sakazuki finally recovered from the shock of seeing Gern injure the Golden Lion. He cast Gern a look filled with mixed emotions.

Then he roared, transformed both arms into lava, and slammed them toward the ground. "Meteor Volcano!"

Countless lava fists shot skyward, colliding with the golden sword energy amid an unbroken barrage of explosions.

Gern instantly transformed into his elemental form, becoming a stream of white particles that surged into the sky. Infused with Haki, a pitch-black trail cut through the particle stream.

The instant he used Flash Step to close in on the Golden Lion, he targeted an opening. This time, he used not a fist, but a palm!

Gern pressed one palm down as though bearing down on a cauldron, a white quake wave appearing in its center!

"Sengoku's move this time?!" The Golden Lion hastily blocked, only to be sent flying by the quake.

For a moment, even the Golden Lion could not help marveling at how far Gern had developed his Devil Fruit ability.

"Just how many people's moves have you learned?!"

Gern wasted no words and charged again.

He knew that against a fighter like the Golden Lion, any hesitation could prove fatal.

"Kuzan, Borsalino, and me..." Sakazuki had also spotted quite a few familiar moves, but this was no time to dwell on that!

He hurriedly used Geppo to climb into the sky, joining Gern in a pincer attack.

Although their styles were completely different, they fought together with flawless coordination.

The Golden Lion met them with wild laughter. His twin swords danced like the wind, Conqueror's Haki intertwining with Armament Haki, every attack carrying devastating power.

The battle reached a fever pitch. The sky changed color under their clashes, clouds were torn apart, and the atmosphere trembled.

The Marines of G-3 Base, who had long since retreated to safety, watched this clash of titans in stunned awe.

"So this is... a battle between truly powerful fighters?" one Marine murmured.

Yet just as the battle reached a stalemate, the Golden Lion suddenly sneered. "Time to end this game."

He abruptly pulled back and plunged his twin swords in. The entire sky and the rubble of the base began to warp under the control of his ability.

"Not good!" Gern's pupils contracted as his Observation Haki screamed a warning.

"Lion's Majesty: Earth Scroll!" the Golden Lion roared, and the ground shook violently.

Countless enormous rocks rose from the ground, forming dozens of roaring stone lions that lunged at Gern and Sakazuki.