In the waters between two deserted islands, warships stood like a forest of steel.
The soldiers barely breathed, their eyes fixed on Island Two!
At the island's center, Gern and Borsalino separated after another clash.
"Whew!" Gern's military boots plowed two deep furrows through the scorched earth.
Then he caught the clasp of his cloak with his left hand and gave it a light tug. The white cloak fluttered to the ground like a drooping flag.
"Looks like it's time to get serious!" Gern raised his eyes, his fingertips brushing the bandages wrapped around Eight Desolations.
The bandages suddenly trembled, unraveling in a spiral from hilt to tip and disintegrating into gray-white fragments that hung in the air.
The pitch-black blade was fully exposed, its dark red patterns gleaming fiercely in the sunlight.
Kizaru stood thirty meters away. The shock waves had long since blown his green knit cap out of sight, exposing his disheveled curls. For the first time, his eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses.
"What a pain~" Kizaru drawled, slowly pulling both hands from his pockets.
"Do you really have to make me get serious?"
"You lazy old bastard." Gern flicked his wrist, shaking his blade. "You'd better stay serious from here on out."
Kizaru smiled faintly at that. Golden light exploded beneath his feet, and he became a beam of light that shot into the sky. "In that case..."
He hovered a hundred meters above the ground, crossing his hands before his chest.
"Do your part for my three-month vacation, Gern!!"
"Yasakani no Magatama!" Light flashed across the sky.
Hundreds of light bullets poured from the clouds, enveloping the entire deserted island in a golden downpour.
The Marines aboard the watching warships collectively lost their voices!
This wasn't a fucking exhibition match. It was an annihilation campaign!