"Hey! Lord Elder, are... are you all right?"
Blackbeard looked at Saint Saturn, who lay sprawled on the ground, his back caved in as he coughed up blood.
He forced an awkward, slightly probing smile onto his face as he asked.
Saint Saturn's body writhed violently under the power of the abyssal contract.
His collapsed back regenerated and healed at a visible rate, and even the bases of his severed spider legs recovered.
Then he slowly raised his head and swept an icy gaze over Blackbeard.
"Try it yourself, and you'll know whether I'm all right!"
Blackbeard gave an embarrassed smile at the retort and dared not answer.
Still, witnessing that almost game-breaking power of "immortality" up close once again...
The greed and desire within Blackbeard burned wildly!
He took the full force of my Tremor Break punch and actually started recovering within a few breaths?!
If... if I could get that power too...
Combined with the Dark-Dark Fruit and the Tremor-Tremor Fruit...
Then Heavenquake, the Navy, the World Government...
They'd all grovel at my feet! Zehahahaha!!
At that thought, his satisfaction at successfully absorbing Gern's Riftquake Fangs, along with the excitement stirred by Saint Saturn's "immortality,"
brought the greatest weaknesses in Blackbeard's character-
arrogance and recklessness-
fully out into the open!
Blackbeard stopped looking at Saint Saturn, who was struggling to recover, and instead turned toward Gern, spreading his arms.
Abandoning all caution, he let swirling darkness rise from both palms and laughed uproariously.
"Zehahahaha!! Heavenquake! See that?!
Your power doesn't seem to work anymore!
Before my darkness, Heavenquake?
Heh, you're nothing special!!"
Gern quietly watched him show off and slowly flicked the Black Blade, Eight Desolations, in his hand. Particles along the blade flickered with the movement.
His face remained expressionless as he asked mildly,
"Oh? You're that