The instant Gern severed the Five Elders at the waist with a single "Quakeflame: Fire Dance Kagura," the entire battlefield seemed to fall silent.
Luffy, Edison, Vegapunk, York, and the others stared, dumbstruck, forgetting even to breathe.
Van Augur's pupils contracted, as did Shiryu's-though only his consciousness remained-as a chill shot up their spines.
Only Blackbeard, after the initial shock, instantly understood.
The strength Gern had displayed while hunting him earlier had not been his full power at all!
This monster had been holding back all along. Or rather, their previous battle had not even counted as a warm-up for him!
"No!!!"
Blackbeard roared hoarsely, no longer caring about holding anything back or scheming!
With his life on the line, every ounce of power in his body surged wildly.
Dark Red Conqueror's Haki Inazuma crackled and coiled around him!
Pale shock waves compressed around his right fist with unprecedented density. The surrounding air fractured inch by inch, groaning beneath the unbearable strain!
He pushed the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power to its absolute limit.
That punch contained enough destructive energy to unleash massive tsunamis and tear apart an island's bedrock!
And everything that followed unfolded just as he had expected.
After temporarily "dismembering" the Five Elders with a single slash-
Gern's assault did not pause for even an instant.
It only grew faster and fiercer!
Whoosh!
Gern left a blurred afterimage where he had stood.
His real body surged forward as though teleporting, trailing a fissure through space as he closed in on Blackbeard!
In his hand, Dark Red Conqueror's Haki Inazuma coiled around the entire length of the Black Blade, Eight Desolations, like a living creature.
Vibration particles gathered along its edge at high frequency, emitting an ear-piercing shriek!
"Blackbeard!!!"
The muscles in Gern's arm bulged as he swung his blade