Thud.
Sure enough, the defenseless "Blackbeard" was blasted into mangled flesh and fell, slamming into the ground.
But soon, that heap of mangled flesh began to writhe, reshaping and restoring itself.
The first part to recover its complete form was the head.
Or rather, the mouth on that head.
Blackbeard's mouth restored itself first, opening wide to howl.
"Aaaaaaah!!!"
"Do you know how much that hurts?! You bastard!!"
Clearly, although Imu had achieved near-immortal rapid regeneration through the abyssal contract and absolute control over the body,
the side effect of the Dark-Dark Fruit carried by Blackbeard's body-
suffering double the pain-had also been perfectly "inherited"!
The utterly unguarded detonation of Eight Extremes Jade had inflicted
the ultimate agony of tearing and annihilation, from every cell down to the soul.
That pain was doubled before being fed back into Imu's consciousness.
Even that ancient mind, tempered over eight hundred years, lost its composure at that moment!
Pain drove Imu into a frenzy, and the instant regeneration was complete, all elegance and tactical attacks were abandoned.
"Get... back here!!!"
Imu's barely half-restored body roared, and the right hand thrust toward Gern, who stood nearby with his blade, its five fingers snapping shut!
A miniature black hole instantly materialized beside Gern!
Light warped around its edges, while its interior held absolute nothingness and deathly silence.
It unleashed a suction more concentrated and more overbearing than any previous Black Vortex or Dark Domain,
trying to drag Gern in by force!
But after suffering one devastating loss to the Dark-Dark Fruit, how could Gern possibly fall for the same trick twice?!
Faced with the suddenly appearing miniature black hole's pull,
a red gleam flashed in Gern's eyes. Instead of retreating or struggling, he blasted the ground beneath his feet apart!
He gripped Eight Desolations and