"An honor?"
Faced with that earth-shattering "Galaxy Meteorite," enough to drive any god to despair, Yas showed not the slightest fear. Instead, he spread his lips in a smile even more crazed and bloodthirsty than Garp's.
"You're not good enough to kill me!"
Under Zephyr's incredulous gaze, Yas made no move to defend himself. Instead, he chose the most extreme, most unreasonable response-attack!
Offense against offense!
He would pit his strongest spear head-on against his opponent's strongest shield!
"Admiral Zephyr, Vice Admiral Garp, watch closely!"
Yas let out a long howl that resounded through heaven and earth. Without holding anything back, he poured all his remaining Lightning Release Chakra, along with the willpower of his two types of Haki, into his right hand in a frenzy!
"This is true power!"
Humm-!
An energy fluctuation more terrifying and concentrated than any before erupted from Yas's right arm!
The three fingers on his right hand covered in "Lightning Release Armament"-his index, middle, and ring fingers-underwent an inconceivable transformation at that moment!
Under the extreme compression of that immense energy, their strange interwoven blue-black coloring began changing into something deeper and purer!
It was an... ultimate black, seemingly capable of swallowing everything in the world, from which not even light could escape!
Only at the very tips of his fingers did a few azure arcs remain, so faint they were almost imperceptible, representing destruction and rebirth!
At that moment, those three fingers were no longer flesh and blood. They had become three... conceptual weapons capable of piercing laws, penetrating cause and effect, and passing judgment on gods!
"This is..."
In the distance, Zephyr's pupils abruptly shrank to pinpoints! He could sense that the level of energy contained in those three fingers had completely surpassed his understanding!
It was a power born purely for "penetration" and "destruction"! An... absolute power, even more overbearing and unreasonable than the Armament Haki he took such pride in!
At the critical instant before Garp's world-destroying "Galaxy Meteorite" came crashing down, Yas moved.
His movement was utterly plain and unadorned. He simply thrust the three joined fingers of his right hand fiercely toward the center of those two "world-ending stars" in the sky!
There was no earth-shaking cry, only a cold pronouncement that seemed to come from the depths of the underworld.
"Hell Stab: Three-Finger Nukite!"
Hiss-!
Time seemed to slow infinitely at that moment.
Under Zephyr's bloodshot, utterly horrified gaze, those three fingers shrouded in "ultimate black" finally collided with Garp's iron fist, wreathed in the "strongest Haki"!
There was no explosion.
There was no sound.
Not even the slightest trace of energy leaked out.
It was as though the entire world had been muted.
The instant Yas's seemingly fragile fingers touched the layer of Armament Haki on Garp's fist that could withstand anything, the three azure sparks at their tips flared!
Crack!
An extremely faint crack came from the point of collision, yet it rang through the depths of Zephyr's soul as clearly as thunder!
Garp's strongest Armament Haki, reputed to be indestructible, which even the legendary Pirate King Roger could not break head-on, was actually... actually pierced clean through by those three fingers... like a fragile eggshell!
Unstoppable! Overwhelming!
After piercing that strongest layer of Haki defense, Yas's Three-Finger Nukite drove fiercely into the steel-like flesh of Garp's fist without losing momentum!
"Aaaaaargh-!"
For the first time, a scream so agonized it barely sounded human erupted from the mouth of Garp, the "Hero of the Marines"!
His "Galaxy Meteorite," powerful enough to shake the stars, instantly crumbled before that ultimate penetrating force erupting from within!
Savage lightning energy flooded through the wound into his body, ravaging his meridians and internal organs!
Rumble, rumble, rumble-!
The next second, the energy compressed to its limit finally found an outlet! An immense energy explosion, a hundred times more terrifying than any before, detonated above Marineford!
An enormous mushroom cloud of interwoven blue-black and pure black shot into the sky with enough might to destroy an island, even staining the daylight sky with an apocalyptic hue!
The terrifying shock wave became a visible white surge of air that swept wildly in every direction, leveling the entire Rear Mountain along with every nearby building!
Across Marineford, the island-wide alert rose to its highest level at that moment! Piercing sirens resounded through the skies!
Countless Marine soldiers rushed out of their barracks and stared in utter horror at the terrifying, apocalyptic sight, not knowing what had happened.
Marine Headquarters, the Fleet Admiral's Office.
Boom-! With a tremendous crash, the office windows, made from special materials, shattered under the violent blast of air!
"What's happening?!"
Sengoku the "Tactician," who had been discussing military affairs with his subordinates, lunged toward the window. When he saw the slowly rising mushroom cloud above the Rear Mountain, exuding an ominous aura, he froze as though struck by lightning!
"That direction... that's Zephyr's Special Training Ground!" All color instantly drained from Sengoku's face. "That bastard Garp! What the hell did he do?!"
He shoved aside the guard in front of him and, throwing all caution aside, turned into a streak of golden light, racing toward the Rear Mountain!
An unknown amount of time passed before the explosion's aftershocks finally began to subside. At the center of what had once been the Rear Mountain, now a terrifying, seemingly bottomless crater still billowing thick smoke, two figures faced each other from afar.
Drenched in blood and dressed in rags, Garp knelt on one knee. His right hand hung limply, his entire fist a mangled mass of flesh with stark white bones clearly visible. Blood dripped from his fingertips onto the scorched earth.
His face, always so full of confidence, now held only endless shock, pain, and a trace of... fear.
A hundred meters away across from him, Yas was hardly in better shape.
The heavy "Lightning Release Armament" armor he had taken such pride in had shattered completely, exposing the cracked, battered body beneath.
A trickle of blood clung to the corner of his mouth, and his chest heaved violently. He was clearly on the verge of complete exhaustion as well.
He had faced the Hero of the Marines head-on all by himself. Though he had paid a terrible price... he had won!
With his spear, he had shattered his opponent's shield!
Yas slowly raised his head and looked at Garp in the distance, who had already lost the strength to fight again. He spread his lips in a chilling, bloodstained smile.
He raised his own slightly trembling right hand toward Garp and, with the last of his strength, spoke hoarsely.
"Vice Admiral Garp, your fists... aren't much after all, are they?"
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