Devil Fruit Awakening, Darkness Paradise!

"Gar...p!"

Roger gave a hoarse reply as Rocks battered him.

The corners of his mouth rose as he struggled to force a smile.

"You're still alive, huh? Don't let Rocks knock you flat."

Roger gripped Rocks's fist with one hand. The sword that had fallen from his grasp lay nearby.

His face was covered in blood, and mist kept clouding his eyes with every breath.

Yet little by little, he held back Rocks's fist.

"Roger! I won't lose again this time, unless I die!"

Garp shifted his shoulder and broke free of the cliff face.

The spectators had long since become unable to move. They had never expected Garp, who was far more badly injured than they were, to have the willpower to recover.

This was absurd!

What kind of inhuman creature was he?

After falling to the ground, Garp struggled to his feet and punched at the back of Rocks's head.

"You're truly irritating!"

"Two members of the D. Clan who have no idea what their own names mean!"

"And yet you possess the Will of D."

"How utterly hateful. What is this world waiting for?"

"For hundreds of years, the D. Clan has wandered from one corner of the seas to another."

"Many cling to that fateful D. even in death, but you wouldn't understand."

"What it means for three members of the D. Clan to gather at the pinnacle of the same era."

"It means that whatever the outcome, the will of this world, unshaken for eight hundred years, will begin to waver!"

"Garp, Roger!"

"You're still too young. When you learn every truth of the world, the Void Century!"

"You'll understand what happened to this world!"

Rocks swung his fists at Garp, striking vital spots with every blow.

Neither man dodged. Without fighting this way, they could never settle the outcome.

Roger's blade combined speed and power perfectly.

Not only were his movements impossible to sense, but his Conqueror's Haki was so powerful that every strike rivaled a blow enhanced by the Tremor-Tremor's power against a single target!

"Shut up! Stop spouting nonsense!"

Garp's Iron Fist attacks were the finest expression of human Rokushiki.

No twists or turns, only meeting the enemy head-on.

Whatever powerful enemy stood before him, he would strike with everything he had until they were destroyed!

His fists were like springs. No matter how tough his opponent was, he would crush them with his fists.

"You're old, Rocks! This world won't belong to you!"

Garp stared stubbornly at Rocks, as though he wanted to tear a chunk of flesh from him.

"Didn't Sengoku tell you, as a Marine Admiral? Garp!"

Rocks wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. Since Devil Fruits were useless against these two...

Then he would keep going and defeat them with his full three-fruit, three-Haki form!

Whoosh!

He switched positions again.

Rocks appeared in front of Roger, just about to punch him in the forehead.

"You think I can't sense you?"

Roger looked up and slashed!

"Your future has nowhere left to hide, and I can not only see it, but hear it too!"

Within ROOM.

Facing two formidable enemies, Rocks's advantage kept dwindling.

He had never imagined that someone as powerful as him would be held back to this extent by two Haki masters.

"Stop passing judgment on other people's lives, Roger!"

Rocks breathed hard and looked around. There really seemed to be no way to break through.

Would they remain locked in this stalemate, seeing whose life held out longer?

Until someone died of sheer exhaustion?

After nearly three days and nights of fighting beyond his limits, even he had to consider whether he could defeat Roger and Garp together.

Yet even within the Rocks Pirates, Whitebeard and Golden Lion were constantly growing stronger.

One day, they too would reach the summit.

Linlin, Kaido, and the other crewmates would not remain content with the status quo either.

If Rocks could not win here, then everything would be nothing but an illusion.

All that talk of being invincible would end with nothing more than a farewell meal.

When that time came, no one would be willing to obey Rocks's orders.

Right now.

Before that final step had been taken, this was Rocks's best opportunity.

"After fighting this far, who still has strength to spare?"

"Everyone is doing their utmost to recover, but as long as the battle hasn't ended, they remain terrified."

"You two truly are the strongest enemies I've ever encountered."

"Especially you, Roger!"

Rocks knew he could not win a contest of Haki.

Since the battle began, Roger had grown until his Haki matched his own.

Then, as a Devil Fruit User, he still had one final bargaining chip!

"I never thought it would come to this."

"Rushing to use it in battle before I've even obtained eternal life."

"What does that amount to? Just losing so much when I was only one step away."

"If I'd obtained both the Paw-Paw Fruit and the Op-Op Fruit, you wouldn't have the slightest hope."

"Sorry for letting you entertain impossible expectations!"

"Now it's my turn to take the stage!"

"Oh, right."

"Do you know what Pirate Paradise is? It's a wager. The loser loses their companions, their pirate ship, their treasure, even themselves!"

Rocks kept talking endlessly.

But the real reason for his rambling was that he had little stamina left.

Roger and Garp were also gathering their strength, preparing for a final fight to the death.

Whoever attacked first now would give the other side the chance to counter.

Likewise, having no countermeasure would mean losing everything.

"Devil Fruit Awakening! Darkness Paradise!"

With his Mutant Physique, Rocks had only recently eaten the Op-Op Fruit, and had eaten the Love-Love Fruit when things at God Valley first began.

His mastery of the two differed, but neither had reached Devil Fruit Awakening.

The Dark-Dark Fruit was different!

It already possessed its greatest power.

Roger and Garp could be said to have taught every master of swordsmanship and Rokushiki a lesson.

They had shown them the power of Haki, the greatest heights human strength could reach without a Devil Fruit.

What Rocks was about to reveal was the ultimate way to wield a Devil Fruit.

Devil Fruit Awakening!

"Do you know?"

"My Devil Fruit is very special. As darkness, once its user enters the awakened state..."

"Other users will all be affected to varying degrees!"

"Are you ready? Enter Darkness Paradise!"

The darkness in Rocks's hair rapidly spread, swallowing him like the gaping maw of an abyss.

The next moment.

As endless darkness erupted from Rocks's entire body.

The shadows tore at everything, yet their power was nowhere near as terrifying as usual.

They merely swallowed an area less than a foot around him.

Streams of flowing darkness seeped from every cell in his body.

Until the darkness wrapped around him like spider silk.

It covered his forehead, limbs, and torso.

Rocks vanished, replaced by an expressionless mass of darkness.

The humanoid darkness that was Rocks still stood in the same spot.

Yet his appearance was utterly different, the darkness constantly tearing like a dancing Medusa.

Or like a god of death walking out of hell.

Of his features, only his eyes remained, gleaming brightly like lanterns.

When he opened his mouth, a section of darkness tore open to speak.

His voice was hoarse, yet it made people's scalps prickle.

"Now this is my ultimate form."

"The perfect combination of the Three Types of Haki and Devil Fruit Awakening!"

"The most unique Logia, the Dark-Dark Fruit, which cannot turn its user into an element!"

"It will become a humanoid abyss of darkness that tears at and draws in everything."

"I am darkness. I am the god of death!"

Rocks's fists coalesced like masses of flowing night.

Then Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki coating enveloped them.

He turned toward Shane, as though murmuring like a demon.

"Are you recording all of this?"

"Nothing could be better."

"After all, this is the best ending."

"Come. No one can refuse Darkness Paradise!"

Tendrils of darkness darted out all over Rocks's body.

The instant they appeared, they rapidly devoured anything they touched.

At the same time.

Every Devil Fruit User present felt the cells within their bodies being torn apart!

Shane knew this was entirely because the darkness was seizing their Lineage Factor!

Rocks had told the truth.

The complete Devil Fruit Awakening of the Dark-Dark Fruit would strike every user indiscriminately!

Being physically weakened was one thing, but being swallowed by the darkness would be the end!