Whish—!!
A fierce gale swept past Alucard as his crimson suit faded away, replaced by bronze armor. His face, which had appeared to be in its early twenties, aged instantly to that of a man nearly fifty.
Form: Vlad III, the Impaler.
As the Impaler Alucard drew the knight's sword from his hip, the pool of blood behind him surged upward. In an instant, countless knights clad in silver armor, mounted on warhorses and wielding long spears, materialized behind him.
The Wallachian Knights.
Alucard pointed his sword forward, and the blond Gorosei snorted at the sight.
"Numbers are useless."
Like Whitebeard, the Gorosei dealt in massive, wide-scale attacks; the size of an opposing army meant little to them.
As the galloping warhorses closed within a hundred meters of the blond Gorosei, they suddenly lost all weight and began to float into the air.
Neigh—!!
The horses let out terrified cries. The knights tugged at their reins, trying to calm their steeds, but they soon felt their own bodies being subjected to violent compression.
"Be crushed into meat paste..."
Just as the blond Gorosei prepared to increase the spatial compression, a blade flashed before his face. Startled, he retreated instantly as the sword-light swept past, missing the bridge of his nose by less than a centimeter.
The Wallachian Knights, released from the spatial control, fell from the air and immediately regrouped.
The Impaler Alucard gripped his hilt with both hands, pointing the blade toward the clouds above.
Rumble!!
A bolt of lightning struck the sword. When Alucard lowered the blade, it was coated in crackling crimson lightning, extending from its original two meters to over ten meters in length.
The Impaler Alucard charged. The sheer power of his step caused the ground to cave in.
"Being able to use Shanks' ability confirms you've truly exited your Undying state."
The blond Gorosei dodged Alucard's incoming frenzied slashes, seizing a gap to shout to Nedseo, who was controlling the spectral giant: "Use that!"
Nedseo reached into his suit and pulled out a miniature Den Den Mushi. He slammed the receiver down and threw the device away. It wasn't meant for a conversation; it was a signal transmitter.
In Mariejois, the third Celestial Dragon Family Head, who had been waiting for a long time, received the signal alongside the other two Gorosei. They exchanged looks and nodded in unison.
"Finally, the opportunity."
"I didn't expect Alucard to be more impatient than we imagined."
"Enough talk. Don't waste time."
The final Family Head, Meinfini, straightened his right hand into a blade and sliced his left palm. He pressed the bleeding wound onto a wheel engraved with ten flickering blue flames.
The wheel spun clockwise several times before splitting open, revealing a roaring blue inferno within.
"Activate the National Treasure."
…
Back on St. Poplar.
The earth inside the city had completely split apart, revealing the glowing core beneath the surface. Outside the city, Oseinofica had yet to take down Mihawk.
Sensing the tremors, Oseinofica stopped his movements and looked toward the city, laughing loudly. "He exited his Undying state that quickly? Alucard is such an easy mark!"
Mihawk's hawk-like eyes narrowed. "Something... is coming."
Countless Wallachian Knights tumbled into the massive chasms created by the crumbling earth. The two Gorosei and the Family Head, Nedseo, used the blond Gorosei's power to hover in mid-air.
As Alucard prepared to pursue them, a massive arm, radiating blue light and covered in vein-like circuitry, thrust out from the fissure. Then came the head, the neck, and the chest, until the entire upper body of a giant was revealed.
It was a titan formed entirely from the concentrated soul-energy of the National Treasure.
"This is the complete form of the National Treasure: Mantra."
The blond Gorosei tucked his hands into his pockets, brimming with pride. "This is the second time you've seen it, isn't it?"
The Impaler Alucard remained silent. It was indeed the second time. The first was at the summit of Mariejois, where the robed Gorosei had used this very thing to blast him all the way to the New World in a single strike.
"W-what is that thing?"
Outside the city, the anti-government and pro-government forces looked on in horror at the glowing blue giant covered in eerie circuitry.
"Die under this strike from Mantra!"
As the robed Gorosei spoke, a white light gathered at the center of Mantra's forehead, concentrating all its power into a single point. Finally, a beam of light erupted downward.
An instant before the Impaler Alucard was swallowed by the light, the corner of his mouth curled into a faint smirk.
BOOM—!!
The earth-shattering power made the entire island tremble. The force released by Mantra didn't explode outward like a Dyna Stone; it was perfectly focused. It pierced Alucard's body, punched through the ground, through the core, and through the very base of the island, driving Alucard deep into the depths of the endless ocean.
For a vampire who naturally loathed the sea, being tens of thousands of meters below the surface meant he could no longer use his powers.
Even if he were undying, the pressure at the bottom of the ocean could suppress even Seastone. It would pin him down until he couldn't even move a finger.
At this moment, Alucard was enduring an unprecedented impact. Mantra's soul beam continuously destroyed his body—restructuring, destroying, and restructuring it again.
Yet, Alucard was smiling. Even as he was driven into the sea, sinking into the bottomless abyss, he continued to smile.
"Master!?"
At the same time, Hancock, Scarlett, Robin, and Alessia, those Alucard had turned into vampires, all felt this overwhelming sense of danger.
Thump!!
Alucard's body slammed into the seabed rocks miles deep. Just as the Gorosei predicted, as a vampire, he was like a cat in the water, completely unable to move.
But also just as Alucard expected, the voice of the Undying, Unkillable System echoed in his mind:
[Condition Confirmed: Rebirth from Desperation]
[Extra Vampire Ability: The Third Dimension: Schrödinger's Cat. Existing everywhere, and nowhere.]
[Activation Condition: Rebirth from Desperation confirmed. Commencing Slaughter Protocol. Once all 16,777,216 lives within the body have been killed, Awakening will be complete.]
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