The Spiral Light Beam shot out at extreme speed, coiled in red lightning, actually dragging a streak of radiance through the air as it swung, slamming in accurately.
CLANG!!!
The massive clash of metal rang out together with sparks on Gryphon's blade. Sage's attack, under that chopping blade, was like a baseball getting smacked; after a brief moment of sustained collision, it bounced off the blade and turned into an unstable black-red compressed singularity, streaking up into the sky.
The hit landed; Red Hair's arm clearly stiffened for a moment—but just for that instant. The next second he was about to swing the blade again.
Only he didn't even have time to move his arm. Just as the thought appeared, a leg filled his vision.
The leg was like a whip, and like a heavy hammer, smashing hard into Red Hair's skull.
BAM!!
The foot almost buried itself into Red Hair's face. Under the overwhelming gravity and inertia, Red Hair's whole body tilted backward and was sent flying straight away.
But whether you look at the interval created by him having to defend that attack, or the instant of stiffness from Red Hair just now—
Sage had enough time to complete his next move.
Right after that kick landed, he extended his index finger again, black-red Spiral Light Beam gathering once more at the fingertip.
After all, this move is extreme compression; once fired, there's that brief beat of interval. Otherwise, when he made a move on Red Hair earlier, he'd simply have launched a Pokeball Wave.
But it's not too late now either.
"Boss!"
Lucky Roux's raised gun muzzle barked, spilling a dangerous aura. As he yelled, his finger squeezed the trigger. A huge amount of Haki infused into the lead rounds bursting from the barrel, heading straight for Sage, who had just raised his finger.
"Oh, I almost forgot, you guys are still here."
Sage's eyes flicked over. He didn't move his finger, but Beckman, seeing this, felt cold sweat pour down his back and couldn't help but roar, "Lucky! Get out of the way!!"
In a short glimpse of the future, he saw it—the image of Lucky being pierced through!
The instant Beckman saw that scene, he gripped his rifle with both hands, using the barrel as a hammer handle and the stock as the head, intending to flash in front of Lucky and block the future he'd just witnessed. He even locked his gaze tight onto Sage's extended finger.
It has to be that move!
As long as he tracks that finger's motion, he can force a block just like Shanks did.
This bastard can't fire it infinitely; he still needs interval between shots. That brief interval is enough for them to do something.
Whether it's to keep fighting...
Or to retreat!
Whoosh!
Except Beckman had only just started to step forward—couldn't even call it a step, just the muscles and nerves in his leg tensing—when a Spiral Light Beam flashed past right in front of his eyes.
Like it was piercing flimsy paper and tofu, there was no sound at all. He could only watch helplessly as that Spiral Light Beam burst from Sage's shoulder area, directly drilling through Lucky Roux's forehead. Its ferocious penetrating power blasted through the reef behind him and ran straight out into the sea.
The surface of the ocean was punched into a deep pit. It was only as thick as an arm, but the seawater didn't fill it for a long while.
No finger shot used—Beckman saw that clearly. It was simply a slight shoulder twitch, and the Spiral Light Beam fired.
In that instant Beckman understood. This "Natural Disaster" is a top-tier Body Techniques monster; his release of techniques has already reached the level of doing whatever he wants. He's not some traditional Ability User who has to channel through his hands—that was just their mistaken assumption.
"Be—Beckman..."
As Beckman's thoughts formed, Lucky Roux shakily reached a hand toward him. His pierced forehead began to crack outward, like it was turning to sand, like a shattering pane of glass.
"Can't cook for the boss anymore... that's kinda regretful, huh."
The moment the words fell, his head completely turned to ash, and then that whole body followed, blown by the wind and dissolving into the air.
"Hey! Don't joke around like that!!"
Watching from a distance, Crocodile and the others broke out in a cold sweat.
When Sage first unleashed Tenmago's Roaring Tribulation, they hadn't been too bothered. They'd seen that move before; sure, the power was far higher this time, but a Four Emperor is still a Four Emperor. If he doesn't grow, that's the real problem.
But when he fired off this so-called "Tenmago Fluctuation", it genuinely startled them.
What the hell is that technique?
What's with that penetration and the feeling of erasing everything?
Even Red Hair finds it hard to defend against?
And Lucky Roux, who got hit...
Under one move, no chance to even be "wounded"—only to die?
The degree of obliteration is even higher than Crocodile's ability.
In a sense, he's the embodiment of "drought".
"Extreme compression, huh..."
Mihawk's face remained calm, but there was a touch of emotion in his voice. "He's already studied all schools, and now he compresses them into one point and detonates after impact. That kind of force is indeed hard to defend, and even harder to take head-on."
Simple penetration isn't much by itself—it just punches a hole. If your life force is strong enough, you can survive even a hole in the skull.
People of the sea have life force that's frankly absurd. As long as you don't clearly strike with killing intent at a vital spot and make sure that part is separated—like cutting someone in half at the waist, taking off the head, gouging the heart and so on—
If you leave the body intact, you actually can't be sure whether they're dead or not.
Shock-induced near death, in terms of aura, looks just like real death. And if their luck is ridiculous...
This is a world where even shattered skulls, broken spines, and every bone in the body cracked can, with some recovery time, heal back just fine.
Only when you've definitely taken a head off, cleaved the body at the waist, and personally witnessed the death can you be certain it's truly over.