At that moment, Big Mom stood before the Marines like a towering mountain of flesh.
Her massive figure blocked the light, her eyes gleaming with savage delight. A chilling killing intent radiated from her body, suffocating everything around her.
Then—the world changed.
In an instant, the Marines felt as if they had been swallowed by endless darkness.
The battlefield vanished.
The sky vanished.
Everything vanished.
Only Big Mom remained.
Within the suffocating void, her figure loomed impossibly tall—like a monstrous deity standing in judgment over mortal men. Compared to her, the Marines felt no bigger than ants trembling beneath a giant's shadow.
They had fallen into the nightmare woven by Big Mom's power.
Vice Admiral Yamakaji immediately recognized what was happening. Though fear clawed at his heart, he forced himself to shout.
"Don't panic! And don't be afraid!"
His voice rang sharply through the darkness.
"This is an illusion! Everything you see around you is fake! The moment you show fear toward Big Mom—she'll steal your lifespan!"
"But… Vice Admiral… even if that's true…" one Marine stammered, his voice shaking uncontrollably.
Fear wasn't something that could simply be switched off.
"Vice Admiral, how are we supposed to fight a monster like that?!" another soldier cried out. "She defeated Fleet Admiral Sakazuki!"
Despite Yamakaji's warnings, dread continued to spread through the ranks.
The oppressive aura pouring from Big Mom was simply too overwhelming.
Then the first signs appeared.
Thin wisps of white light slowly began to drift out from several Marines.
Their souls.
Someone gasped in horror.
"T-that… are those souls?!"
"You idiots!" Yamakaji roared furiously. "I told you not to be afraid! If you don't fear her, she can't take your soul!"
But words alone could not suppress the terror gripping their hearts.
The more they tried to calm themselves, the more their fear surged like a rising tide.
And when they actually saw the white souls drifting out of their comrades' bodies—
The instinctive terror of death swallowed them whole.
Big Mom's grin widened as she watched the floating souls gather in the air.
Without hesitation, she spoke the words of judgment.
"Life… or Dead?"
The question echoed through the darkness.
Infused with the terrifying power of the Soul-Soul Fruit and the overwhelming pressure of Conqueror's Haki, her voice pierced straight into the depths of their souls.
The Marines' fear exploded.
"No! Run!"
"I don't want to die!"
"I have a wife and children waiting for me! I can't die here!"
Panic erupted.
Marines began fleeing blindly in every direction, desperately searching for an escape.
But the more they feared…
The more real the illusion became.
No matter how far they ran, they remained trapped within the suffocating darkness.
Vice Admiral Yamakaji clenched his teeth as he watched the chaos unfold.
Even he was not immune.
A few faint strands of soul energy drifted from his body—far fewer than the others, but enough to chill him to the bone.
A dangerous sign.
"Stop running!" he shouted desperately.
"The more you fear her, the easier it becomes for her to take your soul! Strengthen your will!"
But his voice no longer reached them.
Fear had already consumed the battlefield.
To the terrified Marines, the world had become nothing but endless darkness.
And within that darkness—only Big Mom remained.
Her colossal figure loomed over them like a demonic predator hunting helpless prey.
As the Marines watched their souls slowly drifting away, their hearts crumbled with them.
Panic swallowed their reason.
The only thought left in their minds was to escape this terrifying place.
But the cruel truth was—
This illusory space existed because of their fear.
The more they feared, the stronger the nightmare became.
Big Mom waited.
The Marines gave no answer to her soul incantation.
Seconds passed.
Then more.
Time slipped away in suffocating silence.
Finally, a cruel smile spread across Big Mom's face.
Since no choice had been made…
The decision would be made for them.
The white soul fragments hovering around the Marines suddenly began separating completely from their bodies.
Big Mom slowly raised her massive palm.
An invisible force surged outward.
The drifting souls were instantly pulled toward her hand, torn free from their physical vessels and sucked violently into her grasp.
As their souls were stripped away, the Marines' faces turned deathly pale.
Their bodies collapsed to the ground like puppets with their strings cut.
In the next moment—
The illusion shattered.
The dark world vanished without a trace.
Reality returned to the battlefield.
But hundreds of Marines now lay motionless on the ground.
Their lifespans had been mercilessly stolen.
Big Mom greedily absorbed the stolen years into her own body. Warm vitality surged through her veins, and she could feel the damage done earlier beginning to ease.
The fifteen years of life she had lost…
Had finally recovered—at least a portion.
Drool slid down the corner of her mouth as her blood-red eyes gleamed with madness.
"Mamamama mamamama!"
Her hideous laughter echoed across the battlefield.
"Finally got a few years back… but this is far from enough!"
Her expression twisted with fury.
"You bastards actually forced me into such a miserable state! I'll take all your lifespans to make up for it!"
The humiliation she had suffered earlier burned vividly in her mind.
Sakazuki had gravely wounded her.
To restore her combat strength, she had sacrificed fifteen years of her lifespan.
Not only that—
She had consumed one hundred thousand Homies from Totto Land to forcefully regain her power.
Even if the battle ended in victory, the Big Mom Pirates had already suffered heavy losses.
Among the Three Emperors Alliance, the massive military advantage she once prided herself on had been greatly weakened.
So she made a decision.
Every Marine here would die.
Their souls would replenish her strength.
Her eyes locked onto another cluster of Marines.
The terrifying aura of the Soul-Soul Fruit surged again.
She prepared to harvest more souls.
Meanwhile, on another part of the battlefield—
Two monstrous forces were colliding violently.
Marco faced Marine Admiral Ryokugyu.
Ryokugyu's entire body had transformed through his Devil Fruit ability, becoming a colossal treant towering over thirty meters tall. Massive roots twisted across the battlefield as countless branches lashed through the air like living whips.
But Marco showed no hesitation.
His flames erupted outward.
"Destruction Black Flame: Dance of the Phoenix!"
Dark flames swept across the battlefield like a blazing storm, devouring the giant trees and setting the forest ablaze.
Ryokugyu immediately found himself in a miserable position.
Marco's flames were relentless.
They clung to everything they touched.
In this confrontation, Ryokugyu dared not fight recklessly.
He certainly did not dare approach Marco in close combat.
Instead, he constantly manipulated his Devil Fruit power, growing layers of towering trees and thick bark to defend against the incoming inferno.
But Marco wasn't finished.
His cold gaze locked onto the towering treant.
The massive thirty-meter body only made the perfect target.
His wings spread wide.
Black flames roared around him like a storm.
"Destruction Black Flame…"
"Phoenix Wing Strike!"
In an instant, a massive wave of black fire slammed into the treant, engulfing it entirely.
Flames climbed the bark, devouring the wood like a living curse.
Inside the inferno, Ryokugyu screamed in pain.
"Damn it!"
His furious roar echoed from within the burning tree.
"What kind of fire is this?!"
"No matter how I extinguish it, it keeps spreading!"
The flames clung stubbornly, refusing to die out.
Ryokugyu's voice trembled with shock.
"Is this… the power of a Devil Fruit Awakening?!"
"Even if the Forest-Forest Fruit can create trees with fire-resistant properties," Marco said coldly, "fire will always hold absolute dominance over wood. And my Destruction Black Flame… is no ordinary fire."
His sharp gaze locked onto the enormous burning tree-man towering before him.
At the same time, Marco pushed his Observation Haki to its absolute limit, expanding his perception outward like a net as he searched for Ryokugyu's true body hidden within the forest giant.
Moments later—
A faint red glint flickered in Marco's eyes.
He had found it.
Without hesitation, Marco shot forward, diving toward the tree-man's waist like a blazing comet.
"I finally found you."
His voice dropped into a low growl.
"Destruction Black Flame… Fire Fist!"
His fist surged forward, wrapped in Armament Haki and infused with Conqueror's Haki, the destructive force condensing into a single devastating strike.
BOOM!
The impact exploded through the colossal body of the tree-man.
Wood splintered.
Branches shattered.
The massive structure collapsed instantly, unable to withstand the concentrated force of Marco's attack.
Forced out of hiding, Ryokugyu's real body was revealed.
But he reacted quickly.
Countless vines burst from the ground around him, twisting violently through the air in an attempt to block Marco's follow-up strike.
The two forces collided mid-air.
For a brief instant—
The battlefield trembled.
Then Marco's power erupted.
His Conqueror's Haki surged outward like an invisible storm, tearing through the vines before they could fully form. One after another, the plant defenses shattered under the overwhelming pressure.
The remaining force slammed directly into Ryokugyu.
CRACK!
His right arm and shoulder were torn open instantly.
Blood sprayed through the air as the Admiral was blasted backward like a cannonball.
Seeing the opening, Marco's eyes flashed.
He would not waste this chance.
With a powerful beat of his wings, he shot forward, closing the distance in an instant.
He intended to finish the fight right here.
"Damn… that hurts!"
Ryokugyu gritted his teeth, his voice filled with shock and anger.
"So this is Conqueror's Haki Infusion?!"
Seeing Marco rapidly approaching, Ryokugyu made a quick decision.
His body suddenly sank into the earth.
Like roots disappearing into soil, he merged with the ground and vanished beneath the battlefield.
Marco descended immediately.
BOOM!
His foot slammed down with explosive force, crushing the ground and creating a massive crater.
But—too late.
Ryokugyu had already retreated underground moments before the attack landed.
Marco clicked his tongue in frustration.
"Damn it. That guy is fast."
He immediately activated his Observation Haki again.
His senses stretched deep beneath the earth.
Soon, he detected Ryokugyu's presence—
Nearly a hundred meters underground.
Marco had to admit it.
The Forest-Forest Fruit was an extremely troublesome ability.
Ryokugyu could merge with nature itself, making him incredibly difficult to pin down.
Marco exhaled slowly.
'If only my Conqueror's Haki were stronger…'
His thoughts drifted to a certain terrifying figure.
Red-Haired Shanks.
In the original records, Shanks had once released his overwhelming Conqueror's Haki from an immense distance, locking onto Ryokugyu and forcing him to dispel his Devil Fruit transformation entirely.
Just one burst of Haki had suppressed an Admiral.
If Marco's own Haoshoku could reach that level—even briefly—
That single opening would be enough.
He could end the battle instantly.
Marco estimated that such a feat required legendary-level Conqueror's Haki.
After all, the highest level commonly known was Conqueror's Haki Infusion.
But Shanks' ability to directly suppress a Devil Fruit user's power clearly surpassed that.
That had to be the realm of true mastery.
A legendary level of Haoshoku.
Seeing that Ryokugyu refused to emerge, Marco slowly rose back into the sky.
His phoenix wings spread wide as he hovered above the battlefield, overlooking the dense forest below.
Somewhere beneath that endless sea of trees…
Ryokugyu was hiding.
Marco could still sense his approximate location with Observation Haki, but finding a reliable way to force him out was another matter entirely.
For the moment—
He was at a loss.
Marco clicked his tongue in irritation.
"Damn it…"
After a moment, he muttered to himself:
"Once this battle is over… I'm definitely pushing my Haoshoku to the legendary level."
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