On the battlefield, Gern narrowed his eyes, calmly sizing up Ethanbaron V. Nasjuro Saint—now transformed into a half-centaur skeleton, awakened black flames coiling around his body, his presence overwhelming and domineering.
At the same time, a flash of understanding—and relief—ran through Gern's mind.
"So that's how it is… That slash just now—the one that split my stellar ring and forced me to respond at full power—wasn't something he casually threw out in his normal state.
"It was a full-power strike, using his human–beast form together with the First-Generation Kitetsu."
"If that were just his baseline…" Gern weighed silently, "then today I'd really need to consider a tactical withdrawal."
Gern was no brainless battle maniac. When the situation turned unfavorable, his own survival always came first.
But now, having confirmed that the opponent needed to maintain this human–beast form to unleash that level of power, Gern instead felt a sense of ease settle over him.
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly as he spoke in an even tone, carrying a hint of genuine acknowledgment.
"That strike just now… was good."
Nasjuro Saint's inhuman, icy eyes locked onto Gern. He neither accepted nor rejected the praise, instead replying in a low, heavy voice:
"'It'… it seems it truly belongs to you now, Gern Reginald Sigmar."
"'It'?" Gern chuckled softly. He casually raised the black blade Eight Desolations in his hand, the sword letting out a clear, resonant hum.
"It simply made the most correct choice," Gern said, his tone brimming with absolute confidence.
Then his wrist turned, and the blade's tip snapped upward, pointing straight at Nasjuro Saint.
"So then… I'm curious—this 'Eight Desolations,' which chose correctly, compared to the demon blade in your hand, the First-Generation Kitetsu… which is stronger, and which is weaker?"
Yet in the face of Gern's blatantly provocative challenge, Nasjuro Saint only let out a low, cold snort.
The next moment—under Gern's slightly surprised gaze—the terrifying centaur skeleton knight form around Nasjuro Saint vanished like an illusion. The dense awakened black flames rapidly retracted back into his body.
In the blink of an eye, he had returned to his short, thin, normal human form, cradling the First-Generation Kitetsu.
He didn't rise to Gern's challenge at all. It was as if, after that thunderous interception strike, he had no intention of immediately continuing the fight.
Just as Gern was feeling a flicker of confusion at Nasjuro Saint's sudden withdrawal from combat stance, his gaze passed over the elder—
and caught sight of two figures striding in rapidly from the distance.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
And beside him, Ginny, who had been successfully rescued.
The three exchanged a brief glance in midair—and in that instant, reached a wordless understanding.
[According to the plan, the moment both sides appear… it's time to end this.]
Gern caught on immediately. His expression shifted at once, perfectly layering "unwillingness" and "rage" across his face.
As if he hadn't noticed Sengoku's arrival at all—or simply didn't care—he roared furiously:
"Five Elders! Is this your attitude?! Then don't blame me for what comes next!"
Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, Gern clenched his left hand tightly. Highly compressed vibration particles instantly condensed into a blinding white ring of energy, which he smashed violently into the air ahead of him without hesitation!
"Void Quake!!"
"BOOM!!!"
The atmosphere let out a deafening scream under the strain as a terrifying, invisible shockwave surged forward like a tsunami, its target the newly reverted Nasjuro Saint and the area behind him!
The attack's momentum was immense—enough to tear the land apart—yet the killing intent within it was exquisitely controlled, held firmly at the level of intimidation, not all-out slaughter.
"Gern! Stop this!"
Just as the shockwave was about to fully erupt, Sengoku's authoritative roar exploded like thunder across the battlefield.
"This is the Holy Land! How dare you act so recklessly here!!"
As his voice fell, Sengoku's massive body was instantly engulfed in dazzling golden light—
Buddha-Buddha Fruit · Great Buddha Form!
Transformed into a colossal golden Buddha, Sengoku appeared in front of the shockwave almost as if he had teleported. His enormous golden right palm, carrying gentle yet unfathomably vast power, thrust forward!
"Shockwave!"
"HUM—!!"
A massive, semi-transparent golden shockwave slammed head-on into Gern's void quake!
Two energies capable of shattering heaven and earth collided violently—yet did not explode at once.
Instead, they locked into a brief stalemate in midair, space warping with an ear-grinding distortion!
The overflowing energy plowed through the already shattered ground again, flattening it completely. Light burst outward, air currents raged, and the scene was utterly terrifying!
Gern cooperated fully, adopting the look of someone "drunk on bloodlust," roaring at Sengoku:
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku! You're going to stop me too?!Today, no one is stopping me! I will get justice for my subordinates!"
One "consumed by rage," the other "standing for justice," the two clashed in a battle that looked world-shaking, the blinding light of their energy collision obscuring most details from view.
And beneath that dazzling curtain of power—
while maintaining the shockwave—
the golden Buddha Sengoku subtly moved his lips, speaking in an extremely low voice only the two of them could hear, his face wearing an unmistakably annoyed expression.
"Gern, you bastard… you even kept me in the dark this thoroughly.
"But I have to say—this move you pulled with Fish-Man Island… it's brilliant."
Gern, in the midst of his full-power "assault," froze for a split second. His grip nearly slipped as he instinctively whispered back:
"Fish-Man Island? What Fish-Man Island?"
"Still pretending?!" Sengoku maintained his dignified Buddha expression, grinding the words out between his teeth. "Enough!"
"What you wanted—your 'justice'—and what I wanted—my 'bargaining chips'—we've basically both gotten what we needed. You can stop now!"
But as he said this, Sengoku noticed that Gern's stunned expression didn't look fake. He couldn't help but continue in a low voice:
"I mean—you launched a direct assault from the New World on the northern side of the Holy Land, tying down all the main forces of the God's Knights and CP0.
"Then you had Fisher Tiger take everyone by surprise—climbing the Red Line from Sabaody with his bare hands—and strike the Celestial Dragons' undefended southern nest!
"Such a perfect feint-and-strike, a north–south pincer attack—if you didn't plan it, who did?!"
Hearing this, realization finally dawned on Gern.
"So… Fisher Tiger's historical act of liberating the slaves just happened to erupt at this exact moment?!
"And by some ridiculous coincidence, Sengoku thought it was a joint operation I had meticulously planned?!"
The sheer absurdity of it made Gern feel like laughing and crying at the same time.
He immediately denied it in a low voice.
"Believe it or not, Fleet Admiral Sengoku—Tiger's side of things… really wasn't arranged by me."
"Heh!" Sengoku clearly didn't believe him, snorting coldly. "The entire New World knows Fish-Man Island is basically your territory.
"And you're telling me the Fish-Man adventurer Fisher Tiger has nothing to do with you?"
Gern: "..."
For once, he genuinely had nothing to say.
With a coincidence like this, even jumping into the Calm Belt wouldn't wash him clean.
And while the two were "fiercely" exchanging blows and whispering beneath the clash of power, Ethanbaron V. Nasjuro Saint, standing not far away and watching in silence,
stared at the seemingly berserk—but in truth exquisitely controlled—energy collision, one that felt more like a performance staged for certain eyes.
His teeth clenched involuntarily. Veins bulged on the back of the hand gripping the First-Generation Kitetsu.
With his insight, he could naturally see some of what was going on.
But this humiliation—
for now—
he had no choice but to swallow it.
The World Government should never have trusted the Navy—a bunch of damn actors—from the very beginning!!!!!