The members of the Blackbeard Pirates crept out like rats from the shadows.
Not ten percent certain—no, one hundred percent certain—that the Shiki had completely lost all signs of life… that even the final, faintest ripple of his生命波动 had utterly faded—
Only then did they dare to emerge from their hiding spots and distant vantage points, hearts pounding in their throats.
They hurried toward the center of the battlefield, gathering around the figure collapsed in a pool of blood—nearly torn apart by the aftershock of that golden cross-shaped slash.
"Captain!"
"Captain Teach!"
Even the sickly face of Doc Q turned grave. Together with the so-called "Plague Doctor," Samuel Kronos, he dropped to his knees and began frantically examining Teach's wounds.
But what they discovered made their expressions darken instantly.
"Hey… he's not dead, is he?" Shiryu frowned.
"If he is, then we're leaving," Catarina Devon said without hesitation.
"Agreed." Avalo Pizarro nodded.
None of them had ever truly placed Blackbeard above themselves—let alone if he was already dead.
"Captain Teach isn't dead!" Doc Q snapped back.
Though Blackbeard's chest had been almost completely pierced through, his internal organs severely damaged, and who knew how many bones shattered—he was still breathing.
Barely.
Just a thread of life, hanging on by the thinnest strand.
"Damn it… the injuries are too severe…" Doc Q muttered hoarsely.
Beneath his hood, Kronos' eyes flickered. He murmured quickly, "To survive something like that… what a strange constitution…"
As he spoke, he activated the power of the Fungus-Fungus Fruit, spreading restorative fungi across Teach's body.
Blackbeard's survival under that absolutely fatal blow was owed entirely to his abnormal physical structure—his unique body capable of bearing the power of two Devil Fruits—
And to the peculiar properties of the Dark-Dark Fruit itself.
Though it could not grant intangibility like a Logia, its bizarre traits—its ability to "absorb damage" and "endure pain"—had, in the final instant, mitigated part of the lethal impact.
That was the only reason he hadn't been killed on the spot.
Even so, Blackbeard was now teetering at death's edge, liable to breathe his last at any moment.
"Quick! Grab the captain! We're leaving!!" Lafitte shrieked decisively.
"We can't stay here any longer!" Van Augur raised his long rifle, scanning the perimeter.
At this moment, not a single member of the Blackbeard Pirates dared to be careless.
Their greatest trump card—the dual Devil Fruit power—was temporarily unusable. Their captain was on the brink of death. Powerful enemies surrounded them—Gern Reginald Sigmar, the Marines, the remnants of Whitebeard's crew.
If they lingered, annihilation was the only outcome.
"Corrupt King" Avalo Pizarro grabbed the unconscious Blackbeard by the ankle and began dragging him like a ragged doll.
"Colossal Battleship" Sanjuan Wolf lumbered forward, clearing a path with his massive body, while Shiryu of the Rain and Catarina Devon covered the rear.
In an instant, the Blackbeard Pirates forgot their grand plans, their ambitions, their carefully laid schemes.
Like stray dogs chased from home, they fled in utter panic—hauling their barely-breathing captain toward the ships they had left waiting beyond the harbor.
They had arrived brimming with ambition.
They departed in disgrace.
Their meticulously calculated entrance—intended to reap the spoils as fishermen on the sidelines—had ended with their captain nearly executed on the spot and their crew on the verge of collapse.
...…
Meanwhile, Gern Reginald Sigmar stood atop the ruins.
His gaze fixed upon the frozen tableau in the distance.
Whitebeard—Edward Newgate—still stood upright, even in death.
And beside him, leaning quietly against that towering form, was Shiki.
At the end of their lives, they sat together in this strange, final repose—like old rivals sharing a long-delayed rest.
After a long silence, Gern slowly lowered his eyes.
A flicker of loneliness—so faint it was nearly imperceptible—passed through them.
"So you've gone too… Golden Lion."
In his mind surfaced that wild, arrogant face—defiant and unrestrained, yet at certain moments stubborn beyond reason.
That man had always shouted about ruling the world, crushing all opponents beneath his feet. His methods were extreme, violent, unpredictable—seemingly without limits.
A faint, knowing smile tugged at Gern's lips, tinged with helpless understanding.
"A guy like you… always spouting ruthless words. But in the end…"
His gaze drifted toward the bottomless cross-shaped trench carved into the earth by Shiki's final strike—
And toward the place where Blackbeard had already been dragged away, his life or death unknown.
"…you couldn't tolerate anyone insulting someone you acknowledged."
That acknowledgment was pure.
It transcended factions. Even grudges.
"Roger… Whitebeard…" Gern murmured softly.
Then a thought surfaced—almost absurd, yet utterly logical.
He shook his head, emotions tangled and heavy.
"Or perhaps… if it had been my corpse standing there… you would've made the same choice."
Shiki, the most chaotic and unruly of them all, had upheld a code—an ironclad "righteousness" belonging to the heroes of a bygone era.
The opponents he recognized could only be defeated by his own hand.
Their dignity would never be desecrated by hyenas.
The moment Gern understood that, an unprecedented emptiness washed over him.
He surveyed the devastated battlefield.
In his mind, he saw that magnificent, tumultuous era—defined by Gol D. Roger, Whitebeard, and Shiki.
They had clashed. They had rivaled one another.
They had also upheld that era together.
Now—
Roger had surrendered himself, igniting a new age.
Whitebeard had died protecting his family and the spark of the era.
Shiki had burned away his final breath defending the honor of the old age—and the dignity of a rival.
"From now on… it's really just me left on this sea."
"You three… bastards."
When the words fell, the noise of the battlefield seemed to recede, growing distant and indistinct.
Gern felt exhaustion seep into his bones.
Not merely the wounds in his body, nor the depletion of his power—
But a crushing mental weariness.
To battle two legends of the old era.
To witness their curtain call.
To feel the weight—and the loneliness—of that age pressing down upon him.
It drained him completely.
He paid no attention to the chaos that had yet to fully subside.
He did not look toward the Blackbeard Pirates' frantic escape.
He did not care whether the Marines would pursue Whitebeard's remnants or begin cleaning the battlefield.
He simply staggered toward a relatively flat patch of rubble—
And then, without ceremony, fell backward onto it.
He lay there, limbs spread, like a child exhausted beyond measure, staring up at the sky.
Above Marineford, the clouds had been torn apart and scattered by the earlier battle.
An unusually clear expanse of blue stretched overhead.
Sunlight poured down unobstructed.
It was almost blinding.
But Gern did not close his eyes.
He simply stared.
A loneliness unlike anything he had ever known slowly engulfed him.
Roger.
Whitebeard.
Shiki.
Those figures who had once entangled with him—who had forced him to give everything in battle—had extinguished one by one.
What they took with them was not only their lives.
They carried away the clamor, the color, the reference point of an entire era.
Gern lay there, unmoving.
He was not grieving.
He was acclimating.
Acclimating to the sudden, immense solitude.
Acclimating to a future in which no "old friend" remained on the seas capable of pushing him to the brink.
Acclimating to a road that would now be defined, carved, and borne entirely by himself.
Acclimating to a world where the lighthouses of the old era had all gone dark.
Ahead lay no footprints of predecessors.
Only Gern Reginald Sigmar—"Heavenly Tremor"—standing alone before that unfathomable "World."
"…So in the end, I'm the one left behind."
"You three bastards… the legendary era is over…"
...
Want to unlock up to 90+ early-access chapters and exclusive novels and NFSW CONTENT ALSO? Join my Patreon today and dive deeper into the adventure!
patreon.com/denji21