"Get out of the way, you nuisances! Some filthy bloodlines... should be thoroughly erased from the dust of history!"
The demonized Rocks spoke hoarsely.
He kicked off the ground violently, his bat wings flapping behind him as his figure shot out like black lightning! His first target: the Azure Dragon, Kaido!
"Rocks?! You—Wagh!!" Kaido's massive dragon eyes were still filled with confusion over his comrade's transformation. Caught off guard, he only saw a dark shadow accompanied by a sharp sword light piercing toward him!
The long sword in Rocks' hand, which originally belonged to him, was now wrapped in dark red Haki as it ruthlessly stabbed into Kaido's hard dragon nose!
Intense pain surged! Kaido let out a roar of agony as dragon blood splattered!
"A nuisance!!" Demon Rocks spat out coldly. The muscles in his arms bulged terrifyingly. With pure brute force, he swung Kaido's mountain-like Azure Dragon body like a toy, slamming him fiercely into the ground!
BOOM—!!!
The earth felt as if it had been struck by a meteor, exploding into a giant crater tens of meters in diameter! Rubble and soil shot into the sky!
At the bottom of the crater, Kaido in his Azure Dragon form had his eyes rolled back, blood seeping from his mouth and nose. Under that single blow, he lost consciousness from the pain and impact, slumped on the ground with shattered dragon scales, looking utterly pathetic.
"Kaido!?" Charlotte Linlin was filled with shock and suspicion; she hadn't expected Rocks to strike so ruthlessly.
"Rocks!! What kind of madness has gotten into you, you bastard!!!"
Demon Rocks turned a deaf ear. He coldly pulled his long sword from Kaido's nose, bringing with it a trail of blood blossoms. Then, his pale eyeballs rolled, locking onto the next "obstacle"—Charlotte Linlin, who had the strongest presence and was closest to him!
There were no words, only the most direct intent to kill! His figure vanished again, appearing before Charlotte Linlin in the next instant. The long sword whistled through the air as it hacked down toward her head!
CLANG—!!!!
Charlotte Linlin's massive 'Mu' was raised horizontally to block. As the two blades clashed, a roar and shockwave erupted that was far more terrifying than her previous collision with Garp!
The collision of pure power kicked up a gale that completely cleared all debris within a hundred meters, scraping away a thick layer of the ground!
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Both were simultaneously pushed back by the massive recoil. Each step carved deep furrows into the scorched earth, and they slid back more than ten steps before steadying themselves.
A slight numbness traveled up Charlotte Linlin's arm that held the blade, and a storm of shock rose in her heart!
Since obtaining this terrifying body and monstrous strength, this was the first time she had encountered an opponent who could match her in a direct contest of pure power—and even faintly make her feel pressured! And that opponent was Rocks!
"This power... this state..." She looked at the hideous demonic figure opposite her with suspicion, her previous guess resurfacing.
"It doesn't seem like he ate some new Devil Fruit... it's more like... he's being forcibly corroded and controlled by something?"
She frowned deeply, thinking rapidly: "But can't Haki resist the influence of most Devil Fruits? With Rocks' level of Haoshoku, what kind of ability could control him so completely?
If that Imu really has this kind of power, why only use it on Rocks? Is there some restriction, or... is there some 'trigger' or 'weakness' on Rocks' body?"
Just as her thoughts were racing, the retreating Demon Rocks skillfully flapped his bat wings behind him. While shedding the force of the impact, his body glided strangely to the side, landing not far in front of Whitebeard Newgate, who was on high alert.
Newgate gripped Murakumogiri with both hands, his massive frame as steady as a mountain. But when he looked at this familiar yet strange "Captain," his eyes held unprecedented gravity and a hint of... complexity.
The former heroism and ambition were now replaced only by a beast-like pure aura of tyranny and destruction.
"Do you... see us all as obstacles? Rocks..."
Newgate murmured to himself, his voice betraying neither anger nor pity.
"A nuisance!!" Demon Rocks issued his cold judgment once more. His long sword transformed into a continuous curtain of pitch-black blade-light, enveloping Newgate!
Newgate's eyes sharpened. Subconsciously, he was about to swing Murakumogiri to counter, but in a flash, he forcibly changed his move at the last moment!
His right arm suddenly expanded, covered in top-tier Armament Haki, while a white spherical shockwave instantly enveloped his entire arm—he concentrated the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit highly onto his arm to head-on clash with Rocks' demonic slash!
He wanted to test just how far Rocks' power had reached in this eerie state! He also wanted to see if he could detect any clues during the contact!
Demon Rocks: "Die!!"
RUMBLE—!!!!!!!!!
This collision surpassed any that had come before!
Sharp lightning clashed against a mountain-shaking tremor!
The extreme monstrous strength of the demonization collided with the rule-breaking destruction of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit!
Two equally peak yet fundamentally different terrifying forces clashed head-on, and the resulting effect was cataclysmic!
Centered on the point of collision, a visible circular shockwave, a mix of pitch-black cracks and white vibrations, swirled out at supersonic speeds!
Everywhere it passed, the earth didn't just crack; it was repeatedly plowed by an invisible giant blade, layers being overturned!
The air was completely evacuated, forming a brief vacuum zone before being filled by even more violent turbulent energy!
Some nearby Pirates and Marines didn't even have time to scream before being vibrated directly into blood mist by the shockwave! Those further away were tossed like leaves in a gale, their bones and tendons snapping!
And that wasn't all!
CRACK... RUMBLE—!!!!
A deafening, terrifying roar came from one side of the island!
Everyone looked on in horror. The ten-thousand-meter peak that had been split in two by Rocks earlier began to collapse from its waist under the terrifying shocks sweeping the island!
Tens of thousands of tons of rock fell with a thunderous roar, kicking up dust that blotted out the sky!
"Waaagh—!!!" A Marine Soldier who was lucky enough not to be killed by the shockwave but witnessed the landslide had his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets as he let out a desperate scream.
"The... the mountain is falling!!"
"Run—!!" Both Marines and Pirates had completely lost their will to fight. All that remained was the most primitive survival instinct, as they fled madly in whatever direction they thought was safe, like headless flies!
After the exchange, within the dust, Newgate let out a muffled groan and slid back. In the brief clash just now, he had clearly felt Rocks' killing intent toward him!
As for Demon Rocks, he was also shaken back several steps, but he seemed not to care about the recoil at all. His pale eyes flickered for a moment, as if "calculating."
He realized that these "major obstacles" before him could not be easily cleared in a short time, and the highest priority command given by Imu was to eliminate the "David bloodline"!
He turned abruptly, his bat wings flapping with full force to kick up a violent gale. Ignoring Newgate, Garp, Roger, and the others, his massive figure turned into a black-red stream of light, streaking toward another part of the island!
He could "feel" it—the faint aura of the bloodline he loathed and had to erase was right there!
"Rocks! Where are you going?!" Charlotte Linlin had been staring at him. Seeing this, she didn't hesitate. Her white Dragon Wings flared wide, kicking up a gale as she chased after him!
She had to find out exactly what was happening, and she had to prevent a potentially greater tragedy.
Leaving Garp, Roger, and Newgate behind, though they were unwilling, they could not fly. They could only watch as the two figures vanished one after the other into the pervasive dust and collapsing background.
They looked around. The roar of the collapsing mountain continued, giant Rocks tumbled, and the earth wailed. Surviving soldiers and pirates scrambled in panic. The entire God Valley had completely turned into a purgatory of disorder and destruction, with not an inch of safe ground... At the edge of the forest, the violent tremors made Alice almost unable to stand. She hugged the oblivious Teach tightly in her arms, looking back in terror at the sky-blotting dust from the collapse in the distance.
Her heart pounded wildly, and an ominous premonition coiled around her like a cold poisonous snake.
But she had no time for fear.
A mother's instinct told her that stopping meant death.
She gritted her teeth and held Teach even tighter.
The final chapter of fate was approaching rapidly in the most cruel way.
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