Hearing Rowen's words, a rare softness flickered across Garp's furious expression, then, unexpectedly, he smiled.
"Sorry, Rowen... but men of the Monkey family are fated to die on the battlefield! Growing old and dying in peace just isn't in our blood. For generations, it's always been this way!"
"…Is that the Will of D at work?" Rowen asked quietly, eyes lowered.
"No... It's just our curse," Garp replied, chuckling bitterly. "Our family keeps producing fools who rush toward death. There's no changing it."
"Then…"
With a sudden surge of power, Garp coated his right fist in black, Busoshoku Haki gleaming like iron, and the weight of his wounds seemed to vanish as his presence flared like a storm unleashed.
"Enough talk! If you've got the guts, come and take me on!"
"You burning through your life force?" Rowen muttered, startled by the violent surge of will erupting from the old Vice Admiral.
That technique… it was a rare and mysterious application of Rokushiki's seventh form, one so obscure that only a select few even knew of its existence. In truth, the name "Life Return" wasn't for the whole art, but for this very move.
'Life Return: Momentary Magnificence!'
"We eat the gifts of nature, meat, grain, and beasts, and they nourish our bodies. Now, we give our lives back to the world... in a single, blinding flash!"
This technique drew every drop of one's vitality into a final, radiant bloom. In the Marines, having a desperate trump card like this wasn't unusual. Rowen clenched his remaining right fist, the wavering doubt in his eyes hardening to resolve.
"If death is what you're after, I'll gladly send you there."
'Awakening Technique: Thunderous Titan!'
A colossal humanoid figure, crackling with blinding lightning, erupted from the arena floor. It soared into the stormy sky, its roar mingling with the howling wind. Surging waves crashed in from the sea, engulfing the shattered wooden platform that once held Tesoro's body, along with the darkness festering in Rowen's heart.
"Don't be so sure you're the one handing out death sentences! You think I only know how to punch things?!"
As Rowen prepared to charge, Garp's sudden words gave him pause. Instinctively, he glanced toward the Vice Admiral, who, even in this desperate state, had activated Momentary Magnificence. Every move now had the weight of life and death.
He watched as Garp used Geppo to leap high, grabbed a massive slab of gold wreckage from the remains of Gran Tesoro with one hand, and hurled it straight at him.
'Fist Bone Meteorite!'
Kā-chā!!
Cold sweat broke out on Rowen's forehead.
As expected… Only a fool would take Garp's words at face value!
Even without launching a heavy-hitter like Iron Fist: Deep Gate, Garp's brute strength was monstrous. Rowen's Hell Ape Mode could overpower him in a direct clash, yes, but that ridiculous throwing style of his… It hit harder than a battleship's main cannon! Most Marine artillery couldn't match it unless they used custom-made shells!
"Are you just chucking trash at me now, you old bastard?!" With a furious roar, Rowen slammed his fist forward. The titanic hunk of gold was skewered clean through by a Thunder Pillar, instantly melting into a downpour of golden slag. The lightning column tore downward, undeterred.
'Lightning Penetration Cannon!'
"Hmph… but where exactly are you aiming?" A voice echoed behind him, and Rowen's eyes widened in alarm as he twisted around.
"That speed…!"
In the blink of an eye, Garp had crossed hundreds of meters. Not even a skilled Rokushiki master could bridge that distance so fast. Rowen, whose own body was infused with lightning, still couldn't match it.
"I told you, didn't I? I'm not just some old man who throws punches." Sensing the charge of electricity that signaled Rowen's next Blink, Garp grinned wickedly.
'Shigan: Jade Breaker!'
BOOM!!
A thousand piercing strikes exploded as one. The very air between them seemed to freeze, then shattered like a polished jade plate, bursting with a crisp, echoing detonation.
It was the aftermath of a frenzied storm of strikes, so densely packed and swift that not even Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) could track them. The barrage was condensed into a tight radius, delivering devastation before the shockwave even had time to spread.
In the blink of an eye, less than a third of a second, Garp unleashed over a thousand Shigan thrusts!
Rowen's back was instantly riddled with bloody holes, each puncture from Haki-hardened fingers digging deep and spraying crimson into the air.
"Now's my chance!" Garp growled, catching the slight stiffness in Rowen's movements. With a savage glint in his eye, he clenched his fists and lunged from both flanks.
'Tekkai: Spiral Collision!'
For most, activating Tekkai would lock the body in place, immobility caused by the chaotic blood flow of the hardened form. Any attempt to move would shatter the technique and potentially cripple the user with internal damage.
But that weakness clearly didn't apply to Garp.
He not only moved freely but reinforced his attacks with potent Busoshoku Haki, delivering devastating punches through a specialized, whirling motion that turned his fists into natural disasters.
Shuaa!!
A violent vortex of air erupted around them, pinning Rowen in place. He couldn't even twitch.
Fists howled toward him from both sides, surrounded by spinning wind. They looked like a pair of sea kings rushing in from the deep, or the dual blades of a spinning meat grinder built for giants.
Dangerous. Lethal.
"I can't dodge... and blocking it head-on is suicide. I seriously underestimated you, you old bastard…" Rowen frowned silently. If his left arm had fully healed, he might've stood a chance of breaking free. But with only his right, escape was almost out of the question.
"In that case---!"
In the critical moment, Rowen made a snap decision.
BOOM!!!
A thunderous boom rang out. The compressed air burst outward, making the "Justice" cloak on Garp's back whip like a flag in a typhoon. Yet Garp stared at their clashing fists in stunned disbelief.
"Stepping on toes?! What are you, a brat in diapers?!"
Unable to dodge, Rowen had chosen instead to disrupt Garp's attack. He stomped directly on Garp's foot. At such close range, even Garp couldn't react in time.
After all, nerves in the toes were linked to the heart, pain there could stall anyone.
And when that sharp agony shot up his leg, Garp's fist halted for just a heartbeat. That pause was all Rowen needed to slip beneath the deadly strike and roll out of harm's way.
"You wanna play fair? Set rules before you fight? How old are you again?!" Grinning wide, Rowen raised his palm and thrust forward.
'Heaven's Cry Shot!'
BOOOOMMMM, !!!
The explosion blasted both fighters away. Rowen vanished, reappearing via Blink atop a chunk of drifting debris. He shut his eyes and steadied his breathing.
'Life Return: Melting Bone, Corroding Flesh!'
Gulu-lulu…!
A sickening, squelching sound rippled through his body as it rapidly shrank. But in the same instant, his mangled back and injured left arm ballooned grotesquely, then popped with a fleshy burst, fully regenerated.
This was Rowen's personal Life Return technique, one that burned through every nutrient stored in his body to force instantaneous regeneration of lost or destroyed tissue.
Most humans lacked the cellular depth or capacity to store such raw energy. Using this technique would be suicide for them.
But Rowen had no choice. Garp had pushed him to the brink.
Boom…
Hwa-la-la-la…!
Just as Rowen finished healing, a figure shot forward, blasting through the ocean mist as a curtain of white waves parted before it.
The Heaven's Cry Shot, an attack strong enough to raze an entire island, had left only a scorched crimson mark on Garp's chest. But for monsters of their level, such injuries were cosmetic at best.
Especially in Garp's current state… unless the flame of his life was fully snuffed out, he had a recovery ability that rivaled even awakened Zoan users.
(End of Chapter)
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