Blood poured madly from all seven orifices.
Chunks of internal organs spewed violently from his mouth.
Along with... some bone fragments.
Initial estimates suggested that a significant portion of his internal organs had been violently pulverized.
Even the bones near his neck were not spared—utterly shattered.
His jaw, already dislocated by Garp's strike, had now completely vanished.
Blood seeped from his very pores, drenching his body.
He had become a literal blood man!
Only the word "miserable" could describe it.
If Whitebeard had taken one of his attacks head-on, then the blow he had just suffered was absolutely brutal!
Without a moment's hesitation, Whitebeard, still burning with unquelled rage, lightly tossed Akainu into the air.
His bisento, Murakumogiri, surged with an overwhelming wave of Conqueror's Haki as he delivered a devastating horizontal slash straight at Akainu!
At the same time, that torrential Conqueror's Haki bore down mercilessly upon him!
The target of this strike—
Akainu's head!
A decapitating blow!
'How you killed my son... I'll kill you the same way!'
'Red Dog—'
'DIE!'
Akainu, already grievously wounded, had no hope of dodging this strike.
He barely managed to struggle, attempting to use his Logia intangibility to evade.
Even if it meant taking severe damage, at least he wouldn't die.
But right then—
A sudden, violent pain erupted in his temples!
The earlier seismic shockwaves, combined with the oppressive Conqueror's Haki now bearing down on him, seemed to have awakened that agony anew!
It hammered against his skull like a maddened beast!
For a brief moment—his mind went blank!
By the time he regained his senses... the blade was already at his neck!
Just as Akainu was about to lose his head—just as the Marines were on the verge of losing one of their three Admirals—
BOOM!
A shockwave struck Akainu's head a split second before the bisento could land!
His head jerked violently to the side!
The slash meant to decapitate him only grazed diagonally across his skull.
In the end, at the cost of an ear and half his head, Akainu was saved.
Like a ragged sack, his limp body tumbled across the ground before coming to a stop some distance away.
Sengoku and Kong now stood between Whitebeard and Akainu.
The two sides locked in a tense standoff.
Around them, the earth continued to roar and tremble.
The island, fractured by the earlier quake, was beginning to collapse.
Half of it would soon sink beneath the sea.
Not far off, Ace's lifeless body lay on the ground.
Beside him, a young man and woman had long since been reduced to sobbing wrecks.
A short distance ahead, Garp sat slumped on the ground, his face hollow.
His eyes slowly welled with tears.
All around them, countless figures stood frozen in shock.
Those two attacks had left everyone utterly stupefied.
The island was sinking.
Such power... it defied all reason.
Even the Whitebeard Pirates stood dumbstruck, completely oblivious to the Marines now closing in on Luffy and Yamato.
Led by Onigumo, a group of Marine Vice Admirals swiftly moved to encircle the two.
This sight sent a fresh tremor through Garp's body.
Whitebeard, who had just begun to calm, once again radiated an aura of impending destruction.
Ace was already dead.
No matter what, he couldn't let the friends who had risked everything to save him suffer the same fate!
He was ready to sink this entire island.
Before, he had hesitated—because Ace was still here.
But now... there was nothing left to hold him back.
He stood firmly on the island—his feet already touching the ground.
Sinking it into the sea would be child's play for him.
With Marco keeping that ice-wielding brat occupied, no one could stop him.
All that was left was for Marco to evacuate their allies.
Just as Whitebeard prepared to unleash a full-scale quake upon the land beneath him—
Ripple.
A spatial distortion shimmered through the air.
Like a single drop disturbing still water.
Every high-level Observation Haki user present instinctively turned their gaze skyward—to the space above Ace's body.
There—
Vir stood, poised in midair.
His finger pointed toward the heavens.
Then lazily flicked downward.
As his hand fell, a slightly exasperated voice rang out:
"Thunderfall."
*BOOOOOOM—!!!*
A colossal pillar of lightning descended from the sky!
The sheer voltage sent temperatures skyrocketing in an instant!
A violent, purplish-black thunderbolt crashed into the earth.
The blinding radiance nearly swallowed the entire plaza whole!
Yet, despite its fury, the lightning spared Luffy and Yamato entirely.
Upon impact, the thunder did not dissipate—instead, it exploded outward in a devastating shockwave!
Garp, caught at the epicenter, was sent flying!
The Marines who had been closing in were instantly engulfed by the purple lightning.
The weaker ones were vaporized on the spot—not even ashes remained.
Where the lightning passed, death followed.
In the blink of an eye, every Marine who had moved to surround them—save for Onigumo—vanished without a trace.
Not a single corpse was left behind...
This sight left everyone present wide-eyed in disbelief!
Why was HE here?!
The moment Vir appeared, a flicker of something like hope ignited in Whitebeard's eyes.
Though he knew—knew beyond doubt—that Ace was beyond saving...
Vir had arrived now, of all times.
Could it be...?
Was there still a chance?
The thought flashed unbidden through Whitebeard's mind.
And he wasn't the only one.
Yamato and Luffy, their faces streaked with tears, forced trembling smiles as they looked at Vir, who had landed beside them.
"V-Vir..." Yamato's voice shook. "You can save Ace... right?"
The question hung in the air.
Even she—even Luffy—understood.
It was impossible.
His head was gone.
He was dead.
But Yamato asked anyway.
The Whitebeard Pirates, too, clung to a desperate wish—that Vir could bring Ace back.
Yet they knew.
It was hopeless.
This question... it was nothing short of cruel.
His head was gone. What was there to save?
How could anyone fix this?
And yet—their eyes burned with desperate hope as they stared at Vir, awaiting his answer.
Even Garp, in that moment, was screaming internally.
'You can do it.'
'You can, right?!'
'I always knew you were something else, brat!'
'If you can bring Ace back...'
'I'll do anything!'
'Damn it!'
Garp's face was the very picture of raw, desperate longing.
In this moment, he was no longer the "Hero of the Marines."
He was just a grandfather—begging for his grandson's life.
But to everyone else with a shred of rationality, Yamato's question was nothing short of insane.
How could you even ask that?!
His head is GONE. GONE!
Where would he even START?!
There's no room to work!
What could even the greatest doctor in the world do?
Resurrect the dead?
Who the hell do you think he is?!
A god?!
Akainu, now unable to stand, the surrounding Marines, and the countless spectators watching via Den Den Mushi—all thought the same thing.
Meanwhile, Vir crouched down, swiftly gathering Ace's body and draping it over his shoulder.
His gaze flicked toward Robin in the crowd.
Then, with a calm yet resolute voice, he answered Yamato's question:
"As I always say—"
"With me here, dying isn't an option."