"Hey, hey, hey… this can't be real, can it?" In the crowd of onlookers, Teach's face was grim, his eyes filled with abject terror. The horrifying power Bege was currently displaying filled him with a sense of helplessness and fear. He'd better die in this fight! Pops, whatever you do, don't go easy on him! Teach's sinister eyes stared towards the dust-shrouded battlefield, praying fervently in his heart.
At the center of the battlefield, Bege's feet were dug deep into the fractured earth. He desperately gripped the Cursed Sword Hannya, struggling to withstand Whitebeard's bisento.
The destructive vibrational power from the bisento relentlessly battered Bege. The invisible barrier formed by his projected defensive field cracked and fractured under this overwhelming force.
Whitebeard raised his hand, retracting his bisento, then instantly slashed out again. Bege's reaction was equally swift, and he once more blocked the bisento. However, the terrifying force again sent Bege flying, like a cannonball, smashing into the shattered ruins hundreds of meters away.
Yet, in an instant, a blood-red figure charged out from the distance—it was Bege, his beast-like, bloodshot eyes filled with an insane fighting spirit.
An incredibly ferocious and brutal aura continuously erupted from him, steadily intensifying.
The Hannya blade pulsed with an eerie, blood-red light, making Bege, in his frenzy, appear utterly demonic.
Whitebeard frowned.
"Has this brat fallen into a demonic state?"
"One Sword Style—Demon Ape Slash!"
Bege slashed out, a powerful and ferocious strike that cleaved the air and kicked up a storm of dust as it shot directly towards Whitebeard.
Whitebeard casually swung his own blade, striking the sword qi. His destructive power shattered it, and the resulting shockwave once again swept outwards.
Suddenly, Whitebeard looked up. His Observation Haki had pinpointed Bege's location. High in the air above, an exceedingly violent wave of sword qi tore through the sky, descending like a bolt of blood-red lightning.
Whitebeard's brow tightened. Gripping his bisento with both hands, he struck the blood-red sword qi forcefully. Another deafening roar thundered across the island, causing it to tremble violently, while the sea beyond its shores was once again whipped into furious, towering waves.
The blood-red sword qi was terrifyingly potent. Whitebeard hadn't managed to shatter it in a single blow. The astonishing power pressed down on him, causing the ground beneath his feet to instantly disintegrate. Countless fragments of rock were flung outwards, and cracks, like flashes of lightning, spread rapidly across the earth and deep into the island's foundations, shaking it to its core.
Whitebeard let out a low growl, and his bisento tore the blood-red sword qi to shreds. The dispersed fragments of the attack then shot outwards, hideously ripping apart the landscape.
Bege charged forward with incredible speed, but before he could even swing his sword again, Whitebeard's bisento was already cutting through the air towards him. Forced to defend, Bege parried, only to be thrown aside by sheer brute force. Whitebeard took a step, this time choosing to take the offensive.
The bisento slashed down, its astonishing speed and ferocity catching Bege off guard.
He immediately raised his sword to block, but a vast, overwhelming power, like a colossal mountain, crashed into him.
His invisible barrier shattered instantly. The terrifying force tore through his Armament Haki, and he coughed up blood as he was sent flying once more.
Whitebeard strode forward, each step covering more than ten meters, in hot pursuit of Bege.
But from within the ruins, a sky-piercing, ferocious aura blasted away the debris. Bege, gripping his sword with both hands, unleashed a torrent of blood-red energy from Hannya that surged outwards for over ten meters.
He swung his sword, and an even more astounding wave of blood-red sword qi tore through the air like lightning, as if to sunder heaven and earth, intent on obliterating any obstacle in its path.
Whitebeard's advance paused. The power of his Tremor-Tremor Fruit enveloped his entire body, and the very space around him began to distort. The vibrational energy on his bisento intensified, compressing until it seemed almost tangible, causing the surrounding void to crumble.
He instantly slashed out with the bisento. Everywhere it passed, space itself collapsed. It struck the blood-red sword qi with an irresistible force. Countless cracks immediately appeared on the crimson slash, followed by an earth-shattering explosion that momentarily deafened everyone.
What followed was the instantaneous collapse of a thousand-meter expanse of space. A cataclysmic wave, like an overturned ocean, swept up everything in its path, its gaping maw opening in all directions to devour all matter.
The earth disintegrated, forests were pulverized, and massive fissures transformed into deep abysses. The entire island was razed to the ground.
One particularly enormous chasm even split the island in two; the entire landmass had been cleaved apart.
Beyond the island, waves tens of meters high were generated, pushing out towards the distant horizon.
After the shockwaves subsided, seawater poured into the fissures, creating countless rushing torrents across the fragmented island.
Amidst a pile of ruins, Bege, covered in wounds, staggered to his feet. The previous impact had caused him considerable damage.
His gaze was fixed on the swirling dust ahead. Gradually, a tall, imposing figure emerged from within the haze.
Whitebeard stood, bisento in hand. Only a small part of his clothing was torn, indicating he hadn't suffered much from the last exchange.
Bege's pupils contracted, his expression incredibly grim.
"Is this the power of the World's Strongest Man?"
"Gurararara! Well, brat, can you still go on?" Whitebeard let out a booming, pleased laugh.
A bloody light flared in Bege's eyes, and the violent aura around him erupted with unrestrained fury.
His aura was his answer to Whitebeard.
"Not bad, not bad at all! Very good, very good!" Whitebeard strode towards Bege, who charged forward fearlessly. The two clashed once again.
At the very edge of the island, the crewmen of the Whitebeard Pirates sat, periodically glancing at the constantly thundering island, their faces still etched with an astonishment and horror that refused to fade.
"The Demon Dragon has actually been fighting Pops for a whole day… Isn't that just too outrageous?" A full day of continuous, intense battle had already numbed Marco and the others, making them clearly recognize the enormous gap between Bege and themselves.
"The entire island is shattered. What a terrifying young man," Vista remarked, gazing at the sundered island with a sigh.
Indeed, the battle between Whitebeard and Bege had lasted for an entire day. Their fight had utterly destroyed the island, leaving it completely fragmented. Small portions of it had even sunk beneath the waves.
Amidst the ruined island, two figures were still locked in fierce combat.
"It's time to end this, brat!" Suddenly, Whitebeard slashed out. Bege hurriedly blocked, but a single impact sent him flying back more than ten meters, blood spewing directly from his mouth, his face instantly contorting in pain.
He gritted his teeth, took a step forward, and raised the Cursed Sword Hannya high for another strike.
A white, quaking aura enveloped Whitebeard's right hand. Space distorted around it, emanating a destructive pressure capable of sundering mountains and splitting the earth, making Bege's hair stand on end.
Like a meteor exploding, Whitebeard's fist shot out, aimed directly at Bege, and blasted forward.
It directly shattered the sword qi on Hannya and sent Bege flying hundreds of meters, crashing into the ruins. He slammed into the ground with such force that he created a massive crater, embedding himself deeply within it and sending up a huge plume of dust.
Lying on the shattered ground, his hardened Fortress Skin broken and gone, his body covered in wounds, the blood-red light in Bege's eyes slowly receded. He coughed out a series of shadowy figures. With his last reserves of mental strength, Bege controlled these shadows, forcing them back into the castle within his body.
Bege shakily got to his feet, looking up at Whitebeard, his expression extremely complex.
Truthfully, with Whitebeard's strength, ending the fight wouldn't have required an entire day. After fighting Whitebeard for half a day, Bege had sensed that Whitebeard could have quickly finished it. Yet, Whitebeard hadn't; instead, he had reduced the force of his attacks, focusing mainly on defense.
Bege knew Whitebeard had deliberately allowed him to use him as a whetstone to sharpen his skills.
Whitebeard stood bare-chested, numerous bleeding wounds also visible on his body. He took a deep, ragged breath and then laughed heartily, "Gurararara! Brat, among all the young people I've met, none have ever been as unbelievably strong as you!"
"Now I believe what Roger said. You might truly be able to change the structure of this world."
Whitebeard's expression suddenly turned serious. "However, brat, with your current strength, you're still not enough to challenge Andrew. Train hard for a few more years. Don't go throwing your life away too soon."
Andrew. That was the name of the captain of the Fear Pirates, the Demon Lord of Fear.
Full name—Farian Andrew.