The entirety of Griffinfort was swallowed by a swirling shroud of grit and debris. The sky looked as though it were veiled in gauze, a murky haze so thick that even the sun's radiance struggled to pierce through.
Agonizing wails echoed from every corner of the castle. An untold number of people remained buried beneath the wreckage of collapsed homes; judging by the sheer scale of the devastation, the death toll had already climbed into the thousands.
"That damn Captain! To use his 'vibration' powers right in the middle of a city… doesn't he care about hitting us too?!" Mina beat her bat-like wings, hovering hundreds of meters in the air. She gritted her teeth, her beautiful eyes glaring toward the Inner Keep, which flickered in and out of view through the dust clouds.
Looking down at the shattered ruins below, Mina felt a chill. No matter how many times she witnessed this staggering power, she couldn't help but marvel at its sheer scale.
Whoosh— Zzzt— Zzzt—
With a sweep of his massive hand, Enel conjured a gust of wind to clear the dust before him, his dazzling lightning flaring once more.
"Hmph. A real monster," Enel muttered, eyeing the transformed landscape with a cold snort.
This 'vibration' power was the shadow that haunted his psyche, the one ability he dreaded most. Years ago, before Whitebeard had died, Enel had dared to challenge him. The destructive force of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit had been so overwhelming that it had beaten him within an inch of his life.
Since then, the concept of 'vibration' had become an indelible scar on his soul. While he wouldn't call it a taboo, his wariness of it was absolute.
…
The Inner Keep.
Bodies lay strewn across the ruins in every direction. Mercenary captains, high-ranking nobles, clergymen from the Church of the Night, generals, knights, guards, and servants… wherever the eye landed, it found only the silence of the dead.
"Hey, hey... are you all dead already?"
Aeridar scanned the perimeter with a predatory, piercing gaze. "I haven't even warmed up yet, and you're already down?" he scoffed.
Rumble…
A massive decorative rock was heaved aside, rolling away and kicking up a fresh cloud of grit.
"Cough... talk about arrogant... you bastard!"
Leog pulled himself upright, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. The plate armor covering his body was nearly half-shattered.
Swish—!
Suddenly, a fierce flying slash tore through the air, bisecting every obstacle in its path as it streaked toward Aeridar.
"Hmph. What a pathetic strike!"
Aeridar snorted with contempt, then threw a punch into the empty air.
Crack!
The atmosphere splintered. Fractures began to spider-web across the very air in front of him.
BOOM!
The terrifying power of vibration surged forward. The air rolled in waves and the earth buckled, instantly shattering the incoming slash into nothingness.
"Gah—!"
From within the ruins of a collapsed house, Mondos Bank spat out a mouthful of blood. His body swayed, and he instinctively leaned against a half-standing wall for support.
"Didn't you want my wealth? Come on! If you can land a hit on me, it's all yours! Come on, you trash!" Aeridar spread his arms wide, his voice dripping with mockery.
"Arghhhh! Aeridar, you son of a bitch!"
A burly man roared in fury and charged out from the debris. Gripping a long-handled heavy hammer with both hands, he swung it down at Aeridar's head with a whistling wind.
BANG!
Aeridar met the strike with a punch, hitting the pitch-black hammer head dead-on. The spikes on the hammer were flattened instantly by the sheer force.
The next second, a tiny crack appeared on the head-sized black hammer. The fracture spread like wildfire until the entire head was covered in a web of silver lines.
Crrr-ack!
The solid steel hammer shattered into a thousand jagged pieces, raining down onto the dirt.
"I-impossible!" the man stammered, staring at his empty hands in disbelief.
"Impact Gun!"
Aeridar flicked his finger.
Pop.
With a soft sound, a ripple appeared in the air. An invisible bullet of compressed air screamed forward.
Thump!
The burly man was knocked backward as if he'd been shot by a cannon. A gaping hole, the size of a bowl, had been punched clean through his chest, right where his heart used to be.
"Ha! Die!"
With a loud shout, Leog lunged forward. He closed the distance in an instant, swinging his mace, now gleaming with a dark, metallic luster, downward with bone-crushing force.
Aeridar's expression didn't flicker. He vanished from the spot, and Leog's mace slammed into the earth instead.
BOOM! The impact of the mace tore the ground apart, carving out a crater as the shockwave kicked up a wall of dust.
"Get lost!"
Almost simultaneously, Aeridar appeared behind Leog's back. He whipped his leg around in a devastating roundhouse kick aimed straight at the man's waist.
BANG! Rumble—!
There was a muffled crunch as the metal armor at Leog's waist buckled and snapped. He was sent flying, his body folded nearly in half by the force. He smashed through several buildings, some already ruined, some still standing, sending plumes of dust skyward.
"Leog! Damn it... Full Body Hardening!!!"
Bank let out a cry of alarm and charged forward with his black blade. As he moved, a faint, metallic sheen flickered across his entire body. He reached Aeridar in a flash, delivering a diagonal Kesa-giri slash aimed at Aeridar's chest.
Aeridar shifted his weight, letting the blade whistle past, and countered with a hook aimed directly at Bank's abdomen.
Shhht—!
Bank's slash missed, but the invisible wind from his blade traveled forward, cleanly slicing through the massive rock Leog had moved earlier.
Sensing the incoming fist, Bank twisted his torso just enough to dodge. He used the momentum to bring his blade down toward Aeridar's shoulder in a brutal overhead chop.
THUD! CLANG—!
Just as Aeridar's fist connected with Bank's gut, Bank's blade bit into Aeridar's shoulder.
A massive shockwave erupted from the point of impact, expanding outward like a violent whirlwind and blanketing the area in dust.
"...Hmm? A sturdy body. And impressive swordsmanship!"
Aeridar felt a sharp sting in his shoulder. A trickle of warmth began to flow down his arm; he knew he'd been cut.
"Urgh..."
Bank gritted his teeth, the pain in his abdomen nearly forcing a scream from his throat.
The two combatants leaped back, putting a dozen paces between them. Aeridar touched his shoulder and glanced at the bright red blood on his palm, his brow twitching slightly.
The next second, the muscles in his shoulder pulsed and constricted. In a heartbeat, the bleeding stopped, and the wound began to rapidly stitch itself back together.
"W-what... what a monstrous punch!" Bank's brow was furrowed, his face pale as he fought through the agonizing pain of his internal organs being rattled.
"To think you actually cut me... Heh, heh, heh, heh... what a pleasant surprise!"
Aeridar bared his teeth in a savage grin, the look in his eyes turning increasingly predatory and malevolent as he stared at Bank.
Whoosh—!
Suddenly, Aeridar vanished. He reappeared instantly in front of Bank, driving a fist directly into his face.
"What?! So fast!"
Bank's eyes widened, but he didn't even have time to raise a guard.
BANG!
The fist, packed with devastating power, practically caved in Bank's face, slamming him into the ground.
BOOM!
The earth collapsed into a crater several meters wide. Dense cracks radiated outward like a web, spreading rapidly in all directions. The resulting shockwave tore across the area like a gale, blasting dust into the air and sending shrapnel flying, turning the surroundings into a pitted wasteland.