"Waaaaaahhh!!!"
A piercing scream echoed across the battlefield!
Blackbeard clutched his head, rolling on the ground in agony. The pain of his shattered skull stimulated every nerve in his body, making him wish for death.
Pain, pain, pain, pain!
All his senses were overwhelmed by sheer torment!
Until the sound of footsteps reached his ears—
Like the toll of death itself!
The primal fear of mortality jolted Blackbeard awake from his suffering. Adrenaline surged wildly through his veins, numbing the pain.
Blackbeard raised his head and looked ahead.
"Whether it's basic combat power, Haki, or abilities, I surpass you in every way."
Gurd stood before Blackbeard, looking down at him with cold superiority. "What gave you the illusion that you could defeat me?"
"Damn monster!"
Blackbeard's face was drenched in blood and sweat.
From their earlier clash, he already knew his strength and Haki were no match for Gurd. To win, he could only rely on his ability!
"Darkness Liberation!"
Endless darkness erupted violently from Blackbeard's body, surging into the sky until the entire Marine Headquarters was plunged into shadow.
Marines, Pirates, the Royal Seven Warlords of the Sea—
Every face paled in shock. Even Akainu, who had just returned to the battlefield through a volcanic eruption, halted his pursuit of the division commanders.
This sinister power, unlike any ordinary Devil Fruit ability, radiated an overwhelming threat. If left unchecked, it would undoubtedly become a calamity.
Logia-type: Dark-Dark Fruit!
"Zehahahaha!!!"
Blackbeard slowly rose to his feet, his entire body shrouded in darkness.
"Darkness is the ultimate power! The most evil Devil Fruit in history is this one—you cannot resist the darkness!"
"Is that so? Then let me show you something."
Gurd tilted his head back as his body began to expand.
In an instant, a towering Groudon, dozens of meters tall, appeared on the battlefield. Immediately after, a searing light beam tore through the darkened sky, widening relentlessly.
Light dispelled the darkness!
But it wasn't over yet!
Groudon roared at the heavens, opening its maw wide and inhaling deeply. The black mist shrouding the sky was instantly drawn toward it, converging into its mouth.
Gale-force suction!
"This can't be!!!"
Blackbeard's face twisted in disbelief.
Darkness was the power of consumption—it could devour all abilities. Yet now, his own darkness was being devoured by his opponent!
After what felt like an eternity, Groudon ceased absorbing the darkness. Its eyes and chest began to glow with a sinister violet-black light.
"Now, taste the darkness yourself!"
Groudon opened its jaws wide, a purple energy sphere forming before its mouth. Within it pulsed not just the power of darkness, but also light.
"Hyper Beam!!!"
The violet-black beam slammed into the earth, carving through the Fortress of Justice and extending all the way to the edge of the island—then beyond, tearing apart the clouds in the sky!
There was no explosion. No deafening roar.
When the Hyper Beam ended, everything in its path had vanished without a trace, as though swallowed whole.
A bottomless chasm now split the battlefield, its depths burning with violet flames like a gateway to the abyss.
The fortress that had been grazed by the beam had lost a massive chunk of its central structure, as if a giant bite had been taken out of a cake.
"What kind of terrifying attack is this?!"
Everyone was horrified.
It was clear—this beam wasn't just a physical assault. It was infused with the devouring power of darkness.
The Marine higher-ups turned deathly pale.
They had long known that Gurd could absorb natural energies after transforming, but never expected he could even devour darkness.
"Ugh, tastes awful!"
Gurd felt nauseated.
Darkness didn't align with his attributes. Forcing it was manageable—after all, it was still a natural energy. Though incompatible, it wasn't as extreme as the clash between ice and water.
Gurd looked down.
Blackbeard remained at the center of the battlefield, half his body withered. If not for being darkness itself, the earlier dark energy light beam would have annihilated him completely—leaving not even ashes behind.
This time, genuine fear finally surfaced in Blackbeard's eyes!
Against such a monster, victory was impossible.
Unless he obtained the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit!
Blackbeard turned his gaze toward Whitebeard, who still stood at the edge of the Great Rift. Despite being covered in wounds and missing half his head, his eyes remained open.
Still alive!
As long as Whitebeard lived, he couldn't seize the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power!
"Burgess! Lafitte!"
Blackbeard frantically searched for his crew, desperate for reinforcements—but his subordinates were all locked in desperate battles!
Meanwhile, the prisoners he had freed from the prison, like the Tyrant King, were fleeing toward the coast under pursuit by Groudon Company's executives. Clearly, they had abandoned their captain the moment the tide turned.
"Am I going to die here?"
Blackbeard stared at the colossal foot descending from the sky and swung his palm, attempting to suppress the attack with his dark power.
But—
CRACK!
The moment they made contact, it was as if a mountain had crashed down. His hand twisted grotesquely, bones shattering.
BOOM!!!
Groudon's foot slammed into the earth with a deafening roar, sending countless chunks of debris flying into the air!
Pure physical force!
Gurd reverted to his human form.
In the massive claw-shaped crater, Blackbeard lay drenched in blood, his bones shattered beyond count. As a man of darkness, he could absorb all forms of attack—including physical ones.
But absorption had its limits.
Gurd strode toward Blackbeard, drawing the massive sword from his back.
Seeing this, Blackbeard shamelessly dropped to his knees, begging: "Don't kill me! I can be your dog! I can help you—my ability has a special trait! I can extract a Devil Fruit user's power and transfer it to someone else!"
To survive, Blackbeard even revealed the greatest secret of his dark power—he could hunt Devil Fruit users!
Gurd stared coldly at him.
The ability to hunt Devil Fruit users was indeed an irresistible temptation. But in his heart, real estate came first!
That was the one line he could never cross.
"I told you—you've been sentenced to death."
"..."
Blackbeard turned in terror, scrambling away from the battlefield.
A flash of steel!
Blackbeard's world spun—then he saw his own headless body collapsing to the ground.
He was dead.
His ambitions...
His dream of becoming the Pirate King...
His pupils slowly lost focus.
"The captain's dead!"
Blackbeard's crew panicked, immediately abandoning their fights to flee. With their captain gone, staying meant certain death.
No one even considered avenging him.
Gurd pulled out a handkerchief, wiping the blood from his blade, then lifted Blackbeard's head and walked toward Whitebeard.
"Old man, still alive?"
"..."
Whitebeard looked at Teach's severed head, then slowly closed his eyes.
His body had long been dead, persisting until now only through sheer willpower to see the outcome. Now that Teach had died, his worries could finally be laid to rest.
In his final moments, the scenery of his life flashed before his eyes.
"Hey, Newgate!"
"A Pirate who doesn't crave treasure—what is it you want?"
"Family."
"What a strange idea, hahaha!"
Thank you, Gurd, you brat.
The future of my sons... I leave it to you.
[Whitebeard], deceased!
(End of chapter)