Rengoku looked down at the crimson blade.
Though he had never witnessed it in his past life, he knew what it meant.
The Bright Blade.
The legendary red blade wielded by Tsugikuni Yoriichi, the first user of the Breath of the Sun.
The ultimate weapon for demon slaying.
Rengoku had only heard of it through the written accounts and oral traditions passed down among the Flame Hashira—never had he seen it with his own eyes.
Why this sword, which wasn't even a Nichirin Blade, had transformed like this... what triggered the change... he had no time to consider any of that.
The only priority now was dealing with the monster before him.
Crackle...
The monster's elbow, still in contact with the now-crimson Enrin Kitetsu, sizzled as if set on fire.
Slash!
With a sweeping arc, Rengoku's sword cleaved straight through the monster's forearm, severing it cleanly and sending it flying through the air.
"GAH—!!!"
"It burns—!!! You said there was no pain—!"
The creature, reverting to its normal form, clutched its severed stump and howled in agony.
Just like how the Bright Blade inflicted searing pain on demons, it appeared that even zombies, though normally devoid of pain, weren't immune to it.
If he had the luxury of time, Rengoku would've liked to test this further.
But with the Marines still here, experimentation wasn't an option.
Speed was the key.
"Flame Breathing, First Form..."
"Unknowing Fire!"
Leaping high into the air, he targeted the monster's remaining arm.
Slash!
Another clean cut.
Thanks to the creature writhing in pain, the second blow landed even more easily.
"GRAAAH!!! AAHH—!!!"
"It burns—!! It's burning—!!!"
The monster flailed in agony, its form completely falling apart.
"Flame Breathing, Fifth Form..."
"Flame Tiger!"
A massive tiger wreathed in flame surged forth from the Bright Blade, slamming into the monster's head with full force.
"Doppelman—Shadow Evil!!"
A voice echoed—Moria's.
In the next instant, black energy enveloped the monster's body, and its form began to warp...
Until it fully transformed into Moria's own.
"Kishishishi! Rengoku, Marines—do you dare face the Shadow Demon?!"
The giant form of Moria laughed triumphantly as if the battle was already won.
"Powered by the shadows of 99 of the world's strongest warriors, and merged with the body of Demon Oz! Losing the arms is unfortunate, but the Shadow Terraforming is complete! Rengoku, you will become mine!"
He had absorbed the shadows of 99 strong men and was now terraforming their power into Oz's body.
All for this moment—
Doppelman: Shadow Evil.
A technique that turns Moria's body into pure shadow, allowing him to possess another's body and wield its power as his own.
Though the process of merging took time, now that it was complete—he was invincible.
The monstrous Moria stretched out a shadowy hand and unleashed an attack toward the Marines.
"Brick Bat!!"
Giant bats surged toward the Marines like a storm.
"Vivi!"
"Understood, Vice Admiral!"
Whoooosh—
"Water Breathing, Third Form..."
"Flowing Dance!"
Vivi sprang into the air using Moonwalk, her movements as fluid as crashing waves, and struck down the incoming bats one by one, regardless of speed or angle.
Rengoku watched her calmly handle the situation and felt reassured.
Now, it was time for his duty.
"Shichibukai Gecko Moria!"
"You are under arrest for your surprise attack on Vice Admirals and personnel of the Navy Headquarters!"
"Sky Running!"
Rengoku closed the distance in an instant, soaring upward and delivering two slashes in midair.
"Flame of Ten Thousand Forms!"
"Flame Tiger!"
Two blazing strikes—one small, one massive—severed both of Moria's arms.
"Kishishishi!! That's nothing but a scratch!"
"A scratch? Your arms were just incinerated and blown off."
The twin flames from the Bright Blade burned Moria's arms to ashes.
"Kishishishi! Don't underestimate a Devil Fruit user!"
Moria activated his ability, attempting to regenerate his lost limbs—
"Like I care," Rengoku said coldly.
"W-What?! Why isn't it regenerating?!"
Moria began to panic.
His arms weren't regenerating.
"That sword...! Is it made of Seastone?!"
It was the only explanation Moria could think of.
"No more questions!"
"I have no obligation to answer you!"
"Flame Breathing, Eighth Form—"
"Heavenly Flame Twister!"
There are two primary types of powerful sword techniques:
Swift blades (kwaiken) and heavy blades (gouken).
The Breath of Flame is a style that embodies the essence of the heavy blade.
Because of that, there are no thrusting techniques in this style—only slashes.
Within the Breath of Flame, there are three downward slash techniques:
Third Form:Blazing Universe
Fifth Form: Flame Tiger
Eighth Form: Heavenly Flame Twister
Though all three are overhead strikes, each emphasizes a different aspect.
Blazing Universe prioritizes speed and precision. Like a flash of sudden fire, it's a quick, blazing cut.
Flame Tiger emphasizes force and momentum, a powerful blow like a tiger's charge.
And the Eighth Form...
That one is pure power.
A single slash that pours everything into one strike.
This time, it wasn't just strength—
The physical flames of Enrin Kitetsu, the amplification of the Bright Blade, and even the coating of Armament Haki were stacked together.
Have you ever seen flames imbued with Armament Haki?
Black flames—that consume all evil.
A colossal Black Flame Dragon roared forth and engulfed Moria.
"Kishishishi! Finally, regeneration kicked in! I don't know what trick you used before, but it doesn't matter now!"
With both arms restored, Moria threw the black flame dragon aside with a massive swing.
Then, he reached out and snatched Rengoku from midair with a single hand.
"Kishishishi! Rengoku! Your shadow... now belongs to me!"
"Now I'm invincible—the strongest in the world!"
"Kishishishishi!!"
"Kishishi..."
...
"Vice Admiral... Moria is still smiling."
Vivi stared at Moria, unconscious and sprawled out—but still grinning.
"Let him be. Maybe he's having a nice dream."
Rengoku calmly cuffed Moria with Seastone shackles and ordered the Marines to clean up the battlefield.
...
"Lord Moria?!"
A familiar voice rang out from nearby.
Absalom, Perona, and... a round-faced man appeared.
"Vivi!"
"Yes, Vice Admiral!"
"Peacock Binding!"
The white feathers emerging from Vivi's waist shot out and split into three—striking out at the trio.
Snap! Snap!
Two were captured—but one escaped.
Absalom, the Invisible Man, vanished the moment Vivi's feathers came close.
She wasn't fast enough to stop him.
But Rengoku activated his Observation Haki and immediately tracked him.
"If you run, your crimes will only increase! As a subordinate of a Warlord, attacking the Marines and then attempting to flee is grounds for immediate execution!"
With a single slash, Rengoku bisected Absalom—killing him instantly.
Rengoku hadn't intended to kill.
But since Absalom had turned invisible, he couldn't be sure of the man's exact position.
So the strike went deep—and fatal.
Now that the user was dead, the powers of the Invisibility Fruit would reappear somewhere in the world.
That would need to be reported to HQ for tracking and retrieval.
...
Meanwhile, Perona fiercely resisted.
"Let me go! Negative Hollow!"
Vivi's ability was animal-type with a focus on physical enhancement and binding, not countering other powers—so she couldn't block Perona's attack.
Perona sent her Negative Hollow not at Vivi herself but at the tail that bound her.
Since even grazing an object triggers the ability, that alone should have worked.
But to her surprise, nothing happened.
"What?! Why didn't it work?!"
Vivi didn't answer.
But Rengoku immediately understood.
That wasn't a tail.
It was a feather.
Which meant—an external extension, not part of her main body.
Just as slicing a swordsman's sword doesn't defeat the swordsman, the Negative Hollow grazing a feather couldn't cause despair in Vivi.
"Hold still!"
Jose rushed in and slapped Seastone cuffs onto both Perona and the round man.
And with that...
Thriller Bark had fallen.
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