As Linlin swung her arms, a colossal thunder-and-fire slash surged toward Ray.
This energy, boosted many times over by her soul, carried an extreme cutting force.
Wherever the slash passed, the earth didn't just break—it vanished.
It was vaporized down to the smallest molecule. Even the space itself was torn apart, leaving black, spiderweb-like cracks hanging in the air.
Katakuri and the others, standing a thousand meters behind their mother, stared at the scene with their mouths open.
They were dumbfounded!
This power was beyond anything they had ever seen.
The sight of shattered space was something they had only seen once before, when the strongest man in the world—Whitebeard—used his earthquake powers.
Only now did the four Sweet Commanders truly understand their mother's real strength.
But there was no time to talk.
The battle in the sky was reaching its end.
...
Ray saw the power of this technique much more clearly than the people on the ground.
'If I don't stop this,' Ray thought, 'it will travel over 100 kilometers and destroy everything in its path.'
There were two ways to counter a strike like this.
But only one was the right choice.
Ray immediately swung Tessaiga.
He didn't try to block it head-on. Instead, he aimed at the swirling gaps of energy inside the massive thunder-flame slash.
"Bakuryūha!"
When the golden light of Ray's attack pierced through the gaps in Big Mom's slash, something terrifying happened.
The energy inside her attack went wild.
It started to vibrate and resonate. Instead of exploding forward, the power multiplied and twisted back on itself.
At first, Linlin was annoyed when she saw Ray swing his blade. She thought his golden slash, while strong, was too weak to stop her ultimate move.
'Does he have so little respect for my final, all-or-nothing strike?' she wondered. 'Or... is this really all the power Ray has?'
But a split second later, her expression changed from annoyance to pure shock.
Her technique had betrayed her.
The massive thunder-flame slash was sucked into dozens of enormous, twisting tornadoes.
These tornadoes took her power, combined it with Ray's power, and sent it crashing straight back at her.
The range was too huge to dodge.
Not that Linlin had any intention of running away.
"You... you absorbed my power to create an even stronger attack?" Linlin fell silent for a moment.
Then, she burst into loud laughter.
"MAMAMAMAMA! Ray, you're amazing!"
"Dying to this technique... I am satisfied."
"Tell me, Ray. What is the name of the skill that will kill me?"
Ray looked at her calmly and replied, "The Backlash Wave."
Before Linlin could say another word, the terrifying tornadoes reached her.
ROAAAAR!
The overwhelming whirlwinds mercilessly shredded everything around them.
The earth, which had already been stripped bare by her attack, was now completely destroyed.
The island itself finally cracked deep into its foundation.
In the next moment, Linlin roared.
She used both of her hands to catch the apocalyptic tornado crashing down on her.
CRACK!
Even her iron body, boosted by massive soul energy, lasted less than two seconds before it began to break.
Her skin and flesh were ripped open by the wind's cutting force, covering her in blood.
At the same time, the massive pushing force of the Backlash Wave sent her flying backward at extreme speed.
And directly behind her... lay the ruined banquet hall where her children stood.
...
Perospero, Katakuri, Smoothie, and Cracker felt like the air had been stolen from their lungs.
The apocalyptic tornado was coming right at them. It would reach them in less than half a second.
The attack covered the entire sky.
There was nowhere to run.
Evasion was impossible.
Utterly impossible.
Despair washed over the four siblings as they closed their eyes, waiting for their doom.
But just as they were about to be erased by the Backlash Wave, the world-destroying tornado suddenly stopped.
"That's... Mama!" Katakuri was the first to realize what had happened.
Right at the front of the tornado stood a blood-soaked woman—Charlotte Linlin.
She was using her own body as a shield to hold back the tornado.
Her 7-meter-tall body looked tiny compared to the giant whirlwind.
And yet, she held it back.
At this moment, not only were her four children stunned, but even Ray was surprised.
Based on his calculations of the Backlash Wave and Big Mom's defenses, she should have been torn to shreds the moment she touched it.
Yet, reality showed her physically holding the tornado back.
Though her body was breaking apart, it was happening much slower than Ray expected.
'Could it be... she is using her soul energy again?'
...
Ray's guess was correct.
Linlin's entire body was glowing with a bright green light.
She was converting her very soul into raw life force.
She was overloading her soul, burning it like fuel to wrap around the tornado and stop it from moving forward.
At the same time, her life force was rapidly healing the damage the wind caused.
She was burning herself alive to hold the line.
But she didn't give a damn about it!
Linlin strained her neck to turn her head toward her children.
Ignoring the blood pouring down her body, she smiled.
And she spoke words she had never said to them before.
"Perospero, you brat... You've endured 48 years of my selfish demands without complaining once. You've worked hard, my eldest son."
"Katakuri... now that my mind is clear again, I know you've held anger against me for a long time."
"Well... Mom admits her mistakes. But I guess there's no chance to make it up to you now."
"Smoothie, Cracker... Mom is sorry to you, too. You've grown so much, yet you've never known a mother's true love."
Her voice trembled, not from pain, but from emotion.
"But one thing I am certain of—the fact that I never absorbed your souls means that deep down, even in my crazy state, I cared about you. After all, you were the children who stayed by my side the longest."
"Now... Mom sincerely apologizes for all the wrongs she has done."
Perospero reacted the most strongly.
Tears streamed down his face.
He remembered his childhood, before the madness took over, when his mother truly loved him.
Smoothie and Cracker, however, were frozen.
They had never seen this side of their mother.
They didn't know how to react.
Katakuri felt a storm of emotions. Big Mom's heartfelt words and her choice to shield them from certain death washed away his anger.
But he was terrified.
"Mama... what about my younger siblings? Their souls..."
Hearing this, Linlin's lips curled into a gentle smile and her eyes became soft.
"Don't worry. They will be fine. Once I die, the ability cancels out. Their souls will return, and their bodies will recover."
"After all, right now, I am only burning my own soul."
"But to burn one's own soul requires a huge amount of energy. Gaining this kind of power in a short time always comes at a price."
Hearing this explanation, Katakuri could no longer hold back his tears.
Like his big brother Perospero, he remembered what she used to be like.
Even when he hated the cruel monster she became, he stayed.
He endured.
Suddenly, Linlin coughed up a massive mouthful of blood.
RIIIIP!
Her body began to tear apart on a massive scale.
"MAMA!"
Perospero and Katakuri panicked.
They immediately activated their Candy and Mochi powers, trying to rush forward to help their mother bear the weight.
"STOOOOOOOOOP!"
Linlin stopped them with a fierce glare.
"Don't come any closer! If anyone moves a step, I will disown them right now!"
Seeing her sons freeze in place, Linlin smiled again.
"Cough... I had planned for at least five minutes of mother-son conversation. But Ray's strength really exceeded my expectations."
"Even after burning my soul, I can't hold on much longer."
Her eyes blazed with pride.
"But..... I AM A YONKO!"
Just as her body was about to be torn to pieces, the green soul energy around her exploded violently.
A power beyond logic appeared before everyone's eyes.
The apocalyptic tornado was being lifted.
Slowly, inch by inch, this dying woman was pushing the storm up into the sky.
Charlotte Linlin, on the verge of death, looked at Ray and asked a simple, almost childlike question.
"Hahaha... Ray! I lifted it! Am I strong?"
Standing at a distance, Ray's face.... finally showed a flicker of real emotion.
He nodded firmly.
"You're very strong."
As he spoke, he once again drew his blade.
"Azure Dragon Break!"
A blue dragon of energy flew from Ray's sword and merged with the Backlash Wave.
Usually, this was an attack.
But infused with Tenseiga's healing power, it acted as a stabilizer.
Charlotte Linlin suddenly felt an incredible lightness.
The weight of the crushing wind disappeared. The violent tornado became gentle, guided by the blue dragon.
Sensing this, she looked at Ray and nodded, smiling gratefully.
She knew what this meant.
He was helping her.
He was letting her leave with dignity.... and she knew he would spare her children now.
In these final moments of her life, she felt as if she had traveled back to the past.
"Mother Carmel... Rocks... Roger..."
Memories flooded her mind.
She saw the faces of old friends and rivals.
She saw scenes from long ago as she's smiled with pure joy.
"My life... was quite fulfilling."
Then, the greatest Empress of the Sea, Charlotte Linlin, mustered the last drop of her life force.
She pushed the Backlash Wave high into the heavens.
Ten seconds later.
BOOOOOOM!
A thunderous explosion shook the sky, dissolving the clouds and the storm.
Everyone looked up—only to see a clear, cloudless sky.
Soon after, specks of green, like spring rain, began to fall upon the earth.
------------
RIP big mom guys, at least at the end of her life she regain her sanity!
And this will conclude the whole cake island arc!
Next is Wano country and Ray still go solo since Luffy cs is still in the Grandline.