Everyone knew one thing.
A beast is at its most dangerous when it's wounded and cornered.
Just like Big Mom was now.
The moment she realized that the three people before her were genuinely capable of threatening her, capable of turning this hard-won body and the life she'd managed to prolong back into nothing, Charlotte Carmel didn't hesitate to raise her hand.
'Buzz!'
At that instant, the eyes of the three members of The Twelve Zodiac once again awakened that unique Soul Perspective.
And what they saw... was Big Mom's enormous, monstrous soul beginning to split apart. A portion of it was forcibly extracted from her body.
"Hahaha!"
"Linlin, slow down while you're eating!"
"Hey! Leave some for us too!"
For a brief moment, they could even glimpse the memories contained within those souls. Aside from the overwhelming darkness that belonged to Sister Carmel, the tiny, scattered soul fragments needed no explanation.
They belonged to the children of the House of Lambs. They had died alongside six-year-old Charlotte Linlin during that birthday feast. Just like Linlin herself, their souls had remained forever frozen on that day.
Their souls were far too weak to influence Carmel's personality in any meaningful way, and a moment later, the innocent laughter and memories vanished. In their place remained only the soul fragment gathered in Big Mom's hand.
It was her own soul... and her own lifespan.
"...Those little brats."
Extracting her soul seemed to bring those memories back to Charlotte Carmel. And just as she'd said before, to her, they were...
"...nothing but disgusting trash."
She muttered the words before opening her mouth and swallowing her own soul whole.
'BOOM!!'
An indescribable shockwave erupted from her body. Her hair danced wildly without wind, while her already massive frame rapidly expanded, growing even taller and bulkier.
The torn flesh covering her body healed at a visible speed. The charred skin wriggled as new flesh regenerated, becoming even tougher than before.
'Devil Fruit Awakening – Self-Sacrifice'
"Lifespan Sacrifice... One Year!"
Her voice grew hoarser, and her crimson eyes became even more savage. The next moment, she raised Kronos once more.
'Bang!'
Veins bulged across her arm. The Haoshoku Haki and Busoshoku Haki wrapped around it so densely that they almost became tangible.
'Spear of Elbaf - Heavenly Might of the Nation!'
Her great blade came crashing down.
The space before its edge distorted violently, as though a massive boulder had been dropped into a calm lake. The razor-sharp slash and overwhelming force merged into a torrent over dozens of meters wide.
Earth, air, even light itself, everything standing in the attack's path was crushed and torn apart the instant it made contact. A gigantic trench was carved across the ground, bottomless as it tore all the way toward the island's edge.
This was power on an entirely different level from before.
Inside the swirling dust cloud, Big Mom casually lowered her blade.
'Bang!'
The simple motion of sheathing it created a fierce gust that instantly blew away all the smoke before her. Only then did she see the three members of The Twelve Zodiac.
The three stood shoulder to shoulder. Youji stood in the center, both fists thrust forward as his powerful body blazed with golden light. Zishu stood on the left, countless Gravity-Gravity spatial gates layered in front of him. Inu stood on the right, an enormous shadow forming a barrier before him.
Clearly, all three had managed to defend in time. But...
"Hah... hah..."
Their heavy breathing, weakened auras, and the blood dripping from their bodies told the real story. Despite dominating the battle from the very beginning, they had finally been wounded by that attack.
"Heh..."
Seeing this, Big Mom let out a delighted laugh. "You three are strong... but right from the start, to make sure you killed Linlin, you already used your Awakenings, didn't you? Mamamama! And after exhausting yourselves like that... do you really think you can still beat me?"
She couldn't have looked more pleased with herself. Losing one year of lifespan was a heavy price for this body, but it had been worth it. These people were simply too dangerous.
She had noticed it from the very beginning. To ensure their opening strike killed Charlotte Linlin, Zishu, Inu, and Youji had all entered their strongest forms at once. In her eyes, those had obviously been their Devil Fruit Awakenings, and after that, their stamina had clearly been drained enormously.
But she was different. Her Devil Fruit Awakening also demanded a heavy price, but...
"As long as I kill all of you, that's enough!"
Her laughter echoed across the battlefield as her aura continued climbing. The power granted by her sacrifice was still pouring out without end.
"Tenma Daizaiten..."
Just as she was about to attack again, however, her movements suddenly froze. Because she saw something.
'Buzz!'
Tiny specks were drifting down from above the heads of The Twelve Zodiac. Against the darkness of the night, they stood out brilliantly.
"Golden... rain?" That was Big Mom's first thought. But she immediately dismissed it.
Looking more closely, it was obvious that what was falling wasn't natural rain at all. What fell from above were strands of golden liquid unlike anything she'd ever seen. It looked like water, yet golden light shimmered within every drop.
"...!!!"
Big Mom immediately remembered. At the very beginning of the battle, she'd noticed that the giant tree on Dreamland Island had been scattering blue light from above, and the glow was strikingly similar to this golden radiance.
But since Hitsuji had never joined the fight afterward, she'd almost forgotten about it. In her mind, Hitsuji had been busy dealing with the Homies.
But now... she instinctively looked up.
And just as she'd expected, the source of the golden rain was Dreamland Island itself. Drops of rainbow-colored dew mixed with golden light, transforming into this miraculous rainfall.
'Water of the Fountain of Youth.'
'High-grade Vital Life Essence.'
Combined together, they formed...
'Dreamland Creation - Rain of Life.'
'Buzz!'
Right before Big Mom's eyes, the weakened auras of Youji, Zishu, and Inu began recovering at an astonishing speed.
Weak… Half-restored… Back to full strength...
And then…
'Bang!'
The three of them actually grew even stronger than they had been at the start of the battle.
"...Hitsuji." Big Mom stared up at Dreamland Island and muttered the name with a grim expression. Then she immediately opened her mouth and took a deep breath.
"Whoosh!"
The Rain of Life pouring from the sky was sucked straight into her stomach. Her reaction was incredibly fast. This Rain of Life clearly possessed absurd healing abilities, so...
'If they can use it, then so can I. I can even use the Fountain of Youth to make up for the lifespan I just lost... Hm!?'
But just as that thought crossed her mind, she suddenly realized something was wrong.
The Rain of Life she'd swallowed changed completely the moment it entered her body. The life-giving rain that should have nourished her body and overflowed with vitality had somehow transformed into something that embodied destruction itself.
Big Mom felt as though she'd swallowed Death. Even her incredibly resilient Evil God's Body began turning a sickly bluish-purple before the naked eye. Her life force was rapidly fading away.
'Reversal - Death Poison'
"Mother!"
Linked directly to Big Mom's soul, Kronos immediately sensed her rapidly weakening condition. But it didn't even have time to worry about her.
Because…
"Mother, watch out! They're coming!"
As Kronos roared,
'Bang! Bang! Bang!'
Big Mom also sensed it. Three terrifying presences had already appeared around her.
"...!!!"
Her pupils shrank as the brilliant light revealed their figures.
On one side was Youji. His wings spread wide, sunlight wrapped around his body, making him look like a blazing sun.
'Winged Divine Dragon Form - Winged Divine Dragon Strike'
At the same time, a Space Gate suddenly opened before Big Mom. Now wearing the Giant Soldier's Hand, Zishu calmly raised one arm as though taking aim. Invisible spatial cracks overlapped and compressed through the air.
'Air Slash - Grand Esoteric: Space Severance'
And behind her…
'Bang!'
A blue-and-white-haired figure appeared alongside an overwhelming sword slash.
'Mirage Shadow - Rocks: Abyss Curse'
The three of them, empowered by the Rain of Life, had once again unleashed their strongest forms.
'I'm going to die.'
'I'm going to die.'
'I'm going to die.'
At that moment, Charlotte Carmel knew it without a doubt. If she took all three attacks head-on... she would die for real.
"No!!" she let out a shrill scream.
'Soul Sacrifice - Thirty Years!'
'BOOM!'
A soul wave dozens of times stronger than before exploded outward. She felt her soul being violently torn apart as an enormous soul fragment formed in her hand.
At the same instant, her once-plump body seemed to lose every drop of moisture. Her skin instantly lost all elasticity, her pink hair turned snow-white in the blink of an eye, and deep wrinkles spread across her face.
At that moment, she looked more like her true self, Sister Carmel.
After all, no matter how many souls resided within her, Big Mom's body was genuinely over sixty years old. And now, after sacrificing another thirty years of lifespan, even she had reached the inevitable end awaiting every living creature: old age.
Even so, Big Mom swallowed the soul fragment without the slightest hesitation.
Then,
'Bang!'
Her strength soared once more, forcibly climbing to an unbelievable level.
'Eternal Tenma Daizaiten Divine Fire Thunder God!'
Centered on Big Mom, a tidal wave of destructive purple-black lightning mixed with blazing flames erupted in every direction.
'Boom! Boom! Boom!'
Youji's fist slammed into the sea of fire and lightning. Zishu's spatial slash was blocked by the raging thunder. Inu's sword strike collided head-on with the storm of lightning and flames.
Their attacks were still pushing forward, but they had been stopped.
For Big Mom, that was enough.
"Kronos! Run!" She shouted.
"Yes, Mother!" Already on the verge of collapse itself, Kronos obeyed without hesitation.
Clouds billowed beneath Big Mom's feet as her body shot into the sky. Like a cannonball, she blasted toward the distant sea.
Yes. At that moment, the Emperor of the Sea chose to run.
No. More accurately, Charlotte Sister Carmel chose to run.
She could feel the weakness spreading through her body. She could feel her life slipping away. She could feel herself growing old.
But...
''I have to live. I can't die here!''
That was all that mattered. After being suppressed for so many years, she'd finally seized this body. She'd finally become the true master of Big Mom.
She could work with the World Government again. She could rebuild Totto Land somewhere else. As long as she survived, her ambitions could still be fulfilled. She still had power. She could still obtain everything.
Even if this body eventually died, she'd already proven once that it was possible, she could simply find another gifted child and seize that body the same way.
''As long as I can escape... as long as I...''
She looked toward the distant horizon beyond Totto Land. Unable to resist, she glanced back at Cake Island, which was rapidly disappearing behind her.
Then she saw them. Youji, Inu, Zishu. Their auras were still incredibly powerful, yet none of them chased after her.
"..."
A terrible sense of foreboding suddenly welled up inside Big Mom. Thinking back carefully, she realized there had been far too many strange things about this battle.
That Rain of Life... they could have summoned it much earlier. If they had, she would have been forced to retreat long ago. After her Homies died, she was unable to summon back their souls. And ever since the battle had begun, she had occasionally heard thunder-like explosions coming from the sky.
'Bang!'
Yes. That sound.
"...!!!"
Big Mom instinctively looked up. The moment she did, her pupils shrank.
High above the dark night sky, standing atop the rainbow-colored Dreamland Island, was a lone figure. The one person who had never appeared on the battlefield from beginning to end.
He wore a pig-headed mask.
'The Twelve Zodiac - Inoshi.'
But what truly stunned Big Mom was that Inoshi's body had become translucent. Inside his body, another transparent version of himself overlapped with him.
Big Mom immediately recognized what it was: his soul.
But what truly horrified her was what surrounded him.
"Mother!"
"Mother!"
"Mother!"
Countless Homie souls floated around Inoshi. They circled him, gathering together. Even now, Phantom Beasts were leaping out from the Mirror of Dreams, tossing newly captured souls beside him.
The souls struggled desperately, but they couldn't move. Looking more closely, it became obvious. Whether it was Inoshi or the Phantom Beasts, they were all wrapped in strands of an invisible yet overwhelming aura that firmly suppressed those souls.
It was the very same eerie chill that had plagued Big Mom throughout the battle, the strange cold that could effortlessly pass through Kronos.
'Yomi-Yomi Fruit LV5'
'LV4: Advanced Devil Fruit development. By using souls as a medium, the user can summon the Cold of the Underworld from Yomi. This Underworld Cold damages and suppresses soul-type beings.'
'Munch-Munch Fruit LV4'
'Allows the user to grant a specific property to living beings by consuming it.'
The combination of the two became,
'Property Infusion - Underworld Cold.'
Of course, that still wasn't the most important part. The truly terrifying part was,
"Hm... After compressing this many souls so many times... this should be enough."
Inoshi slightly lifted the front of his Sea Beast mask. Then, he opened his mouth.
Right before Big Mom's widened eyes, he swallowed every Homie soul gathered around him.
'LV5: Devil Fruit Awakening - Lord of the Underworld.'
'The user's soul gains influence over its surroundings. All nearby souls without physical bodies are devoured and sent to the Underworld. Each soul consumed temporarily grants the user all of the energy contained within it, greatly strengthening them. Their subsequent attacks also deal massively increased damage to souls.'
Then…
'Bang!'
The moment those souls disappeared into his body, Big Mom heard that strange, grating thunderous sound once again. But this time, she finally understood.
''So from the very beginning...''
Yes. From the very beginning, their objective had been incredibly simple.
If the assassination failed, then what followed would inevitably become a direct confrontation. Was it difficult to kill one of the Four Emperors in a head-on battle?
The answer was yes, and no.
The easy part was this: if a Yonko chose to fight to the death, then defeating them meant killing them. The difficult part was this: if a Yonko was determined to escape, there was almost no guaranteed way to kill them.
Charlotte Linlin might have been the former. But Charlotte Carmel, without question, was the latter.
Which was exactly why everything had led to this moment. The battle on Cake Island, despite looking like the decisive fight, had actually been the feint.
The true objective had been the seemingly insignificant task of killing the Homies throughout Totto Land and collecting their souls.
The real killing blow, prepared long in advance, finally revealed its fangs.
"...My apologies."
At that moment, Inoshi looked directly at Big Mom. A Mark had already appeared on her body.
"I've already got you now, Yonko."
'Mark Fruit - Mark'
He slowly opened his mouth.
"Five hundred-fold maximum compression..."
'Lord of the Underworld - Soul Cannon!'
---
(End of Chapter)
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