Drip.
Barret lowered his head, staring at the savage gash carved across his chest. Blood slid down the ridges of his muscles and fell onto the scorched earth below.
And at this very moment—Gern's face, brimming with unmistakable mockery, made it all the more infuriating.
"…Are you toying with me?" Barret ground out, teeth clenched, pupils tightening. Then, slowly, the corners of his mouth pulled upward into a feral grin.
"If that's how you want it…"
He raised a hand and dragged it across the wound, his fingertips coming away slick with blood.
Then he clenched his fist violently.
Blood sprayed from between his fingers.
Conqueror's Haki erupted in a thunderous explosion. Dark-red lightning coiled around his body like maddened serpents, the ground beneath his feet cracking inch by inch as rubble lifted into the air.
Gern flicked the blood from his blade. Along the edge of the black blade Bahuang, pale fractures shimmered, and the surrounding air warped under high-frequency vibrations.
"What?" He tilted his head slightly, lips curving into a dangerous smile. "Finally decided to get serious?"
"Don't get cocky, bastard! I'm not the man I used to be anymore!!!" Barret roared, smashing his right fist into the ground.
"Combined Armor (Fusion Armament)!!"
RUMBLE—!!!
The entire island shook violently. Rocks, shattered warship wreckage, even metallic debris buried beneath the sea were drawn in as if seized by an invisible force, hurtling madly toward Barret.
In the blink of an eye, his body was engulfed in heavy metal—layer upon layer piling on until he transformed into a steel colossus hundreds of meters tall!
Jet-black Armament Haki flowed over its surface like liquid, while dark-red Conqueror's lightning coursed across the metal plating.
Every piece of armor writhed like a living organism, constantly adjusting itself into the most optimal defensive configuration.
"Tsk, tsk." Gern narrowed his eyes slightly as Bahuang trembled, releasing a low, resonant hum.
"So this is the awakened Fusion-Fusion Fruit…" he murmured.
"And yet you still chose your weakest way of fighting—just like back then."
"Now let's see whether your vibrations can still shake me!"
Barret didn't hear him.
His furious roar thundered from within the steel giant like rolling thunder.
The next second, the colossus raised its right arm. Metal restructured and compressed, transforming into a massive war hammer wrapped in black and crimson Haki, which came crashing down!
The hammer hadn't even landed yet, but the sheer pressure caused the ground beneath Gern to cave in.
"Heaven-Shaking · Severing Boundary!!"
Bahuang slashed horizontally in an instant.
At the moment blade and hammer collided, space shattered like a mirror. Pale shockwaves exploded outward in perfect rings.
The impact flattened the uneven terrain within a hundred-meter radius, clearing it into a smooth, arena-like expanse.
Gern's boots sank deep into the ground as he held the blade with both hands to resist the blow—yet the grin on his face only grew more unrestrained.
"Not bad strength…" He spun sharply, the blade sliding up along the side of the war hammer. The high-frequency vibrations tore through the metal armor inch by inch!
"But it's still not enough!!"
Barret's pupils shrank as his left fist shot forward. The massive metal arm blasted toward Gern like a cannonball.
Gern didn't dodge.
He formed a claw with his left hand and seized the empty air.
"Heaven-Shaking · Void Shackles!!"
CRACK!
Barret's fist froze inches above Gern's head, as though it had slammed into an invisible wall.
Spiderweb-like pale fractures spread through space itself, forcibly locking the attack in place!
"Damn—too big… it backfired—!" Barret realized in shock that his own fighting style had betrayed him.
But Gern was already dragging Bahuang along Barret's arm, sparks and lightning trailing behind him as he surged forward!
"Too sluggish, Barret."
The blade erupted with blinding white light.
Where it passed, space was sliced apart like thin paper. Metal armor shattered at the molecular level, reduced to drifting powder!
BOOM!!
The steel giant's chest was cleaved open, exposing Barret's true body for a split second—
A black blade stabbed in. Barret barely twisted aside, but Gern's movement was instantaneous, like a teleport.
He appeared directly in front of him, gripping Bahuang's hilt wrapped in purple-black Haki. Vibrational particles condensed into a radiant blade, extending fifty meters outward.
"Heaven-Shaking · Fifty-Meter Great Blade… SLASH!!"
BANG!!
Barret's true body was smashed across the waist by the strike. His Armament armor shattered, and he was sent flying like a cannonball, staggering back repeatedly.
Using the recoil, Gern flipped backward through the air and landed lightly, slowly closing his eyes.
Bahuang dipped slightly. From the sword guard as a singular point, pale fractures—thick and gnarled like tangled roots—spread outward in a violent bloom.
For an instant, it resembled a massive ice flower frozen in midair.
"Heaven-Shaking…" Gern's voice was soft—
Yet it landed on the battlefield like a bomb.
The next moment, his figure vanished.
Barret's pupils shrank violently as he tried to defend—but it was already too late.
A pale blade of light descended like divine punishment, piercing heaven and earth!
Where it passed, space shattered silently. Time itself seemed to freeze for a heartbeat.
The steel giant never even had time to react.
Gern was already a hundred meters behind it, slowly opening his eyes.
"Divine Will Slash."
As the words fell, a perfectly straight white scar appeared across the giant's chest. Space tore open, revealing pitch-black nothingness.
Crack—crrrk—
The metal armor disintegrated piece by piece. The Fusion-Fusion Fruit's power was shattered at the molecular level.
The steel giant collapsed like a sandcastle.
"PUFF!!"
Barret's true body fell from the wreckage. He spewed a massive mouthful of blood, his knees buckling as he crashed heavily to the ground.
"Cough… cough…" He gasped violently, disbelief filling his eyes. "How… just now, I clearly—"
Gern walked toward him calmly, Bahuang angled toward the ground. He flicked his wrist lightly.
The scattered fragments of bandages in the air responded as if summoned, flying back and rewrapping themselves around the blade.
The gray-white cloth fluttered gently in the wind, as though it had never been severed at all.
Barret stared at the man approaching him. Blood still stained his lips—yet suddenly, he grinned.
"Ha… hahaha!!" His laughter was hoarse and unhinged. "This is… exhilarating!!"
"Drop the act," Gern said flatly. "Every emotion you have is written all over your face."
He raised his blade slowly, the tip pointing straight at Barret's brow.
"You lost again, Barret."
Barret sneered, meeting Gern's gaze without fear. Blood poured from his wounds, yet it couldn't suppress the madness radiating from him.
"Heh… hahaha!" He bared bloodstained teeth. "So what? Are you going to kill me?"
"Or parade me through the streets in Seastone cuffs like Roger, to broadcast your achievement?"
Gern didn't answer immediately. He simply looked at him.
Then—
Clang.
The black blade slid back into its sheath.
Barret frowned, surprise flashing across his eyes.
Gern spoke slowly. "Didn't you lose your purpose… and decide life had no meaning, so you chose to rampage?"
"…!" Barret's pupils shrank. His breathing faltered.
"You…"
"Then," Gern cut him off, "let me become your purpose."
His voice was calm—yet it carried an overwhelming, unquestionable pressure.
"You've lost to me twice."
"And Roger… was captured by me as well."
Barret's fists clenched violently, joints cracking. "Roger was never—!"
"But the fact is, he lost!" Gern's voice rose sharply, his gaze cutting like a blade."I brought him back alone! If he were truly a 'strong man,'then dirty tricks or schemes wouldn't matter—because before absolute power, none of those things mean anything!"
Barret gritted his teeth, fury churning in his eyes—yet he couldn't refute it.
Because Roger's decision from the very beginning… had been to die.
"And besides…" Gern stared at him, a wildly arrogant smile slowly spreading across his face.
"I'm certain of this—"
"I have the right to make you chase me for your entire life…because you can never defeat me!"
Barret's breathing grew heavy. Conqueror's lightning flickered faintly around him.
But this time, he didn't roar. He didn't argue.
He simply stared at Gern, as if trying to see through him entirely.
Gern extended his hand, palm up, eyes blazing.
"What Roger never showed you—why not…"
"Let me take you to see it."
"The so-called…view from the pinnacle of the world."
The sea wind howled. On the smoke-choked battlefield, Gern's voice thundered like a decree.
"To the demon of my 'Heavenly Calamity'…"
"Douglas Barret!!"
..
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