"Is that brat Kuzan's ability?!""Did the Marines send another admiral as backup?!"
Kaido circled in the air, staring at the bizarre ice pillar that pierced heaven and earth, a flash of suspicion crossing his mind.
After all, an ice effect of this magnitude immediately made him think of another Marine admiral—"Aokiji" Kuzan.
But the thought had only just formed—
When the next scene completely shattered it.
On the surface of that colossal ice pillar, a figure wrapped in dark-violet Conqueror's lightning was racing upward along the vertical ice wall at a speed the naked eye could barely follow!
The speed was so extreme that a chain of afterimages was dragged out behind him—
It was Gern!
As he sprinted upward, he suddenly flung his right hand wide toward the distant ruins!
"VMMM!"
The black blade Bahuang, embedded among broken rocks far away, let out an excited hum—as if answering an invisible summons.
With a sharp clang, it tore itself free, transforming into a streak of black light that crossed space in an instant and flew precisely back into Gern's grasp!
The moment the blade returned to his hand—
Gern's aura surged again, undergoing a qualitative transformation!
The pale-azure vibration patterns that had spread like ice crystals abruptly changed color—
Becoming a blazing, violent orange-red, like magma from the planet's core!
The extreme heat distorted the surrounding air itself!
At the same time—
Dark-violet Conqueror's lightning and the crimson lightning of top-tier Ryuo Armament erupted together,
Fusing with the orange-red vibration patterns into a storm of destruction woven from black, red, and orange energy—
Completely enveloping Gern!
From afar, he looked like a hellish meteor ascending against fate itself—
Wrapped in thunder and inferno, charging straight toward Kaido the Azure Dragon in the clouds!
All of this happened in an instant—
In the blink of Kaido's eye, Gern had already used the ice pillar as leverage and his terrifying speed to leap up—
Reaching a height level with Kaido's dragon head—
No—
Even higher!
"KAIDO!!!!!!"
Gern let out a roar that shook the heavens.
Both hands clenched around the black blade Bahuang—now scorching hot—as he raised it high above his head!
"Heavenquake?! You—!"
Kaido's massive dragon pupils shrank to needle points.
From that blade, he felt a threat unlike anything he had ever sensed before.
At that moment, Bahuang's blade began to疯狂 absorb the three interwoven energies—
Violently vibrating, extending, expanding!
In the blink of an eye—
It transformed into a gigantic flame-forged energy blade over a hundred meters long, its entire form burning orange-red and wrapped in black-and-red lightning!
The searing heat was so intense that even the clouds in the sky began to evaporate!
"Not fond of using your Boro Breath to melt everything?!""You son of a bitch!!"
Gern's face was filled with savage battle intent as he hurled the most direct insult and declaration straight at Kaido's enormous dragon head.
"Then I'll return the favor to you—right now!!!FUCK YOU!!!"
"Quakeflame—"
The instant the words fell, Gern twisted his waist and core with explosive force, his body spinning through the air in a motion brimming with raw power—
Swinging that hundred-meter Quakeflame greatblade down with a momentum that could cleave the sky and incinerate the seas!
"DIVINE FIRE: ECSTATIC DANCE!!!!"
The sky—
Was ignited.
Was split apart.
The hundred-meter flaming blade that divided heaven and earth carved down with unstoppable force—
Slashing straight through Kaido's colossal azure dragon body!
"SHRRRAAAAK!!!"
The sound was like fabric tearing—
Magnified tens of millions of times!
Where the blade passed, space itself was left with momentary, scorched裂痕.
Even Kaido's seemingly indestructible dragon scales appeared fragile before this strike!
The wound completely overlapped the cross-shaped scar left by Oden!!
Overwhelming pain instantly drowned Kaido's senses.
His dragon eyes flew wide open, the light in his pupils vanishing as the whites briefly showed through!
This slash carried far more than mere physical damage—
It contained vibrational shock to the internal organs, infernal burning, and the crushing dominance of Conqueror's Haki on the spirit itself!
For a single instant—
Kaido's consciousness fractured, plunging into blankness.
And in that fleeting moment of fading awareness—
Gern's gaze, filled with absolute killing intent—
Cold as eternal ice, yet blazing like hellish magma—
Was branded deep into Kaido's mind.
That gaze…
Made him feel as if he were seeing many shadows at once…
Was it Rocks, wild with ambition, seeking to conquer the world?Was it Roger, carefree and laughing as he opened the Age of Pirates?Was it that fool of a lord, Kozuki Oden, obsessed with opening the country, wielding twin blades in blazing glory?Or was it Edward Newgate, who stood at the pinnacle, valuing family above all else?
No.
None of them.
In this moment, Kaido realized with absolute clarity—
There were no longer any other men's shadows on this one.
Because he—Gern Reginald Sigmar—
The power he displayed, the will he embodied, the pure, overwhelming destructiveness he wielded—
Had reached a height that even Kaido, from the depths of his soul, was forced to acknowledge—
Even to tremble before.
This was a man…
A man truly capable of fighting him to the death—
A man who might even push him into destruction itself.
Worthy—
To stand alongside them.
"ROOOOOAAARRR!!!"
Snapping back from the momentary blackout, indescribable agony intertwined with an equally indescribable thrill—
Driving Kaido to unleash a world-shaking dragon roar filled with pain and fury!
But his massive azure dragon body—
Having suffered catastrophic damage—
Lost the power to remain airborne.
Like a colossal serpent struck from the heavens, it plummeted toward the nearby sea!
"SPLAAASH!!!!"
A deafening crash echoed as towering waves exploded skyward!
Kaido of the Beasts—the 'Strongest Creature in the World'—was cut down from the sky by Gern's blade.
Upon the sea's surface—
Only the slowly fading trace of the Quakeflame slash remained…
Watching Kaido's immense dragon form crash into the ocean, sending a pillar of water soaring into the air—
Gern slowly descended from the sky.
His boots touched down once more upon the shattered land, scarred by scorch marks and ice crystals alike.
The hundred-meter Quakeflame blade in his hand had already dispersed, returning to the black blade Bahuang—
Though faint orange-red flames still danced along its surface.
Gern casually swung the blade sideways.
"Whoosh!"
A wave of scorching wind pressure swept past, instantly extinguishing the remaining flames, leaving only the pitch-black blade faintly glowing.
Immediately after, strips of cloth appeared in the air, rewrapping themselves around Bahuang.
Gern reversed his grip and slid the sword back into its place at his waist.
"…It's over."
He spoke the three words calmly, with no particular joy or excitement in his tone.
Because he knew very well—
The end of this battle wasn't entirely because he had truly "defeated" Kaido.
More than that—
Kaido himself had been satisfied.
Gern had long heard of Kaido's bizarre habits—to the point that among the top-tier powerhouses of the sea, it was practically an open secret.
This so-called "Strongest Creature" had his own unique "dueling etiquette."
When a fight became sufficiently exhilarating, when the opponent showed strength worthy of his acknowledgment—
Or when Kaido himself was injured to the point where he felt he had had his fill—
If he happened to fall into the sea and temporarily lose the ability to fly or resist…
He would, quite surprisingly, become extremely "cooperative," allowing himself to be "captured."
And then?
Then came the classic "Kaido of the Beasts jailbreak combo."
Whether it was Marine execution grounds or some other prison—
He would always find an opportunity to break free, wreak havoc, and successfully escape—
Returning to his drinking, and searching for his next bit of "fun."
In a sense, this could even be considered Kaido's own twisted version of a vacation or life experience.
So Gern understood—
Kaido falling into the sea did not mean total defeat.
It simply meant that this sudden, earth-shaking clash at the pinnacle of power—
Had been brought to a temporary pause.
That monster would soon crawl back out of the sea—
Or be fished up by his subordinates—
And then disappear for a time.
Gern looked at the ocean surface, gradually returning to calm despite its devastation, and shook his head.
"If that had really been a fight to the death…""I probably wouldn't have come out of it much better either."
"…Seriously, how the hell does Luffy beat this guy in the future?""Is it because rubber people really don't feel pain?"