Whitebeard's final words echoed violently through Gern Reginald Sigmar's chaotic mind.
Don't look back… The era is always changing.
Yes.
To wallow in regret over a battle left unfinished — that was no longer the posture of a man walking toward the summit.
Choice existed only in an instant.
In that single heartbeat, all the confusion and unwillingness in Gern's eyes faded away.
What replaced it was the will of "Heavenquake" — the ambition to dominate, to command, to stand above all.
And it burned brighter than ever before.
He did not look again at Whitebeard's resting form.
That tangle of emotions — respect, regret, longing — he sealed it away, burying it deep within himself.
"Buzz—whoosh."
His right hand opened.
The black blade Eight Desolations, which had fallen to the ground, let out a resonant hum — obedient, almost eager — and transformed into a streak of black lightning that flew back into his grasp.
At that exact moment—
Golden Lion Shiki's cross-shaped slash descended from above!
Gern did not even fully turn around.
With perception and reflexes that defied common sense, he lifted Eight Desolations in a clean, rising reverse-diagonal cut.
"CLANG—!!!!!"
Oto.Kogarashi.Eight Desolations.
They collided violently.
Purple, gold, and crimson Haki intertwined and tore at one another in a frenzy.
The shockwave shaved yet another layer off the already shattered ground around them.
Gern held firm against Shiki's all-out strike.
He lifted his head, his gaze calm as he met Shiki's bloodshot eyes.
Shiki stared back, teeth grinding.
"Gern… you were waiting for this moment, weren't you?"
"Answer me, damn you!"
He was a tyrant of the seas, a mastermind who had ruled for decades. Arrogant, yes — but never foolish.
At this point in the war…
Whitebeard's fall.Gern's positioning.His own current predicament…
Connected together, a chilling truth surfaced.
From the moment his severed legs had been healed… from the moment the ship's wheel had been removed from his skull…
Golden Lion Shiki may have already become—
A crucial chess piece on Gern's board.
A piece meant to bury the old era.
And crown the new one.
Gern neither confirmed nor denied it.
He simply twisted his wrist slightly, knocking Oto and Kogarashi aside, and spoke in an even tone.
"I won't leave you alone, Golden Lion."
He slowly raised Eight Desolations, its tip pointing directly at Shiki — a silent pronouncement of the old era's final destination.
"The remnants of the legendary age…"
"I will personally lay them to rest."
As his words fell—
Eight Desolations trembled.
The already ruined Marineford split cleanly in two beneath its edge, the battlefield torn apart and isolated.
"Come, Shiki."
"You are one of the most magnificent sacrifices…"
"…I have prepared for this era."
"Most magnificent sacrifice…? Jihahahaha—good!!"
Shiki laughed in fury.
His final pride and madness ignited completely.
"Then let me see if you're worthy of saying that!!!"
With a violent motion, he tore off his tattered kimono.
Across his chest, the scar remained — the one Gern's blade had carved into him years ago.
"If you can—"
"Cut me down again like you did back then, you Marine brat!!"
"Lion's—Thousand-Slice Valley—Chaos!!"
Oto and Kogarashi whirled in a frenzy.
This was no single slash.
In an instant, hundreds — thousands — of golden flying slashes erupted outward.
They did not charge in a straight line.
They came from every direction — above, below, left, right — tracing erratic, treacherous trajectories as they converged upon Gern in a murderous storm.
Yet Gern's eyes remained icy.
He did not unleash a grand display of Devil Fruit power.
Instead, he simply moved.
Eight Desolations spun before him, its blade vibrating at high frequency.
Each motion was minimal — a point, a lift, a deflection, a guide.
He walked forward as though strolling.
One by one, the incoming slashes were intercepted, redirected, or severed.
Incredibly—
With a single man and a single blade—
He dissolved the raging storm into nothing.
"It's not over!!" Shiki roared.
His twin swords plunged downward.
"Floating Island—Fall!!"
Under the power of the Float-Float Fruit—
Far out over the sea, several massive chunks of debris — once part of Marineford's plaza — shuddered violently.
They rose.
Then began to descend.
...
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