*Shing!*
The flames gradually weakened until they extinguished, and Allen abruptly pulled out his longsword.
The blade was as pristine as ever; even under such fierce flames, it hadn't warped in the slightest.
Teach's eyes rolled back as he nearly lost consciousness. His entire body was scalding red, and wisps of white smoke billowed from his facial orifices.
At this moment, his insides were riddled with holes, his internal organs already burned black and carbonized.
*Thud!*
Teach's body slowly collapsed backward, lying motionless on the ground as his life force gradually faded away.
Allen glanced down at Teach on the ground and noticed his fingers were still twitching slightly. Wisps of black mist began to seep from his skin, flowing toward various parts of his body.
"What tenacious vitality. Unfortunately, you won't get any chances."
Allen's gaze was icy. He slowly raised his longsword, aimed it at Teach's throat, and swiftly thrust it down!
*Squelch!*
A spray of blood splashed into the air. The tip of the blade accurately pierced through his windpipe and embedded into the ground. Allen twisted his wrist, turning the blade, and then flicked it upward, slitting Teach's throat on the spot.
This time, Teach's presence vanished completely.
"And here I made several backup plans. It turned out to be easier than I imagined."
A cold smirk tugged at the corner of Allen's mouth as he sheathed the famous sword Kashu.
*'No wonder Blackbeard liked to launch sneak attacks. Playing dirty is simply faster than walking the righteous path.'*
Donquixote Doflamingo descended from the sky, landing in a crouch on a collapsed, broken wall nearby. He laughed teasingly,
"Fuffuffuffu, casually killing a Warlord of the Sea... how clean and efficient. With this, I suppose our cooperation is officially established, right?"
"Hahahaha, of course. Didn't you know I've always been one to keep my promises?"
Allen responded with a smile, his eyes fixed on Doffy, a meaningful smirk playing on his lips.
Doflamingo was highly valuable to him, especially with that underground business network spread across the Grand Line, and particularly the New World.
If he could track down the reborn Flame-Flame Fruit somewhere in the world after Ace's death, there was naturally hope he could find the Dark-Dark Fruit as well.
Having previously replicated Teach's constitution through his ability, he could now consume two more fruits. Among them, the Dark-Dark Fruit was his absolute top priority.
The technique to seal other Devil Fruit abilities, along with the power to absorb damage—these two abilities alone were incredibly tempting to him.
In Allen's eyes, Teach's development of the fruit was far from brilliant.
The fundamental power of the Dark-Dark Fruit was gravity and absorption.
Teach had been so obsessed with plundering Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit that he completely neglected its offensive capabilities, using the Dark-Dark Fruit merely as a supplementary combat ability. It was a reckless waste of a divine gift.
Yet, its most strategically valuable aspect was the ability to steal the Devil Fruits of other users. Teach had never demonstrated this, and it was likely that the vast majority of people were still completely unaware of it.
If he could obtain the Dark-Dark Fruit, he could hunt down ability users and secure more powerful fruits for the rest of his crew.
Retracting his thoughts, Allen's lips curled up slightly as he spoke to Doffy,
"We'll discuss the details once I enter the New World. Leave me a way to contact you after things wrap up here."
"Fuffuffuffu, of course. No problem at all."
Doflamingo smiled playfully.
Allen's strength was not the least bit inferior to his own. With this reliable ally, his chances of breaking free from Kaido in the future had grown significantly.
...
In the distance, the fleeing members of the Blackbeard Pirates all ground to a halt.
"Gulp... Teach..."
"Is he... dead...?"
"Hey, you've got to be kidding me."
Seeing Teach killed, Burgess and the others felt their throats bob as they couldn't help but swallow hard, their faces and eyes filled with sheer disbelief.
Shiryu, Catarina, and the other prisoners from Impel Down were relatively unfazed. They hadn't shared much of a bond with Teach to begin with and merely felt a bit of lament over this outcome.
However, original crew members like Burgess gritted their teeth and glared over after recognizing Allen's identity.
"Demon Lion Allen... it's this bastard again!"
The battle at the City of the Spring Queen last time had left an incredibly deep impression on them. Even now, they harbored a grudge and were constantly looking for an opportunity to exact their revenge.
Yet, they never expected that Allen was thinking the exact same thing.
He had made all sorts of preparations long before they even returned from Impel Down, and he had opened with a fatal killing strike right off the bat!
"Damn it! If it weren't for all these Marines, I'd really want to kill that bastard right here!"
Burgess growled in a low, furious voice.
Hearing this, Laffitte, despite his astonishment, couldn't help but shoot him an admiring glance before advising,
"Let's leave the revenge for next time. Now is clearly not the time to tangle with him. We are retreating."
With that said, the pair of white wings on Laffitte's back flapped as he turned and fled the Marines' encirclement.
The others quickly followed suit.
Akainu glanced at them but made no move to stop them.
Teach had already been dealt with, and the remaining stragglers couldn't make any waves. Compared to that bunch of small fry, he had a much more important target right now.
Akainu turned around, speaking to Whitebeard in an icy tone, "Watching your son die right in front of your eyes... that must be a terrible feeling, isn't it?"
"Heh, even now, you still don't forget to mock me? Save your breath if you're just going to run your mouth, magma brat."
Whitebeard held onto Murakumogiri with one hand, his face pale with weakness as he propped up his body, staring at Akainu with a mocking gaze.
Even now, he didn't deny that Teach had once been his son.
In his eyes, Teach had done wrong—so wrong that he needed to pay with his life. This was also his own fault and responsibility as a father.
But the fact that Teach was once his son was something Whitebeard would never flatly deny.
"When a man gets old, he easily gets sentimental about the past. My days are numbered anyway. If, in my final moments, I can do something more for these foolish sons of mine..."
Whitebeard gritted his teeth, forcefully straightening his battered, blood-soaked body that was riddled with holes, and bellowed,
"Taking my life won't be that easy! Bring it on, magma brat!"
"You're courting death! In that case, just die!!"
Akainu roared furiously as he charged forward. He raised his hand, transforming it into molten rock, and violently threw a punch!
"Hound Blaze!!"
The magma expanded rapidly, generating a powerful explosive force that extended his fist outward. The front of the magma morphed into a ferocious, snarling dog's head that bit forward viciously!
Facing this powerful attack, Whitebeard didn't even spare it a glance. Instead, his eyes swept across the entire battlefield before he hoisted Murakumogiri high into the air, imbued it with the power of tremors, and swung it out in a fierce horizontal slash!
With this strike, Whitebeard unleashed his tremor power with all his might. A shockwave resembling a Flying Slash shot out and crashed down onto Oris Plaza!
*BOOM!!!*
The air shattered, and the sky trembled. In an instant, the entirety of Marineford shook violently!
On Oris Plaza, which had been reduced to a battlefield, a massive fissure suddenly tore open, continuously extending across the earth.
"Run!!"
"Watch out ahead!!"
"Don't fall in!"
"Is Whitebeard going berserk?!"
The chasm continued to widen. This sudden, massive upheaval caught everyone's attention.
Whether pirate or Marine, everyone turned their heads to look toward the source of the fissure.
Whitebeard's eyes shone with absolute resolve. Gripping his massive naginata, he stood alone at the edge of the abyss, leaving the pirates with nothing but his towering, steadfast back.
Allen took one last look at Whitebeard, already knowing his intentions. It was obvious he was prepared to lay down his life to create an opportunity for his subordinates to escape.
He didn't pay any more attention to it. Turning back to glance at Teach's corpse, he conjured flames and incinerated it to ashes.
With this, the Summit War had come to an end for him.
Whitebeard was destined to die. Without him, the remnants of Whitebeard's forces simply wouldn't be able to uphold his banner.
Although Marco, Diamond Jozu, and the others were formidable, they ultimately wouldn't be able to resist the other Four Emperors. Sooner or later, their territories would be completely devoured by other factions.