A black equilateral cube, roughly ten meters wide and radiating an ancient aura, manifested out of thin air, enveloping Whitebeard. Its faces were lined with numerous strange, blade-like energy constructs.
In the next instant, Sean suddenly clenched his fist.
The obsidian blades on the surface of the Kurohitsugi lunged inward simultaneously.
The sight sent a shiver down everyone's spine. They couldn't help but think: trapped inside like that, wouldn't Whitebeard be turned into a sieve in a heartbeat?
"Father!" Marco screamed hoarsely. He had been subdued by Lucci and was pinned firmly against the ice.
He was powerless to act. Several Marines had already arrived with Seastone, shackling his hands and feet. His strength drained away, leaving him to watch helplessly. The other Division Commanders who had been defeated and captured were in the same predicament.
A few seconds later, the attack ended. The Kurohitsugi began to collapse, revealing the scene within.
A collective gasp echoed across all of Marineford.
Whitebeard was down on one knee, leaning on Murakumogiri to steady himself. His body was riddled with at least a hundred bloody holes. Blood poured from his wounds unrestrained.
To Sean's surprise, the man had not lost consciousness. Not only was he awake, but the fighting spirit still burned fiercely in his eyes.
'As expected of Whitebeard,' Sean thought.
After Bankai, Sean had received a twenty-five-fold increase in Reiatsu. He had exhausted three bolts of Tenbatsu Raitei to unleash Tenkō to suppress him, and finally, while Whitebeard was unable to defend himself, he had launched a full-power Hadō No. 90: Kurohitsugi.
Yet, Whitebeard had endured it. Though he had been severely wounded, he had undoubtedly survived.
Despite being a pirate, the old man's poise in battle earned Sean's respect.
"Whitebeard, I must admit, you are truly worthy of the title 'The Strongest Man in the World,'" Sean declared. "As a mark of my respect, I will use my strongest technique to see you off. You shall be the first person on these seas to draw out my Full State!"
"Not even Rayleigh or Hawkeye received such an honor!"
Hearing this, the fighting spirit in Whitebeard's eyes flared even brighter.
"So that wasn't even your full power... It seems everyone has underestimated you!" Whitebeard bellowed. "Come then! Though the New World no longer has a ship capable of carrying me, I still want a magnificent curtain call for the old era!"
As he spoke, Whitebeard forced himself to stand. He stood tall and straight, without a single tremor in his body.
At that moment, a strange thought occurred to the Marines and the people watching the broadcast around the world. Even though he was a pirate, they found it impossible to hate him.
A powerhouse—especially an unyielding one—always commands a certain instinctive respect.
Sean nodded at Whitebeard's resolve. His eyes narrowed, and a terrifying surge of Reiatsu erupted. The five bolts of lightning orbiting him responded as if summoned, racing toward the Hekireki in Sean's hand.
One... two... three...
As the final bolt merged into the weapon, the Hekireki seemed unable to contain the colossal energy and shattered. At least, visually, it appeared to break. However, the energy did not dissipate with the destruction of the vessel; instead, it surged toward Sean, merging completely into his body.
Then, everything fell silent.
Suddenly, everyone lost the ability to sense Sean's presence. It was as if a master had been crippled and reduced to a mere mortal. There was no pressure, no killing intent. If they couldn't see him standing there, they would have assumed he had vanished or died.
This sensation caused the powerhouses present to frown in confusion. Even Whitebeard looked deeply perplexed.
"Kid, is this your 'Full State'?"
"That's right. Whitebeard, are you ready for the curtain call?"
"Bring it, kid! Let me see what kind of tricks you're playing!"
"Then... here I come!"
Sean nodded and gave a slight push off the ground. In the next instant, he vanished as if he had never existed.
Whitebeard's pupils shrunk. He hadn't seen how Sean disappeared, so he immediately activated his Observation Haki to search for him. But unfortunately, even with Observation Haki... he could not perceive Sean's existence.
'Did this brat actually vanish?'
The thought was absurd, but even Whitebeard began to consider it.
"Father, look out! Behind you!" Marco screamed.
Whitebeard was confused. Behind him? His Observation Haki had caught nothing.
Just as he thought this, a colossal force slammed into his back. Whitebeard was launched forward like a cannonball, hurtling deep into the heart of Marineford.
The Admirals, Sengoku, and Garp were stunned. Their eyes could clearly see Sean appear behind Whitebeard, yet their Observation Haki had detected nothing. This was simply illogical.
Before their shock could subside, Sean gave another light tap with his foot and vanished again, following Whitebeard's trajectory.
Whitebeard was currently soaring through the air at an incredible speed. He didn't know how he had been hit, and he couldn't figure it out. However, just as he was attempting to negate the impact and stabilize himself, Sean reappeared.
This time, he appeared directly in front of him. Sean reached out, clamped his hand onto Whitebeard's neck, and exerted full force, slamming the massive man downward!
As Whitebeard plummeted at high speed, he triggered a sonic boom in mid-air before smashing violently into a small building below.
BOOM!
The impact was more powerful than the 380mm main guns of Sean's battleship. The three-story building was instantly leveled, and the resulting shockwave flattened dozens of surrounding structures.
Sean looked down at the devastation and seemed unsatisfied. He adjusted his posture in the air, flipping himself upside down with his feet pointing upward. He didn't fall; he remained stationary in the sky.
Then, he bent his legs slightly, as if he were stepping on a solid platform rather than thin air. The sight left everyone breathless.
With a violent kick, he launched himself downward.
The moment Sean dove into the cloud of dust and debris, a scene even more terrifying than the last unfolded.
RUMBLE...
Countless shards of rubble soared into the sky, some reaching heights of several hundred meters.
Following this, an even more terrifying shockwave swept through the surrounding area.
This sector had originally been the officers' residential district of Marineford Headquarters. Approximately thirty percent of it had already been demolished by Whitebeard's descent, but this latest sonic boom leveled the remaining seventy percent, reducing everything to a wasteland of dust and debris.
Shortly after, a massive figure hurtled out from the clouds of smoke, flying straight toward the main Headquarters building.
Seconds later, more than half of the building collapsed.
With dust and stone still rolling in thick waves, it was impossible for anyone to see exactly what was happening inside the chaos.
'''
Amidst the ruins, Sean suddenly appeared.
He looked down at Whitebeard, who lay broken in the debris, his breath rattling in his chest, barely clinging to life.
Sean released his Bankai, and Hekireki condensed back into its physical form, reappearing in his right hand.
Just then, a hand suddenly thrust upward from the rubble nearby. A figure slowly crawled out.
Who else could it be but Blackbeard?
"Sean, you're too ruthless! I almost died right then and there!" Blackbeard complained, his face twisted in resentment.
The plan was simple: he would hide here, and Sean would "deliver" the dying Whitebeard to him.
But for heaven's sake... was this what he meant by "deliver"?
Flying toward him like a human cannonball? No, a cannonball wouldn't have had nearly this much destructive power.
Blackbeard was already heavily injured himself. Having a massive man like Whitebeard crash into him was nearly fatal. If he hadn't reacted quickly, he would have been crushed instantly. Even so, he had nearly been buried alive.
This was going too far!
"Stop whining and get it over with," Sean snapped. "If the Admirals get here, you won't get another chance."
"Zehahahaha! I know, I know! Leave it to me!"
At Sean's reminder, Blackbeard remembered why he was here. He burst into loud laughter and strode toward Whitebeard.
"Whitebeard, old man, you've really fallen hard. But don't worry—I'll inherit your power!"
"The New World will still have its Four Emperors; that will never change! Zehahahaha!"
With that, Blackbeard prepared to make his move. This time, he didn't bother covering the process with a black cloth as he had in the original timeline. There was no need for secrecy.
Sean already knew he could strip Devil Fruits from users, and he knew that he himself could withstand the power of two fruits. There was nothing left to hide.
Blackbeard drew a dagger from his waist, aimed it at Whitebeard's heart, and plunged it in with a vicious thrust!
In the next instant, Whitebeard's eyes snapped wide open.
Blackbeard leaped back, startled out of his wits.
"I'm sorry, old man! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please spare me!"
Terrified, Blackbeard collapsed to the ground, clutching his head and begging for mercy.
Sean stared at him, utterly speechless. He knew Blackbeard was a coward beneath his bravado, especially when facing someone stronger than himself, but this was pathetic. No matter how much he feared Whitebeard, there was no excuse for this level of cowardice.
Sean stepped forward and delivered a sharp kick to Blackbeard's side.
"What are you doing? Whitebeard is dead. Get on with it!"
"Ah! Right! I'm on it, I'm on it!"
'Damn Whitebeard, still scaring me even in death!' Blackbeard grumbled, gritting his teeth in annoyance.
But his annoyance was quickly replaced by excitement. The Tremor-Tremor Fruit... was finally within his grasp!
"Dark Water!"
Blackbeard raised his hand toward Whitebeard and activated his ability.
In certain aspects, the ability of the Dark-Dark Fruit was remarkably similar to Seastone; both exerted an extreme suppression over other Devil Fruit powers.
Sean began to understand exactly how Blackbeard stripped the fruits. In essence, the concept was similar to the Seastone chamber Sean had constructed. After a user died, Blackbeard used the suction of the Dark Water and the suppression of the Dark-Dark Fruit to prevent the power from escaping, ultimately forcing it to bind itself to a designated fruit.
A moment later, Blackbeard produced a Devil Fruit from his clothing.
"Is this the Tremor-Tremor Fruit?" Sean asked.
"That's right. But Sean, you aren't going to try and steal it from me, are you?"
"Of course not. I keep my word. I said you could have it, so you have it."
"Zehahahaha! Now that's what I call decisive!"
Laughing loudly, Blackbeard didn't hesitate and took a massive bite out of the fruit.
A few seconds later, feeling the surge of energy within his body, Blackbeard raised his right hand. A white halo appeared around his fist, identical to the aura Whitebeard had produced when using the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
Overcome with excitement, he immediately wanted to test his new power. He slammed his right fist into the air beside him.
The space... cracked!
A massive shockwave of vibration began to ripple outward.
'Rumble...'
The remaining small fraction of the Marineford Headquarters building... was finally wiped off the map.
"Ow! God, it hurts!!!"
The moment his triumph ended, Blackbeard collapsed to the ground, rolling in agony.
"You idiot," Sean scolded. "You're already severely injured, and you decide to trigger the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power? Are you insane?"
Just then, a door manifested in the air—the work of Blueno.
"Get in there now," Sean ordered. "In your current state, even with the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, you couldn't beat a single Admiral."
"I know!"
Blackbeard shuddered. He was indeed heavily wounded; a simple test of the fruit had ripped open his existing injuries, causing excruciating pain. Forget an Admiral—he probably couldn't even handle an elite Vice Admiral right now.
Enduring the pain, he scrambled to his feet and stumbled through the door.
The door vanished, leaving only Sean and the corpse of Whitebeard.
Looking at the old man's wide, staring eyes, Sean suspected that seeing Blackbeard deliver the final blow had left him filled with regret.
"Don't worry, old man. That guy Teach won't last another minute."
'''
Outside Impel Down, aboard Sean's battleship.
Blackbeard stepped through the door, but the scene before him left him confused. He was standing at the entrance of a pitch-black room.
Wait... this black material... is this all Seastone?
Before he could process what was happening, a boot slammed into his back, kicking him violently into the room.
The black door slammed shut behind him.
"Begin," Sean commanded.
"Yes, Officer Blueno!"
A barrage of gunfire erupted inside the black room.
Two minutes later, when the door opened again, Blackbeard lay in a pool of blood, his life completely extinguished.
In the corner of the room, two Devil Fruits remained.
The Logia: Dark-Dark Fruit.
The Paramecia-type: Tremor-Tremor Fruit.