The sky slowly closed.
The black lightning that had torn through the heavens faded piece by piece, until the battlefield returned to a grim, suffocating silence.
"Insects…"
Only the Gorosei remained standing.
Their grotesque forms were riddled with wounds, yet their cold, inhuman eyes looked down with disdain at Whitebeard, whose life force had completely vanished, and at the man standing calmly beside him, Shirogai Yamikuro.
"Your attacks, just like your resistance, are meaningless."
Without warning, eerie black flame clouds surged again.
The areas that had been torn apart moments ago restored themselves entirely. Cracked earth sealed shut, shattered flesh regenerated, and not a single scar remained.
"It healed again!!! They recovered instantly!!!"
Emporio Ivankov's mouth fell open, lipstick smeared as disbelief twisted his expression.
"These monsters… are they really unkillable?! Is Shirogai going to be dragged into a battle of pure attrition against creatures like this?!"
Nearby, Dracule Mihawk narrowed his eyes.
The world's strongest swordsman stared at the skeletal horse-shaped Gorosei, its body wreathed in black flames and completely unharmed.
When they had exchanged blows earlier, Mihawk had felt it clearly.
That was not ordinary swordsmanship.
It was a killing intent rooted entirely in death itself.
"Insects remain insects," Saturn, the God Warrior of Defense, spoke slowly.
His distorted eyes burned with black flames as he stared at Shirogai, as though another presence was gazing through him from somewhere far beyond.
"Even if you struggle until your last breath, you will never wound a god."
"Heh."
Shirogai smiled faintly.
His gaze met Saturn's eerie stare, and his lips curved upward with quiet amusement.
"Imu seems pleased."
His voice was calm, almost casual.
"Another Joy Boy erased from history, right?"
Saturn did not respond.
He simply stared.
Far away, at the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.
Inside a vast, silent palace.
A slender figure sat upon a towering throne.
Her gaze was fixed not on the empty hall before her, but on the distant battlefield, on the lone figure standing before Saturn.
Her lips moved slightly, no sound escaping them.
"…Interesting."
Back on the battlefield, Saturn spoke again, his tone unchanged.
"Imu finds you interesting, Shirogai."
"Imu will have you."
"What a coincidence."
Shirogai's eyes gleamed faintly as if he could see through Saturn, straight to the one pulling the strings.
"I was thinking the same thing."
"Maybe you'll end up as part of my collection too."
From the distance, Enel, still trapped in lightning form, screamed internally.
Yes, yes, that collection, I know it well!
"Capture him."
Imu's command echoed directly within the minds of the five Gorosei.
"He is to be taken alive."
"As you wish."
"We shall obey."
Without hesitation, the Gorosei moved as one.
"Leave him barely breathing!"
Warcury, the God Warrior of Law, transformed into a colossal warthog. He roared as he charged, lowering his massive head and driving his tusks straight toward Shirogai.
Boom!
Shirogai took a single step forward.
He placed himself directly in front of Whitebeard's unmoving body.
"So charging blindly is all you know."
He extended one arm and casually grasped the incoming tusk.
"Stop."
The battlefield froze.
The mountain-sized warthog halted mid-charge, its massive body unable to advance even a single step.
"What?!"
"With strength like this, you think you can defeat me?"
Shirogai pressed his palm against Warcury's tusk, his voice light, almost mocking.
"If Sanji were here, he'd probably be excited about such rare wild game."
"Roar!!! Insolent insect!!!"
Warcury struggled violently, his hooves tearing into the ground.
He could not move.
Not even an inch.
"Arrogant pirate," Saint Mars, the God Warrior of Environment, descended from the sky.
His massive claws, wrapped in black flame clouds, slashed downward as his voice rang with contempt.
"Even if you are the strongest pirate, the gap between us is absolute. An insect cannot defy gods!"
Boom!!!
What happened next made every witness feel their scalp go numb.
With one hand, Shirogai lifted Warcury's colossal body.
Like swinging a weapon.
He slammed the warthog upward.
Saint Mars was struck mid-descent and sent flying like a broken kite, his massive body hurled across the battlefield.
Clap!
Before anyone could react, Shirogai continued.
He swung Warcury again, smashing the skeletal horse-shaped Gorosei out of its charge.
Then he turned and slammed the body downward, crushing the sandworm-shaped Gorosei that had tried to ambush from below.
Crack!
A thunderous impact echoed.
Warcury's enormous body skidded across the ground, tumbling violently before crashing to a halt.
For several seconds, he could not rise.
"Is that it?"
Shirogai dusted off his hands and looked at the five Gorosei with open disdain.
"These are gods? I expected more."
"I think this insect you despise can wipe you out completely."
Black flames ignited once more.
The Gorosei regenerated again, their wounds sealing shut in seconds.
"Pathetic creature!" Saturn roared.
A massive spider leg stabbed forward, slamming into the ground inches from Shirogai.
"No matter how many times you strike us down, it is meaningless! In the end, you will be the one who falls!"
The five monsters charged again.
Again and again.
Each time they were sent flying, crushed, or torn apart.
Each time they recovered instantly and returned.
From afar, the reactions were grim.
"No… it's happening again…"
Whitebeard's pirates stared in despair.
"Pops isn't moving… he's already…"
Tears streamed as their hope collapsed.
"Shirogai will be worn down just like Pops!"
"How is Ace?!"
Jozu turned sharply toward Marco, who had just exited the infirmary.
Marco clenched his jaw.
"His body is stable, but his mind took too much damage. No response at all."
"And Straw Hat?"
Marco closed his eyes.
"All internal organs were burned beyond recovery. There's no saving him."
The two commanders exchanged a look filled with pain.
"Pops…"
Marco took to the sky in phoenix form, his voice hoarse as he looked down at Whitebeard's towering, lifeless figure.
"He's probably already…"
Jozu slammed his fist into the deck, shattering the Marine emblem beneath it.
"Damn it! I'll avenge Pops!"
"I'm going to help Shirogai deal with those five monsters!"
===
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