Amid all the chaos and noise, everyone remained focused on the enemies before them.
No one noticed that Uranus, looming at one side of the battlefield, had quietly stopped firing every one of its fearsome cannons.
The endless roar of artillery suddenly vanished, as though time itself had frozen.
"It stopped?"
"Something's wrong!"
"Don't tell me that thing's charging some kind of finishing move."
A mysterious and overwhelming power was quietly stirring.
All of Uranus's energy rushed toward the enormous main cannon at its center, converging like countless rivers flowing into the sea.
A dark-red pillar of light ten meters wide slowly began taking shape, silent and sinister like a demonic claw reaching out from the depths of hell.
Its color was as deep as congealed blood, radiating an eerie presence that chilled everyone who sensed it.
The terrifying energy compressed within the beam placed so much pressure on the surrounding space that tiny cracks began appearing around it.
Those fractures rapidly widened and spread, like fragile glass on the verge of shattering completely.
Space warped and released low groans, as though struggling in agony against a force capable of destroying the world.
"Hmm?"
Ron's sharp senses made him the first to notice that something was wrong.
His brows drew together, and a warning flashed through his eyes.
But before he could shout, the destructive red light erupted.
It awakened like a primordial beast, tearing silently through the vast sky with boundless rage and violence.
Everything in its path was swallowed by darkness. Even the surrounding light could not escape its grasp, as though the entire world had been dragged into an endless nightmare.
Its speed exceeded the limits of human thought.
In an instant, it crossed the distance separating them.
Its target was Jozu, who had just survived a brutal battle and exhausted nearly all his strength. He stood there gasping heavily, far too drained to avoid the sudden fatal strike.
"Jozu! Move!"
Marco roared until his voice nearly broke.
Blue phoenix flames erupted around him, transforming him into a brilliant streak as he rushed toward Jozu with everything he had, intending to shield him with his own body.
But it was already too late.
The horrifying red light arrived like lightning, engulfing both Marco and Jozu in an instant.
Beneath the sky, the ten-meter-wide beam of death descended over Jozu's head like a sword of judgment cast down from hell.
Before that irresistible power, his massive diamond body—once brilliant and seemingly indestructible—suddenly looked small and fragile.
He was no more than a grain of sand before the sea, liable to be erased at any moment.
Jozu jerked his head upward.
Shock froze across his face.
His eyes widened, and the scorching red light of destruction was clearly reflected in his pupils.
It stared down at him like the eye of a demon, filling him with a terror and despair unlike anything he had ever felt.
His mouth opened as though he wanted to shout, but the sudden shock caught the sound in his throat.
"No!"
Everyone's horrified screams rang out as the destructive pillar swallowed the enormous diamond giant without mercy.
Blinding radiance filled the entire area, stabbing painfully into everyone's eyes and making it impossible to look directly at the scene.
"Jozu!"
Marco screamed his name desperately.
His voice tore through the death-filled air like a blade, but the violent aftershock blasted him away like a raging tide.
No matter how hard he struggled, he could not move even a single step closer to that deadly region.
His body stumbled backward through the air, helpless panic filling his eyes.
Inside the ten-meter-wide pillar of destruction, Jozu felt as though he had been thrown into the core of a star.
The temperature surrounding him was beyond imagination.
Every trace of air had become flame, searing every inch of his body.
His diamond form groaned under the unbearable heat and pressure, each part of him producing strained sounds like countless tiny lives crying out in pain.
Fine cracks spread rapidly across his body like a spiderweb.
They grew deeper and wider, threatening to tear him into countless pieces.
The strength supporting his legs gradually vanished.
His knees struck the ground.
Blinding light burst from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose—a clear sign that the energy inside him had overloaded and was on the verge of collapse.
His body began turning transparent.
Within it, a violent energy storm could faintly be seen surging wildly, ready to blow him apart at any moment.
'Am I… going to die?'
His consciousness slowly blurred beneath the endless pain, and his thoughts fell into chaos.
He could feel his body fading little by little, as if an invisible force were slowly crushing him into dust.
"It hurts… My whole body feels like it's being ground apart…"
He forced the words out with great difficulty, his voice weak and trembling, filled with fear of death and reluctance to let go of life.
At that critical moment, time seemed to stop.
The whole world appeared to vanish, leaving only Jozu struggling alone beneath the unbearable attack.
Then countless precious memories surged through his mind like a magnificent film.
He saw his homeland, the winter island covered in endless white.
Freezing winds howled across the land, yet they could not wear away the glacier that never melted.
That glacier stood like the spine of the earth, vast and unyielding, carrying a cold and mysterious beauty along with all his childhood memories and deep longing for home.
Every icicle looked like a work of art carved by nature, shining with a faint blue light and telling stories of the passing years.
His memories continued moving.
They returned to the unforgettable moment when he first awakened the Twinkle-Twinkle Fruit.
Brilliant light surrounded him, as if the brightest star in the night sky had suddenly descended upon the earth.
It was so dazzling that no one could look directly at him.
That radiance contained limitless power and potential, as though announcing the beginning of an extraordinary journey.
The shock had reached the deepest part of his soul, allowing him to feel his life transforming into something greater.
Then—
Whitebeard's enormous, majestic figure appeared before him.