Though it was only for a heartbeat, the moment the strike was parried, Diarmuid's hand had already gripped the hilt of Kokorowatari.
"Break!" Diarmuid growled.
Pressing his wrist down, he used sheer brute force to suppress the slash, forcibly rerouting its trajectory. The powerful shockwave plowed into the ground, disappearing into the earth and leaving behind a perfectly smooth incision.
Diarmuid wasn't the only one targeted. Kuzan, who had just frozen two "Bartholomew Kumas," had been shattered into a pile of ice shards.
Standing before those shards was the curly-haired member of the Gorosei, the one who usually remained silent. His cane was coated in an incredibly dense layer of Armament Haki! He had successfully landed a sneak attack, shattering Kuzan in that split second.
Meanwhile, the blond Gorosei had his hand curved like a claw, imbued with Haki, gripping Gion's arm. However, looking at the lightning flickering across Gion's skin, it was clear she had actively defended against the strike. Her reaction speed was significantly faster than Kuzan's.
Sengoku faced the bearded Gorosei. The old man landed a punch squarely on Sengoku's stomach, but the Fleet Admiral was radiating golden light. Without a doubt, the moment the sneak attack began, he had entered his Buddha form. Despite his serious expression, he appeared largely unscathed.
Only Borsalino and Sakazuki remained unattacked, likely due to a simple lack of numbers on the enemy's side.
"Arara... am I the only unlucky one?" Kuzan's silhouette reformed behind the curly-haired Gorosei. White steam rose from his body, and a biting chill exhaled from his nostrils. He looked thoroughly annoyed.
Seriously? They attacked four of us at once, and I'm the only one who actually took a hit? Where's my dignity?
"Give me a break. You old farts are really going to risk your lives? Aren't you afraid of throwing out your backs?" Diarmuid flicked Kokorowatari, looking at the bald Gorosei standing nearby, clutching a long katana.
Compared to Kokorowatari, that blade was exceptionally cursed. Even from a distance, one could feel an ominous aura radiating from it.
"We have no choice," the sword-wielding Gorosei said in a deep, somber tone. "We didn't want this. The situation only reached this point because you Marines betrayed us."
"I told you, it's because you guys are useless," Diarmuid mocked. "How are your knees? Not too sore from all that kneeling, I hope?"
"Hmph. You could never understand the greatness of Imu-sama. It is she who has kept this world stable for eight hundred years!" the elder retorted with indignation.
"You really are a 'Kneeling Noble,' aren't you?" Diarmuid said, feigning surprise.
"There is no explaining it to a brat like you," the elder spat. He stepped forward, his figure blurring as he lunged at Diarmuid.
With his move, the other three joined the fray. Borsalino and Sakazuki, however, didn't move. They stood calmly in the center of the chaotic battle, acting as observers and anchors. After all, no one knew if more strange reinforcements were hiding in the shadows...
"I'm forty years old, old man!" Diarmuid parried a slash from the bald elder, his tone slightly exasperated. Just because I look young, you all assume I actually am?
Before the Gorosei could speak, Diarmuid changed the subject. "I've been curious for a while... is that blade the Shodai Kitetsu?"
"You actually know of the Shodai Kitetsu?" the elder asked, surprised. His attack speed accelerated, engaging Diarmuid in a blur of close-quarters combat. A storm of steel clashed between them.
Yet Diarmuid remained composed. With his peerless reflexes, he methodically intercepted every strike.
"Why? Is it so strange to know about it?" Diarmuid asked while counter-attacking.
"This blade hasn't appeared in the world for over three hundred years. It has been held by our hands, generation after generation..." the elder explained while hacking away.
"I see..." Diarmuid responded. After a brief pause, he asked, "Do you know what my blade is called?"
The elder delivered a heavy vertical slash. The force of the blow pushed Diarmuid back half a step. Taking advantage of the space, the Gorosei leaped back, sheathing the Shodai Kitetsu and sinking his center of gravity into an Iaijutsu stance.
He was preparing a finishing move.
"It's nothing more than a cursed blade," the elder said calmly.
In truth, he didn't know much about Diarmuid's sword. He didn't even fully grasp Diarmuid's true strength; he had only heard that he was the "Strongest Admiral in History" and had faced off against Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Kaido. Theoretically, he was the strongest man in the world.
But after this brief exchange, the elder didn't feel any overwhelming pressure.
The Gorosei had detailed files on all top Marines—Sakazuki, Sengoku, Gion, etc. But having the files and actually studying them were two different things. They had never expected to be enemies with the Navy, so they usually just skimmed the reports.
If he had paid attention, he would have known that for years, Diarmuid's nickname within the Marines was the "Half-Baked Swordsman." The elder had assumed that because Diarmuid wore a sword, he was a master of the Way of the Sword. By judging Diarmuid through the lens of his mediocre swordsmanship, he had completely miscalculated the man's overall combat power.
"Right. As you said, its name is Kokorowatari. It is indeed a cursed blade," Diarmuid said, flicking his sword. He didn't interrupt the elder's focus, standing there with complete indifference.
"Kokorowatari?" The elder blinked, a flash of recognition in his eyes. "The Donquixote family's Kokorowatari?" Before Diarmuid could answer, the elder's gaze hardened with resolve. "To try and shake my will with such words... how foolish."
Diarmuid: "???"
Shake your will? You've misunderstood something. I was literally just making small talk!
"Isshin-style Secret Technique. True Self: Frost Heart Slash!" the elder hissed.
As his voice fell, his presence, energy, and spirit condensed to a singular peak. In the next second, a cold light flashed. The Shodai Kitetsu unsheathed with a piercing, frigid momentum.
He moved with a steady, deceptively simple gait, yet each step created a sense of unpredictable displacement. Several afterimages trailed behind him, making it nearly impossible to track his true body.
Even as a "half-baked" swordsman, Diarmuid could feel that this man's technique was at a pinnacle. It wasn't for show. As the blade cleared the scabbard, Diarmuid could feel his "Intent."
Authority, resolve, supreme power!? Faintly, Diarmuid sensed the "strength" the elder wished to project through his Sword Intent.
Sword Intent might sound mystical, but top-tier swordsmen usually mastered this power. Much like Roronoa Zoro's "demonic aura," it was a force that could shatter a foe's spirit and inflict "wounds" that even Logia users couldn't heal through elementalization. It was a way to influence the opponent's mind. [1]
The inscription on Kokorowatari's blade described it perfectly: "Rend the flesh, sever the soul."
Seeing Diarmuid seemingly frozen and shrouded by his Sword Intent, a flash of joy crossed the elder's eyes.
He's not much after all, is he? The "World's Strongest" is only at this level? I feel like even I could take him. Perhaps I was already at the level of the "Strongest" all along, but years of office work prevented me from testing my limits?
"Die!" Believing his hit was guaranteed, the Gorosei let out an arrogant shout.
That shout seemed to "wake" Diarmuid from the strange Sword Intent. However, to the elder's confusion, Diarmuid didn't look panicked, nor did he look relieved to have escaped the intent. Instead, he looked annoyed, frowning as if he had just discovered something interesting only to be rudely interrupted.
What is this? You're about to be cut down!
Clang!
The Shodai Kitetsu struck Diarmuid's body. The sensation of a solid hit was definitely there. But the elder's expression turned horrific.
The texture of the strike was all wrong! It didn't feel like cutting into flesh. It felt like hitting indestructible steel.
"Is that it?" Diarmuid whispered.
The Shodai Kitetsu was lodged against his shoulder, angled to slice upward and take his head. It was a perfect decapitation strike. But there was no blood.
Diarmuid had coated himself in a layer of invisible armor—Conqueror's Haki. Beneath that, he had even activated Tekkai. He had prepared for a devastating blow, especially given how impressive the previous sneak attack had looked.
As it turned out, the strike couldn't even bypass the defense of his Conqueror's Haki. Tekkai hadn't even been necessary.
"How is this possible?" the elder stammered, his mind in a state of chaos.
"Nothing is impossible. You're just an ignorant bastard. I overestimated you," Diarmuid said. He reached up and pinched the blade of the Shodai Kitetsu between his fingers. His tone was pure disdain. "This move... it's a Secret Technique of the Shimotsuki Isshin-style, isn't it? To use it like this in your hands is a disgrace."
The elder tried to wrench the blade from Diarmuid's grip, but it wouldn't budge. Based on his expression, Diarmuid had hit the mark. He was using a style descended from Wano's Shimotsuki clan, the same style taught by Koshiro-sensei in the East Blue.
Gripping the cursed blade, Diarmuid's eyes slowly turned pitch black, the darkness swallowing his whites entirely. With the gaze of a demon, he stared down the Gorosei. The elder felt a primal terror take hold; his body trembled, and though he tried to move, he was paralyzed.
It wasn't physical restraint. He was being suppressed by Diarmuid's sheer presence.
Swordsmen weren't the only ones with "Intent." Intent was merely a form of presence, and every top-tier powerhouse had their own. Shiki had his wild arrogance. Roger had his kingly, unbridled aura. Whitebeard had the soul-crushing dominance of the "World's Strongest."
The aura Diarmuid projected now carried shades of Newgate's "Invincibility," but it was laced with a sense of "Absolute Power and Absolute Might."
"Die," Diarmuid said softly.
The words were quiet, but the pressure was staggering. As he spoke, a powerful surge of darkness erupted around the Gorosei. Rubble and debris previously swallowed by Diarmuid's darkness were spat out, swirling into a small-scale Planetary Devastation that sealed the elder instantly.
Then, the dense dark energy, coupled with gravitational pressure, collapsed inward...
A muffled sound of something being crushed echoed through the haze. Then, dark red blood began to seep out from within the black sphere.
Another Gorosei... dead.
[1] The "demonic aura" is about Zoro's swordsmanship style, obviously.