"Then let's give it a try, Teach." Whitebeard had also rediscovered a passion for battle during this fight, and the excitement in his voice was unmistakable.
How could Whitebeard possibly allow a man like Teach to continue acting so arrogantly?
The next moment, Whitebeard plunged Murakumogiri into the ground. As gravity pulled at his body, he did not forget to retrieve his beloved weapon. After all, he could not exactly allow the world to lose one of its Supreme Grade Blades simply because he had gotten careless in battle.
He raised both hands, spreading his fingers like claws. It looked as though he were tearing apart a curtain, yet his fingers suddenly "grabbed" the atmosphere itself.
Teach was extremely familiar with this technique, but what Whitebeard did now was far more terrifying. He was not merely grabbing the atmosphere. He was grabbing space itself.
"Get down here!"
Whitebeard roared as he suddenly pulled both hands downward. The air and scenery before him shifted in layers, as though the entire world had become a distorted painting being dragged from its frame.
More terrifyingly, space itself was torn downward by Whitebeard as though it were nothing more than a piece of cloth.
Teach was caught within that "cloth," and his body was dragged downward along with the distorted space. He immediately manipulated gravity to stabilize himself before being smashed into the ground.
The true battle had begun.
The power of the Dark-Dark Fruit continued to surge outward, and in an instant, the entire island was enveloped in darkness.
Whitebeard had already arrived before Teach could fully react. It was obvious that while Teach's dark power could not completely restrain Whitebeard, it could still interfere with his movements.
Black mist enveloped Whitebeard's feet, carrying the terrifying darkness that devoured everything. Even with Haki resisting its effects, Whitebeard's movements were still noticeably restricted.
Whitebeard, however, had already found a countermeasure. Just as he had done when descending from the sky earlier, he stepped upon space itself through his Tremor-Tremor Fruit, using the shattered space as footholds while rapidly closing the distance to Teach.
The level of the battle escalated once again, with both Whitebeard and Teach displaying powers that were even more terrifying than before.
And this power was the power of awakening.
The world's strongest combatants could clearly discern the change.
The entire world seemed to have fallen beneath a veil of darkness, while Whitebeard, for the first time, displayed methods he had never revealed before.
The torn space had yet to fully recover, and the world-destroying power that had long been associated with Whitebeard was only now truly revealing its terrifying nature.
Darkness surged violently. Under Teach's control, enormous black dragons formed from dark energy, each stretching over a hundred meters in length. Countless dragons appeared throughout the darkness, their sheer numbers making the entire battlefield seem like a sea filled with monstrous creatures.
Teach could have made them even larger, but there was no meaning in doing so.
Their ferocious faces emerged from the darkness, and the entire dark domain resembled a vast black ocean. The dragons sank into it and disappeared from sight, yet they were already moving rapidly toward Whitebeard beneath the surface.
The Sea of Darkness suddenly surged, enormous waves rising like a tsunami before sweeping toward Whitebeard.
Whitebeard responded with a single punch. Space shattered beneath his fist, and the terrifying dark tide was cleaved apart down the middle.
The power Whitebeard displayed at this moment caused fear and deep apprehension among the Marines, the great powers of the sea, and even the Emperors.
Everyone stared intently at the battle, especially Kaido and Big Mom, who had always harbored ambitions of challenging Whitebeard. They clearly understood that despite their own growth over the years, there remained a considerable gap between them and Whitebeard.
That gap became even more frightening when Whitebeard revealed the truly awakened power he had concealed for so long.
If Whitebeard's previous claim that he possessed the power to destroy the world had seemed somewhat exaggerated, then there was no room for doubt now.
The awakened power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit was simply too terrifying. Every punch could directly target space itself, and darkness could not devour space.
Whitebeard understood this as well. Pure tremor power had little effect against Teach's darkness because it would simply be swallowed, wasting stamina without accomplishing anything meaningful.
Whitebeard's figure passed through the split darkness, only for countless black dragons to immediately descend upon him.
These dragons were composed entirely of dark power and therefore inherited its ability to devour everything that came into contact with it. After the awakening of the Dark-Dark Fruit, this characteristic had been strengthened considerably.
Previously, Teach could only display this property when using "Darkness Devour."
Now, however, it had become an enhanced version of Darkness Devour. It was no longer merely a technique of releasing and absorbing darkness. Teach could remotely control the dark power itself, shaping it into physical forms and manipulating those forms from a distance.
His Dark Chains had previously required a direct connection to his body, but that limitation no longer applied to these awakened manifestations.
Sea dragons and enormous dark waves continuously attacked from every direction, surrounding Whitebeard. Even Whitebeard could not afford to ignore the terrifying power of the awakened Dark-Dark Fruit.
Whitebeard tore apart one of the black dragons, but it reformed almost instantly. Before he could react, another black dragon seized the opening and swallowed him whole.
With such an enormous number of attacks converging from every direction, even Whitebeard, whose Observation Haki could perceive the future, could not avoid every single one.
Although Whitebeard quickly tore himself free, it was obvious that he was not feeling well. The sensation of being squeezed from every direction by terrifying, crushing power was enough to cause even the world's strongest man considerable pain.
The terrifying ability to absorb everything that came into contact with darkness, then crush and pulverize it with seemingly limitless force, had now been materialized through the awakening of Teach's Devil Fruit.
Originally, Teach could only achieve such an effect by pulling his targets into the dark space.
Whitebeard understood that continuing to fight like this would only waste his stamina. If he failed to deal with Teach quickly, he would eventually be dragged down by this endless darkness.
His eyes flashed as he looked toward one direction. Whitebeard reached out and grabbed the air, and once again, the entire space was seized and violently torn open.
The entire dark domain looked like a piece of black cloth that had been ripped apart, a large section suddenly disappearing from it. Although darkness quickly surged back to fill the gap, Teach's figure had already been exposed.
"Gurararara! Teach, I found you!"
Whitebeard's Observation Haki had already locked onto Teach. Stepping onto the shattered space beneath his feet, he instantly launched himself upward, rising a thousand meters into the sky.
"I've never hidden in the first place. Come and get me if you dare!" Teach retorted without the slightest hesitation.
Although awakening had greatly increased his strength, it also caused his stamina to drain rapidly. The same was true for Whitebeard, and neither of them could maintain this level of power indefinitely.
Dense, powerful dark energy continuously emerged from Teach's body, swirling around him. Behind him, that darkness rapidly condensed into a colossal black dragon that soared into the heavens. Its enormous maw opened wide as it attempted to swallow Whitebeard whole.
Teach already knew what Whitebeard was preparing to do. Precisely because he understood this, he dared not underestimate his opponent in the slightest.
That astonishing collision from many years ago was still vivid in his memory.
This time, with Whitebeard's awakened ability, the coming strike would only be more terrifying. If Teach failed to block it, he would truly die.
A powerful sense of crisis surged through Teach, yet he refused to retreat. His entire body was burning with fighting spirit as he used Life Return to adjust his physical condition to its absolute peak.
Darkness flowed around him, and the greatsword Dragon Abyss, which had not seen the light of day for a long time, appeared in Teach's hand. The blade was immediately wrapped in a layer of dense darkness.
In this situation, Teach would have been an absolute fool to attempt to confront Whitebeard's awakened power with his bare hands.
Thus, the strongest collision of this battle began.
Whitebeard descended from the sky with terrifying momentum, his enormous body resembling a towering mountain pressing down upon the earth.
Both of their auras had reached their absolute peaks. At this moment, the entire world seemed to contain nothing except the figures of the Dark Emperor and Whitebeard.
Their weapons instantly turned black and red as they were enveloped in Conqueror's Haki, while both of their eyes seemed to burn with a crimson light.
The enormous black dragon opened its maw and swallowed Whitebeard whole. The terrifying dark power within it immediately erupted, attempting to crush and pulverize everything inside.
Whitebeard, however, swung Murakumogiri through the air with terrifying tremor power, and the enormous black dragon was instantly split in two.
"Teach!"
"Whitebeard!"
Teach had prepared himself completely, pushing his spirit, energy, and mind to their absolute limits. His Haki surged continuously, becoming so concentrated that it almost seemed tangible, while black-red lightning began to erupt around his body.
Under the terrifying pressure Whitebeard had placed upon him throughout this battle, Teach's aura finally transformed at this critical moment, and his overall might surged to another level.
The entire sky was affected by his power. Countless thunderclouds gathered overhead, followed by a terrifying spectacle of ten thousand thunderbolts roaring through the heavens, as though the entire sky were resonating with Teach's existence.
One particularly thick bolt of dark-purple lightning suddenly erupted from the clouds and descended upon Teach, completely engulfing his body.
Yet Teach remained unharmed.
Instead, the terrifying lightning was drawn toward Dragon Abyss and completely condensed upon the blade.
Far away on the Sabaody Archipelago, Rayleigh watched the scene with a somewhat surprised expression and could not help but exclaim, "Has he grown to such an extent?"
The Dragon Abyss Sword in Teach's hand glowed with terrifying lightning, the condensed power carrying a frightening spiritual pressure.
Teach took a single step, shattering the ground beneath his feet, and swung his full-power strike toward the sky.
"Boom!"
Both weapons were swung at the same time.
A shocking scene unfolded.
To what extent had their power reached?
The two blades did not even touch.
Their collision seemed to become the only light between heaven and earth. Terrifying forces intertwined and collided, forming a bizarre balance between the two combatants. Between the blades, spheres of light containing terrifying power continuously flashed into existence before being destroyed by the opposing forces.
Kozuki Oden, far away in Wano Country, witnessed this scene and could not help but recall the terrifying collision between Gol D. Roger and Whitebeard years ago.
How similar was this collision to that one?
Even though the darkness devoured most of the force generated by the clash, the commotion that escaped was still terrifying.
Teach gritted his teeth as blood slowly seeped from the corner of his mouth. The terrifying tremor force penetrated the dark energy covering his body and struck directly into his flesh.
Teach forcibly endured the pain, suppressing the agony as veins bulged across his forehead. The blood vessels in his arms burst one after another beneath the overwhelming force.
The balance was finally broken.
Whitebeard's power was simply too strong.
Although Teach had broken through at the critical moment and his attack power had increased dramatically, there was still a gap between him and Whitebeard.
The fact that Teach had managed to maintain the balance for so long was already a testament to his absolute commitment and full-power output.
Moreover, the tremor force invading his body was causing immense internal damage.
Teach's arm trembled violently, and the webbing of his hand split completely. He could no longer hold on.
Under Whitebeard's unparalleled power, the balance instantly collapsed, and Teach was swallowed by the overwhelming force in an expression of disbelief.
The extremely sharp blade slashed directly across Teach's chest.
Blood sprayed through the air as a terrifying wound was carved across his torso.
Teach's body flew backward like a meteor and crashed into the Sea of Darkness. Fortunately, the darkness itself did not cause him any additional harm.
The force behind Whitebeard's strike was so overwhelming that Teach could not even manipulate gravity enough to stabilize himself.
Even while flying through the Sea of Darkness, Teach continued hurtling backward for more than a thousand meters before finally slowing down.
Teach gasped for breath, a powerful sense of life-and-death crisis still gripping his heart. The sword wound across his chest was deep enough to expose bone, and even his sternum had cracked beneath the combined force of the blade and the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
Teach immediately began recovering from his injuries, continuously consuming stamina as Life Return operated at its peak. In a short period, nearly half of his injuries had already healed, and such recovery ability was almost terrifying.
He stopped the recovery process before it could consume too much of his remaining strength. At this point, every trace of stamina was precious, and he could not afford to waste any more than necessary.
The battle was not over.
Before his stamina ran out, Teach still had enough fighting spirit for one final exchange.
His figure flickered through the darkness as he charged toward Whitebeard with Dragon Abyss in hand. Both weapons were wrapped in Conqueror's Haki as they clashed once again.
The fierce exchange immediately reignited, with flashes of lightning constantly erupting between their weapons.
Both men tacitly stopped using their awakened Devil Fruit powers because maintaining them consumed far too much stamina.
Even without those abilities, however, their battle remained terrifyingly intense.
By the fifth day of the battle, Teach's stamina had rapidly depleted, his injuries had worsened, and he was already approaching his limit.
The suppression Whitebeard exerted over Teach had become increasingly obvious, and Teach knew that the time had come.
"This is my last move, Whitebeard."
Teach spoke with unusual seriousness as his body remained suspended in the air, continuously forcing his dwindling stamina toward its absolute limit. Terrifying dark power erupted from his body once again.
The light dimmed.
Whitebeard immediately sensed an even more terrifying power and could not help but raise his head.
Dark energy was continuously condensing within Teach's hand, growing larger and larger. The massive sphere rotated slowly while carrying an astonishing devouring gravity that distorted the surrounding air.
"Dark Sun!"
A black sun appeared above the battlefield, containing terrifying power. As Teach continued pouring his strength into it, the Dark Sun grew larger and larger, rapidly expanding until it covered the already ruined island beneath him.
"How, how could this be?"
Someone stared at the terrifying scene with contracted pupils. Even from a distance, the sight alone was enough to fill them with overwhelming fear.
They could not imagine what would happen if such a technique descended upon their own heads. There was only deep despair.
The black sun radiated terrifying dark gravity, devouring everything around it. Anything drawn into its range would be crushed and pulverized by the overwhelming darkness.
This was fundamentally different from the Star of Destruction.
The Star of Destruction represented pure, extreme gravity, whereas the Dark Sun represented the extreme of darkness while incorporating the terrifying power of dark gravity.
This was Teach's final strike, a technique that condensed all his remaining stamina. It was also a technique developed from the enhanced dark power brought about by his awakening, drawing inspiration from his original "Dark Emperor" technique while pushing its destructive power to an entirely different level.
Whitebeard could not avoid such a terrifying attack through ordinary movement. Even if he could tear space apart, he could not simply tear apart something as enormous as the Dark Sun.
If he could not block it, Whitebeard would be swallowed by the darkness, crushed by its terrifying power, and potentially dragged into the seawater below. The island had already collapsed, and a massive amount of seawater was pouring into the ruined battlefield, leaving very few places where he could even stand.
Teach already knew that he had lost this battle, but he still wanted to see how Whitebeard would respond to his final attack.
Would Whitebeard take it head-on?
Or did the world's strongest man have another method?
The Dark Sun descended continuously, sinking through the sky like a falling meteor, yet it was far more terrifying than any meteor. This was a mass of darkness that devoured everything in its path.
Whitebeard looked up at it and could not help but laugh.
"Are you going to give such a big gift before you leave?"
Despite the joke, Whitebeard did not dare take the terrifying strike head-on. The Dark Sun was fundamentally different from the Star of Destruction, and he understood that even his awakened Tremor-Tremor Fruit could not casually withstand it.
However, Whitebeard naturally had a way to deal with it.
Terrifying tremor power erupted from his body once again. Stepping upon space, Whitebeard flew rapidly toward the outside of the island.
As the Dark Sun descended, Whitebeard repeatedly tore through space, using spatial interstices to avoid the Dark Sun's terrifying crushing and pulverizing force. Through a series of spatial tears, he finally broke free from the range of the attack.
The Dark Sun plunged directly into the sea.
Under the overwhelming force of Teach's final technique, the already ruined island completely disappeared.
After unleashing this final strike, Teach turned away without hesitation and flew back toward the Nightfall Pirates' fleet.
Whitebeard likewise returned to the Whitebeard Pirates, bringing this earth-shaking battle between the Dark Emperor and the world's strongest man to its conclusion.