In but an instant, the radiance imbued with special power scattered like shattered starlight.
Two figures appeared at Luffy's sides in a flash.
But Saint Shamrock, lacking the corresponding means of perception, was just like Saint Garling before him—completely unable to sense the traces of Luffy's "Limbo."
"The real battle starts now!!!"
Luffy grinned. In the next moment, a violent pressure of wind abruptly burst forth around his body, surging outward in every direction like a vast tidal wave.
Sharp black lightning crackled within that savage gale.
In the blink of an eye, just like Saint Shamrock opposite him, Luffy wrapped Conqueror's Haki around both fists, then, with a rising aura, hurled his fists forward with all his might.
Boom!!!
The endless darkness that seemed capable of swallowing everything was swept by the shadow of Luffy's fists, only to scatter like shattered clouds and slowly fade away.
A dark current flickered in Saint Shamrock's eyes.
"And yet you dare dream of challenging the gods of this world? You have made the gravest mistake of your lives!!!"
Boom!!!
Endless darkness rose again, like a giant python awakening from slumber, rapidly coiling around the blade in Saint Shamrock's hand.
A bizarre and terrifying aura spread from the darkness, making quite a few people in the Straw Hat camp frown.
People like Uta and Nami still had relatively average foundations. In a battle like this, it was difficult for them even to keep their footing.
Fortunately, at that moment, Red immediately activated Psychic Power, enveloping everyone on the Straw Hat side and shielding them from the oppressive force released by the clash between Luffy and Saint Shamrock.
The next second, the tyrannical thunder-wreathed fist collided head-on with the mysterious sword cloaked in darkness.
In an instant, thunder roared like the wrath of a god, tearing apart the space around them.
Within the dark mist, Saint Shamrock, locked in a deadlock with Luffy, revealed an indifferent expression and spoke in a low, gloomy voice:
"It's useless!"
"Within my Dark Domain, all Devil Fruit powers are completely suppressed!"
"Even that strange fruit of yours with its weird will is no exception!"
"To be honest, you're just unlucky. If we were outside, my Dark Domain might not have been able to restrain you!"
"But of all places... you had to appear inside Pangaea Castle!!!"
The Room of Flowers was not small. It was as large as a small town.
At the same time, however, Saint Shamrock's strength was not to be underestimated.
His Dark Domain could easily cover an area the size of a town. Naturally, it could also envelop the entire Room of Flowers.
That was why he let out that mocking laugh.
Only...
"Don't use Shanks's face and voice to say such idiotic crap!!!"
Luffy raised his fist high and snarled through clenched teeth.
Then, under Saint Shamrock's astonished gaze, a surging force suddenly erupted from Luffy's body, like a volcano suppressed for far too long, violently overwhelming the blade in Saint Shamrock's hand.
"Megaton Punch!!!"
Boom!!!
A gale condensed from sheer momentum suddenly rose behind Luffy and blasted toward Saint Shamrock.
Caught off guard by Luffy's sudden attack, Saint Shamrock was sent flying without surprise by that Megaton Punch, crashing hard into a flourishing sea of flowers and carving a trench hundreds of meters long across the ground.
"Th-This... how is this possible?!"
Though he had not suffered serious injury, when Saint Shamrock stood again, his pupils contracted as he stared at Luffy in disbelief.
"That's impossible!"
"Your Devil Fruit power should already have been sealed by me!"
"Even if you could still use it, there's no way it should still possess this much power!!!"
Luffy lifted his head.
Even though he knew the man in front of him wasn't Shanks, seeing that face oppose him still filled him with irritation.
"That's why I said you're an idiot!"
Step!
Luffy kicked off the ground repeatedly, using the Shave technique he had long mastered by heart, and his body darted away at tremendous speed.
Saint Shamrock, wearing Shanks's face, cursed through gritted teeth, but he immediately raised the sword of darkness in his hand and frantically pushed his Observation Haki to the limit, trying to capture Luffy's movements.
"Got you!"
Suddenly, a glint flashed in Saint Shamrock's eyes. He abruptly turned toward one direction and swung his longsword toward it.
But in the very next second...
Bang!!!
Out of nowhere, a heavy punch slammed into Saint Shamrock's abdomen. The penetrating force instantly bent his body double, his face twisting with pain and utter disbelief.
Why!?
Wasn't Straw Hat Luffy supposed to be in that direction!?
Saint Shamrock was filled with confusion.
But before he could process it—
Bang!!!
Another heavy punch smashed down from behind him, slamming his hunched body straight into the ground.
After hitting the floor, Saint Shamrock had no time to think. His powerful combat instincts allowed him to quickly use the rebound from the impact to roll away.
And in the very next instant, the third heavy punch arrived right on schedule, crashing into the darkness-shrouded earth like a falling warhammer.
The entire Room of Flowers suddenly let out a violent hum.
If Saint Shamrock's Dark Domain had not wrapped around the Room of Flowers, that punch alone might have been enough to blast straight through Pangaea Castle.
"Your reactions are pretty fast!"
Luffy withdrew his fist and adjusted the slightly messy Straw Hat behind him, a trace of admiration appearing on his face.
Saint Shamrock, who had narrowly avoided the blow, quickly stood up, then cautiously glanced around. His Observation Haki remained on full alert, not daring to relax in the slightest.
Yet after a moment, he still found nothing unusual.
"W-What... what was that just now?!"
"Wasn't your power already unusable!?"
"Who said that?"
Luffy shot Saint Shamrock a puzzled look.
If he wanted, he could enter his Nika form at any time.
It was just that he wanted even more to try the kind of fist-to-flesh fighting style used by legends like Pirate King Roger and his grandpa.
Besides, even without his Devil Fruit powers, he still had Pokémon abilities!
The power of the Dark-Dark Fruit couldn't seal the Pokémon energy within his body!
"How is that possible...?"
Saint Shamrock ground his teeth, his expression no longer calm.
The power of the Dark-Dark Fruit could be called the nemesis of all ability users!
He had already tested that point on every ability user in God's Knights.
Otherwise, why would a Celestial Dragon who clearly knew the world would one day be drowned by the sea foolishly eat a Devil Fruit for power?
But... but...
There were only two possible explanations for this.
One was that the authority of the other party's Devil Fruit lay beyond the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit—possessing strength that did not fear darkness.
And Nika, as the legendary Sun God, being unafraid of the effects of darkness was at least understandable.
The second possibility was that the other party's strength far surpassed his own, so that even after using the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit, he still could not seal that power.
No matter which of those two reasons it was, Saint Shamrock could not accept it.
"Impossible! Darkness possesses the power to devour everything!"
"Even if you are the legendary Sun God, you cannot possibly possess the power to resist darkness!"
"Haaah!!!"
Humiliated and enraged, Saint Shamrock let out a furious roar.
In an instant, terrifying darkness erupted from his body with astonishing momentum.
In the blink of an eye, it covered the entire Room of Flowers.
Under the power of that darkness, every flower, tree, and blade of grass in the Room of Flowers was devoured completely.
Even the blue stone tiles on the ground sank slowly into the darkness as if they had fallen into a swamp.
At this moment, Saint Shamrock no longer cared about preserving Lord Imu's sacred flower-viewing grounds. He poured out power like a madman.
Clearly, he had realized that his father's disappearance had not been due to some careless mistake.
This band of pirates before him truly possessed powers and methods far beyond anything he could comprehend.
"Dark... World!!!"
Bzz~
In the blink of an eye, the entire Room of Flowers suddenly plunged into silent darkness, as though day and night had instantly swapped places.
Then Saint Shamrock's voice came from within the chaos.
"Darkness is emptiness!"
"Under the Dark World, all five senses are dulled and devoured. Even Observation Haki cannot let you 'see' the real world!"
"This time, let's see how you break it!!!"
The only one who could move freely within the darkness, Saint Shamrock lifted the longsword in his hand and prepared to slash toward Luffy as he spoke.
But just then...
"Light Up!!!"
A sharp cry suddenly rang out from the void-like darkness.
In the next instant, a dazzling burst of light pierced the darkness like a sword, illuminating the entire space once more.
For a moment, the entire Room of Flowers became an extremely bizarre place.
Every edge of the space was sealed by an incomparably black barrier of darkness, airtight and impenetrable.
Yet within the area enclosed by that darkness, an unknown source of light illuminated everything, revealing every last thing hidden inside.
And the source of this miraculous scene was none other than Nami, standing beside Red as she watched the battle from not far away!!!
Light Up—the Secret Technique from the Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! / Let's Go, Eevee! world that replaced Flash, used specifically to pierce the darkness of caves.
Because of the game version restrictions, in a single playthrough, each Secret Technique could only be learned by one person.
Though limited in that way, Secret Techniques were far more effective than ordinary moves.
Chop Down had allowed Zoro to step into the realm of a true swordsman and master flying slashes.
Sea Skim had given Sanji the ability to move atop water, helping him learn Six Powers · Shave more quickly.
Push Away had given Luffy much greater hand strength, essentially serving as a permanent increase in power.
Sky Dash, meanwhile, was a movement tool from the game world, used by them to explore the world. It was mainly convenient for Red.
As for the final Secret Technique, Light Up, since it did not suit the long-range Usopp, Red had casually used it on Nami instead.
At the time, Red hadn't paid much attention to Light Up's effects, since Nami had very few chances to use it.
He had never imagined that at a moment like this, this move from ancient times would suddenly prove useful.
"H-How is this possible?!"
Saint Shamrock's eyes widened, as though Shanks himself were standing before them, revealing a stunned expression.
Under the effects of Light Up, all the negative effects brought by darkness rapidly dissipated.
"Hah... I can see again!"
On the Straw Hat side, little Chopper murmured as the light returned.
Just as Saint Shamrock had said, that darkness had not merely blocked light and prevented people from seeing in the ordinary sense.
The power of the Dark-Dark Fruit contained every negative aspect humanity associated with darkness!
Even though Saint Shamrock's target was Luffy, Red and the others, who had been caught within the Dark World's range, had all suffered considerable effects as well.
Emptiness. Nihility. As though nothing had meaning, and all that remained in the world was endless sinking and ruin.
Who could have imagined that the power of the Logia Dark-Dark Fruit could not only create the physical effects of darkness, but also crush the mind itself?
Fortunately, Red's mental strength had long surpassed the standards of the pirate world thanks to the machine's support. The moment the darkness surged over them, he had immediately realized something was wrong, awakened Nami's mind with Psychic Power, and directed her to use Light Up.
Now, every effect brought by the darkness had vanished beneath the power of Light Up.
"What... what was that just now?!"
Luffy blinked in confusion.
He too had been affected by the darkness just now.
It was only because his strength was so great that the effects on him were relatively small.
Meanwhile, Saint Shamrock, whose ultimate move had been broken in an instant, stood there completely dumbfounded.
His proudest technique had been cracked before it could even fully show its effects...
This...
"Pfft!!!"
Suddenly, with rage and frustration surging into his heart, Saint Shamrock spat out a mouthful of blood and raised a trembling finger toward Luffy and Red's group.
"Y-You... you all..."
He had given up the pride and future of a Celestial Dragon, eaten a Devil Fruit for power, and yet the techniques he unleashed were broken one after another. None of the power he had imagined actually achieved any result.
At this moment, it was as if Saint Shamrock's very conviction had shattered.
A blood-red fury suddenly flooded his eyes.
"I'm going to kill all of you!!!"
Boom!!!
Enraged beyond all limits, Saint Shamrock raised the blade in his hand. Ignoring everything else, he swung his sword straight at Luffy.
Seeing this, Luffy instead revealed a look of relief.
"Now I believe it... you're definitely not Shanks!"
"Shanks would never show a face as ugly as yours!"
As he spoke, Luffy also swung his fists and rushed straight at Saint Shamrock.
With his control over Pokémon energy having reached a certain level, he had long since become capable of using various Normal-type and Fairy-type Pokémon moves without relying on the move list.
And Red, after clearing nearly 2.8 game worlds, already possessed more than a hundred TMs.
As a result, Luffy, without relying on the power of the Nika Fruit, fought like a true pure melee warrior against Saint Shamrock.
Every clash between the two was filled with contests of power and speed. Every collision rang out like thunder, deafening and explosive.
Saint Shamrock's strength was absolutely not weak!
At the very least, he was already on par with Emperor of the Sea Kaido!
Unfortunately...
The opponent he had chosen was a cheat-enabled... child of the world itself!!!
Unable even to crack Luffy's "Limbo: Border Jail," how could he possibly be Luffy's match at this point!?
The scales of victory quickly began to tip.
And the final glory of the World Government seemed on the verge of showing the first cracks of collapse.
(End of Chapter)