Lloyd's technique was clearly modeled after Doflamingo's legendary Sixteen Holy Bullets, God Thread. However, in this timeline, Doflamingo was no longer the user of the String String Fruit, making it impossible for that technique to ever come into existence.
As Luffy stared at the eight black spears floating behind Lloyd, their razor-sharp tips radiating a chilling darkness, disbelief slowly spread across his face.
Only now did he realize how ridiculous his earlier sense of accomplishment had been.
He had exhausted every ounce of strength just to block one casual attack from Lloyd.
Now, faced with a technique several times more terrifying than the last, what could he possibly use to stop it?
His own life?
Even that probably would not be enough.
Instinctively, Luffy called out to Joy Boy in his heart.
But the ancient will remained completely silent, as though deliberately watching him struggle alone.
The humiliation cut deeper than any wound.
Lloyd slowly moved a finger.
The eight dark spears shifted in unison, their points locking onto Luffy.
Luffy swallowed hard.
The injury on his shoulder reminded him that even his current Nika form was not invincible. If one of those spears struck a vital point, not even the Drums of Liberation would be able to save him.
Before he could think of a solution, a desperate scream echoed across the battlefield.
In the distance, Lindbergh stumbled backward.
A furry severed arm fell from the sky and landed heavily before him.
Lucia advanced through the battlefield, her long sword wrapped in violet flames. Beneath their glow, her cold and flawless features seemed almost unreal. Like a Valkyrie descending from legend, she approached step by step.
Having lost another arm, Lindbergh could no longer stand.
He collapsed onto the ground, staring blankly at the approaching Admiral.
Despair filled his eyes.
From the initial bombardment to the brutal close-quarters slaughter, the Revolutionary Army had been all but wiped out. Gravely wounded and utterly exhausted, he now had to face an Admiral like Lucia.
Koala had been right.
Today truly was the end of the Revolutionary Army.
He simply had not expected everything to change so quickly.
Only moments ago, they had been the ones surrounding Vice Admiral Garp.
Now, they themselves were trapped by an even more overwhelming force.
Watching Luffy desperately confront Lloyd in the distance, the last thread holding Lindbergh together finally snapped.
"I still couldn't change anything... How much longer will this world remain under the rule of those damned Celestial Dragons...?"
Whoosh!
A cold blade came to rest against his neck.
Lindbergh slowly raised his head.
He met Lucia's enchanting purple eyes, eyes that regarded him as nothing more than worthless trash.
"A group of insects daring to challenge the rule of a god."
Lindbergh let out a sorrowful laugh.
"God? You mean those Celestial Dragons?"
A trace of disdain appeared on Lucia's face.
"You misunderstand. Only the Young Master deserves to be called a god."
The words had barely fallen when a streak of violet sword light flashed across the battlefield.
A furry head flew through the air.
Blood erupted from Lindbergh's neck as his body collapsed heavily to the ground.
His death marked the fall of the Revolutionary Army's last senior commander.
The final bell had rung for the entire organization.
The few surviving revolutionaries who still resisted completely lost their will to fight. They were swallowed by the advancing Navy and cut down where they stood.
Their deaths were unimaginably tragic.
The Navy of this era, from the Fleet Admiral down to the lowest soldier, was filled with hardliners. Unless specifically ordered otherwise, their default policy toward enemies was simple.
Leave no survivors.
This time, they went even further.
Not only did they leave no one alive, they left behind almost no intact bodies.
Every one of them carried the same fury in their hearts.
They were avenging Vice Admiral Garp.
With the Revolutionary Army annihilated, only Luffy remained, along with the hidden Nami, Chopper, and Brook.
Their hiding place was quickly discovered.
Brook and Chopper immediately stepped forward to shield Nami.
Without hesitation, Chopper pulled out a Rumble Ball.
Just as he was about to swallow it, Luffy suddenly shouted,
"Chopper! The Rumble Balls!"
Chopper froze.
Taking advantage of that instant, Luffy exploded forward with all his strength.
He slammed one foot into the ground, using its elasticity to launch himself like a white meteor toward Chopper.
At the same moment, Lloyd spoke.
"Eight-Headed Serpent Divine Punishment."
The eight dark spears shot forward simultaneously.
Luffy twisted and bent his body, desperately evading them, but no matter how he dodged, the distance between them continued to shrink.
Seeing this, Chopper stopped hesitating.
He pulled out an entire handful of Rumble Balls and threw them into the air.
Luffy opened his mouth wide and lunged toward them.
The instant he swallowed every Rumble Ball, the eight dark spears caught up.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
All eight pierced straight through his back.
"Luffy!!!"
Nami's desperate scream echoed across the battlefield.
Luffy shut his eyes tightly as blood soaked the white fabric across his back.
Lloyd narrowed his eyes slightly.
With a simple downward gesture, the eight spears drove Luffy from the sky and smashed him into the earth below.
His figure vanished beneath a cloud of dust.
Then, a moment later.
A blinding pillar of white light erupted from underground and pierced the heavens.
Crackling streams of Conqueror's Haki lightning wrapped around the beam.
Within the brilliant radiance, a figure slowly became visible.
Lloyd clicked his tongue.
He raised one arm.
An endless tide of darkness surged around him, condensing into a pillar of black light that rose to meet the white one.
One black.
One white.
The two towering columns stood opposite each other, as though the world itself had split in half.
The surrounding space began to distort.
Suddenly, a black blade burst from the darkness and shot directly into the white pillar.
A deafening explosion followed.
The white light shattered into countless fragments before fading into the sky.
Luffy's figure emerged once more.
His head was lowered.
One hand tightly gripped the black blade.
The wound across his palm released no crimson blood.
Instead, white steam poured from the cut.
The sword trembled violently before dissolving into black liquid, flowing away from Luffy's hand and returning to the dark pillar.
The darkness slowly contracted.
It gathered behind Lloyd, forming two torrents of black shadow.
Holding the Demon Blade Muramasa, Lloyd silently watched Luffy.
At last, Luffy slowly raised his head.
His eyes had completely transformed into twin spheres of white light.
Across the skin exposed beneath his torn clothes, countless white cracks had spread, covering his body like an intricate web.