Imu's will had only descended upon and taken control of Saint Nusjuro's body—it had not fully replaced him, nor perfectly fused with him.
The original owner of this body possessed a highly developed Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit.
That included refined hybrid transformations… and the swordsmanship of a supreme master.
Clearly—
Those things were not something Imu could fully inherit or precisely control.
And so, when faced with Gern severing its head and issuing that blatant provocation, Imu could not display the strongest hybrid form of the Mythical Zoan.
Instead—
It chose a far more direct, far more brutal method… one that better aligned with the nature of its own existence.
"SKREEEEEEE!!!"
A shriek burst forth—
A horse's cry that belonged to no living creature, steeped in death and ill omen.
It erupted violently from the headless body of Saint Nusjuro!
The sound was sharp—piercing—unnatural.
And then—
The body mutated.
Bones swelled, twisted, proliferated wildly!
In an instant, it abandoned its human shape entirely, transforming into a colossal skeletal horse dozens of meters tall!
But it was not Nusjuro's skeletal steed.
Over the pale bones—
A layer of black, shriveled skin rapidly spread, clinging tightly to the frame.
No flesh.
Just skin stretched over bone.
Its surface was etched with grotesque patterns, as though woven from countless wailing souls.
It was a beast that had crawled out from the depths of hell itself—
A massive horse radiating overwhelming death.
At the same time, within the hollow eye sockets of the skeletal skull—
Dark red, reincarnation-patterned eyes formed.
The only "living" part of its body.
"ROOOAAARRR!!!"
The skin-wrapped bone horse threw its head back and roared.
Its four massive hooves slammed down—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The island trembled violently!
With that roar, an even denser, more suffocating tide of Underworld frost erupted outward from its body!
Yellow flame-clouds surged like a tidal wave.
Wherever they passed—
Rock cracked.
Everything they touched froze over with deathly frost.
All things withered.
All things died.
The surroundings rapidly turned into a frozen domain of extinction.
And yet—
Faced with this overwhelming transformation and the surging tide of death—
Gern did not retreat.
Instead…
He slowly closed his eyes.
He was sensing.
Analyzing.
Confirming a hypothesis.
One breath later—
His eyes snapped open!
Gone was all hesitation.
Gone was all probing.
Only absolute calm… and focus remained.
"BUZZ!!!"
At the same time, the air within several meters around Gern began to vibrate at a strange, stable, high frequency.
"Heaven-Shaking Domain!!!"
Whether it was the creeping Underworld frost—
Or drifting dust, or scattered residual energy—
The moment anything tried to enter that space…
It was instantly shattered, repelled, erased by the high-frequency oscillation!
The awakened power of the Heaven-Shaking Fruit—
An absolute defensive field!
A barrier formed from vibration particles, isolating all abnormal energy and physical intrusion!
Then—
As the monstrous skeletal horse charged forward, cloaked in death and frost—
Gern moved again.
Both hands gripped Bahuang tightly.
All his power condensed into a single point.
And toward that massive target—
He unleashed a simple, lightning-fast draw slash!
"SHHK!"
A dark gray blade-light carved a perfectly straight path.
No earth-shattering impact.
No explosive clash.
Because—
Just as Gern had predicted—
This "skin-wrapped bone horse," forcibly shaped and remotely controlled by Imu's will…
Had a terrifying appearance.
An overwhelming aura of death.
But in terms of true combat skill, reaction speed, and defensive instinct…
It was pitifully weak.
It didn't dodge.
It didn't block.
It simply charged forward—
And allowed Bahuang's blade to pass cleanly through its enormous body—
Splitting it neatly in two.
Rumble…
The bisected corpse collapsed to either side, kicking up clouds of dust and frozen debris.
But in the very next moment—
That dark crimson energy surged again.
The two halves were pulled together as if by invisible threads.
Black skin and bone regenerated frantically at the cut.
Within a few breaths—
A complete skin-wrapped skeletal horse rose once more.
It roared silently at Gern.
Its hooves scraped the ground.
Preparing yet another crude, mindless charge.
Gern stood still.
He slowly lowered his blade.
Watching the creature endlessly regenerate, yet seemingly capable of only two actions—
Restore. Charge.
A glint of understanding flashed in his eyes.
He understood now.
Imu was powerful.
Unfathomably so.
Its essence and authority likely far exceeded imagination.
But—
This remotely descended will, forcibly using Nusjuro's body as a vessel…
Its combat capability was entirely different from its true status and threat level.
This body—
Was more like a battery.
A cannon platform.
It could unleash overwhelming energy—
It could regenerate endlessly—
But the refined skill, battle instinct, and real-time reactions that belonged to Nusjuro himself…
Were almost completely absent.
Imu clearly was not adept at—or perhaps did not care for—fine control of a physical body in high-level combat.
In other words—
What belonged to someone else… would always remain someone else's.
Imu merely had permission to enhance and control the body.
And for Gern—
That was a massive opening.
"I see…" Gern murmured softly, a cold smile curling at his lips.
"So this so-called 'god'…"
"…isn't very good at fighting personally."
His gaze sharpened as he looked at the charging beast once more.
"In that case…"
"As long as my attack speed and destructive power exceed your regeneration limit…"
"You'll be stuck in an endless loop of recovery."
"And unfortunately for you—"
"I just happen to wield one of the most destructive abilities there is."
With that realization, Gern's fighting style changed instantly—
Aggressive.
Precise.
Purpose-driven.
When the skeletal horse charged again—brute force, no technique—
Gern didn't clash head-on.
Nor did he evade passively.
The ground beneath his feet exploded as he leapt into the air, effortlessly avoiding the clumsy yet powerful attack.
Midair—
His eyes sharpened.
Both hands gripped Bahuang.
The blade pointed downward—
And stabbed violently into the earth below!
"BUZZ—BOOOOM!!!"
Vibration power surged downward!
From the point of impact—
Eight massive torrents of pale vibration erupted like awakening dragons, surging in eight directions!
The ground split open like fragile petals—
Ripping apart—
Bulging upward—
Forming eight bottomless chasms that instantly swallowed the skeletal horse and everything around it!
The edges collapsed inward!
Crushed!
Buried!
Area control. Terrain manipulation. Movement restriction.
And at the very moment the vibrations raged, dust filled the air, and the skeletal remains began to stir at the bottom—
Attempting to regenerate again—
Gern descended from above.
With a powerful spinning kick—
He struck the end of Bahuang's hilt!
"SHOOOM!!!"
The blade shot downward like a bolt of dark lightning—
With a thunderous clang, it pinned the half-regenerated skeletal body firmly into the rock at the bottom of the chasm!
The blade sank deep—
Its violent vibrations constantly disrupting the regeneration!
Conqueror's Haki—targeted suppression! Regeneration lockdown!
And he wasn't done.
Gern landed.
His hands slammed together before his chest!
His focus reached its absolute peak.
Pale vibration particles surged wildly, gathering between his palms!
"Heaven-Shaking • Gate of Heavenly Prison!!"
A low shout!
A small ring of energy—no larger than a palm, its edges flashing with blinding white light—formed instantly before his hands.
It rose into the sky—
And expanded violently as it ascended!
In the blink of an eye, it became a colossal ring over a hundred meters wide—
Hanging above the chasm like a ring of judgment!
"SHOOSH SHOOSH SHOOSH SHOOSH—!!!"
The next instant—
From within the ring—
Countless condensed beams of vibration rained down!
A relentless storm of destruction poured onto the skeletal horse pinned below!
Explosions chained endlessly—
Tearing apart its newly restored body—
Shattering—
Scattering—
Suppressing its regeneration to the absolute limit!
Everything unfolded exactly as Gern had predicted.
This body—remotely controlled and forcibly enhanced by Imu—
Possessed "immortality" and immense energy output.
But in real combat—
It was far inferior to the battle-hardened swordsmanship of Saint Nusjuro himself.
All it could do was repeat:
Destroyed → Regenerated → Destroyed again.
It had fallen completely into Gern's rhythm.
"Heh…"
Floating in midair, Gern looked down at the struggling, endlessly breaking and reforming "immortal" monster within the vibration hell.
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
"So…"
"It's not a stat monster…"
"…it's a mechanics-based boss."
"In that case… once I figure out your mechanics—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
"Pshhk."
Gern's expression froze.
The smile on his lips stiffened.
Slowly—
He lowered his head.
At his chest—
There was no wound.
No blood.
No torn flesh.
Everything appeared completely intact.
And yet—
A pitch-black tendril, formed entirely of some kind of pure energy…
Had pierced straight through his chest.
At some unknown moment—
It had ignored his vibration defense.
Ignored his Observation Haki.
And impaled him completely.
There was no pain.
No physical injury.
But—
A cold, hollow sensation—
As if his very soul were being drained—
Surged violently into his body through that tendril!
Gern felt it clearly.
His life force.
His Haki.
Even his thoughts—
Were being slowly but relentlessly eroded… stripped away… consumed.
"When…?" Gern's throat moved, his voice dry.
A memory surfaced—
Whitebeard's voice echoing in his mind:
[That thing… pierced right through him…]
"…No pain… no wound…"
"Pshhk! Pshhk! Pshhk! Pshhk!"
More black tendrils emerged out of nowhere—
Piercing through his limbs, his abdomen—
One after another!
Five tendrils in total—
Pinning Gern firmly in place!
They ignored physical defense.
Ignored Haki protection.
Even bypassed his fully heightened Observation Haki.
Gern's body stiffened.
His pupils shrank.
He tried to activate Shock Flash to escape—
But found that the tendrils were connected to his very existence itself.
Even elementalization could not break free.
At the same time—
Imu's hollow, inhuman voice echoed.
From all directions.
Or perhaps directly within Gern's mind.
Still devoid of emotion.
Still carrying that cold certainty—
As if this outcome had always been inevitable.
"Mu… has already said…"
"…your choice…"
"…was wrong."