The battlefield of monsters raged in the distance.
Black lightning split the heavens again.
Shockwaves rolled across the sea.
And yet—
For Tenjin…
The real danger had just arrived.
A quiet step.
Soft.
Measured.
Gunko.
She approached him as if nothing around them mattered.
Her eyes looked down on him.
Cold.
Detached.
"You."
Her voice carried the same arrogant authority.
"Come with us."
No request.
An order.
"To the Holy Land."
Tenjin's eyes narrowed.
"…And if I say no?"
Gunko didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
Her hand lifted slightly—
Arrows forming in the air around her.
Pointed.
Waiting.
Before anything else could happen—
A blur cut in.
Gion.
Her blade flashed.
"Don't touch him."
A clean, lethal slash—
Fast enough to split steel—
But—
It bent.
The trajectory twisted unnaturally mid-air.
Gunko didn't move.
Didn't even blink.
Her arrows pulsed—
Redirecting the slash away from her body entirely.
The blade cut empty space.
Gion's eyes sharpened.
'She redirected it…?'
Gunko tilted her head slightly.
"Crude."
Then—
Something moved behind Gion.
Sommers.
His grin wide.
"Got you."
Thorns erupted.
Massive.
Violent.
They wrapped around Gion's body instantly—
Binding her arms, her torso, her legs.
"THORN PRISON."
The spikes tightened.
Piercing.
Restricting.
Gion gritted her teeth.
"Tch—!"
Before the thorns could crush her—
A blade flashed.
SHING!!!
Sommers froze.
His body didn't react.
Because it couldn't.
His head slid clean off his shoulders.
Bogard stood behind him.
Calm.
Unshaken.
He caught the falling head with one hand.
The body collapsed.
Gion dropped free as the thorns unraveled.
She landed lightly, breathing steady.
Bogard spoke without looking at her.
"Holy Knights."
A pause.
"They don't die."
Gion glanced at him.
"What?"
Sommers' severed head laughed.
Even in Bogard's grip.
"Oi… that's rude…"
Bogard tightened his hold slightly.
"They're functionally immortal."
His eyes shifted toward Gunko.
"The only way to deal real damage…"
A beat.
"…is overwhelming Conqueror's Haki."
Gion's expression hardened.
"…We don't have that."
Bogard nodded.
"So we adapt."
He lifted the head slightly.
"They can't regenerate if their bodies are separated."
Sommers clicked his tongue.
"Annoying old man…"
Gunko didn't even glance at him.
Her attention remained on Tenjin.
Then—
Her gaze flicked to Gion.
"You are in the way."
Gion didn't respond.
She attacked.
A barrage of slashes—
Fast.
Relentless.
Each one aimed to kill.
But every single one—
Bent.
Shifted.
Twisted away.
Gunko's arrows pulsed with each motion.
Redirecting every strike.
Perfectly.
Effortlessly.
She stepped forward slowly.
Walking through Gion's offense like it didn't exist.
"You are… beneath me."
Her tone didn't change.
Pure disdain.
Gion gritted her teeth.
'This woman…'
Before she could adjust—
Bogard's voice cut through.
"Tenjin."
Tenjin snapped out of it.
Bogard's eyes met his.
Sharp.
Commanding.
"Go to the ship."
No hesitation.
"We're leaving."
Tenjin hesitated.
Just for a second.
His gaze flicked back to the battlefield—
Garp.
Still fighting.
Still standing.
Then—
A roar split the air.
"KAATAKURI!!"
Big Mom's voice thundered across the island.
"DON'T LET HIM ESCAPE!!!"
A shadow moved.
Fast.
Instant.
Katakuri.
He appeared directly in Tenjin's path.
Mochi forming around his arm.
Future sight already active.
"You're not going anywhere."
Before Tenjin could react—
Bogard moved.
His blade intercepted Katakuri's strike.
CLANG!!!
Mochi hardened with Haki.
Steel met it head-on.
Bogard's eyes remained calm.
"I'll handle him."
Katakuri's gaze narrowed.
"…Right hand man of Garp."
Behind them—
Candy surged across the ground.
Fast.
Expanding.
Perospero.
"Perorin~ You're not escaping, little Marine~"
Candy walls rose instantly—
Closing in on Tenjin.
But—
A flash of steel.
Gion.
"Not happening."
SHING!!!
The candy split apart cleanly.
Falling away in pieces.
Perospero clicked his tongue.
"Tch— troublesome woman…"
Gion stepped beside Tenjin.
Her blade steady.
Her eyes sharp.
"…This just got complicated."
Ahead—
Katakuri.
Beside them—
Perospero.
Behind—
Gunko and Sommers.
And in the distance—
Monsters still clashing.
Tenjin exhaled slowly.
"…Yeah."
For once—
He didn't rush forward.
Didn't chase battle.
Because this wasn't a fight he could control.
And everyone—
Wanted him.
---
The sky had already been split once.
Now it was being torn apart.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Black lightning screamed across the heavens as three monsters clashed at the center of Nuts Island.
BOOOOM!!!
Garp's fist collided with Napoleon.
Big Mom's laughter exploded outward.
"MAAAMAMAMAMA!!!"
"GARP!!! You still hit like a damn monster!!!"
The air shattered.
The sea below parted.
Trees bent and snapped from the sheer pressure.
Garp grinned wide, eyes blazing.
"And you're still too loud, Linlin!!"
He twisted his body—
"GALAXY—"
Big Mom's grin widened.
"PROMETHEUS!!!"
Flames roared to life.
A sun ignited in her palm—
"HEAVENLY FIRE!!!"
The two attacks collided.
IMPACT!!!
Fire and Haki detonated into a storm of destruction.
The shockwave carved through the island—
obliterating rock,
splitting ground,
sending debris flying for miles.
Above them—
floating in the chaos—
Shamrock moved.
Silent.
Cold.
His blade unsheathed.
And from it—
Darkness.
Then—
A growl.
Three heads emerged.
Fangs bared.
Eyes glowing.
Cerberus.
Shamrock stood atop the monstrous manifestation, his coat fluttering violently.
"…You're both in the way."
His voice cut through the battlefield.
Big Mom turned her head slightly.
"Oho~? The brat thinks he's important."
Napoleon twisted in her grip.
"LET ME CUT HIM, MAMA!!!"
Prometheus flared.
"I'LL BURN HIM!!!"
Zeus crackled nervously.
"H-He looks scary, Mama…"
Shamrock didn't answer.
He moved.
Gone.
A blur—
A streak—
Then—
CLANG!!!
His blade met Garp's fist mid-air.
Black lightning erupted instantly.
The clash froze the air itself.
Garp's grin didn't fade.
"…Not bad."
Shamrock's eyes were cold.
"You're loud."
Then—
The second head of Cerberus lunged.
Snapping toward Garp's flank.
Garp twisted—
"HA!"
He grabbed it.
Yes—
Grabbed it.
And slammed it into the ground.
BOOOOM!!!
The earth shattered beneath the impact.
But—
The third head came from above.
Fangs tearing downward—
Only for Big Mom to crash into the scene.
"OUT OF MY WAY!!!"
Napoleon swung.
A monstrous arc—
"COGNAC!!!"
The slash tore through everything.
Garp leapt back.
Shamrock pulled away.
The ground between them split open like it had been cleaved by a god.
Big Mom laughed wildly.
"This is fun!!!"
Prometheus spun around her.
"LET'S TURN THIS PLACE INTO ASHES, MAMA!!!"
Zeus sparked.
"I-I'll try my best!!"
Lightning rained down.
Firestorms followed.
Shamrock didn't flinch.
His sword lifted—
Cerberus roared.
And then—
All three heads lunged forward.
"DEVOUR."
The ground itself seemed to warp as the attack surged forward.
Garp stepped in.
"Enough games."
His fist pulled back.
Black lightning coiled around it violently.
The air cracked under pressure alone.
"GALAXY… DIVIDE!!!"
He swung.
The world split.
The Cerberus attack shattered instantly—
blown apart like glass.
The shockwave didn't stop.
It tore straight toward Shamrock—
But—
Shamrock didn't dodge.
Didn't block.
He cut.
One clean motion.
SHING—
The shockwave split.
Two halves flying past him.
Garp's grin sharpened.
"…Heh."
Big Mom clapped her hands together.
"Now THIS is a party!!!"
She lunged—
Napoleon thrusting forward—
"ELBAF SPEAR!!!"
A massive beam of destruction shot forward.
Garp met it head-on.
Shamrock cut through the side of it.
The attack exploded between them—
another violent eruption of fire, lightning, and Haki.
Smoke filled the battlefield.
For a brief moment—
Everything stilled.
Then—
Shamrock's voice.
Calm.
Cutting through the chaos.
"…Garp."
Garp didn't lower his stance.
"What."
Shamrock stepped forward slowly.
Cerberus fading slightly behind him.
"You know why I'm here."
Garp didn't answer.
Shamrock continued.
"I'm not here to fight you."
A pause.
"I'm here for my brother."
Big Mom's grin twisted.
"Ohoho~ This again?"
Shamrock ignored her.
His eyes stayed on Garp.
"You've raised him well."
Garp's expression didn't change.
"But he's not yours."
The air grew heavier.
"You would keep him from his blood?"
Garp scoffed.
"Blood?"
He stepped forward.
"That's all you people care about."
Shamrock's gaze sharpened.
"It matters."
Garp shook his head.
"What matters is who you become."
A beat.
Shamrock's voice dropped.
"…Then let him decide."
That—
made Garp pause.
Just slightly.
Shamrock continued.
"If he chooses you—"
"I'll leave."
A quiet promise.
"But if he chooses us…"
His grip tightened on his blade.
"…you won't interfere."
Big Mom laughed loudly.
"MAAAMAMAMA!!! This is getting interesting!!!"
Garp exhaled slowly.
Then—
he spoke.
"TENJIN!!!"
His voice cut across the battlefield.
Even through explosions.
Even through chaos.
Far away—
Tenjin turned.
Garp's eyes met his.
Even at that distance.
"Tell me something!!"
Garp's grin was still there.
But his eyes—
were serious.
"Are you curious?!"
A pause.
"…About whether that bastard is really your brother?!"
The battlefield seemed to hold its breath.
For a moment—
Tenjin didn't answer.
Then—
"…Yeah."
Simple.
Honest.
Garp's grin widened.
"…Good."
He cracked his knuckles.
Then turned back to Shamrock.
"Alright."
The air shifted.
Garp stepped forward—
planting himself between Big Mom and everything else.
"I'll hold her."
Big Mom's smile dropped slightly.
"…Garp."
Garp rolled his shoulders.
"Don't get the wrong idea."
He glanced at Shamrock.
"If you try anything funny—"
"I'll come for you next."
Shamrock didn't react.
Garp then shouted—
"ALL MARINES!!!"
His voice thundered.
"ASSIST THE HOLY KNIGHTS!!!"
Shock rippled through the battlefield.
Gion froze for a split second.
Bogard's eyes narrowed.
But neither questioned it.
Garp pointed forward.
"GET TENJIN OUT OF HERE!!!"
Then—
He turned fully toward Big Mom.
His grin now feral.
"Now then…"
He clenched his fist.
Black lightning erupted violently.
"Let's go all out, Linlin."
Big Mom's grin returned.
Wide.
Wild.
"MAAAMAMAMAMA!!!"
Napoleon spun in her hand.
Prometheus flared brighter.
Zeus crackled violently.
"I WAS WAITING FOR THAT!!!"
They moved.
Again.
The sky split.
The island trembled.
And behind them—
The escape began.
---
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