"Zehahahaha—!!"
Blackbeard's laughter exploded through the dead silence of darkness, thick with a nauseating stench.
From where he stood, Mock Town was being devoured.
The sky had turned black.
What was once bright daylight was now completely covered by a strange, oppressive curtain of darkness.
It was like a slab of lead—
Blocking light.
Even swallowing sound.
Within this domain, the only color left—
Was the violent red glow in Blackbeard's eyes.
At the core of the battlefield—
Ronan, Luffy, and Zoro stood atop the last remaining structure not yet fully consumed by the black tide.
Luffy knelt on one knee among the rubble.
The furnace-like heat of his blood had dimmed.
Gear Second's overdrive had drained him.
His inner energy had entered a brief depletion phase.
"Luffy. How long?"
Ronan stood with spear in hand, eyes fixed on Blackbeard.
Luffy took a deep breath.
"Give me… ten minutes."
"Tch."
Zoro slowly pulled down his bandana and tied it tightly around his head.
His right hand gripped Sandai Kitetsu.
His left rested on Wado Ichimonji.
The muscles in his arms bulged violently with excitement.
"Ten minutes?"
"Luffy… are you underestimating us?"
A bloodthirsty grin spread across his face as his gaze pierced through the darkness.
"If we move fast enough…"
"By the time Ronan and I finish carving that lump of black meat apart…"
"This fight won't even need you."
At the center of the ruins—
Blackbeard stood tall.
Black smoke twisted and collapsed around his massive frame.
His bloodshot eyes locked onto the three of them.
The madness in them had changed—
There was now something else.
Fear.
"I can't let you grow any further…"
His voice trembled with violent intent.
He could feel it clearly—
These young men weren't just monsters in body—
They possessed terrifying potential.
"If you've become obstacles on my path…"
"Then all of you… die here!!"
With a roar—
Blackbeard slammed both hands onto the ground.
"Dark Vortex!!"
The black sea beneath him erupted.
This wasn't just darkness—
It was space collapsing.
A pitch-black current spread outward from his palms, as if the abyss itself had torn open a wound in the earth.
In that instant—
Everything lost its shape.
Ruins.
Ground.
Even the foundation of the town—
Twisted.
Compressed.
Crushed.
A cold notification echoed in Ronan's mind.
His body—
Already surging with inner energy—
Now roared like boiling magma.
Every cell trembled under extreme strain.
"Five times… huh?"
Ronan opened his eyes.
Red-gold light burned within them.
He felt the killing intent flowing through his spear—
And smiled coldly.
"Now this is more like it."
The storm of darkness surged forward.
Even the air was being drained.
Ronan glanced back—
At Luffy, who sat cross-legged, circulating his energy to recover.
"Zoro."
Ronan stepped forward, spear cutting through the darkness.
"We can't retreat."
"If we fall back even a step…"
"That idiot will get dragged in."
Zoro had already entered his final combat stance.
Wado Ichimonji clenched between his teeth.
One blade in each hand.
His eyes—
Cold.
Merciless.
He let out a muffled but fierce laugh.
"Yeah… obviously."
"Let's tear this damn darkness apart."
"Disappear for me!!"
Blackbeard roared, his arms spreading wide.
The gravitational force doubled.
"Xingyi Thirteen Spear — Embrace the Tiger, Push the Mountain!"
Ronan roared.
This time—
He didn't thrust.
He pushed.
Both hands drove the spear forward.
All his Vajra Inner Energy surged into the Adam wood shaft.
Black Armament Haki flowed like tar—
Covering the entire weapon.
He thrust forward—
With everything.
A spiraling shockwave exploded outward.
Gold and black collided.
The void sought to devour—
But Ronan's force stood like an iron mountain—
Holding against the crushing gravity.
And in that instant—
Zoro moved.
"Nine mountains, eight seas…"
His voice echoed softly across the battlefield.
"…form one world."
"Gather a thousand worlds…"
"…and they become a small thousand world…"
"This world multiplied thrice…"
His muscles twisted like steel cables.
His three blades—
Completely blackened with dense Armament Haki.
At that moment—
He was no longer just a swordsman—
But a wrathful deity of slaughter walking through apocalypse.
"Three Sword Style Secret Art—"
"Great Thousand World!!!"
"The Uncuttable Self!!!"
His figure vanished.
A brilliant silver arc flashed across the sky.
Time—
Seemed to stop.
The spinning vortex of darkness—
That devoured everything—
Was sliced cleanly in half.
Like paper.
It was a strike—
That cut through void itself.
Through law.
Through existence.
"No… that's impossible!!"
Blackbeard's scream had barely begun—
Ronan's mountain-like shockwave broke through the collapsing darkness—
And slammed into his left side.
"PUAH—!!"
Bones shattered.
Flesh tore apart.
A chunk of Blackbeard's side was blasted away—
Blood erupted like a fountain.
Then—
Zoro's slash arrived.
"SHHK—!"
Zoro appeared behind him.
Slowly sheathing his blade.
Across Blackbeard's chest—
A massive wound split open—
Deep enough to expose bone.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHH—!!!"
A scream of absolute agony tore through Mock Town.
Because of the Dark-Dark Fruit's curse—
Pain was doubled.
No—
Amplified infinitely.
His massive body trembled violently.
He dropped to one knee.
Blood poured endlessly into the black sea beneath him.
The overwhelming darkness—
That had covered the sky—
Began to collapse—
Out of control.
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