Momonga was in agony. Yasuo's ultimate attack had slammed him into the ground and left him unable to move, yet sheer willpower had forced him back onto his feet.
His body was covered in countless cuts; it was nothing short of a miracle he was still alive.
The other five Vice Admirals also struggled to stand, their bodies battered and bleeding.
Momonga stared intently at Yasuo's back, then glanced over at Plank. Suddenly, he saw a sight he knew all too well—Plank raising his pistol and firing a single shot directly into the sky.
Momonga's eyes widened in horror. Where is he aiming?!
He knew Plank's abilities well. Back at Water 7, Plank had declared he would give Marine Headquarters a "grand gift," and he had made good on his word!
---
Mary Geoise, Outside the Palace Gates.
Grimm leaped from the back of one infected beast to another, advancing rapidly toward the palace. Among the government agents struggling to hold the line, one spotted the golden figure rushing toward them and shouted a warning. "Watch out! Grimm is attacking!"
"The Holy Light… shall judge you all!"
Grimm stood at the forefront of the horde and exhaled deeply. The creatures infected by the Blood Plague were mindless and violent, but they possessed one distinct rule: they would never attack three types of beings—their own kind, followers of the Holy Light, and Grimm himself along with his subordinates!
"OPEN FIRE! FIRE AT WILL!"
"SHOOT HIM! CANNON FIRE!"
The roar of artillery filled the air, and bullets rained down like a storm.
Grimm raised his shield, Guardian of Truth, before him. Every single bullet was deflected instantly, ricocheting back to pierce through the agents who had fired them, while the cannonballs exploded directly within their ranks.
Grimm stepped forward, carving a path of destruction through the government forces. Wherever his golden light passed, nothing remained but ashes purified by the Holy Light!
And just then…
The sky suddenly darkened, as if a massive shadow was falling down upon them.
One agent in a white suit looked up, and in his shock, the mask covering half his face fell clean off.
"What is that?! Is it… raining cannonballs?!"
And right in the center was a gigantic black orb, easily over ten meters in diameter. Surely that's just a solid iron weight that won't explode…
He was wrong.
BOOOOOM!!!
The Death's Daughter struck first, erupting into a massive mushroom cloud. Instantly, a deluge of shells rained down from the heavens.
Countless agents were killed instantly by the bombardment. Even those who managed to dodge the explosions were left wide open, and the waiting monsters tore them apart in seconds, devouring them where they lay.
Yet, watching his forces being slaughtered and Grimm drawing ever closer to the palace, the Five Elders sitting in their office remained completely calm, as if everything was going exactly according to plan.
The Elder with golden hair sat comfortably in an armchair, observing the battle outside through the Den Den Mushi. "How are the preparations coming along?"
"The evacuation of the Celestial Dragons is still underway. Now that they know what is happening, they are causing quite a fuss. It will take a little more time," replied the curly-haired Elder.
He continued, "As for those creatures… they appear to have a limited lifespan. We can already see signs of them weakening and decaying."
"In that case, only the Great Eternal Pope remains. Who is best suited to eliminate him?" asked the white-haired Elder, getting straight to the point.
As the five pondered this, a call came through. The curly-haired Elder answered the Den Den Mushi, listened to the report, and his brow furrowed deeply.
"It seems the enemy has hidden Den Den Mushi cameras. The battles at both Marineford and Mary Geoise are being broadcast live directly to Sabaody Archipelago right now!"
"WHAT?!"
The other four were shocked. The white-haired Elder stroked his beard and said urgently, "In that case, we cannot afford to drag this out any longer. Deal with him immediately!"
"Can we not cut the transmission?" asked the Elder with the birthmark and curved beard, standing up. "No matter. Kill Grimm right now! It doesn't matter if the feed is cut or not. Let the entire world witness how we deal with these beasts and criminals like him!"
---
Just a few miles away from the palace, Grimm was in the process of "purifying" the government agents atop the Red Line, watched by millions of eyes.
Then, in the blink of an eye, a flash of light sliced horizontally through the air. It cut cleanly through Grimm's body and continued on, bisecting the horde of infected beasts behind him.
Because the cut was across his waist, Grimm's body healed and fused back together in less than two seconds. But the monsters behind him possessed no such ability; the regeneration granted by the Blood Plague took time to work.
Watching from Sabaody, the audience saw clearly: a figure stood confronting Grimm, and behind him, the army of monsters was rapidly fading, withering away, and dying. They were no longer a threat at all.
In the office, the golden-haired Elder watched the screen with a grave expression. "However… now that he has made his move, Grimm must die. Otherwise, the prestige of the Government is finished!"
On the battlefield, standing directly before Grimm was the very man who had just sliced through millions of creatures with a single move.
He appeared to be around sixty years old, with silver hair slicked back so thick it looked like pipes, flowing down almost to his waist. His eyes were a startling silver color.
With his arms crossed, he exuded an aura of absolute authority without even needing to speak, staring silently at Grimm.
Grimm noticed a transparent, circular bubble helmet discarded behind the old man, along with a crumpled, dirty set of robes.
A smirk played on his lips as his hair whipped in the fierce wind. "That helmet… could it be… you are a Celestial Dragon!"
It was true that some Celestial Dragons here did not wear their helmets at all times. Located at the very center of the world, the only ones who could move freely here were the highest officials and the Celestial Dragons themselves.
In this place, they rarely clung to the idea of "not breathing the same air as inferior beings," because the air inside their respirators was simply the air of Mary Geoise itself…
"..."
The elderly man, dressed like a figure out of ancient texts, remained silent for a moment. Then, he spoke slowly and coldly.
"Sinner who defies the Creator! Today, I shall cast you down into the deepest abyss of the world!"
In an instant, the old man vanished. In the spot where he stood, only the corpse of an infected beast remained!
Thanks to his Devotion Aura, Grimm sensed the danger and tried to turn around. But before his body had even rotated halfway, a blinding flash sliced vertically through his body from behind.
Blood sprayed everywhere, accompanied by the old man's voice, laced with disdain and cruelty. "If cutting you horizontally didn't work… then I suppose I'll just have to try it vertically!"
He was clearly referring to his previous attack failing to kill him. However, what caused his white eyebrows to twitch was the sight of Grimm's split body knitting itself back together completely within seconds!
"This… this is the power of the Great Eternal Pope!"
"He isn't even a Logia user, yet his regeneration is more insane than any natural element!"
"I've traveled the New World… they say it's called the Holy Light. They say if you believe in it, you can gain powers like that!"
"The Holy Light…?"
"..."
The crowd watching in Sabaody erupted into discussion.
__________________
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