As soon as Imu's words echoed across the battlefield, confusion swept through the chaos. Warriors across the land paused mid-fight, eyes drawn upward to the woman floating high in the sky. Until now, she had always remained distant and indifferent, too aloof to speak to anyone. That sudden shift, addressing Buggy directly, caught everyone off guard.
Even Mihawk and Dragon turned to glance at her, curiosity flaring.
What did planetary level mean?
Buggy did not answer. He stood still atop his towering wooden giant, his expression unreadable.
Imu tilted her head slightly and let out a cold, condescending smile. "Forget it. What is the point of explaining to a group of barnyard turkeys? You could never understand the meaning of the planetary level. At most, your strength scrapes the ceiling of this world. But even then, it is far too weak."
Too weak.
The words sent a ripple of disbelief across the battlefield. Buggy, who had just overwhelmed Warcury, Blackbeard, and even Sengoku, was still considered weak?
If Buggy's strength did not count as powerful, then what did?
Had this woman truly ascended to something divine?
Somewhere in the minds of Buggy's supporters, the whispers began to turn into doubts. They recalled what his officers had mentioned. Imu had lived for more than eighty years, yet she looked untouched by time. That kind of longevity bordered on unnatural.
Perhaps she really was a god of this world.
If she could look down on Buggy's power with contempt, then what future did any of them have?
Across the world, the people watching the live broadcast felt their hopes waver. Dread crept in once again, a bitter reminder of the Celestial Dragons' unshakable rule.
Then Buggy finally moved.
A faint smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as he raised his eyes toward the sky.
"You're really full of yourself. No wonder the Celestial Dragons turned out just like you."
His voice cut clean through the noise.
"Did I say I was fighting seriously?"
Buggy stepped forward slightly, his boots resting firmly on the wooden surface beneath him.
"You still don't know, do you? That I hold the power of two Devil Fruits?"
Gasps rippled through the remaining fighters. Even Dragon's expression sharpened.
Buggy's eyes gleamed with quiet challenge.
"You really think you can beat me? You think you're the first to talk big in front of me? I've buried people like you. And trust me, the grass on their graves is taller than you."
A sharp laugh rang out from above.
It was Redfield.
"Buggy, I think what you just said might be a little arrogant, too," he said, still airborne as he parried two opponents at once. "She has ruled the world for over eight hundred years. If anyone has earned the right to talk arrogantly, it's probably her."
He chuckled again, sword flashing as he drove back his enemies.
"You've really got no sympathy for your old people, do you?"
Buggy winced slightly, glancing upward.
What are you trying to say, old man?
Before he could respond, Imu's gaze turned icy. Her face, calm until now, twisted with a flicker of anger. Her voice rang out sharp and cold.
"Presumptuous." She glared at Redfield, eyes glowing with fury.
"If you do not know how to speak with respect, then close your filthy mouth. Imu is eternal. I do not decay like you, lower-dimensional creatures."
A beat passed.
Then laughter erupted.
Buggy burst out laughing, holding his side as he leaned forward. Even Redfield could not help but grin widely in the sky.
Far across the battlefield, fighters from every corner twitched with irritation.
"We're still fighting over here. Can you two take this seriously?"
"Yeah. Hurry up and deal with your opponents already."
Shanks, Dragon, and Mihawk all glanced at each other, expressions dry.
Redfield spoke again, voice rising above the clamor.
"I'm fighting two people at once, thank you very much. You should be telling Buggy to hurry up and finish that woman."
He scoffed and gestured at the golem Buggy stood on.
"This guy has been pretending the whole time. Took down a top-tier clone in one blow. We all saw it. He could have ended this already."
He glanced at Imu again and sneered.
"She's just standing there, looking proud. She's not going to move until someone makes her. And calling us lower-dimensional creatures? That's rich."
He raised his blade and gave a sharp laugh. "It's not like I can hurt her. If I could have, I've already sliced her a few times."
Redfield's words, as arrogant as they sounded, were not without reason.
Click. Click. Click.
Buggy tilted his neck to the side, a series of bone-cracking pops echoing as he rolled his shoulders. His gaze locked onto Imu, still suspended high above the battlefield, and he smirked.
"You certainly came prepared with the best you had to offer," he said. "I'll give you credit for that. Worth mentioning."
Then his voice turned cold.
"But I'll start by crushing your loyal dogs first. If this twisted, deformed world is the so-called higher-dimensional ideal you believe in… then I'd rather destroy it."
His eyes swept over the battlefield.
"Gorosei. Sengoku. Teach. Since you've chosen to stand against me, there's nothing more to say."
He clapped his hands together, and his next words struck like a thunderclap.
"Go to hell."
Snap.
The air seemed to freeze. Warcury, recently recovered Blackbeard, and Sengoku all stiffened as the pressure surged. Their expressions turned grim.
Sengoku was the first to shout. "Be careful! The strongest man in the world is about to go all out!"
Blackbeard gritted his teeth. "You think you can take me lightly? I'm not some naive fool like Whitebeard's boy."
Buggy raised an eyebrow, then narrowed his eyes. A deep blue light surged across his body as he brought his hands together.
"Buddha's Ākraman."
Buggy's voice roared across the battlefield, each technique that followed delivered with the finality of a divine decree.
"Soru. Rankyaku: Earthbreaker!""Geppō. Rankyaku: Tempest!""Soru Flash. Divine Wooden Dragon Whip!"
The air itself trembled as the names rang out. What came next left even the most battle-hardened warriors speechless.
The three massive Wooden Golems, stationed beside the colossal Wooden Buddha beneath Buggy's feet, moved in unison. Their towering limbs, hewn from chakra-infused wood and divine energy, flowed with unnatural grace. Before anyone could react, they launched into the techniques of Rokushiki, the legendary Marine Six Styles.
Only... these were not standard techniques. They were modified and amplified by the sheer size and shapes of the Giant Buddhas.
Boom.
The earth beneath the first golem shattered, forming a crater several dozen meters wide. Then, without warning, the hundred-meter-tall golem vanished.
In the next instant, it reappeared directly above Masisheng.
A swirling storm howled as wind pressure built.
The golem's right leg, coiled with Conqueror's Haki and reinforced with black-gold Armament Haki, dropped like a divine guillotine.
The air screamed.
"What?! Impossible!"
Warcury's eyes widened in horror. Though his boar-demon form tensed instinctively, his reaction came too late. He braced himself with Armament Haki from snout to cloven hooves, but the timing was just shy of perfect defense.
BOOM.
The Wooden Golem's kick struck like a thunderclap, fueled by immense power and precision. Warcury's massive twelve‑meter-tall figure was driven straight into the earth. His boar head smashed into soil, and his thick, muscular limbs tore fissures as he was blasted a full hundred meters underground, swallowed in a cloud of shattered stone.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Elsewhere, another Wooden Golem launched into the air with Geppo, the Moonwalk. The sheer size of the golem made it seem impossible, yet it ascended with shocking grace.
Then came a barrage.
Dozens of Tempest Kicks, massive air blades filled with razor-sharp wind and infused with haki, tore through the sky toward Sengoku.
Sengoku narrowed his eyes as he watched the slashes descend.
"You're underestimating me, Buggy!"
His golden Buddha form swelled, muscles tensing. With a thunderous roar, his entire body radiated divine energy, the aura of justice made manifest.
A second layer of golden light burst from him, forming a spectral Buddha Avatar several times larger than his own Daibutsu form.
The giant golden face mirrored Sengoku's expression, turned furious and unyielding.
It surged upward.
BOOM.
The spiritual Buddha image collided with the incoming barrage. The Tempest Kicks shattered upon impact, dispersing in midair. The Wooden Golem that launched them was thrown backward, spiraling through the air before crashing down.
Sengoku remained grounded, breathing heavily, golden energy flaring around him.
He had stopped the assault.
But Buggy was already turning away.
He hadn't expected that golem to defeat Sengoku. That wasn't the point.
The purpose was to keep Sengoku locked in place.
And it had worked perfectly.
At nearly the same moment, on the far end of the battlefield, another clash was unfolding.
The Wooden Golem infused with Shave Flash reappeared tens of meters in front of Blackbeard.
Buggy had deliberately shifted tactics. Since Blackbeard had been blown the furthest away by the previous punch, Buggy's follow-up strike came without hesitation.
The instant the golem materialized, it swung down a massive wooden dragon whip, its coils wrapped in black-gold Armament Haki and crackling with purple-black lightning. The attack hurtled toward Blackbeard with terrifying speed.
"Damn it!"
Blackbeard's pupils contracted sharply. Every hair on his body stood on end.
He knew if he took that hit directly, it might be the end of him.
The Yami Yami no Mi's side effect was merciless; he suffered more pain than any other user. The earlier impact punch had already sent him flying and left him gasping in agony. He had barely risen, and only after noticing the surrounding vines draining his stamina. If not for that, he might not have stood up at all.
Now, with another blow incoming, there was no room for arrogance.
Even though his Gura Gura no Mi had yet to awaken, he was confident he could stop a strike like this if he gave it everything.
Blackbeard clenched his teeth, raised his right hand, and drew back his fist. It surged with black and red lightning, the marks of Conqueror's Haki. He punched forward with everything he had.
"Void Shock! Die!!!"
BOOM!
Crack crack crack!
The space in front of him shattered like glass. The enormous wooden dragon's head, colliding mid-air with his punch, cracked apart alongside the fractured sky. Splinters exploded outward.
Blackbeard grinned.
He had done it.
But the moment that relief surfaced, the Wooden Golem flashed again.
Before he could react, it appeared directly in front of him and drove its massive fist toward his skull.
"Zeahaha...!" Blackbeard's laughter returned, smug and full of confidence. "As long as it's not a shockwave or direct punch, no Devil Fruit can hurt me! Dark Water!"
A swirling black vortex formed in his left palm. As the golem's punch connected, the enormous figure of the Wooden Golem began to tremble violently.
Before the eyes of everyone watching around the world, the hundred-meter titan began to twist and dissolve into the swirling black void, devoured, as if it were nothing more than a stream of water.
Gasps erupted across the battlefield as Buggy's Wooden Golem vanished in an instant. Had it been absorbed? Destroyed? Even something that colossal and powerful couldn't withstand the overwhelming force.
Could a single Devil Fruit user really erase such a monstrosity? Was this the true strength of a Yonko?
Blackbeard threw his head back and laughed, voice booming through the chaos. His eyes locked onto Buggy, who stood tall and unmoved atop the towering form of the True Several Thousand Hands.
"I told you, Buggy. I'm the natural enemy of Devil Fruits. I..."
A sudden, wet gasp cut his gloating short.
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
His triumphant grin faltered, then faded entirely.
He looked down slowly. His chest had been run through. A glowing white-gold hand, crackling with purple-black lightning, had pierced clean through from behind, the palm jutting out through his heart.
Buggy's voice followed, low and quiet behind his ear.
"Teach... you should never have come here."
His tone was cold. Final. There was no hint of anger, only a grim inevitability.
"You had potential. A high ceiling. But your Gura Gura no Mi isn't even awakened. And your haki? Pathetic."
Buggy twisted his wrist. The sound of muscle tearing was sickening. "Time to let it go."
The battlefield froze. Every fighter turned toward the voice.
Buggy stood behind Blackbeard, one arm driven through his torso. Blackbeard's eyes rolled back. His massive frame trembled.
For a moment, the world seemed to hold its breath.
"Captain!"
"Boss!"
Cries rang out across the battlefield. Panic surged through the Blackbeard Pirates. Even Shiryu of the Rain, always calm and composed, stood stunned. His sword remained sheathed. His eyes were wide.
No one had expected this.
They had believed that Teach, even if outclassed, would hold out longer. Maybe retreat. Maybe turn the tables. But instead, he had been pierced, overpowered, and finished.
By Buggy.
The man they had all mocked.
Far in the distance, only Lafitte remained still. There was no panic in his eyes. Just a glimmer of something deeper.
Hope.
"Captain," Lafitte whispered. "Success or failure... can you still create a miracle?"
Blackbeard coughed hard, blood pouring from his mouth. His body shuddered. His eyes, bloodshot and furious, locked onto Buggy.
"No... impossible... I won't die here!"
With a guttural roar, he seized Buggy's wrist. His left hand, swirling with the darkness of the Yami Yami no Mi, tightened its grip. He pulled the arm deeper into his chest, grinning madly despite the pain.
"Zeahahaha! Buggy, you fool. I've been waiting for this moment. Waiting to drag you into the dark."
The vortex of darkness intensified, pulling at Buggy's haki-covered arm.
"My darkness devours everything. Your Devil Fruits mean nothing once I touch you. It's like being shackled by seastone. Two fruits or twenty, it makes no difference."
He gritted his teeth and raised his trembling right hand.
A pressure wave pulsed from his fist. The power of the Gura Gura no Mi swelled with violent intent.
"Air Shock!"
His body shook from the exertion, but victory lit up his eyes. Even as blood bubbled from his lips, he grinned wider.
"And I forgot to mention," he growled, voice cracking. "I was born with two hearts."
Buggy didn't even blink.
Though his right arm was locked down by the darkness, his left hand moved smoothly behind his back. It reappeared a heartbeat later, glowing with white-gold light and wrapped in blackened lightning. Hardened with full Armament Haki, it cut through the air with perfect precision.
Then it struck.
Buggy's left palm pierced Blackbeard's chest again.
His gaze dropped, staring in disbelief at the hand that had punched clean through his torso. It glowed with terrifying clarity, veins of white-gold energy pulsing beneath the skin, slick with his blood.
"How are you... still moving...?"
His legs gave out beneath him.
Strength bled from his limbs like a breached dam. The vortex of the Yami Yami no Mi sputtered and waned, the black pull of gravity loosening its grip. The quake energy, once a roaring pulse of chaos, flickered at his fingertips and then vanished completely.
The battlefield fell still. Every gaze was locked on the two figures at its center.
Buggy. Unmoving. Composed.
Blackbeard. Impaled. Crumbling.
"Isn't the Yami Yami no Mi supposed to cancel Devil Fruit powers?" someone whispered, their voice barely audible over the wind.
It was Sengoku who shouted, breaking the tension, eyes wide with stunned disbelief.
"How... how is he still able to fight?"
Buggy responded, quietly but firmly. His voice cut through the silence.
"No one said it didn't work."
He lifted his left hand high, the one that had struck the final blow, and held it there. Blood dripped from his fingers, gleaming in the sunlight.
"Why do you think this hand pierced his chest?"
He let the words settle before continuing.
"The moment he grabbed me, both of my fruits were sealed. The Yami Yami no Mi worked exactly as it should. But that's why this strike was with my bare hand."
He looked down at Blackbeard. There was no hatred in his expression. Only recognition.
"Marshall D. Teach... in terms of Devil Fruit ability alone, you're the strongest I've ever faced."
Blackbeard coughed, blood foaming at his lips. Yet through the pain, he found the strength to smile. It was tired, ragged, but real.
He met Buggy's eyes.
"Buggy... can you really win?"
Buggy didn't hesitate. He gave a single, quiet nod.
"I will."
Another cough racked Blackbeard's body. His chest heaved. His smile widened despite the agony.
"Then... devour me too."
The words came with no bitterness. Only surrender.
"Let me be your fuel. End this damned, deformed world... Dad... I'm coming..."
His final laugh bubbled out through blood and broken breath.
"Zeaha... ha... ha..."
Buggy stood silent, motionless as the sound faded.
Then he whispered. "As you wish."
The earth groaned beneath them.
Roots burst forth from the cracked soil, thick and ancient. Vines of the Tree World rose like serpents, coiling around Blackbeard's failing body. He didn't resist. His arms hung limp as the roots dragged him down into the earth.
Within seconds, he was gone.
The vines coiled tighter and then closed over the wound in the ground, sealing him beneath the battlefield as though he had never been.
For a long moment, no one spoke. The world held its breath.
Then, somewhere, a voice spoke the words that sent tremors through every soul present.
Marshall D. Teach. Emperor of the Sea. Died.
---
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