"Boom!"
The instant they collided, the air cracked with a deafening roar that shattered the silence of the battlefield.
A colossal wave of force rippled out from the epicenter, sweeping away debris and dust like a tidal wave. The ground beneath them buckled and cratered, reduced to a war-torn basin in a single breath. Smoke surged upward like volcanic ash.
"What are you looking at?"
From within the choking cloud, a shadow exploded forth. Lawrence surged forward like a bullet, a cruel sneer on his face. His fist howled as it ripped through the air, a sonic boom trailing behind it as he struck at a faint figure in the dust!
"Boom!"
His fist smashed through the image, impacting the earth with a cataclysmic force, forming a crater even deeper than before. But as the smoke cleared—
There was no one there. Just a mirage.
Lawrence's eyes narrowed sharply.
"Where is he?"
Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine.
He looked up.
A blinding lance of lightning came screaming down from the heavens!
And with it, a voice as cold as ice:
"White Thunder!"
Lawrence twisted his body, narrowly avoiding the strike, but before he could counter—
A wave of searing heat rushed from his right.
Yuno appeared. His robes flared as he thrust his palm forward, unleashing a fiery blue torrent.
"Way of Destruction #33—Sokatsui!"
The attack detonated forward in a wide arc. Lawrence's pupils contracted. It wasn't a simple fireball—it was a fan-shaped blast, expanding outward, burning everything in its path.
There was nowhere to run.
Lawrence gritted his teeth, crossed his arms before him, and braced for impact!
But without Haki, he was bare flesh against searing magic!
"BOOM!"
The flames swallowed him whole. His body was flung like a ragdoll, crashing through trees, smashing through boulders, until he finally plummeted into the ground with a thunderous quake, forming yet another crater.
Smoke hissed from his body.
Yuno's gaze was cold.
"Still alive?" he murmured, eyes narrowing. Then, his lips curled.
"Then try this."
In an instant, Yuno soared skyward. His blade gleamed as he raised it high, a terrifying energy spiraling around it, warping the very air. His killing intent spilled out like a tide.
"Getsuga..." his voice echoed above the battlefield.
"...Tensho!"
The sword howled. A luminous crescent-shaped slash, spanning dozens of meters, erupted from his blade. The sheer pressure it emitted split clouds and sent a gale tearing through the forest below.
A sword slash that could split an island in half.
Down below, Lawrence stumbled to his feet—just in time to look up and see annihilation descending upon him.
His heart skipped. Panic set in. Despair shadowed his features.
"What… what kind of monster are you… CP0?!"
But he had no time to think.
Only to fight.
"I won't die like a dog!!" Lawrence roared. His eyes went bloodshot. Veins bulged across his arms and neck as he summoned everything—every ounce of strength, every drop of fury.
He pulled his fists together, gathering raw force at his core, then thrust them upward with a howl:
"Break it...!!"
"BOOOOOOM!"
Sky and earth met in a cataclysm. The two forces collided with apocalyptic force, detonating in a dome of energy that vaporized trees and sent shockwaves blasting out for hundreds of meters. The sky turned white. The earth screamed.
Cracks spiderwebbed from Lawrence's feet. Dust, rocks, and flames exploded outward.
But—
It wasn't enough.
Getsuga Tenshō carved through his resistance, slowly, irresistibly, as if the heavens themselves were judging him.
Lawrence's face twisted in disbelief. "No... impossible—!"
The shining blade of the crescent came crashing down.
And the last thing he saw was the edge of the moonlight slash—
before everything went white.
Swish—!
A blinding arc carved through the air. In an instant, a sword scar spanning hundreds of meters tore across the battlefield, cleaving the earth apart.
The island trembled. A man-made canyon had been etched into its very terrain.
Below, Lawrence's body was severed, his torso sliding grotesquely as his internal organs spilled forth. Yet, the monstrous vitality granted by the Pirate World clung to him like a curse—refusing to let him die so easily.
Coughing up blood in thick, choking gurgles, Lawrence glared up at Yuno, who hovered above him like judgment incarnate. His voice was ragged, fragmented, barely audible.
"Ahem... Don't... don't think you've won..."
Then, with a mad burst of dying will, Lawrence began to laugh—deep, hoarse, deranged.
"Hahaha! Lord Judge won't abandon our research! The Vinsmoke fleet... they're already on their way! You, this island, every last soul here... will perish! No one will survive! Hahahahaha—"
Boom!
A bolt of white lightning fell like divine punishment. Lawrence's body convulsed as the light consumed him. The laughter ceased mid-breath. His glazed eyes stared into nothing.
He was finally dead.
Yuno exhaled sharply, suspended in mid-air. The Getsuga Tenshō had drained a considerable portion of his stamina. His chest heaved.
This world was brutal—skills didn't come for free. Every technique consumed energy. Without a powerful physique, even the strongest ability was little more than a showpiece.
If, someday, he truly wielded Ryūjin Jakka, but lacked the body to support its heat... would he only be able to light candles? That would be beyond humiliating.
"My body still isn't strong enough..." he muttered.
That wasn't something that could be fixed overnight. True strength was forged through accumulation, not shortcuts.
Yuno already had a plan. Maybe joining the Navy wouldn't be such a bad move... at least for now.
His eyes fell back to Lawrence's scorched corpse.
"The Vinsmoke Family..."
His thoughts darkened. He had heard of them—infamous, terrifying, relentless. But then a slow, steady smirk curved on his lips.
"Let them come."
His voice was calm, resolute.
"If they dare to set foot on this island, I'll make sure they pay for it."
Of course, the dead could no longer hear his words. But if Lawrence's spirit lingered for even a moment longer, he'd have cursed Yuno as arrogant and insane.
...But Yuno had reason to speak so boldly.
The Getsuga Tenshō he had unleashed—wasn't even at full power.
---
[Ding! First kill of a pirate with a bounty of 40 million berries. Reward: 200 Achievement Points!]
[Achievement Unlocked: "Nemesis of Evil" — Reward: [Special Category] Random Draw!]
The familiar mechanical chime echoed in Yuno's mind. But this time, something was different.
"Huh? Random draw? Special category?"
His eyes narrowed. "First time seeing this…"
Up until now, the system had only given achievement points. But now—this. A skill lottery? And a special one?
He tapped into the system.
The four branches of [Zanpakutō, Hakuda, Hohō, Kidō] were still there—icons dim and dormant. But now, beneath them, a new branch had appeared:
[Special Category] —
Blank. Nothing lit up. No skills. No descriptions. Just a mysterious, untouched void.
Yuno's thoughts turned sharp.
"If this is something beyond the four traditional Shinigami paths... Could it be...?"
The Hollows?
Or maybe... the Quincy?
His heart beat faster. A new possibility—an entirely different evolution—was beginning to unfold.