The energy that enveloped Diarmuid was clearly manifesting as darkness.
But when everything fell silent, that formless energy seemed to calcify into an eggshell.
When the rhythm of the darkness gradually ceased, Doflamingo glanced at Teach, his eyes filled with confusion, seemingly asking what was going on.
Teach shook his head, looking utterly bewildered. He wasn't trying to deceive Doflamingo; he genuinely had no idea what was happening.
Precisely because he had never witnessed this situation and had personally seen the Dark-Dark Fruit's power being extracted, he forcibly held back from disrupting it. He was afraid that if the power went berserk, he would be instantly killed.
Moreover, Doflamingo and Vergo were present, and there was also an unrevealed woman inside the room, likely the Marine Headquarters Admiral Candidate Gion (Momousagi).
So, Teach had refrained from making any rash moves.
He was also curious: Could the so-called multi-fruit user truly be achieved?
"Young Master?" Vergo asked quietly. "Should we... check on him?"
Doflamingo shook his head. "No. Don't move rashly."
No one had ever seen a scene like this.
Doflamingo didn't know what was happening, so he naturally didn't dare to act rashly. What if he ruined Diarmuid's good fortune?
Just then, the black shell, or cocoon, began to stir again.
A faint cracking sound came from the shell.
Doflamingo and the others fixed their eyes on it, their gaze unmoving.
Then, an aura of darkness even more intense than before permeated through the cracks in the shell.
Although it was only an aura, the moment they saw this dark power, Doflamingo, Vergo, and Teach instinctively backed away a little, afraid of being contaminated by it.
Slowly, the dense dark aura expanded, filling the three meters around Diarmuid's dark cocoon with black mist.
The next second, the shell suddenly exploded. The black fragments, which should have shot outward, turned into black smoke in mid-air and merged into the surrounding dark mist.
Then, centered on Diarmuid, the power of darkness, thick as a solid, spread out from beneath his feet like liquid, quickly covering the entire floor.
Doflamingo, Teach, and Vergo retreated again and again, gradually forced out of the room by the black, liquid-like substance. At this moment, the entire living room floor was covered in black water.
Following that, the coffee table, chairs, lamps, bookshelves, and various other objects originally placed on the floor began to slowly sink into the darkness.
It was as if they had been swallowed by quicksand.
"Is this the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit?" Doflamingo asked.
Teach swallowed. He was now too preoccupied to worry about Doflamingo's previous deception and malice. He nodded. "It should be."
"Although I haven't seen its true power, this aura alone is spine-chilling," Doflamingo murmured.
Vergo frowned. "Why don't I feel anything like that?"
"I don't either," Teach said.
After a moment's thought, Teach added, "Perhaps it's because your Young Master is an ability user?"
Just then, the dense, liquid-like darkness that filled the entire living room began to flow back rapidly, surging towards where Diarmuid was located.
The dark mist obscuring Diarmuid's figure also began to be sucked back into his body.
In just three to five breaths, Diarmuid's figure slowly reappeared in the sight of Doflamingo and the others.
He was wreathed in a swirling mist of darkness.
"Hoo..." Diarmuid slowly exhaled a plume of darkness, then grinned. He sniffed and took another deep breath.
With this inhalation, the black smoke around him moved with uncanny speed, following his nasal passages and entering his body.
To Doflamingo and the others, this scene looked as if a demon of darkness was absorbing some wicked power.
Only when the last wisp of black smoke was drawn into Diarmuid's body did he open his eyes. A slightly wicked smile spread across his face. "Well, it seems I'm still alive?"
Diarmuid had been wrestling with the intensely greedy force surging within him for the past two days, and he generally understood that it felt like it wanted to devour the Dark-Dark Fruit.
He just didn't know what kind of change this "devouring" would bring.
Would he be killed by the Devil Fruit's curse because of this change?
He had spent the last two days constantly debating whether to take the plunge.
As Teach had said, without the Dark-Dark Fruit, he was essentially already standing at the peak of this world.
There was no necessity to gamble his life.
After all, he wasn't like Teach in the stories, a barefoot man with nothing to lose!
But upon seeing Teach, Diarmuid finally made up his mind. He was betting that the small black entity inside his body wouldn't harm him.
Since when did he, Diarmuid, lose the courage to draw his sword? Was this the so-called "the higher the status, the greater the fear of death"?
Had the spirit he displayed in the North Blue, facing a lion like Shiki while being a rabbit, been worn away as his strength grew?
Should he choose to give up an opportunity for greater power because of some groundless concerns?
That was not his style.
It might have been irrational, but he had won the gamble!
"The sea always favors the bold. I was right to be ambitious," Diarmuid spoke with emotion.
Only now did Doflamingo dare to step into the now-bare living room. He asked with some trepidation, "Admiral, how do you feel?"
"Better than ever!" Diarmuid smiled.
Then, he raised his hand and aimed it at Doflamingo. "Do you mind?"
Doflamingo was also a ruthless individual. Gritting his teeth, he stomped his foot and said, "Go ahead and try!"
The moment he spoke, a chilling dark aura erupted from Diarmuid's palm. The next second, Doflamingo felt the ground beneath him loosen, and he felt his entire body was out of control. It wasn't the kind of simple physical pressure.
It was an indescribable, vague feeling, as if he were being naturally restrained. He couldn't resist the attraction at all. In an instant, Doflamingo was drawn by the darkness in Diarmuid's hand across several meters and was firmly caught by Diarmuid.
Fortunately, Diarmuid gave him some face and didn't grab his neck, but simply pressed down on his shoulder.
When the power of darkness truly touched him, Doflamingo had a very strange experience, as if something inside his body was sealed or suppressed.
"Try using your ability," Diarmuid instructed.
Doflamingo didn't hold back. He raised his foot, attempting to release the power of the String-String Fruit.
However, nothing happened, which left him feeling somewhat embarrassed.
"This is... my power isn't working?" Doflamingo exclaimed in surprise.
"It belongs to the Dark-Dark Fruit, the power of the dark seal, it's a conceptual force... Or, I can do this."
Diarmuid's eyes turned toward Teach.
At that moment, a dark, black glow flashed in his eyes. His entire eye seemed to turn pure black, without a sclera, looking terrifyingly ominous.
The next second, a pale purple aura emanated from his eyes.
Teach, hiding by the doorway, froze for a moment, then immediately felt a sense of dread and prepared to run.
Suddenly, the floor beneath his feet turned completely black. Then, the tables, chairs, and various debris that had been pulled into the darkness earlier were all violently spewed out.
Before Teach could react, an invisible gravity instantly pressed down on him, causing his movements to halt. In the next moment, massive gravity, the dark aura, and all those tables and chairs enveloped him.
The tables and chairs shattered into fragments, quickly encasing him. The gravity suppressed his movements, and the darkness sealed the power within him...
This instant offensive left Teach utterly unable to resist. He couldn't make a single move!
"Mercy..." Teach begged in fear.
The next second, he was completely enveloped in darkness, just like the cocoon Diarmuid had formed earlier.
Doflamingo was stunned. What the hell?!
A single look?
And that Teach guy is sealed?!
What kind of power is this? How incredibly strong!
He had briefly clashed with Teach and had managed to gauge quite a bit of his strength, concluding that the man was formidable, even very strong.
But to be taken down like that...
Before Doflamingo could voice his astonishment, Diarmuid covered his temple with his hand. His eyes returned to normal, and he spoke with a pale face. "Damn it, I overdid the show. I'm not very proficient with this power yet. My body hasn't adapted to this feeling... It's very strange, as if the gravity and the darkness are each occupying half of my body. For now, I can only force them together roughly."
"You... you really are a dual-fruit user?" Doflamingo looked at Diarmuid with disbelief.
Even though he had witnessed the entire event, he still felt like he was dreaming.
After a slight pause, Doflamingo became excited. "Then, can you handle three fruits, or even more?"
Diarmuid, still rubbing his temple, rolled his eyes at Doflamingo. "You're dreaming."
So far, among all the Devil Fruits he had encountered, only the Dark-Dark Fruit gave him this strong sensation. All the others were fleeting.
Perhaps it was due to the Dark-Dark Fruit's unique nature?
In any case, Diarmuid didn't plan on attempting it again.
There was no need to be greedy. He had searched for the Dark-Dark Fruit for so many years. To find another ability that met the criteria to complement the Dark-Dark Fruit would take who knows how long, and he didn't even know what that ability should be...
"Even if you can't, this is still shocking enough. Darkness in one hand, gravity in the other. There is probably no power in this world that can stop you from doing anything you want now, is there?" Doflamingo said with emotion and a hint of envy.
To be honest, if he wasn't certain that trying this would result in a terrible death, he would have wanted to try it himself!
A dual-fruit user! Unprecedented!
"No one has ever been able to stop me from doing anything," Diarmuid said with a confident smile.
From this moment on, he could essentially declare his "Divine Power Perfected, Unrivaled Under Heaven!"
Doflamingo spoke with a burst of excitement. "When are we going to attack Mariejois?"
Diarmuid: "???"
Are you out of your mind?
"Ah, well... Don't worry, it won't be too long. Attacking Mariejois is easy, but we can't cause indiscriminate destruction. At the very least, there must be enough order and enough power to maintain the world's stability and prevent a total collapse. I'm a Marine Admiral, not a pirate!" Diarmuid complained.
"I will be waiting. As for the secrets of Mariejois, I can tell you everything whenever you want to hear it," Doflamingo said earnestly.
After a slight pause, he added, "I just hope it's not too long."
"It won't be too long," Diarmuid patted Doflamingo's shoulder.
Just then, Vergo reached out and poked the black cocoon that Teach had turned into. He could feel that while the surface was darkness, the medium was clearly the various debris and broken furniture from earlier.
Although he had witnessed his Admiral's Planetary Devastation before, the fact that he could seal a person so completely with just some shattered wood fragments proved that the power of darkness was undeniably at play.
"Admiral, is he dead?" Vergo asked curiously.
"Not yet," Diarmuid said calmly. Of course, he could kill Teach instantly if he wanted to now. It was a matter of no difficulty for him.