"It seems like you're not fazed to see me alive, Edward. Were you that sure I hadn't fallen?" Rocks D. Xebec's voice was sharp and grating, yet somehow carried an unnerving calm, like the hiss of a blade being unsheathed.
His words were a whisper, but they cut through the cacophony of battle like a thunderclap. The oppressive clash of Conqueror's Haki between him and Whitebeard tore through the sea and sky, carving fissures in the heavens and creating towering waves that battered the sinking island.
Despite being shorter in stature than Whitebeard, Rocks stood firm, a monolith of power. With his bare hands, he held Whitebeard's tremor-infused, Haki-coated naginata mid-swing, unmoving like a mountain. The sheer force of the clash distorted the very air around them, cracks of light and sound rippling outward in cataclysmic waves.
Whitebeard's heart left no room for doubt. The man standing before him, defying his full might, was his former captain—the pirate whose ambition had burned brighter and more destructively than any other in history. Rocks had returned, defying even death, as if the ancient weapon unleashed at God Valley had merely been an inconvenience.
"You should have stayed dead, Xebec," Whitebeard roared, veins bulging in his massive arms as he poured more strength into his blade. Tremors pulsed from his hands, distorting reality around the weapon, but Rocks didn't move an inch. Behind the legendary pirate, Kaido's body quaked as the process of his Devil Fruit's awakening surged forward, unhindered.
"I don't care if you're alive. Move. Do not come between me and Kaido—he has to die!" Whitebeard's voice thundered, his words carried by the force of his unyielding will. The very air became a battlefield of wills as the clashing Haki from both titans grew fiercer, tearing apart the terrain around them.
Even miles away, where the Whitebeard Pirates and Beast Pirates were locked in their own struggles, they were shaken.
The overwhelming malice in Rocks' Conqueror's Haki made even seasoned warriors falter. Marco, who had felt the Haki of legends like Roger, Garp, and Whitebeard himself, shuddered as this sinister and oppressive presence washed over him.
"What the hell is this…?!" he muttered, his voice trembling as cold sweat dripped from his brow. This was different. Rocks' Haki was like a black hole, malevolent to its very core.
Rocks chuckled softly, his grip on Whitebeard's weapon tightening with an almost lazy confidence.
"Dead? If not for you stabbing me in the back at God Valley, do you think Roger and Garp would have stood a chance against me? I underestimated you once, Edward—didn't think you had it in you to betray me." Rocks' voice was casual, but there was a cold bitterness beneath the surface.
"All those grand speeches about facing challenges head-on… it's nothing but wind. You're a coward, Edward."
The taunt hit like a dagger. For someone who prided himself on unshakable honor, Whitebeard's one betrayal was a scar on his soul. God Valley was a memory he had spent years burying, a day he had hoped to forget. But now, that past stood before him, speaking the truth he didn't want to hear.
Whitebeard's eyes burned with fury, his hands trembling not with weakness, but with barely-contained wrath. "I don't care what you think, Xebec… so move now, before I send you back to the abyss." His Tremor-Tremor powers surged again, the ground beneath his feet fracturing as the full force of his wrath twisted the world.
But then, Rocks countered. With a simple shift of his aura, his Conqueror's Haki surged outward in a shockwave, neutralizing the tremor's destructive ripples. The battlefield trembled as both forces clashed, neither giving an inch.
"You should care, Edward," Rocks said, his voice like a thunderous drumbeat. "At first, I might've let you kill the little bastard. After all, what kind of pirate would I be if I didn't kill everyone who betrayed me? You, Shiki, everyone who turned on me at God Valley—you're all on borrowed time. Linlin fell to some upstart brat, but Kaido… Kaido is different."
Rocks gestured casually toward the crater where Kaido's form glowed faintly, his awakening nearing completion. "Do you know what you're looking at, Edward? The last time this fruit awakened was close to seven centuries ago, when a true dragon ruled the skies. A samurai of Wano killed him, the man they revere as the Sword God. But now… Kaido is about to surpass that legend. I won't let you interfere."
Rocks tilted his head slightly, his tone shifting to a mocking sneer. "And how long is he going to hide up there…?"
Whitebeard's brow furrowed in frustration and rage, but the answer came in a flash. From above, a fiery meteor-like presence hurtled toward Rocks with devastating speed.
"Lion's Majesty…!"
A booming voice roared as twin blades descended from the heavens, cutting through the air with terrifying precision. Shiki, the Golden Lion, plunged from the sky like a divine spear, his swords glowing with Haki as he aimed to strike Rocks down in one decisive blow.
But Rocks didn't flinch. With a chuckle that exuded absolute confidence, he released one hand from Whitebeard's blade and drew his cutlass in a single fluid motion. The weapon gleamed with Armament Haki as it intercepted Shiki's strike mid-air.
"I'm going to kill you, Xebec!" Shiki bellowed, his fury palpable as he free-fell toward his former captain, swords blazing with power.
"BOOM!"
The skies erupted as their weapons collided, a shockwave tearing apart the clouds and sending torrents of wind across the battlefield. Rocks grinned, his sinister aura intensifying. With one hand, he held Whitebeard's tremor-empowered naginata. With the other, he parried Shiki's ferocious assault, his cutlass moving like a snake, coiling around Shiki's blades and locking them in place.
The clash of these three titans sent waves of destruction rippling through the sea, the sheer force of their combined Haki and might shaking the very foundations of the island. Rocks stood at the center of it all, holding his ground against two of the strongest pirates in history. His laughter echoed above the chaos, sinister and triumphant.
"Is this all you've got, Edward? Shiki?!" Rocks roared, his voice resonating with an unrelenting dominance. "You can't kill me. I am the abyss!"
"Shiki…" Rocks D. Xebec snarled, his voice laced with a mix of amusement and pride as he deflected another vicious swing from the Golden Lion.
"It seems you've found the path beyond awakening. I wasn't wrong about the people I chose for my crew." His lips curled into a wicked grin, his tone mocking yet undeniably impressed.
Xebec shoved Shiki back with a surge of raw force, creating just enough space to unleash a sweeping strike with his cutlass. The blade carved through the air with lethal precision, but Whitebeard's naginata intercepted it mid-swing.
The collision unleashed a thunderous shockwave that rippled outward in relentless pulses, distorting the very fabric of the battlefield. Cracks splintered across the sky itself as the clash of their supreme wills shattered the world around them.
The three titans stood locked in their deadly stalemate, their Conqueror's Haki swirling together in a storm of raw power. The island quaked beneath their feet, rapidly breaking apart as the sheer intensity of their conflict made the ground itself a casualty.
"Where were you hiding all these years, Xebec?" Shiki growled, his twin blades poised and glowing with Armament Haki. He circled the battlefield like a predator, his sharp eyes scanning for an opening.
"Were you too afraid to face the world again? Or too ashamed to show your face after the way you fell?"
The Golden Lion's taunts carried venom, but they were calculated. Against someone like Rocks, distractions could be fatal—or create a crucial advantage. With all three combatants wielding Observation Haki at such an elevated level, every step, every swing, every glance became a high-stakes gamble.
Their foresight collided, disrupting each other's glimpses into the future, forcing them to rely instead on raw instinct, skill, and the unyielding force of their wills.
But Rocks wasn't so easily baited. He laughed, a cold, sinister sound that echoed through the battlefield.
"Afraid? Ashamed? You think I'd hide from the world? The world has been hiding from me."
Rocks' voice grew darker, each word oozing malice. "I've seen the truth of this cursed age, Shiki. This era of pirates… it's pathetic. A collection of sniveling cowards playing at ambition."
Xebec's blade moved in a blur, forcing Whitebeard to parry with a swift counter. The resulting impact shook the heavens, a deafening explosion of power that sent waves crashing against the distant horizon. Whitebeard's massive frame tensed, his grip on his weapon unshaken, but even he felt the weight of the clash.
"You're still spouting your delusions of grandeur, Xebec," Whitebeard growled, his voice deep and rumbling like an earthquake. "All that talk about truth and eras. None of it will matter when I send you back to the grave."
Xebec smirked, his expression one of unshakable confidence. "Grave? Edward, I told you—I am the abyss. You can't kill what already commands the void itself."
Shiki, still circling, tightened his grip on his blades, the air around him shimmering with his growing power.
"Enough of your cryptic nonsense, Rocks! Let's see if that abyss of yours can withstand this!" With a roar, Shiki leaped forward, his swords carving twin arcs of destruction aimed straight at Xebec.
Rocks reacted instantly, meeting Shiki's assault with a devastating swing of his cutlass. Sparks of Haki erupted in all directions, the force of their clash sending a vortex of wind spiraling upward.
But even as he blocked Shiki, Rocks twisted his body to deflect another tremor-imbued strike from Whitebeard.
For a moment, it seemed impossible—Rocks was holding back both legendary pirates simultaneously. His sheer strength and mastery were undeniable, a reminder of why he had once been the terror of the seas.
"You've both grown stronger," Xebec admitted, his voice laced with both irritation and begrudging respect.
"Edward, with your awakened Tremor-Tremor powers… Shiki, stepping beyond even that… But strength alone doesn't win battles. One's will does."
Behind him, Kaido's awakening neared completion. The glow around the dragon's form intensified, his heartbeat reverberating through the battlefield like the pounding of war drums. Rocks' lips curled into a victorious grin as he felt Kaido's resurgence approach.
"You don't understand, do you?" Rocks sneered, his Haki surging with renewed ferocity. "Kaido's awakening isn't just some evolution—it's history repeating itself. Seven centuries ago, a true dragon awakened and brought the world to its knees. And now, the Azure Dragon rises again."
Whitebeard's eyes narrowed, his grip tightening around his weapon. He knew the danger Kaido posed if Rocks succeeded in fully awakening the mythical beast. "I won't let you use him for your twisted plans, Xebec!"
Rocks chuckled, his voice dripping with mockery. "Won't let me? Edward, do you think you have the luxury of stopping me?" His grin widened. "Besides, I didn't expect to leave here unchallenged."
The battlefield was chaos incarnate. The ocean churned violently, the sky fractured with every clash, and the island beneath them was on the brink of disintegration. At the epicenter of this cataclysm stood three of the mightiest figures in history, their powers colliding with primal fury.
"You'll have to do better than that, Edward!" Rocks roared, his voice resonating with malice as he parried another tremor-imbued strike from Whitebeard's naginata.
The blade shimmered with the destructive energy of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, each swing carrying the force to obliterate entire islands, but Rocks met it head-on with his cutlass, reinforced by an overwhelming combination of Armament and Conqueror's Haki.
Shiki struck next, his blades slicing through the air with precision as the ground beneath him lifted. His Float-Float Fruit powers allowed him to manipulate the battlefield itself, massive chunks of earth and debris rising to his command. With a flick of his wrist, he sent a barrage of sharpened boulders hurtling toward Rocks, each one spinning like a deadly projectile.
Rocks didn't flinch. "The abyss devours all!" he growled, raising his free hand. From his palm, a void-like energy spiraled outward, dark and consuming. The boulders were devoured mid-air, disintegrating into nothingness as they entered the swirling maw of his power.
"What is that…?" Shiki muttered, momentarily taken aback.
"Focus, Shiki!" Whitebeard bellowed, taking advantage of Rocks' distraction to lunge forward. His naginata, wreathed in white cracks of raw power, cleaved downward with the intent to split Rocks in two.
"Tch!" Rocks barely managed to twist his body, the blade grazing his side and carving a deep gouge in the earth behind him. Blood seeped from the wound, but Rocks merely grinned, his teeth bared like a predator's. "Still as relentless as ever, Edward. Good."
Rocks retaliated with a devastating upward slash of his cutlass, the blade's dark aura cutting through the air like a death knell. Whitebeard blocked with his weapon, but the force sent a shockwave rippling through his massive frame.
Shiki capitalized on the opening, launching himself into the air. "Lion's Tempest!" he roared, spinning in mid-flight as his twin swords created a whirlwind of golden slashes, each one glowing with Armament Haki. The storm of blades rained down on Rocks, who countered by plunging his hand into the void-like energy around him.
"Abyssal Maw!" Rocks roared, pulling forth a torrent of black tendrils that lashed out like living shadows. The tendrils snared Shiki's blades, halting his assault mid-air, while others shot toward Whitebeard.
"Enough of your tricks!" Whitebeard growled, his naginata swinging in a wide arc. The force of his tremor power shattered the tendrils, sending ripples of destruction toward Rocks.
Rocks leaped back, his cutlass raised. "Tricks? This power is the culmination of the void itself, Edward! You've spent your life commanding the seas, but I… I command the abyss!"
As if to prove his point, Rocks plunged his cutlass into the ground, and the darkness spread like a living entity, consuming the battlefield. The island groaned under the weight of his power, its edges crumbling into the ocean. From the darkness, massive claws and tendrils emerged, each one attacking with chaotic precision.
"Shiki!" Whitebeard barked, as he slammed his weapon into the ground, releasing a tremor shockwave that obliterated several tendrils.
"On it!" Shiki responded, lifting entire chunks of the disintegrating island with his Float-Float powers. With a roar, he hurled them like meteors toward Rocks.
Rocks smirked, stepping into the abyss itself. The meteors passed through him harmlessly, swallowed by the dark void. Then, with a surge of power, Rocks reemerged directly in front of Shiki, his cutlass poised to strike.
"Too slow!" Rocks snarled, slashing downward.
Shiki barely managed to intercept with his blades, but the force of the blow sent him hurtling into the ground. The impact created a massive crater, dust and debris clouding the battlefield.
Whitebeard charged in, his naginata spinning with brutal efficiency. "You won't get away with that, Xebec!" he roared, his weapon colliding with Rocks' cutlass. The resulting shockwave tore through the remnants of the island, splitting it further apart.
The two clashed in a blur of strikes, their weapons glowing with the combined might of Armament and Conqueror's Haki. Each blow was like a thunderclap, shaking the heavens and sending ripples through the ocean.
Shiki rejoined the fray, his golden blades flashing as he aimed for Rocks' flank. "You're not invincible, Xebec!"
"Nor are you, Shiki!" Rocks countered, twisting to deflect Shiki's strike while simultaneously blocking Whitebeard's next attack. The sheer speed and precision of his movements were terrifying, even against two of the greatest pirates in history.
The battlefield became a storm of power, raw and untamed. Rocks' abyssal energy consumed everything in its path, while Whitebeard's tremor attacks shattered the very fabric of reality. Shiki's airborne assaults added another layer of chaos, his floating debris and precision strikes raining down from above.
Yet, despite their combined might, Rocks stood firm. Bloodied but unbroken, he grinned maniacally. "Is this all you've got? The great Whitebeard? The mighty Golden Lion? Show me the strength that made you legends!"
Whitebeard and Shiki exchanged a glance, their resolve hardening. Together, they surged forward, determined to bring Rocks down, no matter the cost.
The battlefield was a maelstrom of chaos, its very existence teetering on the brink of annihilation as the three titans clashed. Whitebeard's naginata swept in a deadly arc, releasing shockwaves that shattered the terrain and sent massive fissures racing toward the horizon.
Rocks dodged with inhuman agility, his movements a blur as tendrils of abyssal darkness writhed around him like living weapons, parrying strikes and countering with relentless precision.
Shiki soared above the fray, his Float-Float powers turning the crumbling island into his personal arsenal. Massive chunks of earth rose to his command, their jagged edges glowing with Armament Haki. With a flick of his hand, he sent them crashing toward Rocks, the air around them splitting with the force of their descent.
Rocks didn't evade—he retaliated. The void surrounding him expanded, a swirling maw of darkness that devoured the incoming projectiles. A second later, the darkness erupted outward, releasing the consumed debris as razor-sharp fragments.
They rained down indiscriminately, forcing Shiki to weave through the barrage, his twin blades deflecting shards with lightning-fast precision.
On the ground, Whitebeard lunged forward, his massive frame moving with surprising speed. His naginata struck the abyssal barrier, and the world trembled as his tremor powers tore through the dark tendrils. Cracks spread like lightning, the ground beneath Rocks shattering into a yawning chasm. Rocks jumped back just in time, but Whitebeard pressed on, his weapon a blur of destruction.
Shiki reentered the fray with a sudden dive, his blades spinning like a cyclone. He descended with the force of a comet, his attack aimed directly at Rocks. The impact was cataclysmic, a blast of wind and rubble exploding outward as his blades connected with the abyssal shield. Rocks gritted his teeth, his arms trembling as he held Shiki at bay with his cutlass.
Whitebeard capitalized on the moment, appearing behind Rocks like a force of nature. His fist, coated in both Armament Haki and the crackling energy of his Tremor-Tremor Fruit, came down like a sledgehammer.
Rocks twisted at the last second, avoiding a fatal blow, but the force of the punch still sent him hurtling through the air. He crashed into a jagged cliff, the impact obliterating it and sending shockwaves rippling outward.
But Rocks was far from defeated. Emerging from the rubble, his body radiated malice, the abyssal energy around him intensifying. He slammed his hand into the ground, and the darkness erupted in tendrils, reaching out like monstrous claws. They tore through the air, targeting both Whitebeard and Shiki with relentless ferocity.
Shiki leaped high, his body spinning as he sliced through the tendrils with fluid precision. Whitebeard met the onslaught head-on, his naginata carving through the dark claws with raw power. The two pushed forward, their combined assault driving Rocks back step by step.
The air grew thick with the clash of their Haki, an oppressive force that even the sea itself seemed to bow to. The ocean churned violently, waves rising hundreds of meters before crashing down with thunderous force. Lightning cracked through the blackened sky, illuminating the battlefield in bursts of brilliance.
Rocks roared, the sound primal and furious, as he unleashed a wave of abyssal energy that swallowed everything in its path. The ground disintegrated beneath the attack, leaving nothing but an endless void. Whitebeard and Shiki stood firm, their combined Haki forming a shield against the onslaught.
Whitebeard struck first, his naginata glowing with an otherworldly light as he drove it into the void. The tremor rippled outward, forcing the darkness to retreat. Shiki followed, his twin blades spinning like a whirlwind as he closed the distance. He slashed at Rocks with feral intensity, each strike aimed to cleave through his former captain.
Rocks blocked with his cutlass, but the force of Shiki's attacks drove him to his knees. Seizing the opportunity, Whitebeard surged forward, his massive fist swinging in an upward arc. The punch connected with Rocks' chest, the tremor power shattering his abyssal armor and sending him flying. Rocks crashed into the ground, creating a crater that swallowed the surrounding terrain.
But even as blood poured from his wounds, Rocks rose, his abyssal energy surging once more. His eyes burned with a hatred that defied comprehension as he roared into the storm. This wasn't over. The clash continued, a primal battle of titans that tore the world apart.