Charlotte Linlin's "Mama-Mash" was a routine probe, meant to test the true extent of Diarmuid's power. It's perfectly normal for them to use the first few moves of an engagement to test each other out.
But this time, Diarmuid completely ignored the unwritten rules and went all out from the get-go.
An invisible force of gravity struck Charlotte Linlin, but she was momentarily stunned because the shock she expected didn't arrive.
But in the next instant, her face changed dramatically. The ground beneath her feet shattered, and she sank into the earth up to her shins.
At that moment, it was as if the underworld had opened up, and some unknown force was pulling Charlotte Linlin down toward the nine abysses of hell.
In a matter of moments, half of her body had disappeared into the ground.
At the same time, Diarmuid's blade, Kokorowatari, glowed with a faint purple aura. He used the opportunity to parry the Emperor Sword and slashed downward toward Charlotte Linlin's head.
"Don't you dare underestimate me!!!" Charlotte Linlin roared fiercely.
She enveloped her other hand in Armament Haki and raised it to block Diarmuid's strike.
Her unparalleled defense, combined with the power of Haki, was just enough to stop Diarmuid's blade.
At the same time, a red glint flashed in Charlotte Linlin's eyes. She threw the Emperor Sword aside and slammed her free hand into the ground. A monstrous burst of her brute strength erupted, and she forcefully broke free of Diarmuid's gravitational pull, pulling her lower body out of the ground as if she were a carrot being yanked from the soil.
"Mama-Bash!!!" Charlotte Linlin yelled again, throwing a punch at Diarmuid.
This punch was laced with the power of fire and lightning, coupled with her monstrous, innate strength. The might behind it was incredible.
Diarmuid showed no intention of retreating. At this moment, he needed to maintain a strong, aggressive posture to buy time. He hoped Garp and Gion would arrive soon, which would make things a little safer for him. Before that, he had to prove his dominance!
Without dodging, Diarmuid clenched his fist. Dense Haki, like flowing clouds, wrapped around his knuckles, radiating a faint, violet aura.
The instant Charlotte Linlin's ferocious attack came down, Diarmuid met her punch with his own.
The two fists collided, and two powerful forces met in a violent crash. Shockwaves, like rolling ocean waves, erupted and swept away from them. The clashing Armament Haki created a static discharge as black lightning streaked across the sky.
Diarmuid's unyielding stance and head-on clash made it look like a struggle for dominance. Both Whitebeard, watching from afar, and Charlotte Linlin herself, thought the same.
The power behind her punch grew heavier.
But at that moment, Charlotte Linlin saw Diarmuid's foot suddenly slide. He shifted to the side, and their colliding fists moved past each other.
Diarmuid had come prepared, while Charlotte Linlin had lost the initiative. Her center of gravity was unstable, and she stumbled forward.
"Universal Pull," Diarmuid whispered, and a powerful attractive force burst from him, further disrupting Charlotte Linlin's balance.
In just a single breath, he closed the distance between them, slamming directly into Charlotte Linlin's large frame.
Due to their height difference, Diarmuid's outstretched palm landed squarely on Charlotte Linlin's stomach. "Extreme Reversal: Gravity Disruption!" Diarmuid growled.
At the same time, a concentrated gravitational shockwave erupted from his palm, sending Charlotte Linlin flying backward.
Fortunately, the attack wasn't too powerful. Charlotte Linlin was sent flying back a dozen meters before her feet landed, and after absorbing two of the force's impacts, she stabilized herself.
However, before she could mount a new offensive to save face, she suddenly stumbled, almost falling flat on her face. Her sense of gravity was completely scrambled! Her left foot felt light, her right foot heavy, her upper body felt heavy, and her lower body felt light!
It was as if Diarmuid had anticipated this situation. He passed his hand over his blade, Kokorowatari, and the dark, gravitational collapse attached to his blade once more.
"Rend the flesh, sever the soul. Secret Technique: Abyssal Devourer..." A malevolent glint flashed in Diarmuid's eyes.
He lunged forward, bringing his blade down in a single, clean slash aimed directly at Charlotte Linlin's head!
At that very moment, a trident wrapped in Haki blocked Diarmuid's blade. It was Katakuri.
Fear was etched in Katakuri's eyes. In that instant, he had foreseen the future: Diarmuid's strike would almost decapitate his mother! If the blade connected, it would leave Charlotte Linlin in a critical, near-death state!
This was clearly Diarmuid's hidden trump card.
So, the moment he foresaw the future, Katakuri didn't hesitate to intercept the attack.
But it was no use. Kokorowatari, imbued with Diarmuid's Abyssal Devourer, was in a state where it would cut down anything in its path. Kaido had poured all his Haki into his chest to block it, and he still couldn't stop Diarmuid's blade.
So what hope did Katakuri have?
The dense Haki wrapped around the trident instantly dissipated the moment the blade touched it. Diarmuid had previously broken one of Katakuri's tridents, so this was a new one, crafted from a more resilient material.
But the result was the same. It was instantly sliced in two by Diarmuid's blade!
"Mama!!!" Katakuri cried out.
That single cry and the momentary obstruction were just enough for Charlotte Linlin to react. Armament Haki flowed like a liquid, coiling around her arm. She put up a horizontal guard in front of her head.
Perhaps her guard was a sufficient defense, but to Charlotte Linlin's stunned eyes, she saw her own Haki, just like Katakuri's, dissipate the moment it touched Diarmuid's blade, getting sucked into the dark energy swirling around the weapon.
A searing pain shot through her arm, and Charlotte Linlin let out a shriek. She completely abandoned any sense of dignity or the poise of a top-tier pirate, tumbling over and over on the ground in a pathetic roll, narrowly dodging Diarmuid's blade.
With his target gone, Kokorowatari slammed into the ground. Like a hot knife through butter, the ground was instantly sliced open, though it wasn't a showy display, lacking the mountain-splitting, sea-cleaving power of a true swordsman. The tip of the blade simply sank into the dirt.
But everyone's eyes were filled with shock, because in the distance, Charlotte Linlin, who had just rolled away, had a wound on her arm that went deep to the bone—no, it had cut a section of the bone itself.
The wound was bloody and horrifying, but on closer inspection, it was different from a normal cut. It seemed as if the attack had completely erased and devoured that portion of her flesh and blood!
In that moment, many of the pirate commanders on both sides remembered the massive sword wound they had seen on Kaido's chest...
Unsurprisingly, it seemed Kaido had been defeated by this very same attack.
What kind of power was this?
A single strike left the supposedly "Strongest Creature" Kaido critically injured. Another single strike forced Charlotte Linlin, who was called the "Iron Balloon" with invulnerable defenses, to shamefully dodge?
Everyone could see what happened. If Charlotte Linlin had been the least bit concerned with her pride and poise, if she had hesitated for even a moment, Diarmuid would have severed her arm!
"He's so strong!!!" A shocked glint flashed in Teach's eyes from afar. He felt that in terms of pure offensive power, that last strike was probably even stronger than his old man, Whitebeard!
In this moment, Diarmuid's Gravity-Gravity Fruit also made Teach's heart pound. If he got the Dark-Dark Fruit, perhaps choosing the Gravity-Gravity Fruit as his second ability wouldn't be a bad idea?
"Is this what a Marine Admiral is?" Lucci whispered, a hint of admiration in his eyes. But that admiration quickly faded, replaced by a sense of solemnity. It was clear he was a master of his emotions now.
Charlotte Linlin was no longer wailing. Her eyes, filled with shock and fear, were fixed on Diarmuid as she clutched the gruesome wound on her arm that had nearly cut her bone in two.
The black energy on Diarmuid's blade slowly dissipated. He twirled his blade gracefully and slid Kokorowatari back into its sheath.
Then, Diarmuid calmly looked at Charlotte Linlin and said, "A good dodge."
The words were clearly meant to be a taunt. While a cowardly roll might be a divine technique for survival—and throughout history and in many worlds, countless experts have used this move in a life-or-death situation to save themselves—it was undeniably a shameful act.
A flash of anger crossed Charlotte Linlin's eyes, but she didn't attack again. Newgate's eyes, meanwhile, showed a hint of surprise, and his gaze toward Diarmuid was filled with newfound respect.
With his three consecutive strikes, Diarmuid had seized the initiative and suppressed Charlotte Linlin's initial arrogance. Diarmuid was now clearly in control.
Charlotte Linlin was wary now and no longer dared to act so carelessly.
However, even though Diarmuid seemed calm on the outside, having nearly crippled Charlotte Linlin with a few simple moves, his internal energy was severely depleted.
Although his strength had improved since his battle with Whitebeard at St. Poplar, "Abyssal Devourer," a top-tier killing blow that no one could block, was still a heavy burden on him. Manipulating gravity to create a collapse effect wasn't as easy as it looked.
It was no joke. A collapse effect is never easy for anyone to control, because if it goes out of control, it could theoretically create a black hole!
There was no way it could be controlled so easily!
Diarmuid had already expended a huge amount of energy when he used the same attack on Kaido on Balloon Island, breaking his will to fight and critically injuring him. Now, using it a second time, nearly severing Charlotte Linlin's arm, he was approaching his limit.
Of course, this limit didn't mean he was defenseless. It just meant he couldn't use this terrifying power many more times. He could probably unleash one more strike of that magnitude, and that would be it.
But being surrounded, Diarmuid couldn't show any signs of weakness. So, he put on a strong front, acting as if it were nothing.
"Gurara-ra-ra! The sea favors the brave, Diarmuid! It seems you've gotten stronger!" Newgate suddenly laughed.
Diarmuid took a deep breath, a smile on his face, and looked at Newgate. "Are you going to make a move?"
Newgate spun his Murakumogiri, pointing its tip directly at Diarmuid. "Of course!"
The moment he finished speaking, an invisible, transparent energy began to condense at the tip of his blade.
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