Now, Renji no longer needed to hide. The complete Domain Expansion: Malevolent Shrine was fully materialized before the eyes of the world.
High in the sky, countless Marines and pirates gazed at the suddenly appearing shrine, all trembling with fear.
"What exactly is that thing?"
"So eerie. And… why does it feel so evil to me?!"
"Is that something Captain Renji created? It's… terrifyingly strong."
A boundless, eerie aura emanated from within the shrine. Merely floating silently in the air, it sent shivers down one's spine. Even the elite Vice Admirals of Marineford, veterans of countless battles, felt an immense pressure. Even from such a distance, the hands gripping their blades couldn't stop trembling.
Yamakaji, a cigarette dangling from his lips, murmured, "Renji… are you a reincarnation of Shura? This killing intent is too heavy."
Each white bone of the materialized shrine shimmered with an ominous light, narrating endless death and sorrow.
Above the shrine, Renji's eyes flashed and he bared a row of white teeth. Invisible slashes roared forth, instantly engulfing Marco.
Swish... Swish... Swish…
After Domain Expansion: Malevolent Shrine upgraded to Lv. 5, the power of the invisible slashes had significantly increased. Therefore, even Marco, who had also made great progress and awakened his Devil Fruit ability, found it difficult to parry.
Although Marco's mind and body had transformed, leading to breakthroughs in his Haki influenced by his inner strength, facing the Lv. 5 Domain's slashes, he was instantly overwhelmed.
Advanced Armament Haki hardening or coating couldn't withstand the Cursed Energy slashes from Renji. The extreme pain from all over his body instantly swept through Marco's brain.
Thus, everyone saw that in the sky, the phoenix, emitting an eerie blue flame, shattered into countless fragments in an instant.
"Captain Marco!"
"He actually… just like that… Captain Marco?!"
A red figure looked up at the sky. Akainu's pupils reflected the tragic state of Marco the Phoenix. He felt no sympathy, only a flicker of doubt in his heart.
"The power this Renji uses, are they invisible slashes? The regeneration ability that could even block my Hellhound seems unable to withstand Renji's attacks."
Akainu's heart was shaken. As an awakened Logia-type Mag-Mag Fruit user, one Hellhound from him could leave anyone below the Four Emperors either dead or crippled.
Even a monster as strong as Whitebeard, after taking one of his Hellhounds, had his health bar instantly reduced to the kill-line.
Its destructive power was undoubtedly the undisputed top among Logia-type Devil Fruit abilities.
Yet, such damage output was being surpassed by Renji?
Akainu found it unbelievable, and so did Marco. However, having been sliced into mincemeat, he couldn't even utter a painful groan.
Marco's final sight was Renji's sneering face, then all his senses vanished. Amidst the intense pain, less than two and a half seconds had passed in the outside world, yet it felt like an eternity to him.
Fighting to this extent, Renji's damage output at this level surely can't last too long. I just need to hold on.
With his strong will, Marco, relying on his inner conviction, forcibly kept his Devil Fruit's regenerative ability continuously active. Otherwise, the moment he was engulfed by that extreme pain, he would have been sliced into a mist of blood due to his inability to maintain his ability.
As the invisible slashes cut Marco's body into pieces, each no larger than a small fingernail, Renji's eyes flickered, and he changed the focus of the slashes.
Swish... Swish...
They were still invisible slashes, but this time, Marco truly felt his soul being butchered.
Perhaps out of self-preservation, an endless fear forcibly awakened his soul consciousness.
At this moment, while being frantically tormented by immense pain, his consciousness within his soul could perceive that all his abilities were rapidly disappearing.
Haki, physical body, vitality, voice, and so on—everything a normal living being with a soul possesses was being stripped away by the slashes.
It was like a butcher scaling a fish layer by layer, then devouring it completely.
Renji's smile widened at this sight. However, something unexpected happened. Under the powerful perception of his Heavenly Six Eyes, he saw that a group of figures had quietly appeared from a collapsed building in Marineford.
"These guys… did they also come early?"
Renji knew about Blackbeard's appearance, but why had Douglas Bullet, who was with him, also come?
Some unforeseen change had occurred.
In the original storyline, Douglas Bullet, a powerful combatant from the former Roger Pirates, was supposed to appear as the main boss in a movie, and his personality was naturally extremely unruly.
Renji was very curious about what reason Blackbeard had used to bring him here.
On the execution platform, Ace's face was pale. Tears continuously streamed from his eyes. He was filled with remorse as he frantically headbutted the floor.
"I'm sorry everyone. I'm sorry, pops! It's me, I'm the one who caused all of this! Please, stop and leave here!"
"This sinner doesn't need you to save him!"
However, no one would change their actions because of Ace's words.
On the battlefield at this moment, those who were chasing were chasing, those who were fleeing were fleeing, and the confused were still confused.
The words of a man in shackles held no weight.
In a pool of blood, Koby, with a severed arm, suddenly awoke.
"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I don't want to die! H-huh!… Ahhh!"
Koby had just recovered from his fright when the intense pain from his severed arm made him scream.
Helmeppo quickly comforted him, "Koby, pull yourself together. We Marines are winning. Renji killed Whitebeard."
"What?"
Hearing this, Koby seemed to lose all vitality. At this moment, his worldview had collapsed.
[Ding! Congratulations for successfully killing Marco! You have gained 137,400 Bounty Points!]
[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for achieving the stage-specific achievement reward unlock condition: The Fall of Whitebeard's Commanders (7/15)!]