The charred, gaping hole in Ace's chest pierced not only his body, but also the hearts of every member of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Time froze for a brief second.
Then it was ripped apart by deafening screams and an explosion of uncontrollable fury.
"ACE!!!"
Luffy collapsed on the shattered ice in the distance, his voice hoarse and broken. Tears mixed with dirt and blood streamed down his face. The grief was so overwhelming that he couldn't even lift himself back up.
"MY SONS!!!"
Whitebeard's towering figure swayed violently. Only by stabbing Murakumogiri deep into the ice did he prevent himself from falling.
He stared at the lifeless body on the execution platform. His white beard, once proud and immaculate, was now stained crimson from his own blood.
Those eyes that once looked down upon the seas and all who sailed them were now burning, not only with sorrow and rage intense enough to scorch the heavens, but also with a sliver of absolute captain's reason that he forced himself to maintain.
Akainu casually flicked the non-existent ash off his magma-covered fist, as if he had merely completed a simple task.
"The evil bloodline has been cleansed. Next is purging the rest of these stragglers."
Magma bubbled around him. He prepared to annihilate the pirates who were drowning in chaos and despair.
But right as Akainu was about to move,
Whitebeard acted.
He didn't rush to avenge Ace like Akainu expected.
Instead, he used all the remaining strength in his body to raise Murakumogiri high,
And SLAM it into the ice.
BOOM!!!
The dull, thunderous impact carried more weight than any clash before. It echoed like a strike to every soul on the battlefield.
A massive shockwave spread outward, not to destroy, but to deliver his final, unquestionable will.
"MY CHILDREN!!!"
Whitebeard's roar was the dying bellow of a lion king. It drowned out all chaos and reached every one of his sons.
"THIS IS MY FINAL ORDER AS YOUR CAPTAIN!!!"
Every pirate, whether fighting or frozen in grief, stiffened and instinctively looked toward their father.
Whitebeard took a deep breath. The movement tore his mangled chest wound further, making him cough up another mouthful of blood.
But his eyes remained sharp, clearer than ever.
"ALL CREW… RETREAT!!! RETURN TO THE NEW WORLD!!!"
"Pops!!!"
Marco was the first to shout, blue flames trembling violently with emotion.
"How can we leave you behind?!"
"SHUT UP, MARCO!"
Whitebeard roared, his gaze sweeping across every familiar face,
Jozu, Vista, and all his battered captains and sons.
"DO YOU WANT EVEN MORE OF YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS… TO DIE IN FRONT OF ME?!"
His voice carried an abyssal sorrow and an unshakable authority.
"I am a relic of the old era… There is no ship in the new age that can carry someone like me!"
"But YOU, must live on!!! DO YOU HEAR ME?! THIS IS AN ORDER!!!"
The words struck every heart like a hammer.
They understood.
Their father was using his life… to buy them a chance to escape.
Grief and unwillingness nearly tore them apart, but a captain's order was absolute.
"…Aye!!! Pops!!!"
Marco was the first to respond, voice choked but firm.
"Aye!!! Pops!!!"
One by one, pirates shouted through their tears. They helped each other retreat, fighting only to buy a path toward the remaining ships in the bay.
"You think you can escape?! NOT THAT EASY!"
Akainu roared, gathering magma for another strike.
"YOUR OPPONENT… IS ME!!!"
Whitebeard turned, eyes locking onto Akainu with lethal intent.
All his grief, fury, and decades of unmatched might erupted at once.
He abandoned all defense.
The white quake-energy on Murakumogiri swelled to an insane intensity, warping space itself.
Old wounds, new wounds, his breaking body, He cast all of it aside.
In that instant, he was a final weapon born only for destruction.
"Inugami Guren)!!!" Akainu launched his strongest magma fist.
Whitebeard howled with laughter, didn't dodge, didn't flinch. Murakumogiri wrapped in quake force split down with world-shattering wrath.
BOOOOOOOM!!!!!!
The collision surpassed everything before.
Magma and quake energy clashed once more, devouring each other and detonating endlessly.
Akainu's unstoppable magma fist was shattered, blown apart by Whitebeard's furious strike.
The bisento slammed into Akainu's chest.
"Guh-!!"
The admiral spat a huge mouthful of blood. His uniform shredded, revealing a chest ripped apart by quake force, bones cracking audibly.
He was sent flying like a rag doll, smashed into the collapsing ruins of the wall behind him, buried in dust and rubble.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku's eyes widened in horror.
He hadn't expected a dying Whitebeard to unleash power of this magnitude.
Whitebeard, having crushed Akainu in a single blow, didn't slow.
He swung his bisento like a mad titan, quake spheres exploding across the battlefield and stopping every Marine who tried to pursue his retreating sons.
"COME!!! MARINES!!! LET ME SHOW YOU… WHAT IT MEANS TO BE THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD!!!"
Alone, he stood against the entire navy.
Every swing shook the earth.
Every step cracked the frozen battlefield.
His presence threatened to drag all of Marineford into hell alongside him.
Aokiji and Kizaru were forced to join forces, ice and light binding together, yet even they couldn't fully contain this dying lion's final blaze of glory.
Behind the execution stand, Renzo frowned again.
He strengthened his Domain of Absolute Sloth just to dull the shockwaves.
"Pretty impressive, but even when dying, he's so troublesome…"
He complained under his breath, shifting to avoid flying ice fragments.
Whitebeard's brilliance was astonishing, but brief.
His life force was nearly gone.
Akainu's blow, his injuries from Squard, his overuse of quake power… all drained him rapidly.
Finally, after knocking aside Aokiji's ice spear, Whitebeard froze mid-swing.
His massive body remained standing, immovable like a mountain.
Murakumogiri, anchored into the ice, kept him from falling.
His breathing was faint.
The light in his eyes was fading.
Most pirates had already boarded the ships.
Marco, now a phoenix streak of blue fire, let out a final sorrowful cry, leading the retreating fleet away.
Whitebeard watched them leave.
A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Then the last spark in his eyes vanished.
Edward Newgate, Whitebeard, the strongest man in the world, breathed his last.
But he did not fall.
He remained upright, weapon planted, a king who fought to the final moment, leaving the stage of the era still standing.
Marineford fell into an eerie silence.
Marines stared at the unfallen giant with a mix of shock, awe… and relief.
But the silence didn't last.
"Zehahahaha!!! Zehahahahahaha!!!"
A crazed, triumphant, greedy laughter echoed from behind a half-collapsed wall.
Shadows shifted, and Marshall D. Teach, Blackbeard, finally appeared with his crew.
They had waited for this moment.
Blackbeard's face was twisted with unrestrained joy.
His eyes locked onto Whitebeard's still-standing corpse like a priceless treasure.
"At last… AT LAST, the moment has come! Pops, no… WHITEBEARD! Your greatest power… will belong to ME!!!"
He spread his arms wide, confidence and greed radiating from him, stepping toward the corpse.
Darkness seeped from his body, his secret ability to steal Devil Fruits.
Marines gasped at the sudden development.
Sengoku's face changed drastically.
"Blackbeard! What are you trying to do?!"
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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