"Rocks!"
Garp kept swinging his fists.
His body moved like lightning; sparks tore from him.
Haki coiled around him like a constrictor, smashing aside every obstacle.
From the mouths of the desperate, everyone watched this duel.
Zephyr (Zephyr) and Sengoku leaned against one another, their eyes full of worry.
They were more afraid he'd lose — and more afraid he'd refuse to back down.
This fight should never have drawn so many. People poured in one after another to support their side.
Originally, the battle would have been Rocks Pirates vs. Roger Pirates vs. the God Knights and Garp's elite marines.
Instead, the whole era was now dragged into it.
This was the age before the Seven Warlords and long before the Four Emperors fully rose — a time when Rocks alone could dominate, and even the Navy Admiral could barely contend.
With an awakened Devil Fruit, peak body techniques, and three-color mastery of Haki, Rocks had claimed the top seat.
The Dark-Dark Fruit suppressed Devil Fruit users, while the Love-Love Fruit added absolute petrifying destruction.
Fighting him meant not only resisting darkness's erosion and weakened Haki defense, but also the chance of being turned to stone.
If a breathtaking beauty consumed the Love-Love Fruit, anyone unable to restrain themselves would petrify — the fruit made the beautiful even more alluring.
If an ambitious lord used it, their presence would swell with dominance; the more people feared them, the easier petrification became.
That trait made Rocks' Conqueror Haki even deadlier.
Single-handed, he could sweep through armies — devouring, petrifying, knocking foes unconscious. Any one of those effects would wipe out a normal person instantly.
From the start, only supreme Haki users could face him. And even then, if a Devil Fruit's power was briefly exploited by the Dark-Dark Fruit, one's stamina would shatter.
Even those who combined powerful Devil Fruits with Haki immunity would be strained — they could be stretched too thin.
Rocks recognized this and fit perfectly with the Dark-Dark Fruit.
Devil Fruit users were suppressed; Haki-and-fruit holders were weakened. On the seas, pure Haki supremacy was that much harder.
Now Roger and Garp stood at the front. Even Rayleigh and Zephyr were a step below Rocks in his eyes.
"Indeed," Rocks said. "You two rose together as the new era's champions. Years of growth, repeated encounters and rivalries — I once thought to make you mine. Fate had other designs; we became final enemies."
Rocks had strength, luck, and planning. He had driven away opponents and bent many to his will. Only two refused to submit — the two who could still oppose him.
"Roger! Garp! Bring it on!" Rocks roared.
Darkness coated his fists; his robes were tattered. He stood atop shattered heights, hair rippling like shadow-serpents. Haki crawled over him, dark red like old blood. He was no Medusa — he was a satan from hell.
"Dark Rift!"
"Bloody Gale!"
"Paradise!"
Haki and fruit power combined; every solid blow risked a momentary falter in the enemy's mind — and petrification or being drawn helplessly into darkness.
"Divine Slaughter!"
Roger vanished in an instant. He was fast enough and used his Haki-vanish (the "sword-vanish" technique) to slip from Rocks' sight.
"I have seen all your futures! I hear every possibility in your heart!" Roger shouted, slashing toward Rocks.
His strike's power and cutting intent were at the peak — a single swing carved off a chunk of the valley.
Rocks planted his feet and met the slash with a fist — darkness exploded into a storm, perfectly synced with his Haki. The blade struck his palm, but he laughed wildly and swung with the other.
"Storm Galaxy!"
Garp thundered like a meteor. Muscles taut like cables, he summoned every fiber of Haki. Blue-white sparks crossed with blood-red Haki and crashed from his fists. In an instant the Haki poured like a river — lightning clashing against dark.
Crack — crack — sparks flew. God Valley's sky exploded in a whirlwind. The valley echoed with roaring blows; no one dared approach. This was absolute death territory.
Blow after blow: it became a three-way fight of equal ferocity.
Rocks fought with a darkness that coiled like a hundred black serpents, mouths gaping. Roger's blade moved with relentless red arcs — each basic strike was a critical hit, each appearance and disappearance a perfect ambush. Garp charged in like a bulldozer; perhaps generationally inherited, his grandson would one day echo that same relentless punching style.
They could not pause. Wounded though they were, Roger and Garp pushed on without rest; they would not give Rocks a single opening.
"It's glorious… so glorious!" Rocks accepted the double pain the Devil Fruit inflicted — he wanted the fight. If someone must die, better it was his opponent. Blood spattered. Haki flashed like storm and gale. Speedborn flames painted the valley's shadows.
Garp spat blood and smiled. "Good to meet an opponent at my prime — otherwise Kaku'd be complaining!"
Rocks' teeth were spattered; Garp's fists hit hard.
"Young is good!" Rocks breathed. "But without immortality and true power, you only rule for a moment. I was lucky to find it — maybe it can be used on me. It's worth the gamble."
Rocks drew a Devil Fruit from his sash — a surgical-type fruit. Sensing pain and injury, he made the choice: the surgical fruit, an extreme gamble.
He intended to use it upon himself. "I thought to find a better vessel," he muttered — then swallowed. The third Devil Fruit vanished down his throat: the Mutate/Surgery Fruit. Now he had mutated vigor; he'd thrown caution to the winds.
Garp's punch nearly hit his face — but Rocks vanished into nothing: "ROOM! Scapegoat!"
Rocks reappeared directly behind Roger. He'd already foreseen this moment. Roger used his Haki-vanish again and struck.
The valley trembled. Rocks' new fruit further increased his fighting unpredictability: he moved like a phantom. Each strike, each teleportation was another threat.
Sharn, rummaging the food, found an idle Den Den Mushi and picked it up. Immediately a caller from Mariejois sniffed: "Grand Saint? Rocks' crew—are they all wiped out?" It was one of the Five Elders panicking. They calmed down as the line went on. "Who is this?" they demanded.
Sharn reheated cold roast with purple lightning and swallowed. He stared at his Den Den Mushi and understood his duty: some things should not be hidden — like blank history. He started recording all of God Valley's aftermath. One day this footage would return to the world.
Within the chaos, ROOM allowed Rocks to move at will. He was furious and fatigued but every movement was more dangerous. "Who is the rightful ruler of the world now?" he cried. With surgical fruit teleportation he handled clashes with eerie ease.
Garp swore and found himself outmatched — parched and tired — when Rocks' fist smashed into his face. Garp vomited blood and fell. Roger's blade carved into Rocks' flank. Rocks countered with a punch to Roger's gut. Despite temporary advantage, Rocks' body was a ruin of missing flesh and blood; yet he gasped, "I am… the final winner."
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