"Quakeflash · Willow Drift!"
Before the words had even finished leaving Gern's lips, the ground beneath him detonated in a thunderous explosion.
His body dissolved into dispersing vibration particles, leaving behind a fading white shockwave afterimage at his original position. In the next instant, propelled by terrifying explosive force, his true body had already closed the distance to Saint Jaygarcia Saturn!
In his right hand, the black blade Eight Desolations roared—coiled with boiling dark-violet Conqueror's Haki lightning and high-frequency pure-white vibration particles. The blade tore through the air and came crashing straight down toward Saturn's face!
Saint Saturn did not dodge.
Those inhuman, icy eyes of his flared with a cold, ominous brilliance.
"Baleful Gaze!"
An invisible psychic impact slammed violently into Gern's mind, attempting to crush his consciousness outright.
Yet Gern's charge did not slow in the slightest. Crimson light exploded in his eyes as an even more ferocious wave of Conqueror's Haki erupted instinctively in response—like tangible blood-red lightning striking back!
Buzz—!
Two supreme Haki forces collided head-on. A distorted ripple exploded through the air, and the remaining fragments of nearby buildings were silently pulverized into dust!
Almost simultaneously—
Gern's blade arrived.
Saint Saturn's massive Gyūki body twisted sharply to the side, and one of his grotesque, curved bull horns slammed straight into the edge of Eight Desolations!
CLANG!!!
An ear-splitting clash of metal rang out as sparks scattered wildly in all directions!
The shockwave from the impact erupted outward in a circular blast, peeling the ground up layer by layer. Smoke and rubble surged outward like a raging tsunami!
Gern felt a violent numbness explode through his grip—his opponent's horn was far harder than he'd anticipated.
But he did not relent.
Using the recoil from the collision, his body spun half a turn midair. His left fist—already fully charged with annihilating white vibration light—snapped forward, hurling a condensed vibration sphere straight into Saturn's swollen, rounded abdomen!
"Heavenquake · Falling Star!"
Saint Saturn still did not evade. Black smoke poured from his mouth as he let out a low, inhuman sneer, as though mocking the attack as utterly meaningless.
BOOOOOOM!!!!!
The vibration sphere struck dead center!
Colossal shock force surged violently inward. The grotesque skin on Saturn's abdomen rippled like water, while countless white, glass-like fractures appeared in the surrounding space itself!
The terrifying vibration passed straight through his body, carving a bottomless chasm into the distant ground behind him!
And yet—
Saint Saturn's enormous body only swayed violently once. The impacted area visibly caved in, tearing open to reveal writhing darkness within—
But in the very next instant, thick black mist engulfed the wound, restoring it almost completely in the blink of an eye!
"Futile struggle," Saint Saturn said coldly.
His massive spider limbs suddenly lifted—each one like an ultra-sharp spear—howling through the air as they stabbed viciously toward Gern, who had no foothold in midair!
At the same time, Saturn opened his mouth and unleashed a stream of foul-smelling, purple-black venom, blasting toward Gern's landing point like a high-pressure cannon!
Gern's pupils shrank.
Combat instinct surged to its absolute peak.
Observation Haki flared—every attack trajectory instantly predicted.
"Tch. What an annoying ability!"
Pure white vibration light gathered once more in his left hand—but this time, not for an attack. He slammed his palm downward against empty air!
"Heavenquake · Sea-Overturning Seal!"
BZZZZ—!
The atmosphere itself was forcibly vibrated, generating a massive recoil force that shoved Gern several meters sideways in midair!
He narrowly avoided the center of the venom blast and the deadliest spider-limb thrusts!
BOOOOM!
The venom grazed past fragments of his torn cloak and struck the ground in the distance, detonating violently. Purple-black toxic flames and corrosive energy erupted skyward, melting everything in that area into nothingness!
Several splashes of venom landed on Gern's Armament-Haki-coated arm, instantly hissing and smoking as searing pain drilled into his flesh.
Gern didn't even frown.
The instant he touched down, he detonated the ground beneath his feet again—shockwaves propelling him forward as his figure became lightning once more, closing the distance yet again!
He gave Saint Saturn no room to breathe.
Blade light and fists rained down like a merciless storm!
"Not enough! Not enough! NOT ENOUGH, YOU OLD MONSTER!Let me see you regenerate THIS!"
For a time, Eight Desolations carved again and again—each slash packed with tearing Haki and violent vibration, ripping deep wounds into Saturn's hardened body as sparks flew and shattered scales scattered!
Vibration-wrapped fists and kicks slammed down like warhammers, shaking Saturn's colossal frame with every blow—black mist swirling, flesh splitting apart!
Saint Saturn countered with massive bull hooves and razor-sharp spider limbs. His movements appeared slow, yet every strike carried overwhelming weight, each collision making the earth quake violently!
Occasional venom blasts detonated across the battlefield, forcing Gern to constantly reposition, disrupting the flow of his assault.
The battlefield descended into complete chaos.
Vibration shockwaves.Haki lightning.Venom explosions.Psychic impacts.
They collided, erased one another, and spread outward endlessly.
Not a single inch of ground remained intact.
Their figures crossed and clashed at extreme speed—each contact unleashing a heart-stopping roar of power!
Gern's breathing grew heavy. Sweat barely had time to seep from his pores before it was instantly evaporated by the Haki and shockwaves raging around him.
He abandoned all defense.
Attack frequency surged to its absolute limit.
He meant to crush—no, surpass—that unreasonable regeneration with pure, overwhelming output.
Then—
In the briefest gap of a close-quarters exchange, Saint Saturn's cold, inhuman eyes suddenly flared with eerie light, locking onto Gern's head!
"Baleful Gaze!"
The invisible psychic assault—powerful enough to crush a normal soul outright—struck again, silent and instantaneous!
But at that exact moment—
The dark-red Observation Haki light already flickering in Gern's eyes erupted violently!
"I see it now… so it's not actually formless!"
Relying on beast-like combat instinct, Gern snapped his head aside at the very last instant!
The invisible impact skimmed past his temple, the sheer force vaporizing several strands of hair at his forehead.
Even without a direct hit, the residual power sent needle-like pain stabbing through his skull.
"Hm?" Saint Saturn let out a low, unmistakably surprised grunt.
He had never expected his nearly infallible Baleful Gaze to be evaded in such a razor-thin manner—purely through supreme Observation Haki prediction and reaction speed!
He dodged it?!
A ripple finally disturbed Saint Saturn's ice-sealed composure.
And for Gern—
That fleeting moment of surprise was more than enough.
"Don't make that face.The same move doesn't work twice on a Saint!And frankly—I'm sick of your tricks!"
Gern roared, seizing the opening born from that instant of hesitation.
"Quakeflash!"
High-frequency pure-white vibration particles engulfed his body—not for offense, but for extreme acceleration!
His entire form became a white flash that warped space itself, vanishing from the spot in a way imperceptible even to molecular transition—
And reappearing instantly at Saint Saturn's rear flank!
The moment he materialized, Gern's draw-slash stance was already complete.
On the blade of Eight Desolations, unprecedented torrents of Haki and vibration energy compressed and fused, radiating an aura so terrifying that the surrounding space continuously cracked and collapsed!
"Heavenquake…"
Gern sheathed the blade—and exhaled.
There was no earth-shattering swing.
Only an ultimate, ultra-condensed dark-violet line—thin as a thread, yet brimming with boundless annihilating will—silently swept across the battlefield!
The slash surpassed sound itself, as though it cleaved not space, but intent.
Saint Saturn didn't even have time to fully turn and block.
Shk—
"Divine Mind Severance."
A soft sound, like a blade slicing through rotten leather.
All of the bristled, razor-sharp spider limbs supporting Saint Saturn's massive body were severed cleanly at the same horizontal level!
The cuts were mirror-smooth—no blood sprayed at first, the tissues instantly erased by overwhelming vibration force and Haki!
With all lower limbs gone, Saint Saturn's towering Gyūki upper body lurched violently—
And crashed into the ground like a felled ancient tree!
BOOOOM!
Dust and rubble exploded skyward as the entire earth shuddered violently!
From within the smoke came a suppressed, rage-laden grunt from Saint Saturn.
But in the very next moment—
Ink-black mist surged out of his severed body like a living thing, engulfing the horrifying wounds!
The black fog writhed violently, accompanied by nauseating sounds of bone and flesh regenerating—
The severed spider limbs began regrowing at visible speed, sketching out grotesque new forms once more…
The terrifying regeneration of an undying body—on full display yet again.
...…
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