"Huff—"
The thick black mist rapidly recoiled. Saint Saturn's severed spider limbs regenerated completely—no, more than that. The newly formed carapace gleamed with an even darker, more ominous luster.
His massive body straightened once more. Locking his gaze onto Gern, he let out a cold, mocking laugh.
"Futile attacks."
"From any perspective, you have no means of truly defeating me."
Before his words had fully settled, the several razor-sharp spider legs that had just finished regenerating suddenly tensed and snapped straight!
At the pointed tips of every leg, deep, viscous clusters of purple-black venom rapidly condensed—oozing an unbearable stench.
The corrosive energy was so intense that the surrounding air began to hiss and wail.
"Death Pierce!"
In the next instant, all of the spider legs lashed out like unrestrained, overcompressed springs—thrusting and retracting at terrifying frequency!
"Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!!"
The speed was so extreme that countless afterimages trailed behind them. It was as if dozens—no, hundreds—of poison-coated lethal spears were striking simultaneously, weaving a net of death that sealed off every possible avenue of escape around Gern!
Yet faced with this ferocious barrage—an assault that even Nika Luffy would have been forced to sprint and evade—Gern did not retreat a single step.
Observation Haki flickered in his eyes. Vibration perception fully unfolded.
Once an attack was launched, it was impossible not to disturb the air.
And as the Heavenquake Man, with an awakened Devil Fruit amplified by supreme Observation Haki, Gern precisely captured every spider leg's trajectory—and every microscopic gap between them.
So he continued to walk forward, calm and unhurried, straight into the storm of venomous spears.
His body began to sway in minute motions—subtle shifts, slight turns of the shoulders, marginal tilts of the head—each movement appearing perilously close to disaster, yet perfectly measured.
Venom grazed past his hair, brushed the edges of his torn coat, skimmed his skin. The malignant wind cut into him with stinging pain—yet never once truly touched him.
It was like dancing on the edge of a blade.
The contrast between absolute danger and absolute control was suffocating.
Fast enough… but your patterns are too obvious, old monster, Gern sneered inwardly.
Then—during the briefest lull between another wave of dense thrusts—he seized upon a rhythm point so subtle it was nearly imperceptible.
"Heavenquake…"
Gern murmured.
The left hand that had been hanging loosely at his side snapped upward. His fingers spread wide, and the pure-white vibration particles gathered there—already condensed to the extreme—began to roar and boil violently!
Then—
His fingers clenched shut.
"Eight-Direction Quake Wall!"
"BOOM—CRACK!!!"
Centered on his left fist, a ferociously violent vibration shockwave erupted—not forward, but simultaneously upward, downward, left, right, front, back—
Eight directions.
No blind spots.
"BUZZ—!!!"The atmosphere screamed under the strain!
Transparent vibration ripples—solid as walls—slammed head-on into the spider legs stabbing in from every direction!
"CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!"
A barrage of piercing impact sounds exploded as the venom-coated limbs struck what felt like an invisible absolute defense.
Every single thrust was forcibly halted and deflected by the omnidirectional quake wave!
Some of the thinner tips even began to fracture, fine cracks spreading under the violent oscillation!
Using the brief moment of rigidity—and the recoil generated by the impact—Gern stomped the ground hard. His body shot upward like an arrow loosed from a bow!
With a nimble midair flip, he vaulted directly above Saint Saturn's colossal form!
Head downward, feet skyward, both hands gripping the black blade Eight Desolations, its tip aimed straight at the massive, spider-like swollen abdomen below.
"Damn, that ass is huge!!!"
A sharp glint flashed in Gern's eyes. He poured every ounce of his strength and vibration power into the blade's tip—
And plunged downward like a falling meteor!
"Pshhk!"
Wrapped in Conqueror's coating lightning and brilliant vibration-white light, the black blade was impossibly sharp. It pierced straight through the hardened carapace, stabbing deep into Saint Saturn's body!
But the attack didn't end there.
The instant the blade sank in, Gern let out a furious roar—and the embedded Eight Desolations violently trembled!
"Eight Desolations Flow!!"
"RUMBLE—RUMBLE—RUMBLE!!"
The residual vibration energy from the earlier Eight-Direction Quake Wall, as if drawn in and amplified by the black blade, erupted from the puncture point like a breached dam—
Surging, tearing, and detonating outward in all eight directions from within!
"Love being a spider, huh?!You've got eight legs—your body shouldn't be missing out either!!!"
In that instant—
From the outside, Saint Saturn's enormous spider body froze.
Then, like a flower of destruction blooming in reverse, eight massive, white-glowing裂 fissures burst open across his surface—from the inside out!
Agonizing pain tore free the most furious and anguished roar Saint Saturn had released since the battle began!
His colossal body convulsed violently, on the verge of being ripped apart by the catastrophic internal quake!
Black mist surged frantically toward the gaping裂 fissures, struggling to repair them—but for the moment, the speed of destruction overwhelmed the speed of regeneration!
"GRAAAAAAH!!!"
A scream no human throat could ever produce tore through the battlefield.
The eight massive裂 fissures spread wildly across his spider body. Inside, blinding white vibration light and churning black mist clashed violently—as though total collapse were imminent!
The internal Eight Desolations Flow delivered pain unlike anything before, briefly surpassing even the recovery limits of his undying body.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!!!"
Destruction-grade black mist—dense enough to feel solid—erupted violently from every裂 fissure across his body!
The explosive shockwave blasted outward, forcibly hurling Gern away—man and blade alike!
Gern barely managed to stabilize himself midair. After landing, he still staggered back several steps before dissipating the brute force of the blast.
His brow furrowed slightly. That surge of black mist had carried traces of Baleful Gaze, leaving a faint dizziness rattling his head.
And in the instant before his footing fully recovered—
Saint Saturn's massive spider rear leg—only partially regenerated and still riddled with cracks—swung sideways like a long-primed siege hammer!
Carrying suffocating malignant wind and residual purple-black venom, it swept in at a vicious angle and terrifying speed!
The strike was too sudden, too violent.
Red light flared in Gern's pupils as he hastily raised Eight Desolations vertically at his side!
"BANG!!!!"
A heavy, thunderous impact exploded!
The spider leg slammed squarely into Gern's side—crashing against both his waist and the blocking blade!
An overwhelming force surged in like a collapsing mountain range. White-hot pain detonated in Gern's abdomen, as if his organs had been violently displaced—
And without any suspense, he was sent flying!
His body tumbled uncontrollably through the air. He tried to regain control—but still smashed through several ruined walls in the distance like a living cannonball, vanishing into a cloud of dust and debris.
Almost simultaneously with Gern being launched away, Saint Saturn's ravaged body—entangled in frantic black mist—managed to seal its most critical裂 fissures.
The agony faded.
Cold fury took its place.
His massive compound eyes locked onto the direction Gern had been flung.
In the next moment, his colossal body sank low. Every limb bent and compressed, storing power—
The ground beneath him collapsed in vast sections, unable to bear the pressure!
"BOOOOM!!"
With a deafening explosion, Saint Saturn launched upward like a black mountain tearing free from the earth!
His enormous shadow swallowed the battlefield as he ascended—moving with a savagery utterly disproportionate to his size—
Then—
In the most primitive, most brutal manner possible—
He came crashing down toward the area where Gern had fallen!!!
"DIE, YOU BASTARD—!!!"