"Gurarararara! What an interesting brat."
Whitebeard grabbed Murakumogiri and strode forward, clearly intending to continue the fight.
"Pops! That kid might not be much, but you still have to watch your body!"
Marco's expression was ugly as he stepped in front of him, but he was immediately brushed aside.
"I've never felt better! Let this old man on his last legs enjoy himself properly in the time he has left.
"Marco, don't interfere. Go stand aside. That's your captain's order!"
At Whitebeard's command, Marco was still confused, but he obediently withdrew.
At the end of the trench, Ren scrambled up in a sorry state. It took him two blinks to go from dazed to fully awake.
That punch just now had shattered his swollen ambition to pieces.
One punch, and he was instantly sober.
"Damn it. I got beaten before improving my strength, and I'm still getting beaten after improving my strength. So what exactly did I improve?"
Ren gave a bitter, self-mocking laugh as he patted the dust off himself. Then he switched into the Angel of Light Wings attire and dispersed Heavenly Might's blade into a gaseous state.
It was not that improving meant he still had to take a beating.
It was that the opponent was different.
Ren could feel it.
If the one he had faced just now had been Kaido, unless Kaido used Great Virtue: Thunder Bagua, he would not have produced the same effect with that punch.
Damage rated A or above granting a constant sixty percent targeted immunity and resistance was no joke.
Right now, Ren was practically an iron balloon like Big Mom.
However, the Yonko standing before him now was the strongest among them—Whitebeard, Edward Newgate.
Whitebeard, who had received the blessing of Word Spirit: Don't Die.
Compared to the Whitebeard of the Marineford War, who could barely release Haki, could not even unleash Conqueror's Haki, used the Tremor-Tremor Fruit only a handful of times, and was practically a candle flickering in the wind...
The difference was like heaven and earth!
The former...
Was probably an absolute powerhouse who had pushed both Devil Fruit abilities and Haki-based martial arts to their extremes!
The greatest proof of that was that Whitebeard occupied nearly half of the New World's territory.
And Fish-Man Island, the only passage pirates could use to enter and leave the New World, had always been under Whitebeard's actual control.
"Gurarararara! Brat, I thought half of you would shatter."
Whitebeard walked over slowly, resting Murakumogiri on his shoulder as he spoke with great interest. "I haven't felt like this in a long time.
"That ability of yours is noisy as hell. It even made me see the shadow of the Grim Reaper.
"If I couldn't endure it with willpower, I probably would've died, right?
"But it really does work. I have to thank you, brat.
"Your ability has returned me to the body I had in my thirties or forties. I'll take your request very seriously.
"But honestly, do you truly understand what I represent in this state?"
"A body in its thirties or forties, experience from your seventies or eighties, and the dual peak of both Haki and Devil Fruit ability. So—"
Ren loosened his bones, a string of explosive cracks ringing out from his body as he forced out an ugly smile.
"—stronger than the strongest?"
"Exactly!"
Whitebeard laughed loudly and spread his arms. The Conqueror's Haki pressure around him formed a surging pillar of momentum that shot into the sky like smoke from a beacon.
That wild aura, so overwhelming it felt as though one were facing the sea itself, even overpowered the rumbling thunder in sheer sensation!
"I really dug my own grave, huh."
Ren sighed and shook his head, seemingly smiling bitterly.
In the distance, Marco's face was filled with shock. Even in the past—no, this was the first time he had ever seen Pops like this!
Pops had been young and strong once, but even then, he had never possessed this feeling of being both sharp enough to cut the sky and heavy as a mountain!
With Pops's condition, it should have been impossible for him to reach this level. Was it Fiend God Ren?!
Marco instantly realized what had happened. That golden light must have been a Devil Fruit ability.
His gaze changed at once, shifting from anxiety and hostility to hesitation and fervent hope.
If Pops could remain in this state forever...
Boom—!
A deafening thunderclap drowned out the sky. The hundreds of lightning pillars that had originally crisscrossed heaven and earth had vanished at some unknown point.
In their place was a scorching thundercloud layer, silent and still like a volcano moments before eruption.
"Do you still want to fight? You might die, brat."
Whitebeard lowered his hand and solemnly raised Murakumogiri, pointing it forward. "I've gained a great deal from coming here. I recognize you as someone worth cooperating with. If you have any ideas, you can bring them up now.
"No matter what, we at least share a common enemy. There are many things we can discuss, aren't there?"
"You're right, Whitebeard. But—"
Ren tightened his grip on the hilt, six wings spreading out behind him.
"—from the start of this battle until now, you still haven't formally addressed me, have you?
"I'm not saying I expect etiquette from a pirate. I simply understand what that means..."
His voice lowered, replaced by a gradually rising aura.
"..."
Whitebeard froze, pausing for a brief instant. Then he revealed a ferocious smile.
"That's right! You're exactly right!
"I truly haven't taken you seriously, because you still aren't worthy of becoming my opponent!
"Even if our positions are different, at most, you're only an enemy."
He expressed his thoughts bluntly, then changed the direction of his words.
"That isn't anything humiliating.
"On this sea, there are only a scant few people who can be called my opponents.
"You're still very young. You haven't reached your limit yet. Perhaps the next era will belong to you.
"But wanting to compare yourself to an old relic of the previous era like me right now is a little too arrogant, isn't it?"
"Cowardice is the norm for the weak. Arrogance is the trait of the strong. But I am neither—I am a madman, Whitebeard.
"A madman does mad things, just like my ideals and ambition: to turn the world into the shape I desire.
"If this world is decided by the strong, then why can't the person standing at the top and making the rules be me?
"Whitebeard, this is an idea so arrogant it can be called madness. But what is wrong with young people pushing forward with sharp ambition?"
Ren's voice was cold and firm.
"Just as I believe—the one who is wrong is not me. It is this world!"
Boom—!
The thundercloud layer in the sky suddenly erupted with blinding light.
An enormous pillar of lightning roared down, piercing heaven and earth—
And descended upon Ren!
That was not the main cannon of the Judgment.
Heavenly Might's gaseous blade had taken control of the thunderclouds, then transformed them into plasma by relying on its traits.
The dominated thunder energy, under the governance of the concept of "weapon," used cloud vapor, air, and other matter as its material foundation, completely transforming into plasma through their linkage!
The rules of matter could not accomplish such a feat, but traits could!
In other words...
The thunderclouds were no longer thunderclouds. They had become a surging layer of plasma energy!
It still could not compare to a real sun, but it had clearly surpassed the limits of what ordinary humans could understand.
"...A Devil Fruit ability? What terrifying power."
Whitebeard stared in astonishment at the dazzling, enormous lightning pillar.
If the island beneath their feet were not Raijin Island, but an ordinary island, it would probably have already disintegrated by now.
Observation Haki told him that this power could, to a certain extent, be compared to the sun.
And the one wielding such power was merely a nineteen-year-old junior.
'Isn't this a little too ridiculous... this little brat?'
'Was Kaido permanently scarred by this power?'
'This is nineteen years old?'
Thoughts flashed one after another through Edward Newgate's mind. For the first time in a long while, he felt shock from a junior that surpassed his expectations.
At the very least...
When he had been nineteen, he had absolutely not possessed this power. If he had encountered it, he would only have been crushed.
'Restraint, elimination, fusion of energy and Haki...'
Ren was still submerged inside the lightning pillar, his position wrapped within a massive sphere of energy.
The scene from beneath Dressrosa reappeared. The Blood Demon phantom emerged, transforming into external armor.
But this time, it was far more refined! Far stronger!
Every strand of plasma, under Heavenly Might's control, entwined and fused with Haki, forming fine black threads.
The threads operated according to the methods of the Blood Demon Art, combining and weaving together into one octagonal, prism-like scale after another.
Scale upon scale layered, covered, fitted, and wove together, forming a mottled blood-red suit of armor.
The six wings were dyed with black light as well.
No.
It should be said that compared to the Six-Winged Fallen Angel in Dressrosa, the current fallen angel was even larger.
The Immortal trait that had evolved from the Indestructible Vajra Glazed Body granted Ren a higher capacity limit.
Heavenly Might's traits made this power even easier for him to control.
With the two layered together, his current total energy surpassed the Six-Winged Fallen Angel from Dressrosa by more than double.
What kind of power did he possess with every movement now?
It could not be calculated clearly, but it had undoubtedly exceeded his previous limits!
"The final step."
A sinister demon mask grew into existence, naturally covering Ren's face and leaving only his crimson eyes, burning with scorching battle intent, exposed.
He reached out and grabbed toward the sky. The immense energy still being transmitted was constrained by an invisible force.
It was continuously compressed and condensed, shrinking from massive to small, until finally it transformed into a long blue-purple blade!
Heavenly Might had reappeared—or rather, this was one portion of its blade.
But from a certain perspective, it could also be called a Thunderflame Greatblade.
Because the essence of the blade was the same state it had possessed when it wounded Kaido. Through the overlapping of multiple traits, Ren had turned that brief instant into a permanent state!
When he completed the final step, the gloomy darkness could no longer be seen in the sky above Raijin Island.
The thunder that had not ceased for hundreds of years came to a brief end at this very moment.
"What terrifying power. And what arrogant ambition.
"But you're right. Young people should be like this. When your age and this power are added together, you are indeed worthy of that ambition.
"Although the path you walk is different, in terms of pure strength pushed to the extreme, you are no different from us.
"That fellow Kaido suffering at your hands can't be called mere carelessness."
Whitebeard tightened his grip on Murakumogiri and wrapped Haki around the blade. Then he said with great interest, "But if this is all, it still isn't enough for me to acknowledge you immediately.
"I also don't think you in this state can seize victory from my hands.
"You're very strong, but only very strong. Kaido and I... there is a very large gap between us as well. Do you understand?"
(End of Chapter)