"Conqueror's Haki Infusion... How is that possible?!"
For the first time, Saint Pierre could hardly believe what he was seeing.
He had known from the beginning that Roy's Conqueror's Haki was absurdly powerful, and he had realized that Roy was using this battle to practice Haki Infusion. But from everything he had seen earlier, Roy had clearly been nowhere close to mastering it.
And yet...
The Conqueror's Haki Infusion Roy was using now wasn't merely successful.
It was flawless.
Saint Pierre couldn't sense even the slightest trace of Haki leaking from it.
This level of control... it was practically perfect.
"Impossible!"
"Absolutely impossible!"
He couldn't accept it.
"I refuse to believe something like this is possible!" he growled through clenched teeth.
Then,
His eyes widened in horror.
Roy disappeared.
'Boom!'
An instant later, the sound of air splitting reached his ears.
'Multiplier Fruit – Speed ×100'
The next moment, Roy was already standing right in front of him.
"Black Body Style Secret Art..."
"Island Toppler."
Without another word,
Roy threw a punch.
"Vector Control, Blood Reflection!"
Saint Pierre hurriedly activated his Devil Fruit.
But,
'Crackle! Crackle!'
When Roy's fist struck the crimson blood mist...
It didn't rebound. Not even slightly.
Instead, black-and-red lightning exploded from Roy's arm, and Saint Pierre watched in disbelief as his Devil Fruit completely failed to affect the attack.
'That pressure...'
At last, he understood.
This wasn't some trick. Roy really had mastered Conqueror's Haki Infusion.
And not just any level, it was Emperor-class Conqueror's Haki, powerful enough to completely suppress his Devil Fruit.
'Boom!'
Roy's fist slammed into Saint Pierre's face.
'RUMBLE!'
Black-and-red lightning erupted violently.
'Crash!'
The transparent bubble helmet covering Saint Pierre's head shattered instantly.
The punch drove him straight through the deck.
'BOOM!'
The 'North Blue Cross', a World Government patrol ship built at enormous expense by the government's finest craftsmen, let out a deafening groan.
Its alloy keel crumpled like wet paper, and its metal hull twisted apart under the impact.
'BOOM!'
In the blink of an eye, the entire ship exploded into wreckage. Splintered decks and twisted steel flew in every direction as even the sea beneath was punched into a gigantic crater.
"AAAGH!"
Saint Pierre screamed louder than ever before.
The ancient-tech armor covering his body began breaking apart. But what truly terrified him was something else.
'Buzz!'
He could feel a change in the 'Deep Sea Covenant' branded on his right arm.
The power bestowed upon him by 'That Great One' was being forced back by the Conqueror's Haki infused into Roy's punch. His connection to That Great One had been severed, leaving only the spiritual link behind.
Saint Pierre understood exactly what that meant.
The 'Deep Sea Protection' granted by the Deep Sea Covenant, his privilege as one of the God's Knights, had been temporarily shattered.
From this moment on... he could be injured.
But an even greater shock awaited him.
Instead of falling into the sea after taking the blow... he stopped.
Someone had caught him.
And on this battlefield... there was only one person it could be.
"Y-You dare, "
Saint Pierre glared at Roy, trying to spit out a threat.
He never got the chance.
'Boom!'
The next thing he knew, he was flying.
Roy had thrown him into the air.
"Sorry," Roy said, clenching both fists. "I'm in a hurry. I don't have time to listen to your pointless rambling."
His eyes weren't even on Saint Pierre anymore; they were fixed on Mont Blanc Island in the distance.
Then... he punched again.
'Shockwave Fist, Conqueror's Haki Infusion, Rapid Strikes!'
As Roy's low voice echoed across the sea,
'Crack! Crack! Crack!'
A horrifying series of impacts rang through the air. The sickening sound of flesh and bone being pulverized echoed over and over as Saint Pierre's body flew through the air like a kite with its strings cut, struck again and again by countless invisible punches.
Each blow carried enough force to blast apart the clouds overhead.
His arms.
His legs.
His torso.
In an instant, every part of his body was pulverized.
'Boom!'
At the very end, only his head remained, dropping from the sky before crashing heavily onto the shattered wreckage.
"...Aaah..."
And yet... even with nothing left but his head, Saint Pierre was still alive. Judging from his rolled-back eyes, however, there was no chance he would recover anytime soon.
Roy wasn't surprised in the slightest. He already knew that Conqueror's Haki Infusion could injure the God's Knights, even the Five Elders had been forced back to their human forms by Joy Boy's Conqueror's Haki. But based on what he knew from the original story, Conqueror's Haki alone still wasn't enough to kill them.
During the God Valley Incident, Rocks had cut down Garling and numerous God's Knights, yet none of them had died. Instead, Garling eventually recovered and finished Rocks off himself, earning the nickname "the scavenger of God Valley."
From everything Roy knew about Rocks, there was no way the man would have shown mercy to the God's Knights. If he hadn't killed them, the only reasonable explanation was that he couldn't.
Roy's conclusion was simple: Conqueror's Haki Infusion could temporarily suppress the 'Deep Sea Covenant', allowing the God's Knights to suffer real injuries and lose the ability to fight. But actually killing them... required something else.
Everything before him only confirmed that theory.
'My Conqueror's Haki is extremely strong,' Roy knew that well.
His Haki had awakened through Joy Boy, the greatest figure in history, or at least one of them. Although his Conqueror's Haki had only recently awakened and still had enormous room to grow, its raw strength was already on par with Big Mom's. Just as Saint Pierre had judged earlier, its intensity was already at the level of an Emperor.
And beyond that...
'"What I'm using right now... is the future where I've already mastered Conqueror's Haki Infusion."'
That was the truth. The reason Roy had suddenly displayed flawless Haki Infusion was actually quite simple.
'Age-Age Fruit Lv.5'
'Distorted Future , Future Where Conqueror's Haki Infusion Has Been Mastered'
Just as he'd thought before, Bonney's Age-Age Fruit was one of the most broken Devil Fruits in the entire world. Its power was on full display now.
Roy believed that one day, he would inevitably master Conqueror's Haki Infusion. Because he truly believed it, the Age-Age Fruit could temporarily turn that future into reality. The burden on his stamina and mind was enormous, and he couldn't maintain the state for long, but the power itself was completely real.
Right now, he truly possessed perfect control over the Conqueror's Haki he had awakened. He was confident that in this state, even without relying on any of his other Devil Fruit abilities, he could trade blows with Kaido using nothing but Conqueror's Haki Infusion and never come out at a disadvantage.
Even so... he still couldn't kill Saint Pierre.
'So that's how it is... Looks like I'll need that ability after all.'
Roy silently noted the conclusion, but there was no time to dwell on it. After confirming that Saint Pierre would be unable to threaten anyone for quite a while, Roy immediately turned toward Mont Blanc Island.
He could clearly sense what was happening there.
'Sensei Zephyr's presence is getting weaker...'
That was the biggest reason he had abandoned his practice with Conqueror's Haki Infusion and instead used the Age-Age Fruit to manifest his future mastery.
And just as he expected,
'Ring... Ring...'
The Den Den Mushi in his pocket began to ring. Roy answered it immediately.
Hans's anxious voice came through at once: "Boss! Something's happened!"
"Admiral Zephyr's asthma attack has flared up!"
'(End of Chapter)'
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