On the other side, Dragon, who had been hurled away, forcibly stabilized his body mid-flight.
Blood seeped from all seven orifices from the earlier impact, leaving him in a wretched state—but his gaze remained as fierce as ever.
He pressed both hands downward, ignoring the stabbing pain screaming through the bones of his arms, and unleashed his power with everything he had left.
"Wind Domain—Air Bind!"
The gray-green winds no longer took the form of attacks. Instead, they transformed into countless invisible, unyielding chains—
Wrapping in from all directions toward the space where Gern Reginald Sigmar stood, attempting to restrain his movement and buy time for both himself and Shanks to recover.
But Gern didn't even spare those incoming wind-chains a glance.
The moment he kicked Bahuang away—
His hands slammed together in front of his chest!
Between his palms, an extremely condensed, nearly liquefied mass of pale vibrational energy gathered, compressed to the limit, emitting a scalp-tingling, high-frequency shriek!
Then—
His palms pulled apart.
A massive blade of pure, solidified tremor energy—nearly three meters long, its edges constantly warping—materialized in his grasp!
"Heavenquake—Aurora Blade!"
With the radiant sword in hand, the ice beneath Gern's feet exploded as he shot skyward like a streak of pale light—
Instantly breaking through the wind-chain confinement—
Appearing directly before Dragon, who had just finished releasing his technique!
"Cut."
The word fell coldly.
The blade slashed diagonally downward.
Where it passed—
The air itself split cleanly apart, leaving behind lingering pale fractures that refused to fade.
Dragon's pupils shrank.
There was no room to evade.
He could only gather every ounce of Armament Haki into his arms, crossing them in defense!
BOOM!!!
The light blade struck against the combined defense of wind and Haki, erupting into a blinding pale explosion!
Dragon let out a muffled groan.
His sleeves were completely shredded, fresh wounds carved deep into his arms—so deep that bone could be seen—
And his entire body was cleaved downward, smashed once more into the ice below!
But Gern—
After sending Dragon crashing down with a single strike—
Did not pause for even a fraction of a second.
The tremor blade in his hand—
Changed.
From the hilt, it melted, extended, and reformed—
In the blink of an eye, it transformed into an exaggerated, entirely pale longbow, its limbs wrapped in oscillating tremor rings!
"Heavenquake—Sky Bow!"
Gern held the bow in his left hand.
With his right, he drew an invisible string—
Pulling it back into a perfect full moon.
As he drew, violent tremor energy automatically compressed and shaped itself between the bowstring and limbs—
Forming a massive arrow as thick as a child's arm, spiraled with intricate patterns, its arrowhead spinning violently—
Radiating a destructive aura.
At its tip—
Space itself seemed to collapse.
Gern's cold gaze locked onto Dragon below, who had just crashed into the ice and was struggling to rise.
"Starfall."
He released the string.
"TWANG—SHOOOM!!!"
The sound was less a bowstring snapping—
And more like the detonation of raw energy.
The spiraling arrow shot forth, so fast it surpassed the limits of vision, leaving only a straight pale trail in its wake!
And before it had even traveled ten meters—
Its internal structure destabilized—
Then—
Split.
Multiplied.
A single arrow exploded into hundreds—thousands—of smaller, equally lethal pale energy arrows!
These arrows did not travel in straight lines.
From above, below, left, right—
From every conceivable angle—
They formed a flawless net of destruction, raining down upon Dragon in an overwhelming barrage!
Each arrow carried high-frequency vibrational penetration—
And explosive force.
Midair, Dragon looked up—
At the pale rain of death that filled his entire field of vision as it screamed toward him—
And for the first time—
A near-desperate expression surfaced on his face.
...
Elsewhere—
Shanks had just managed to halt his backward slide, stopping at the very edge of the trenches his feet had carved into the ice.
The numbing tremor still lingered in his arms.
He hadn't even had time to steady his breathing before trying to look toward Dragon's position—
When suddenly—
A deafening explosion roared across the frozen plain hundreds of meters away!
Accompanied by a blinding flash of pale light—
It detonated violently!
Immediately after—
A massive shockwave mixed with pulverized ice crystals and snow surged toward him like an out-of-control tsunami!
Shanks instinctively turned his head, raising his remaining arm to shield himself.
The wind pressure, laced with ice shards, lashed against his face with stinging force. His tattered black cloak whipped wildly, nearly lifting him off his feet again.
His vision blurred completely.
All he could hear was the shrieking of wind and grinding ice.
Only after a long moment did the aftermath begin to subside.
Shanks exhaled heavily, slowly lowering his arm.
His narrowed eyes scanned through the lingering frost mist and drifting ice dust—
And his heart sank.
Because—
He heard no sign of Dragon.
Nor could he sense that familiar Haki re-emerging after the explosion.
"Don't tell me…"
Just as he tried to reassure himself—
"Hummm…"
A low, resonant hum of a blade sounded from not far at his side.
Shanks snapped his head toward it.
There—
The black blade Bahuang, which had been knocked away earlier and left embedded at an angle in the distant ice—
Was trembling faintly.
The pale tremor energy still clinging to its surface flowed like a living thing.
Then—
It pulled itself free from the ice.
With a sharp whoosh, it transformed into a streak of black light—
Shooting straight toward the explosion's center—
Vanishing into the churning frost mist.
At that sight, Shanks's heart sank completely.
Forcing down his exhaustion, he braced himself with Griffin planted at his side and slowly stood upright—
His gaze locked firmly onto the shifting pale mist ahead.
The cold wind howled past, carrying a biting chill and the scent of destruction.
The fog—
Began to part.
What emerged first—
Was a circular crater, utterly devastated beyond recognition.
The ice within it had begun to melt, seawater slowly seeping upward.
Then—
At the center of the thinning mist—
A tall, upright silhouette gradually appeared.
Shanks unconsciously held his breath.
As the fog continued to dissipate, the figure became clearer—
And Shanks's expression grew darker with every passing second.
Because the one standing quietly at the center of the crater was—
Gern.
His upper body was bare, revealing a lean, battle-hardened physique.
The wound across his waist—left by Divine Departure—had stopped bleeding heavily, but the scar remained savage and grotesque.
His hair hung in disarray.
His face was expressionless.
In his right hand—
He held Dragon by the head.
In his left—
He casually gripped the black blade Bahuang, which had just returned to him, its tip angled toward the ground.
Dragon, now limp in his grasp, had his eyes closed, his face drenched in blood, his arms hanging unnaturally—
Clearly, under the overwhelming saturation strike of "Starfall" and the follow-up assault—
He had completely lost consciousness.
And so—
Gern stood there.
One hand holding an unconscious Dragon.
One hand holding his blade.
At the center of the crater.
Slowly—
With an almost cruel composure—
He lifted his gaze.
His eyes pierced through the lingering frost and drifting ice dust—
Landing precisely on the red-haired man standing far across the frozen plain.
Shanks's throat tightened.
As he looked at Dragon in Gern's grasp—
At Gern's terrifying calm—
A chill swept through his entire body.
His expression shifted rapidly—
From shock—
To ashen severity—
To something deeply restrained… and grim.
Gern watched Shanks's face.
The corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly.
Not quite a smile.
More like… confirmation.
"Sorry, Shanks."
"It seems… I've just thought of a better idea."
He paused.
"Looks like…"
"That Straw Hat boy, Luffy… over at Onigashima…"
"Is about to face another difficult choice."
"…Is that so?"
Shanks tightened his grip on Griffin, Haki coiling around the blade once more.
"Just because I lost to you back then—doesn't mean I'll lose now."
"Tch… did Roger never tell you—"
As the words fell—
Gern flicked his wrist.
Bahuang let out a clear, resonant hum.
"On this sea…"
"In a one-on-one…"
"The Emperor… never defeats the King."