Whitebeard's declaration—"The warm-up is over"—was like a death sentence.
Just a moment ago, the Five Elders and Saint Garling, who had been confident in their victory and eager to watch a brutal slaughter, froze.
The cruel smiles on their faces stiffened.
Looking at the dozen figures across from them, now fully restored—
The only expression left on their faces was fear.
Yes.
Fear.
"D–Don't get carried away!"
The Five Elder wielding Shodai Kitetsu forced out a furious roar under the crushing weight of terror, trying to drive away the cold dread creeping into his bones.
"Before the eternal and immortal power granted to us by Lord Im, you mortals destined to decay are nothing more than slightly stronger insects!"
He pushed the dark energy within his body to its limit.
The ominous black aura gathered and twisted before him, compressing into a beam of pitch-black energy that devoured light itself.
With a shriek that tore through the air, it shot straight toward Whitebeard.
But Whitebeard didn't even bother to give him a proper glance.
He simply—
Casually swung Murakumogiri forward.
Just one swing.
A slash infused with Conqueror's Haki condensed to its absolute limit.
Shhk…
The moment the pale slash met the black energy beam—
There was no explosion.
No thunderous clash.
The beam was simply split in two.
Then slowly erased.
The supreme will contained within the slash directly wiped its existence from the world.
But the attack didn't stop there.
After cleaving through the energy beam, the pale slash transformed into a streak almost impossible to see.
Faster than any attack before it—
It passed instantly through the body of the Elder.
"How… is… this… possible…"
The Elder froze completely.
His eyes were filled with incomprehensible shock.
A thin line of blood appeared in the center of his forehead.
It slowly traveled downward—
Across the bridge of his nose.
Across his lips.
Past his chin.
All the way to his abdomen.
The next moment—
His body slid apart cleanly into two halves.
Dark smoke surged from the severed halves, trying desperately to reconnect them.
But this time—
The regeneration was slower.
This scene was like a powerful stimulant.
It instantly boosted the morale of the allied side.
"Wahahaha! Newgate, you bastard! Don't hog all the fun! Leave a few for me too!"
Roger burst into wild laughter.
The excitement in his voice was impossible to hide.
Without waiting for Whitebeard's response, he shot forward like a streak of crimson-gold light.
Charging directly into the enemy ranks.
"Divine Departure!"
The moment Ace left its sheath—
The slash was already released.
A terrifying horizontal strike wrapped in crimson-gold Conqueror's Haki lightning tore toward another stunned Elder.
BOOOOM!!!
The Elder didn't even have time to react.
The sword energy struck him head-on.
He and the ground beneath him were blasted into the air.
Exploding into a cloud of blood mist and dark energy.
The warm-up was over.
The execution had begun.
In an instant—
Everyone launched their counterattack.
"Iron Fist: Meteor!"
Garp's roar thundered across the battlefield.
One punch smashed a member of the God's Knights from head to waist, leaving only half a body behind.
"Lion's Majesty: Severing Wave!"
Golden Lion Shiki laughed madly.
Floating in midair, Oto and Kogarashi transformed into twin golden storms of death.
Countless flying slashes formed a deadly net that engulfed another Elder.
Where the blades passed—
Severed limbs and shattered armor flew through the air.
The so-called elite warriors were sliced into countless pieces.
"Thunder Bagua!!!"
Kaido's destructive roar followed immediately.
In his human-beast form, purple-black lightning wrapped around his kanabo.
One sweeping strike smashed Mars Saint, breaking bones and tendons instantly.
His body was sent flying like a cannonball, smashing through several distant hills.
Charlotte Linlin.
Scopper Gaban.
They attacked at the same time.
For a moment—
Sword energy streaked through the sky.
Fists howled through the air.
Thunder and vibrations collided.
Conqueror's Haki lightning danced wildly.
The entire sky turned into a doomsday landscape.
The proud battle formation of the God's Knights crumbled like paper before these monsters.
They fell in droves.
Turning into scattered flesh and blood.
Then—
Under the surge of that eerie black energy—
They twisted and painfully reassembled.
The battlefield became a one-sided massacre.
Victory seemed within reach.
However—
As time passed—
Whitebeard and the others gradually noticed something wrong.
"Hey… have any of you noticed…"
Golden Lion Shiki split a freshly regenerated knight into dozens of pieces with another slash.
He stared at the fragments on the ground—
Fragments that were already wriggling and merging again.
His brows furrowed tightly.
"Doesn't it feel like… their regeneration is getting faster?"
His voice carried irritation and confusion.
At first—
No one paid attention.
The battle was too intense.
Everyone was immersed in the exhilarating slaughter.
Their attacks were several times stronger than before.
Destroying enemies easily.
That overwhelming power blinded them to the details.
Whitebeard grabbed the half-mad Garling Saint from the ground.
Then slammed another devastating punch into his chest.
"Cough—!"
Garling's chest caved in completely.
His ribcage shattered into powder.
Dark energy scattered everywhere.
His body was smashed back into the earth again.
Creating an even deeper crater.
Whitebeard withdrew his fist.
Looking down at the swirling darkness in Garling's chest—
His brows tightened.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The Conqueror's Haki coating his fist—
Which had suppressed that dark energy before—
Was losing its effect.
The enemy's body was rapidly adapting.
Even becoming immune to his Haki.
That punch felt like striking a mass of slippery mud.
No matter how hard he hit—
It could not be destroyed completely.
Suddenly he remembered Shiki's earlier comment.
Their recovery… was getting stronger.
Or rather—
These monsters were learning.
Each time they were destroyed—
They analyzed and adapted to the attacks.
Whitebeard suddenly raised his head and roared across the battlefield with all his strength.
"Everyone stop!!!"
"Something's wrong!!!"
The thunderous shout drowned out every other sound on the battlefield.
Roger's next Divine Departure halted mid-swing.
Garp's iron fist froze in midair.
Kaido.
Shiki.
Linlin.
Everyone instinctively stopped attacking.
They pulled away from their opponents.
Confused.
Looking toward Whitebeard.
All eyes slowly turned—
Toward the enemies they had just been tearing apart.
The Five Elders and God's Knights—
Who had just been reduced to fragments—
Were regenerating.
At a terrifying speed visible to the naked eye.
Those who had been torn into pieces.
Those reduced to minced flesh—
Their bodies rapidly reconstructed.
The enemies they had just slaughtered were standing again.
Completely restored.
Their aura was still weak—
But the dark energy surrounding them was thicker.
Heavier.
More viscous.
The way they looked at Whitebeard and the others had changed.
The fear was gone.
Only a cold, inhuman indifference remained.
The gaze of predators watching prey.
"How… are these bastards recovering faster and faster?"