Chapter 492: The Death of Saint Warcury
—The Frontline Battlefield.
Heaven and earth roared. The fierce gale swept up waves of dust intertwined with flames, making it seem as if the air itself was being shattered.
The entire landscape had long since lost its original form. Fissures crisscrossed the earth, and magma surged from deep underground, creating a scene akin to the apocalypse.
In mid-air, Garp stood upon the violent air currents like an immortal god of war.
His entire body was wreathed in pitch-black Armament and Conqueror's Haki.
That sky-toppling aura caused the firmament to collapse, the air emitting cracking sounds as it was crushed by the sheer pressure of his Haki.
Below him, Saint Warcury—the massive Mythical Boar—was already on the verge of collapse.
Flesh was torn open, skin cracked, and black blood churned like magma, spewing onto the scorched earth and emitting billowing black smoke.
"This time—go to hell completely!!!"
Garp's low roar shook heaven and earth.
His fist was enveloped by countless streaks of red lightning. Conqueror's and Armament Haki intertwined into a storm of fiery energy, the fist blazing like a burning planet!
Just in the split second before this strike was about to land, the ground abruptly shifted.
Gurgle... gurgle—!!!
The entire ruin trembled violently. Fissures spread in all directions like blood veins.
Black sand and dust churned, and a violent surge of geothermal energy swept outward like a tidal wave!
In the next second—
"BOOM!!!"
The earth completely ruptured, and a colossal shadow charged out madly from underground!
It was a giant sandworm—
Its entire body was covered in rock armor, measuring a thousand meters in length. Its gaping maw was large enough to swallow a town!
"ROAR—!!!"
The ground collapsed into an abyss. The heavily wounded Saint Warcury was pulled deep underground by the massive suction force, swallowed along with the ruins!
"Oh...?" Garp's pupils shrank abruptly. He stepped on the air, condensing his Haki!
Before he could react, the giant maw from underground thrust upward, lunging straight at him!
Garp violently gathered his Haki, about to counterattack, when he felt the air currents above his head abruptly change—
SWOOSH—!!!
The sky split open, and a black shadow plummeted down like lightning!
It was Saint Mars in his Itsumade form!
His twin wings were formed from thousands of pitch-black feather blades. Every feather gleamed with the dark light of demonic flames. When spread, the wings were large enough to blot out the sun!
His body lay somewhere between a bird and a snake. His tail feathers dragged ink-like black flames. His eyes were cold and merciless, his voice echoing like a divine decree:
"Garp! Go to hell!!!"
Whoosh—!!!
The Itsumade's wings flapped fiercely, sending countless black feather blades howling down, simultaneously spewing a torrent of boiling black flames from its beak!
That breath of fire was like cursed flames, corroding space and burning the soul!
High in the sky, Garp suddenly found himself caught in a pincer attack—
The sandworm roared from below, tearing the earth asunder,
While Saint Mars's black flames poured down from above like a torrential storm!
"Grandpa—!!!"
In this moment—two figures tore through the sky almost simultaneously!
Ace!
Luffy!
The two brothers dashed out from high above, the flames and dragon breath behind them weaving into a curtain of light!
Raging fire erupted around Ace, making him look like a falling spark.
"Dai Enkai: Entei (Great Flame Command: Flame Emperor)!!!"
Raging flames and black fire collided in mid-air. Deafening explosions rocked the heavens as a sea of fire and toxic mist wove into a chaotic vortex!
Ace was completely engulfed in searing red flames. The flames from his feet propelled him straight up into the sky!
"You old vulture—don't you dare touch my old man!!!"
"Dai Enkai: Kyoen Boshi (Great Flame Command: Raging Flame Star)!!!"
His entire body transformed into a blazing comet, colliding head-on with Saint Mars's stream of black flames in mid-air!
"BAM—!!!"
Black and red intertwined, blazing light detonated, and the sky was thoroughly set ablaze!
The two forces of fire collided like twin stars, creating a world-shaking explosion of light!
Ace's furious flames scorched the firmament, while Saint Mars's black flames devoured the air. The two engaged in a life-and-death struggle amidst the sea of fire high in the sky!
On the other side, Luffy's body was rapidly transforming mid-air—
Scales churned, and pink-gold light erupted from his entire body as he transformed into a giant pink-gold dragon. His eyes burned, his aura shaking the heavens!
"ROAR—!!!"
The dragon's roar pierced the clouds, kicking up sonic boom storms.
Twisting his body, he dive-bombed toward the colossal sandworm underground!
"Kaifu (Demolition Gust)!!!"
Accompanied by a furious roar, the dragon's head opened its mouth and spat out countless razor-sharp wind blades. The wind pressure materialized, dancing wildly like kamaitachi (sickle weasels), instantly slicing the sandworm and the ground into pieces!
"ROAR—!!!"
The sandworm thrashed madly in agony, blood and sand mixing into a sea of mud. But under its immortal curse, its body rapidly regenerated. Opening its massive maw, black energy gathered into light deep within its throat!
Gukah—!!!
"BOOM!!!"
The sandworm furiously unleashed an energy blast. The terrifying beam of light tore through the air, lunging straight for Luffy's dragon head!
"Dragon Breath—!!!"
Luffy's eyes glared. Pink-gold dragon flames spewed from his mouth. The two destructive breaths collided in mid-air. Light and wind wove into a distorted energy vortex. The explosion reverberated for dozens of kilometers, and flames plummeted like meteors!
The earth trembled, the roaring of the battlefield echoing throughout the firmament.
Flames and dust churned, and fierce winds sliced through the air like blades.
Garp hovered in mid-air, his fists flashing with the crimson-black light of Haki.
The power condensed upon his fist was already enough to pulverize mountains and rivers.
"Let this old man send you on your way!!!"
But just as this punch was about to blast deep into the earth—
SWOOSH—!
A cold glint flashed, and a bone-piercing air current shot out from deep within the ruins!
Accompanied by a frigid, furious shout: "Don't even think about it—!!!"
Saint Nusjuro's half-human skeletal horse body burned with cold flames as his four hooves shattered the void.
Ice mist spewed from his mouth. The "Shodai Kitetsu" in his hand emanated a chilling aura that struck fear into the heart.
"Slash—!!!"
The Shodai Kitetsu carved a horizontal arc of a sword strike. Carrying a freezing current capable of freezing time, the slash instantly tore through the air, bearing down straight on Garp in mid-air!
Its sharp edge was like a dragon, its might overwhelming!
If this strike landed, even Garp would inevitably be cleaved between heaven and earth.
However—
VMM—
In the split second the sword aura was unleashed, space abruptly vibrated, and a ring of blue ripples expanded in mid-air.
From within that multi-layered, folded void, a hand reached out, casually raising two fingers.
—BAM!
With two fingers held together, he forcefully blocked that sword aura capable of splitting a mountain range!
—Hiss!!!
Saint Nusjuro's pupils contracted sharply, sheer disbelief and terror bursting from his eyes.
In that moment, he could even feel the sharp edge of his sword aura being swallowed and crushed by some invisible "spatial fold"—
It was like a blade slashing into a bottomless mirror!
"Don't be so hasty, old man."
That familiar voice slowly rang out.
Roy's figure slowly materialized. He stood in the void, the space around him warping, light bending and collapsing at his side.
At the boundary between his fingertips and the sword aura, space was collapsing, devouring, and reversing.
"This has only just begun~"
"—Damn you, Roy!!!" Saint Nusjuro roared in absolute fury.
His aura erupted like a tsunami, but with a gentle push of Roy's fingertips, the sword aura was instantly twisted into countless shards of light, dissipating into the void!
"BOOM—!!!!"
Simultaneously, Garp had seized the opportunity!
His fist descended once more, blasting into the deep abyss below!
The rock layers underground completely shattered, the air burning as it was crushed by his Haki. Saint Warcury, who had been dragged underground by Saint Ju Peter's sandworm, had just struggled to pull his upper half out of the mud—
In the next second, his entire world turned into blinding red and black light!
"BOOM—!!!!!"
That punch descended like divine punishment.
The resulting shockwave from the wind pressure destroyed everything within a ten-mile radius. The underground collapsed, and Saint Warcury's massive body was directly pulverized into dust!
Flesh, bones, soul, and his core of regeneration—
All were crushed into nothingness by the impact of Haki and wind pressure!
"ROAR—AHHHHHH!!!"
Accompanied by a final agonized wail, that "Five Elder" who had once run rampant across the world, arrogant and unbridled—
Saint Warcury.
Under Garp's iron fist, he was completely annihilated.
Not even ashes remained; only a deep crater leading straight to the earth's core was left, along with the still-echoing furious roar of the old hero:
"This... is the debt repaid for the sacrifices!!!"
Just in the instant when the crowd had not yet recovered from Saint Warcury's annihilation—
In the shadows of the shattered ruins in the distance, a bizarre aura abruptly flickered.
Imu's gaze, hidden deep within, focused slightly as she gently flicked a finger.
"...Garp."
The whisper was soundless, yet like the judgment of the Grim Reaper.
In the next instant—
A pitch-black, razor-sharp shadow arrow tore through the air. With lightning speed, it sliced across the void.
Aiming straight for—the back of Garp's heart, whose fury had yet to subside!