At the edge of the battlefield, Monkey D. Garp had just arrived.
He stared at the chaotic scene unfolding before him.
The earth was splitting apart.
The sky had turned into a bizarre swirl of colors, as if it might collapse at any moment.
Wave after wave of shockwaves blasted across the battlefield, hurling Marine soldiers behind him into the air.
Severed limbs and desperate screams mixed together in the wind.
Garp's fists had already turned pale from how tightly he clenched them.
Thick veins bulged along his powerful arms.
The rage inside him was impossible to hide.
On the other side—
A completely different expression.
Gol D. Roger rested his hand on the hilt of his sword Ace.
There wasn't a trace of fear in his eyes.
Instead, a kind of manic excitement burned there.
But behind him—
Scopper Gaban and the others looked grim beyond words.
Their hands gripping their weapons were slick with cold sweat.
The battle before them had long surpassed the realm of pirates and Marines.
At the very center of the battlefield—
The source of that suffocating pressure—
Saint Saturn, possessed by Im, finally showed impatience at the spectacle unfolding before him.
He had grown tired of watching insects struggle in vain.
Slowly—
He raised one hand.
Above his palm, space twisted and collapsed in ways that defied all logic.
Then—
A small sphere of pure black energy quietly appeared.
The sphere wasn't large.
But it radiated a terrifying aura of annihilation.
It carried the feeling of all things returning to nothingness.
The moment that aura spread—
Even the laughing Rocks, the naginata-wielding Whitebeard, and every other top-tier fighter felt their hearts tighten.
"Erasure."
Im spoke those two words.
The next instant—
The energy sphere detonated without warning.
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
No beam splitting the heavens.
Only silent darkness.
Like a drop of ink falling into water—
It spread outward in all directions with unstoppable speed.
It was a shockwave made entirely of nothingness.
Sweeping indiscriminately across the battlefield.
Wherever it passed—
Whether charging Marines or fearless pirates—
Their bodies vanished the moment they touched the darkness.
Along with the screams stuck in their throats.
Reduced to the most primitive dust.
Completely evaporated.
There was no blood.
No shattered bodies.
Not even a trace that they had ever existed.
Garp's eyes widened violently.
He watched helplessly as a Marine officer who had followed him for years—
A man who had just been grinning at him moments ago—
Disappeared silently inside the black light.
As if he had never existed.
The raging fury inside Garp finally shattered the dam of his reason.
Several slower members of the Roger Pirates met the same fate.
The manic excitement on Roger's face instantly froze—
Replacing itself with a killing intent as cold as ice.
He slowly lowered the brim of his straw hat.
His voice came out hoarse.
Like something dragged up from hell.
"What does this bastard think human lives are…?"
At that moment—
One of the Five Elders suddenly appeared beside Garp.
The long-mustached elder known as Topman Warcury spoke in a harsh command.
"Garp! Know your place!"
"For the final victory, these sacrifices are necessary!"
Garp didn't answer.
He simply turned his head.
His eyes were bloodshot with veins like spiderwebs.
What surged inside them—
Was a fury powerful enough to drag even gods into hell.
Just one glance—
And even Warcury instinctively took half a step back.
For the first time—
A hint of fear rose in the heart of one of the world's highest rulers.
"To hell with your 'place'!!!"
Garp's roar exploded like thunder.
His Armament Haki hardened to an unprecedented extreme.
His entire body became a black cannonball condensed from pure rage.
Ignoring everything in front of him—
Ignoring every shocked gaze on the battlefield—
He charged directly toward Im, who possessed Saturn.
At almost the exact same moment—
Roger moved.
He drew the sword Ace from his waist.
No words.
He poured all his strength and Haki into the blade.
A massive golden slash infused with the will of a king tore across the shattered battlefield.
It split the ground apart—
Kicking up towering waves of dust—
And arrived faster than Garp's fist.
Racing toward Im.
Even Rocks was momentarily stunned by this sudden turn.
Seeing the black human cannonball and the dazzling golden slash—
His brief surprise exploded into an even more unrestrained laugh.
"Zehahahahahaha!!"
"Perfect timing! Roger! Garp!"
Facing the unexpected pincer attack—
The possessed Saturn showed no reaction.
He simply raised his other hand.
One hand met Garp's iron fist.
The other met Roger's slash.
THUD.
HUM.
Two dull impacts echoed.
Roger's slash—powerful enough to split an island—
And Garp's fist—strong enough to sink a fleet—
Were casually stopped by those two seemingly withered hands.
All their power vanished without a trace.
But the structure of the battlefield—
Had been completely overturned.
"Gaban!"
The moment Roger's attack was blocked, he shot a glance behind him.
Scopper Gaban immediately understood.
With a roar, he led the elite fighters of the Roger Pirates forward like a sharp blade—
Charging toward the other battlefield to assist Whitebeard and Shiki, who were being suppressed by the other Four Elders.
Meanwhile—
Garp's rage burned even hotter after his attack was stopped.
Ignoring Warcury's furious warnings behind him—
He suddenly twisted his body.
His blocked right fist surged forward to pin Im in place—
While his left fist swung around from a brutal angle.
You damn fraud pretending to be a god—
"DIE!!!"
With a thunderous roar—
Garp's Haki-coated fist smashed directly into the face of the possessed Saturn.
The punch caused no visible damage.
The old head didn't even move.
But the symbolism of that blow—
Was enormous.
The battlefield fell into instant silence.
Pirates.
Marines.
Even the Five Elders.
Everyone froze.
They stared in disbelief.
A Marine—
Monkey D. Garp—
Had just punched Saint Saturn in the face.
Right in front of the entire world.
Time itself seemed frozen.
Then—
Rocks' laughter shattered the silence.
He stepped forward—
Taking position on Im's left.
Roger sheathed his blade and appeared on Im's right in a flash.
Garp steadied himself after the recoil—
Standing directly in front of Im.
Rocks D. Xebec.
Gol D. Roger.
Monkey D. Garp.
Three legends bearing the name D.
Forming a triangle—
Surrounding the King of the World.
Three different Conqueror's Haki erupted into the sky.
A deep black-red like the abyss.
A blazing crimson-gold like the sun.
And a steel-black will of pure iron.
The sky split apart.
The clouds shattered.
The heavens trembled.
This would be—
The first time.
And the last time—
These three would fight side by side.