At this moment, something unexpected occurred.
Teach's gaze flicked briefly toward Gilman, who lay motionless on the ground.
Gilman moved.
His fingers twitched slightly. It was subtle, but enough to catch Teach's attention. Gilman had not fainted.
More importantly, within Teach's perception, Gilman's vitality was surging at a terrifying rate, ten times, even twenty times faster than the natural recovery speed of his body.
An extremely vigorous life force was erupting inside him, rapidly replenishing flesh, muscle, and blood, accelerating the healing of his injuries.
That recovery, in turn, activated his Devil Fruit ability. The regenerative power of an Ancient Zoan surged to life.
The two reinforced each other.
But why?
Teach glanced again and immediately understood.
Life Return.
Gilman was burning his own life force, his lifespan itself, in exchange for vitality. Injuries of this magnitude could not be healed by his remaining stamina alone.
Although he had not expended much stamina during the battle, the damage Teach inflicted on his vital points, coupled with massive blood loss, had triggered his body's emergency protection. That alone had drained almost everything he had.
Now, to heal, to restore stamina, and to regain combat strength, there was only one path left.
Life Return.
An equivalent exchange.
The price was terrifying.
The lifespan Gilman was consuming far exceeded what Zephyr had spent during the Sabaody Archipelago incident.
Zephyr's consumption had been far more refined, allowing him to burst beyond his limits in speed, briefly surpassing his own boundaries. For someone of Zephyr's level, that was extraordinarily difficult. But the duration had been short, costing him only three or four years of life.
Gilman's use was different.
Its quality was lower, but the quantity was overwhelming.
Teach found it interesting and chose not to interrupt.
As he observed, Gilman's vitality continued to rise, but at the same time, an unmistakable sense of aging began to surface.
Paradoxically, the overflowing vitality made his body look younger, like a final burst of life before the flame went out.
Yet the cost was visible.
Gilman's black hair began to turn white at a speed visible to the naked eye. Within moments, not a single strand of black remained.
Meanwhile, the wounds on his body healed rapidly. Flesh regenerated, muscle reconnected, blood replenished itself.
With his hair completely white, Teach could roughly judge the price.
Fifteen years.
Gilman had burned at least fifteen years of his lifespan.
Was this truly everything he had left?
On the other side, Nickt understood immediately.
Seeing Gilman's state, he knew what his comrade had chosen.
Without hesitation, Nickt also began to heal himself using Life Return.
His injuries were severe, but not as catastrophic as Gilman's. Accordingly, the life he consumed was less.
Even so, the signs appeared.
Strands of hair turned white. Wrinkles crept across his face.
Two Marine Vice Admirals were burning their lives at the same time.
Facing an enemy like Teach, even knowing victory was unlikely, neither of them was willing to give up.
Most of the spectators were stunned, unable to understand what was happening.
At that moment, Morgans stepped forward and explained through the broadcast.
Life Return.
The ultimate secret technique of the Six Powers, capable of controlling one's own body down to the smallest detail.
Under the overwhelming pressure of Teach's power, they had chosen to sacrifice their lifespan to reach peak condition.
There was no other way.
How much longer could they last?
Against an enemy like Teach, what other options did they have?
In Teach's eyes, it was merely history repeating itself.
The outcome had already been decided.
Everyone knew it. Marines, pirates, civilians across the world.
Teach's strength was nothing like it had been a year ago. He had advanced to an entirely different level.
What many anticipated even more was the terrifying technique he had used earlier at Redyard. That enormous, expanding, spherical darkness.
From afar, black specks filled the sky as rocks and trees were dragged upward by an invisible force.
Everyone knew.
Only Teach could do that.
"Is this your final struggle?" Teach raised his head slightly, arms crossed loosely at his chest. "You should understand. If you cannot show greater power, you will not even scratch me."
His claws were spotless. Not a single drop of blood clung to them.
"Pirate, you are strong," Nickt said solemnly, eyes locked on Teach. "But justice will not fall. We will do everything we can to stop you."
White steam rose from his body. Teach could feel the vitality surging within Nickt as well. His condition had reached its peak, and the wound on his back was already close to fully healed.
"Zehahahah," Teach laughed softly, almost exasperated. "Are you serious? Marine, know your limits. 'Do everything you can'? Even if you give everything, you still cannot hurt me."
"Do not preach justice to me. Justice alone does not erase the effort I have accumulated over the years."
"Do not flatter yourselves. If I had not wanted to play a little longer, would you even have had time to recover?"
His eyes darkened.
"Your fate is already sealed. Just like that Marine named Brom, who led his men to their deaths and achieved nothing. In a few years, you will become nothing more than stepping stones in my legend."
"When darkness descends, even light must retreat. If you want to say such grand words in front of me, send someone stronger."
Endless black aura erupted from Teach's body, spreading rapidly outward.
Nickt's expression changed.
In a flash, he appeared beside Teach, grabbed the still-recovering Gilman, and kicked off into the distance using Moonwalk.
Teach did not stop them.
He watched them retreat, faintly amused.
He wanted them to taste despair properly.
Teach remained where he was, calmly waiting for Vice Admiral Gilman to finish recovering.
He did not wait long.
Under the desperate consumption of life, such severe injuries healed at an astonishing pace.
Suddenly, the skin on Gilman's body began to peel.
Not a patch.
An entire layer, from head to toe.
Teach's interest was piqued.
"A snake shedding its skin?" he muttered, though he already knew the answer.
It was exactly that.
A shedding ability unique to Snake-Snake Fruit users, rarely seen and often impractical.
Useless in most cases, but now it removed every scab and obstruction that would have hindered Gilman's movement.
Layers of leathery skin covered Gilman's body, blurring his features.
Then he moved.
Reaching up, Gilman grabbed the loose skin and tore it free in one violent motion, flinging the discarded snakeskin aside.
The newly revealed body looked younger.
But everyone understood.
This was a final blaze before extinction.
His completely white hair told the true story.
Even without scabs, Gilman's face was ferocious, almost grotesque. The scars left by Teach were still there. Though the wounds had healed, the marks would never fade.
"How about it?" Teach asked with a smile. "Are you ready to face the judgment of darkness?"
"We are Marines," Gilman said firmly, standing beside Nickt.
The massive loss of lifespan had left abundant vitality in his body, boosting his strength slightly. Brushing death had even pushed his Devil Fruit development forward by a step, though awakening remained distant.
That vitality also allowed him to recover quickly from injuries.
"How boring," Teach said lightly. "Let's see how you deal with this."
The moment his words fell, the expressions of Gilman and Nickt changed.
An enormous pressure descended.
A terrifying gravitational force pulled downward.
Below them, the land shrouded in black aura exerted a second pull, dragging at their bodies.
"Darkness Devour."
The gravity expanded instantly.
The forest vanished.
Trees, rocks, soil, everything was swallowed whole. Giant trees collapsed and sank into the darkness, disappearing without a trace.
This was the second time Teach had used this technique. The first had been in the royal capital of the Kraken Kingdom.
Even now, its power inspired dread.
Back then, even the Kraken's massive tentacles had been torn apart by this darkness.
Once caught, escape was unthinkable.
Using Moonwalk with everything they had, the two Vice Admirals barely avoided being swallowed.
Barely.
This was only delaying the inevitable.
This darkness could drag down giant eagles in flight. Moonwalk alone was meaningless.
The abyss below them seemed endless.
And now, Darkness Devour was far stronger than before.
At the critical moment, Nickt swung his fist downward with all his strength.
"Blast Sound Fist!"
A violent sonic blast struck the blackened ground.
It vanished without a ripple.
Everything was swallowed.
Teach's dark aura was gas-like and could be dispersed, but now the entire domain was connected to his dark space.
Nothing escaped.
Nickt knew this.
Just as before, he used the recoil of his own ability to counter the pull, buying time until Teach ended the technique.
The backlash injured them slightly, but in their current state, it was tolerable.
Far better than being devoured.
Teach saw through their plan and sneered.
He could maintain this longer, but the stamina cost was high.
Using such power on just two opponents was inefficient.
Still, he indulged them.
The black aura withdrew.
What remained was barren land.
Even the moisture in the soil had been devoured.
Even so, Nickt unleashed Blast Sound Fist three more times in succession.
"Next," Teach said with a laugh, extending his palm toward them, "I'll give it all back. Release."
A dark vortex formed in his palm, connecting to the abyss.
Trees, rocks, dirt, even water poured out in a torrent, falling from the sky.
The sheer volume was overwhelming.
Even Teach did not know how much he had swallowed.
If allowed to fall freely, even monsters like them would be forced to respond seriously.
Gilman transformed instantly, coiling his massive body around Nickt to shield him, while Nickt punched upward into the descending chaos.
In pure destructive power, Nickt's ability was superior.
"Blast Sound Fist!"
A massive sonic explosion erupted, shattering everything above them.
The debris was blown away, tearing open a bright gap in the darkened sky.
Teach watched with an amused expression.
The dark vortex continued to spew debris, relentlessly draining their stamina.
It did not matter to Teach how much stamina they had left.
What amused him was their helplessness.
Their resistance.
Their rhythm.
All of it was already under his control.