The moment he saw it, Golden Lion's pupils shrank violently.
His golden brows shot upward, and for the first time, the manic grin froze on his face.
He hovered in midair, long golden hair whipping wildly like a tattered battle flag.Shock flashed across his expression—then disbelief—before finally twisting into something close to rage.
"What… kind of joke is this?!"
His voice no longer carried its usual laziness or mockery. For the first time, there was a tremor beneath it.
Black lightning erupted through the sky as the clash of Conqueror's Haki tore the heavens apart. The clouds split violently, the sea churned, and the entire island trembled as though on the brink of collapse.
"Just a moment ago, you were a brat who didn't even have Conqueror's Haki…!"
"And now…?!"
Golden Lion stared at Gern—at the man who should have been nothing more than an ant beneath his feet.
Yet now, standing before him, was someone who had awakened as a king.
"Zeahahaha!!"Golden Lion suddenly burst into laughter—but it was no longer carefree. Rage and disbelief burned beneath the sound.
"Interesting… very interesting! Zephyr, your disciple… he's been hiding quite well!"
Zephyr didn't reply.
Behind the shattered lenses of his sunglasses, countless emotions flickered—shock, pride, concern, and something deeper still.
He knew better than anyone: awakening Conqueror's Haki was never coincidence.
This boy… was no ordinary man.
"Gern…" Golden Lion descended slowly, stopping a few meters above the ground. His Conqueror's Haki surged outward like a tidal wave.
"You think this little awakening changes anything?"
Gern didn't retreat. His own pressure surged to meet it, two invisible forces crashing together as the air twisted and the ground split beneath them.
"I don't need to change anything," Gern said hoarsely, every word sharp as steel."I just need to stand."
BOOM!!
Their Haki detonated at once.
The sky split open, a black fracture ripping through the clouds like an eye torn open by the heavens.
Golden Lion's smile vanished completely.
In its place—pure killing intent.
"You're far too arrogant, brat!" he roared.
With a violent motion, he swung both arms downward. The air condensed instantly into countless razor-sharp blades.
"Lion's Thousand Cuts!"
The storm of slashes rained down, each strike capable of cleaving the earth itself.
Gern raised the black blade Bahuang to block, but the assault was relentless. He was driven backward, boots carving deep trenches into the ground.
"It's not over!" Golden Lion snarled, vanishing in a blur.
He reappeared behind Gern, blade thrusting toward his back—
A purple blur crashed between them.
"Heavy Strike!"
Zephyr's Haki-coated fist slammed into Golden Lion's blade with a deafening clang.
"You're not fighting him alone," Zephyr growled. "Not while I'm here."
Golden Lion's eyes flashed.
"Zephyr?! You dare interfere?!"
"He's my student!" Zephyr roared. "And I won't let you crush him!"
"Then I'll crush both of you!"
Golden Lion swung both swords, death weaving through the air.
Zephyr countered fiercely, fists crashing against blades as sparks exploded outward. Even so, the pressure began to mount—his breathing grew heavier, sweat forming along his brow.
"Teacher!" Gern shouted.
His Conqueror's Haki surged again, pushing back against the overwhelming pressure.
The island shook violently.
Suddenly—
A crimson blur burst into the battlefield.
A magma fist tore through the air, boiling it alive.
"Great Eruption!!"
Golden Lion twisted aside, splitting the molten strike—but scorching lava still tore through his cloak.
He narrowed his eyes."The magma brat… So the Navy's fighting dirty now?"
Sakazuki landed heavily, boots crushing scorched stone.
"Pirates don't deserve fairness."
His arm erupted again.
Golden Lion laughed and cleaved the magma apart—but Gern's blade was already coming from the side.
Forced to retreat, he leapt back—only to find Zephyr already waiting.
Boom!
A devastating blow smashed into his back.
Golden Lion coughed blood as he was driven forward.
"Hah… three against one? You really think highly of me!"
Sakazuki slammed both fists into the ground.
"Meteor Volcano!"
The sky burned as molten boulders rained down, sealing off every escape route.
"Pathetic tricks!" Golden Lion roared, slashing them apart.
But in that instant—
Zephyr lunged.
His Haki-hardened arm locked around Golden Lion's throat and slammed him into the earth.
"Now, Gern!"
The sky darkened.
Gern's Conqueror's Haki surged wildly, black and crimson lightning writhing around him.
The blade in his hand—Bahuang—began to burn.
Not from vibration.
From something else.
A deep, ancient resonance.
"Buzz—!"
Purple-black lightning erupted from the blade.
This wasn't ordinary Conqueror's Haki.
It was something older. Wilder.
The remnants of Rocks' will, awakened by Gern's own.
The lightning lashed upward, binding Golden Lion midair.
"What—?!" Golden Lion froze.
His Float-Float powers… weren't responding.
Gravity reclaimed him.
"What's happening?!" Zephyr shouted.
Even Sakazuki stared in disbelief.
This wasn't normal.
This was beyond awakening.
Gern stared at his blade in shock.
The dark-red patterns along Bahuang deepened, turning violet-black.
No… it's not me guiding the blade.
It's guiding me.
Realization struck.
Bahuang erupted with power.
A spiral of black-purple Haki engulfed the blade, devouring light itself.
Advanced Conqueror's Coating — Complete.
"That's impossible…" Sakazuki whispered.
Zephyr's eyes trembled.
"No… the blade is teaching him. Teaching him how its true master once fought."
That sword—
It once belonged to Rocks D. Xebec.
The only man in history who forged his weapon into a Black Blade using nothing but Conqueror's Haki.
"Shh—!"
Gern vanished.
Not speed.
Not movement.
Instantaneous displacement.
He appeared before the falling Golden Lion.
Time froze.
Golden Lion's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
For a split second, he saw another face overlapping Gern's—
A man standing atop a mountain of corpses.
"R-Rocks… Captain…?"
His voice trembled.
That memory—of the day his pride shattered.
"I'm not him," Gern whispered.
Then—
"Godfall."
The blade descended.
A crescent of annihilation tore through the sky.
Space itself shattered like glass.
The heavens screamed.
The world split.
Blood erupted from Golden Lion's chest in a violent arc.
A single slash carved from shoulder to abdomen, nearly cleaving him in two.
His body froze midair.
Then—
He fell.
Barely conscious, he forced himself to stabilize, blood pouring from his wounds.
"Impossible…" he rasped.
He stared at Gern's back.
The man hadn't even turned around.
Fear crept into his bones.
For the second time in his life—
He felt death breathing down his neck.
Once by Rocks.
Now by this man.
"Damn you…" he wheezed. "You think you can do that again…?"
Gern didn't answer.
He merely lifted Bahuang slightly.
Golden Lion's smile vanished.
In that moment, he understood.
He couldn't win.
He couldn't even afford to gamble.
With a furious roar, he forced his power to surge and blasted himself backward, fleeing into the distance.
"Next time…" his voice echoed through the storm,"I'll rip that sword from your corpse myself!"
And then he was gone.
Silence fell.
Gern stood motionless, blade pointed downward, violet lightning still dancing along its edge.
He didn't turn around.
Didn't speak.
Behind him, the battlefield lay in ruin.
The world had witnessed it.
The moment a monster awakened.