Marineford — Clash of Titans
"Huff… huff… heh heh heh…"
Amid the lingering smoke of the harbor ruins, Figarland Garling Saint rose slowly from the wreckage, his shattered body reassembling piece by piece.
The Marines watching from the plaza were frozen, eyes wide in utter disbelief.
"How… how is this possible? His body… it's destroyed!"
"This isn't human, right? There's no way he survived that!" one soldier shouted, awe and terror breaking through his voice.
"That guy… is he a monster?!" another whispered, swallowing hard as his hands trembled.
Even Tazorlo's expression was one of shock. "So… this is the God's Knights?!" he murmured. "This level of regeneration… it can't be a Devil Fruit ability, right?!"
From within the smoke, Garling Saint's face fully restored, a faint, sinister smile creeping across his lips.
"Annoying… this vibration… it reminds me of a certain irritating fool who blocked me back at God Valley!"
In the next instant, Conqueror's Haki erupted like a raging storm, tearing the smoke away in a single violent sweep.
Garling Saint's body restored itself at a visible, almost grotesque speed. Even his golden hair regained its original flowing elegance, as though he had never been wounded.
"Tch, tch, tch," Gern snorted, calm yet sharp, approaching the Black Blade Hachiraku. He bent down, pulling the blade free from the ground. The steel gleamed coldly in the sunlight. "Looks like someone's getting desperate."
Garling Saint's gaze locked onto Gern. The rapier in his hand emitted a heavy clang as a layer of black-coated Armament Haki spread across its blade, which vibrated with a deep, low hum.
"You think you—" a glint of red flared in Garling Saint's eyes. Suddenly, his form vanished.
Whoosh! A fierce wind swept past. Garling Saint appeared directly before Gern, crouched in a draw stance. In the next instant, a horizontal slash tore through the air.
The sword cut through the wind like lightning, tearing the air with a high-pitched roar.
"You underestimate the might… of a God's Knight!!!"
Gern's eyes sharpened. Reacting instantly, he drove Hachiraku into the ground, planting the blade vertically as a steady shield before him.
CLANG!
The clash of steel erupted, sparks flying as a powerful shockwave radiated outward, cracking the plaza's stone and scattering rubble.
Garling Saint maintained his bent, slicing stance. Gern stood solidly, unshaken.
Their Haki collided violently, a storm of purple-black lightning and crimson energy intertwining, twisting the very air. Even the Marines nearby felt their breaths stall.
"So this… is the power of a God's Knight?" Gern muttered, a cold smile curling at the corner of his lips. His battle instinct flared. "Not impressive."
"Tenjin·Earthquake!!"
Before Garling Saint could respond, Gern slammed Hachiraku into the ground, vibrating shockwave particles through the plaza. The stone beneath them shattered in a spiderweb pattern.
Garling Saint's pupils constricted at the shockwave. He leapt back, using fragments of rubble as leverage, knees bending as he launched himself toward Gern once more.
"Feel the true majesty of a God!" His voice deepened into a hoarse growl, and dark Haki lightning coiled around his sword in a savage strike.
"Divine Strike!"
Gern instinctively blocked horizontally. The metallic clang echoed, and the impact flung him backward. He smashed through three walls before coming to a stop.
…
Dust and rubble filled the air.
Gern rose slowly from the ruins, Black Blade Hachiraku trembling faintly in his hands, its etched patterns pulsing with dark purple light. He wiped blood from the corner of his mouth, eyes burning brighter with battle intent.
"I said it, didn't I? King-class fighters aren't just for getting hit." Gern grinned.
Garling Saint hovered midair, his golden hair still towering majestically. His rapier angled toward the ground, crimson Haki flowing along its edge like molten blood. His gaze was icy and arrogant—the cold, contemptuous stare of a Celestial Dragon.
"Heh… trash is trash," Garling Saint said, voice low and authoritative, each word dripping with unshakable disdain."Now, I'll show you real swordsmanship."
Before the words finished, he vanished.
"Godspeed·Instant Slash!"
Gern's pupils constricted. His Observation Haki screamed a warning, but his body was too late to react.
A cold streak of steel flashed across him, carving a deep gash into his chest, bone visible and blood spraying.
"First strike," Garling Saint's voice rang cold and indifferent from behind.
"Faster than Rayleigh… barely," Gern muttered, spinning Black Blade in a sweeping arc—but struck only afterimages.
"Looks like you can't adapt either," Garling Saint's voice whispered from the left. Another blade streaked, cutting another wound into Gern's left arm.
"Second strike."
Gern gritted his teeth, condensing vibration particles into the ground with a mighty punch.
"Airquake!!"
The stone beneath exploded, sending countless shards flying—a chaotic net of attacks.
Yet Garling Saint moved like a phantom, sword strikes lightning-fast, each leaving fresh wounds on Gern.
"Third strike.""Fourth strike.""Fifth strike."
Garling Saint's voice was a whisper of death, each word accompanied by a deadly slash. Gern could only rely on full-body Armament Haki to hold temporarily.
"What's wrong? This is the best the Marine 'Skyquake' can do?"
Garling Saint paused, standing atop a boulder. He looked down, smug, as Gern wheezed. "You can't even touch my cloak."
"True," Gern gasped, then laughed. "Your speed… it's impressive…"
He straightened, Black Blade Hachiraku across his chest, its patterns glowing dark purple.
"Even faster than the last guy I fought… Rayleigh. But…" Gern's eyes sharpened."…this isn't impossible to adapt to."
"Shock Flash!"
In an instant, Gern's body disintegrated into molecular-level particles. Once again, Garling Saint's Observation Haki failed.
Garling Saint smirked coldly, spinning his rapier in a perfect arc.
"Waltz!"
A barrier of sword energy formed, attempting to block Gern's incoming strike.
"This way, you won't—"
"Sigh!"
But in a split second, Gern's true body appeared above Garling Saint. Hands gripping Hachiraku, he slashed down with all his strength. Dark vibration energy tore from the blade.
"Never learned physics? Molecules are everywhere, idiot!"
"You…" Garling Saint's eyes flickered with surprise, but he quickly regained composure.
"Tenjin·Collapse Realm!!"
The metallic symphony of steel rang out, deafening across Marineford. Shockwaves ripped up the plaza. Rubble under Garling Saint shattered to powder, and his body was driven tens of meters into the ground.
"Interesting," he spat a trickle of blood, yet his battle intent blazed hotter than ever."But still… not enough!"
With a burst of power, crimson Conqueror's Haki from his blade slammed Gern backward.
Garling Saint vanished again, appearing behind Gern, rapier aimed for his back.
"Piercing Heart!"
In a split second, Gern twisted his body into a strange posture, narrowly blocking the lethal strike with Hachiraku. The Haki-infused blow still sent him flying dozens of meters, crashing into a ruined wall.
"Cough… cough…" Gern spat blood, his eyes burning brighter than ever.
"Interesting…" He rose slowly, Black Blade's patterns fully illuminated, humming ominously. Dark purple Conqueror's Haki flowed from his body into the blade like countless rivers converging.
Vrrr—
Gern gripped the hilt tightly. With a shrill cry of steel, Hachiraku erupted into a black vortex that seemed to consume everything. Light vanished where the blade pointed, and even the surrounding space warped.
The ground beneath Gern cracked inch by inch, rubble pulverized under the weight of his Haki.
"This is…" Garling Saint's pupils shrank. He retreated hundreds of meters, sweat dripping from his brow, eyes fixed warily on Gern.
Just now… in that instant… he had glimpsed the future.
A vision of himself cleaved in half.
"Hey… where do you think you're running…?"
Gern slowly raised his eyes. Dark purple lightning surged along Hachiraku's blade. The ground cracked and collapsed beneath him. Snaking arcs of electricity coiled wildly around him.
"That last strike…You used Conqueror's Haki first… before me!!!"