The sky above Hachinos Island was ripped apart by two opposing forces.
"Momo—300x Speed!" Walde's figure blurred violently. The ground beneath him shattered into a ten-meter-wide web of deep craters.
His Armament-Haki-coated fists, moving at three hundred times normal speed, tore a vacuum channel through the air, trailing a sonic boom directly toward Gern's face.
Gern's pupils constricted. Hachikō rose horizontally, ready.
Clang! The metallic collision echoed across the island. The shockwave radiated outward, leveling all remaining debris within a hundred meters.
Gern's boots gouged deep furrows into the fractured ground, the black blade trembling under the immense force.
"Not done yet!" Walde sneered, shifting his attack. His left fist, also at 300x speed with amplified force, shot toward Gern's abdomen.
Gern's left hand instantly coated in Armament Haki, his fist gathering vibrating particles to intercept.
Boom! The moment their fists met, space itself seemed to tear. Pale vibrations clashed with the amplified force, producing an energy storm that hurled them both into the air.
"Then let's go even faster!" Walde adjusted midair, pushing off the ruins with his feet.
"Momo—400x Speed!"
Even Gern's Observation Haki could only track a blurred shadow.
Bang! A crushing blow slammed into Gern's back, driving him into the ground and sending a wave of earth tens of meters high.
Amid the dust, Gern rose slowly, wiping blood from his lips. His eyes burned brighter with combat intent.
"Interesting…"
Walde stood not far away, every muscle glinting under Armament Haki, his grin twisted with bloodlust. "What's the matter? Losing pace already?"
"No," Gern replied with a sudden smile. "I'm just wondering… how much can your body take?"
Walde's pupils shrank.
Gern's figure vanished—this was neither the Razor Step nor Moonwalk, but pure: Vibration Flash—Molecular Shift!
Walde spun frantically, only to see Gern appear behind him. Hachikō, wrapped in high-frequency vibrating pale particles, slashed diagonally.
"Skyquake—Void Sever!"
"Momo—500x Speed!" Walde erupted, pushing his Devil Fruit to extreme limits again, barely evading the lethal strike. But his right shoulder grazed the blade, flesh shredded instantly.
Splatter! Blood sprayed as he stumbled back, eyes wide in disbelief.
"You… how is this possible…"
"Your acceleration is impressive, but even your Devil Fruit has limits." Gern flicked blood off his blade. "Vibration… does not."
"What?!" Walde sneered, flinging a handful of bullets. Metallic spheres glimmered coldly in the sunlight.
"Momo—100x Range Cannon!"
In an instant, dozens of bullets expanded midair, each transforming into a massive cannonball. Air friction ignited them red-hot, sonic booms shattering every glass pane nearby.
A hundredfold amplified barrage rained down like meteors toward Gern.
Gern's expression remained calm. He extended five fingers of his left hand. Small rifts appeared in the air, and eight pale energy spheres materialized, crackling with high-frequency vibrations.
"Skyquake—Eight Extremes."
At his touch, the spheres shot out like living projectiles, tracing perfect arcs to intercept each incoming cannonball.
The moment the spheres struck, Boom! Boom! Boom! The chain of explosions lowered the hundred-meter area by three feet, sending dust and smoke skyward.
Amid the blasts, Walde's figure suddenly flashed beside Gern, a cunning grin spreading across his bloodied face. His left hand glowed with amplified energy.
"You made a fatal mistake, Marine!" Walde's eyes glinted. "A swordsman should hold his weapon properly…"
"Momo—50x Impact!" He slammed his powered palm onto Hachikō's hilt.
Under fiftyfold impact, the black blade shot like an arrow, embedding deep into a rock wall a hundred meters away, only the hilt quivering outside.
Walde leveraged the momentum, kicking grooves into the ground, arms crossed over his chest, grinning:
"Now… let's see you without your sword."
Before he finished—BOOM!!!
A suffocating wave of Conqueror's Haki erupted like a tsunami, the air whining under the extreme pressure.
Gern's figure blurred, and in the split second Walde landed, he was already in front of him.
"Who told you…" Gern's right fist was wrapped in black-and-red Flowing Sakura Haki, arcs of purple-black Conqueror's energy crackling violently along the knuckles.
"…that I need a sword to fight?"
"Black Tremor—Godfall Spike!!"
A simple, unadorned straight punch—but the moment it struck, space cracked like glass.
Bang! Walde hastily raised his arms, bones snapping under the overwhelming force. The shockwave penetrated his defense, sending his entire body flying.
Boom! Boom! Boom! His frame blasted through the island, smashing ruins and rocks along the way, finally slamming into the reef on the eastern coastline.
Gasp… Walde spat blood, eyes wide with shock.
"This power… impossible… You can't… surpass my amplified strength! I… I don't believe it!"
The next instant, Walde's muscles began swelling unnaturally, veins bulging like coiled serpents beneath golden skin.
"Momo—Ultimate Amplification Giant Form!!"
His body erupted in size—five meters, ten, twenty… until he towered fifty meters tall. A steel-clad titan of Armament Haki. Every muscle shone like molten metal, veins of energy coursing across his surface.
"Now…" Walde's voice cracked like thunder."Feel the limit of my hundredfold strength, speed, and body!!"
Thud! He stepped forward, shaking the entire island.
The next moment, he flashed impossibly fast in front of Gern.
"Momo—100x Speed Giant Machine Gun!!"
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Twin fists rained like meteor strikes, tearing vacuum channels through the air. The shockwaves cracked the earth and churned the ocean into towering waves.
Yet, facing this apocalyptic assault, Gern simply raised his gaze, fists enshrouded in high-frequency vibrating pale particles. The air twisted and collapsed around him.
"Black Tremor—Chain Stars!"
His punches matched Walde's amplified speed, intercepting each strike with pinpoint precision.
Their fists collided in a storm of deafening explosions, shockwaves rolling across the island like a tsunami.
At this moment, all of Hachinos Island trembled beneath their power.