The shockwave from their colliding fists tore the ground apart across a hundred meters. Jagged stones flew in every direction like bullets.
Before long, Walde's giant form staggered backward, each step leaving footprints gaping several meters deep in the fractured earth.
"Impossible!" Walde's eyes bulged, his voice thundering across the ruins. "My strength is amplified a hundredfold! How can you possibly—"
"A hundredfold?" Gern shook his tingling fist, a cold smile curling at his lips. "And what of it? Randomly amplified attacks are meaningless!"
His figure vanished in an instant. Moments later, he reappeared midair, his right leg swinging down like a battle axe.
Bang! The downward strike, infused with vibrating particles, smashed into Walde's braced arms, forcing the giant's colossal body to kneel against the ground.
"One more thing," Gern said, twisting in midair to propel himself upward, left fist gathering energy, "your strength… is borrowed. It cannot adapt this fast."
The pale shockwave concentrated around his fist, distorting the surrounding space.
"And mine…"
"…is forged through a thousand trials!"
"Black Tremor—Meteor Star!!"
The punch connected solidly with Walde's chest. His fifty-meter-tall form flew backward like a meteor, smashing through cliffs and ruins before crashing into the bay, sending a hundred-meter-high tidal wave roaring into the sky.
"Walde!!" From afar, Binjek screamed in horror, frail hands gripping the arms of his wheelchair.
The ocean churned violently as the massive figure of Walde rose, water cascading off him like a waterfall.
He looked down at his chest: a massive dent had formed, cracks spiderwebbing outward.
Cough… Blood spat from his mouth, yet his eyes burned hotter with battle lust. "Interesting… very interesting! So, the Navy dares to teach me a lesson!"
"Momo—Overlimit Amplification!" Walde roared, his muscles swelling again, veins twisting like writhing dragons.
But this time, droplets of blood seeped through his skin—warning signs that his body was nearing the limits even his Devil Fruit could endure.
"Five hundredfold!!"
The world seemed to freeze in that instant.
Walde's fist slammed forward, imbued with catastrophic force. Space itself warped; ripples appeared in the air, visible to the naked eye.
Yet Gern closed his eyes.
"A Devil Fruit's potential can only be pushed to the user's limits," he murmured. "A hundredfold amplification is all your body can truly handle. Beyond that… is meaningless."
Walde's fists rained down like a hurricane, each blow threatening to obliterate the island. But Gern had already foreseen every movement with his Observation Haki.
"Even your attacks… are slower than when you were at a hundredfold."
Gern's pupils constricted sharply. Purple-black Conqueror's Haki surged along his fists. Vibrating particles twisted and writhed around his right arm, finally forming the shape of a snarling black-and-purple shock dragon. Its roar shook the air, its scales like razor-sharp blades.
"Black Tremor…"
He unleashed a punch, the shock dragon tearing toward Walde's chest.
"Dragon Fist!!!"
"What?!" Walde's pupils shrank. He scrambled to block, but the shock dragon pierced his defense, the violent vibrations wreaking havoc inside his body.
"Ughh!" The giant staggered back, blood spilling from his mouth. His Momo Fruit amplification had been forcibly interrupted.
"Not done yet!"
Gern's figure suddenly fragmented, elementally flashing into a white afterimage before Walde. Planting his feet solidly, he drew his right fist back.
"Black Tremor—Meteor Star!"
His fist, coated in Armament Haki to the max, compressed the vibrating particles into a spiraling drill shape. The air around him twisted and collapsed under the extreme pressure.
Bang! The punch slammed squarely into Walde's abdomen.
Cough! Walde's eyes widened as his thirty-meter-tall form was lifted into the air by the force of the blow.
"Damn…" He gritted his teeth, trying to regain balance, but Gern's speed was already faster. In an instant, he appeared above him.
"Black Tremor—Collapse!" Gern slammed both fists downward like a warhammer.
Boom! Shockwaves radiated in eight directions. Walde's chest caved in instantly, his bones cracking audibly.
"Ughhh!" Walde screamed, blood spurting from his mouth. His body plummeted like a meteor, yet Gern had already predicted his landing.
Gern flashed again, following with an uppercut. Vibrating particles compressed into a cannon-like shockwave, blasting Walde high into the air once more.
"Not finished!"
Gern stepped back, legs coiled like springs, Conqueror's Haki crackling around him like lightning.
In an instant, he appeared above Walde. His left hand hardened into Armament Haki claws, gripping Walde's massive head.
"Black Tremor—Heavenfall… Meteor!" Gern roared, throwing him forcefully toward the ground.
Rumble!!!
Walde's immense body slammed down like a falling star. The island shook violently; the shockwave sent dust and debris hundreds of meters high.
When the smoke cleared, a colossal crater stretched a kilometer across.
Walde lay at the bottom, battered and bleeding. His Momo Fruit amplification had completely collapsed, his body returning to its normal size.
Cough… cough… He struggled to rise, but Gern had already descended to the edge of the crater.
Hachikō, the Black Blade, was back in his hand, the tip pressed firmly against Walde's throat.
"It's over, 'World Destroyer' Bondy Walde."
"W-Why…" Walde lifted his head with great effort, teeth gnashing, eyes filled with defiance. "My Momo Fruit… it should allow infinite amplification…"
"Heh." Gern stepped forward slowly. Each footfall shattered the ground with a crisp crack across the silent battlefield.
Looking down at the pirate who had struck terror into the New World, his gaze was icy, merciless.
"Because…" Gern's voice cut cold through the air, "even the greatest power requires a body capable of sustaining it. No matter how much you amplify it, every new surge is a force your body hasn't adapted to.
"Beyond the hundredfold your body can handle, the rest—seen through my Observation Haki—amounts to nothing more than a newborn gaining an adult's strength overnight."
Hahaha! Walde suddenly threw back his head and laughed, a hollow, bitter sound. "So… my legend… ends here, huh?"
"Can I ask one favor?" Gern's voice was steady.
"Say it."
"Don't kill my brother."
The words broke Walde's laugh instantly. His head drooped heavily, unconscious.
"When you destroyed islands, cities, and nations… did the civilians you tormented beg for mercy?" Gern's lips twisted in mockery as he spun Hachikō lightly in his hand. The gray-white bandages coiled like living things, finally settling into a plain sheath.
"You're just a captured pirate. You have no right to make requests."
He bent down, gripping Walde's tangled hair, dragging him toward the warship.
The New World's so-called 'World Destroyer' now resembled a hunted beast, leaving a long trail of blood across the scorched earth.