"No. I can't let him get comfortable. I have to exploit the information gap during this window and seize the initiative!"
The thought crossed Gern's mind without a trace of hesitation—
And in that same instant, Shanks burst into motion once more.
His foot slammed into the ground, and his figure shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow. But he didn't charge in a straight line. Instead, his trajectory twisted into an unpredictable Z-shaped arc, maximizing the effect of Observation Killing.
At the same time, his right hand—long poised and waiting—swung Gryphon with full force!
"Mighty Slash!"
This time, the dark-red torrent of Conqueror's Haki condensed into a far more focused, violent shockwave, roaring straight toward Gern!
He intended to force Gern into either taking it head-on or dodging—either way, shattering his rhythm!
"Hah… looks like you really learned a lot back then," Gern said, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. "I can see Rayleigh's shadow all over this move."
He didn't raise his blade.
Instead, Gern extended his left hand, fingers spread, and pressed forward with an empty palm.
"Vmm—!"
In an instant, the air ahead compressed violently, trembling at extreme density, forming a visibly distorted, transparent barrier.
"BOOM!!!"
Gryphon's shockwave smashed head-on into the vibrating wall!
The collision of two top-tier forces didn't explode immediately. Instead, they locked into a brief stalemate.
But it lasted less than half a second.
"Crack!"
Fine fractures spread across the vibration barrier like spiderwebs.
After all, it was a Haki-infused slash. Gern had never expected to fully stop it. His true goal was something else—to rapidly adapt to the effects caused by Observation Killing.
Because Gern never fought arrogantly.
No matter the battle, treating it with absolute seriousness was the true path to survival.
And so, at the very moment the barrier was about to shatter and the impact was about to strike—
"Hm?!"
Gern's Observation Haki screamed danger once again—but the warning was still maddeningly vague!
Almost simultaneously, Shanks' figure flickered.
Using the blinding glare of Mighty Slash as cover, he vanished—and reappeared within Gern's left-side blind spot!
On Gryphon's blade, the dark-red arcs of Conqueror's Haki were compressed to the extreme. All the Haki wrapping collapsed into a single line along the edge, the tip thrusting straight toward Gern's ribs!
This—
This was the real killing blow!
The earlier Mighty Slash had merely been bait, a distraction to create this opening.
"Got you!" A sharp light flashed in Shanks' eyes.
Under the cover of Observation Killing, this near-perfect ambush was something he was confident he couldn't miss!
At the level of Emperors and Kings, details were the decisive cause of victory or defeat!!!
Just as Gryphon's tip was about to brush the hem of Gern's clothing—
The corner of Gern's mouth curved into a cold smile.
"You really think… the same kind of interference will work on me a second time?"
"And your killing intent is just… way too obvious."
In the instant Gryphon was about to pierce beneath his ribs—
Gern relied not on his disrupted Observation Haki, but on the combat instincts forged through years of battle in the New World—through clashes with Whitebeard and Kaido.
Those instincts replaced foresight and delivered the most precise response possible!
He didn't try to dodge.
He didn't use Eight Desolations to defend.
Instead—
Attack for attack. Injury for life.
"Pshhk!"
Gryphon's tip pierced cleanly into Gern's left rib, the dull sound of steel biting flesh ringing out.
Blood instantly soaked his inner garments.
But there was no triumph on Shanks' face.
Instead, his pupils shrank violently.
Because he felt it—
The depth of the stab was far less than he'd anticipated!
And more importantly… at the exact moment the blade made contact, Gern's waist and abdomen contracted and twisted in a way that defied common sense.
The free hand that wasn't holding Eight Desolations flared with Armament Haki—and clamped down on Gryphon's blade, stopping it dead, unable to advance even an inch!
"This guy's physical strength…"
"Heh. Then you really watched my fight with Rayleigh for nothing, Shanks."
"You—!!"
Shanks' heart jolted.
Because almost the moment his blade was locked, Gern's right hand—still gripping Eight Desolations—suddenly loosened.
His fingers clenched into a fist.
Vibration particles converged, and a pale spherical sheath instantly wrapped around his knuckles.
Then it began to change.
It elongated, shaped itself into a dragon's head, warping the surrounding space as it twisted and screamed in anguish!
"Damn it! This bastard isn't a swordsman at all—he'll abandon the blade and switch to raw offense!!"
Alarms blared in Shanks' mind.
He tried to pull back and retreat—but Gryphon was firmly locked by Gern's Haki!
And the instant of hesitation caused by trying to withdraw his sword—
That single, fatal pause—
"Too slow!!" Gern barked coldly.
The massive dragon-headed fist roared forward and slammed straight into Shanks' chin!
"Heavenquake · Rising Dragon Fist!!!"
A dragon's roar thundered through the air.
Where the punch passed, the atmosphere was completely obliterated, forming a fleeting vacuum!
This wasn't a simple physical strike.
It was the catastrophic vibration power of the Quake-Quake Fruit, compressed to the extreme and unleashed at a single point—using the fist as its vessel!
"Guh—!"
Shanks felt an overwhelming, high-frequency震动 force crash into him, utterly unstoppable—giving him a firsthand taste of what Akainu must have felt when he was beaten into abstraction!
"PUFF—!!!"
Shanks threw his head back and spewed a massive mouthful of blood, his body flying backward like a kite with its string cut.
He slammed heavily into the ground dozens of meters away, tumbling more than ten times before barely coming to a stop.
One knee hit the ground. One arm propped him up.
He gasped violently, every breath mixed with bloody foam.
At the same time, Gryphon was flung from Gern's grasp, spinning through the air before stabbing diagonally into the distant earth with a sharp clang.
Just one blow!
Gern, at the cost of a light wound, had traded for Shanks' heavy injury!
The battlefield fell completely silent.
Only the thunder of the lightning-filled sky remained.
"Do you understand now, Shanks?" Gern said calmly.
"Your Observation Killing is troublesome, sure. It interferes with my clear vision of the 'future.'"
As he spoke, Gern walked forward step by step, his boots crunching across the shattered ground. His right hand opened—and Eight Desolations returned to him on its own.
"But battles at the very top were never just about who can see farther…"
"They're about who can unleash absolute power—right here, in the present moment."
Shanks slowly lifted his head, staring at the steadily approaching Gern. He forced himself upright, reached out, and pulled Gryphon from the ground, gripping it tightly as dark-red Conqueror's Haki began to gather once more.
"Well then… thanks for that punch just now."
"No problem," Gern replied lightly."I'm a ridiculously good guy, after all."
"If you liked it, I can keep going. After all, when it comes to you, I'm famously the type who gives his whole heart—literally."