At the same time, the Supreme-Grade Conqueror's Haki pressure that had constantly been in a state of release and control finally crossed that "barrier."
Before the Designated Immunity expired, he had reached the final realm of Conqueror's Haki Infusion!
A one-on-one frontal battlefield. A death match where neither side held anything back, where the slightest mistake would mean death on the spot.
The inevitable defeat that would come once Designated Immunity failed. His absurd talent gained through repeated spending. Dragon's teachings… all kinds of factors stacked together.
Before the twenty-four-hour limit arrived, he had finally achieved that ultimate goal.
"Gurararara, not bad at all, brat."
Whitebeard's gaze grew solemn. He could "see" the Conqueror's Haki pressure, rising like beacon smoke, wrapping around that heaven-piercing Qi blade.
Before this, he had witnessed the other party fail countless times, then try again countless times. He also understood what kind of circumstances had driven the words Ren had spoken earlier.
"To break through your limits, you didn't hesitate to start a life-or-death battle? Even if you died, you wouldn't regret paying with your life… Gurararara!"
He burst into laughter. Quake force pressed into the ground, causing Raijin Island to rumble and rise and fall… no, it was shattering!
The land base in the east bulged upward over a thousand meters high, while the western side sank straight into the sea. Both sides, including the sea itself, rose and fell under the quake force.
Everything within hundreds of kilometers was sliced by the quake force into rectangular blocks of varying heights.
However, this was only the omen of the coming attack!
A white dome appeared over Murakumogiri. Along with it, similar white domes appeared around Whitebeard's elbow and on the ground behind him.
Two types of Haki wrapped around them in a high-density form, gathering power like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
And the same was true for Ren.
Having just broken through and grasped the technique of Conqueror's Haki Infusion, the amount of Conqueror's Haki he had left was no longer much.
After Whitebeard discovered his traits, he had deliberately targeted the energy aspect with attacks meant to strip it away.
Even the energy in his body had been consumed to rock bottom by the battle.
So it was only enough for one strike.
And it could only be one strike!
"The more interesting part comes next!"
Ren flew into the sky, then drove the sword hilt in his hand straight through himself, piercing it into his heart.
Hilt and body became one. Man and heaven became one. Whether Haki or energy, everything was preparing for the final blow.
The last words that echoed through the sky were only these:
"Are you ready? Receive this radiant—light of destruction!"
"Gurararara, your final strength, huh? Even now, you don't intend to back down. Brat… no, Ren. I acknowledge you.
"No matter how young you are, no matter what thoughts or pursuits you have, to me, you are indeed a true—opponent!"
Whitebeard tightened his grip on Murakumogiri and slashed out with a great laugh. "Come! Let me witness your destruction!"
Boom—!
The air twisted. As far as the eye could see, countless cracks spread through the atmosphere. The sky seemed to have turned into a mirror on the verge of shattering.
If that mirror shattered, endless power would come surging out.
It was not a mere vibration, because if one pulled their gaze higher, they would discover that this was a genuine slash!
One-Sword Style: Shattered World!
At the same time,
Ren had also reached his limit. The thunderclouds in the sky had been drained of all their lightning energy by him, but the Heavenly Might was still extending.
That other sun hidden high above the sky grasped the blade and gave over all its energy.
"The final energy."
Ren No. 2 vanished.
What it left to the main body was terrifying energy that seemed ready to rupture his heart along with his entire chest.
Even with multiple traits in place, there was no way to restrain such a sudden and enormous flood of energy.
But—there was no need to restrain it.
Ren's chest seemed to transform into a furnace, devouring every bit of energy he possessed.
Then, he opened his mouth.
Radiant brilliance lit up the sky!
Meteor Burst: Collapsing Star Roaring Cannon!
By releasing all the energy within his body in a highly efficient manner, he exchanged it for a terrifying attack capable of destroying the surface.
First, a cross-shaped star of light flashed into existence. Then a straight beam of light swept across the sky.
Within it, terrifying high-energy power surged like a flood. Its immense scale was like a divine spear of judgment stabbing down from the heavens.
It roared. It galloped. It launched its assault at the enormous slash below!
"…"
Marco, who was watching from the side, stared at this scene in suffocating horror, because he realized that his current position was extremely close to the point where the attacks would collide.
No, a distance of several thousand meters could not be called close.
But his Observation Haki was telling him—run! He had to run! Otherwise, he was going to undergo another round of rebirth by fire!
At this moment, Marco's view of Ren changed once again, settling on one impression:
This was the strength of a Yonko!
However, it was already too late. The moment he turned around, blinding light swallowed everything.
There was no sound, because the energy was faster. The slash was equally fast.
Marco could not see the moment the two attacks collided, but he could feel the slightly delayed—
Great explosion!
Boom—!
The shriek that nearly tore apart his eardrums came from scorching airflow moving at extreme speed. At the same time, it carried terrifying destructive force from its high temperature.
When blue flames ignited and Marco staggered out from within the fire, the two people were already gone from before him… or rather, Raijin Island itself was gone!
The place where the two attacks had collided… no, the main body of Raijin Island that had served as the battlefield had vanished.
Whether it was the pitted ground, the collapsed mountain ranges, or the region that had changed from hills into a sinkhole, all of it was gone.
In its place was an incomparably massive crater, surrounded by a tsunami of astonishing range!
Marco could not calculate the exact parameters, but he could roughly imagine that this place was large enough to fit a small kingdom—or Marine Headquarters.
If the tsunami had not risen close to the Red Line, its scale might have affected nearly half of the New World.
This was no longer a natural disaster.
It was pure destruction.
"…Who won?"
Phoenix wings beat through the air as Marco surveyed the crater left behind by the final battle.
If it had been before, he never would have thought there was even the slightest possibility that Pops could lose.
But… after witnessing an attack that could erase an entire kingdom in a single blow, Marco could no longer guarantee that Pops, propped up by that ability, would definitely win.
Most importantly, that ability had been given to him by the other party.
"A trap… or an accident? Or…"
While the phoenix was still letting his thoughts run wild, his gaze swept over the remaining pools of magma, then froze on one corner.
There was only one person there.
"Pops!"
Marco cried out in shock and accelerated, arriving on the battlefield in the blink of an eye.
"What're you yelling for?"
Whitebeard waved his hand impatiently. "Before Ace is rescued, I won't be leaving the stage."
"But you killed him…"
Marco swept his gaze around and said with some hesitation, "Or did I just fail to find him?"
"He's not dead. My opponent wouldn't croak that easily."
Whitebeard snorted with a laugh and shook his head.
"That's good. But he still lost after all."
As Marco spoke, he shook his head as if this were only natural. "As expected, Pops is invincible."
This was a line he had said who knew how many times before.
However, this time, Whitebeard shook his head.
"No. It was a draw."
"…A draw!?"
Marco's pupils widened, and he was once again shaken.
"Let's go. He should be waiting for us out at sea. This place really isn't suitable for talking. I just don't know whether his ship can withstand the secondary tsunami."
Whitebeard did not explain further. He was merely enduring the discrepancy between two sets of senses.
His vigor was still abundant. Life force continued to surge endlessly. But… his Observation Haki told him that this body was already battered and broken.
If he went through two more battles at this level of intensity, his body would lose the possibility of healing, because the injuries would become so severe that they could no longer recover.
The "recovery" here referred to medical treatment, medicine, and self-healing.
However, his opponent was not in good shape either.
"This state again, huh?"
Ren sat on a portable piece of Island Cloud, looking at his complete hand, which had already reformed who knew how many times, and sighed.
Energy depleted.
That was his current state.
Because of the combination of traits such as HP bar settings and Blood Demon Art, his recovery speed was determined by the scale of his energy.
So reforming this body had consumed the last of his energy.
All the energy in the fully charged Ren No. 2 had been used on that one move, Collapsing Star Roaring Cannon.
Its power was indeed terrifying. It had directly wiped out the incomparably sturdy Raijin Island.
But what he gained in exchange was still not victory.
In the earlier clash of ultimate moves, his Collapsing Star Roaring Cannon had defeated Whitebeard's slash, which had clearly been one of his trump-card techniques.
But Whitebeard had a second move!
The one immune to quake force was Ren himself. Collapsing Star Roaring Cannon was not.
As a result, Whitebeard tore at the atmosphere with both hands, ripping apart the overall momentum of Collapsing Star Roaring Cannon.
Then he met the severed Collapsing Star Roaring Cannon, which had only a third of its original power remaining, with one punch.
After that, all Ren could say was that Whitebeard had been injured, but not that severely.
After surviving that hurdle, Whitebeard, in a situation where Ren had lost Designated Immunity, was not someone Ren could defeat.
Besides, he had already achieved his goal at the time. By borrowing Whitebeard's hands to pressure himself, he had successfully mastered Conqueror's Haki Infusion.
So Ren gave up on continuing the attack. However, Whitebeard also seemed to think the fight should not continue, and abandoned the battle one step ahead of him.
For now, it should be considered a draw.
Only…
"I still can't truly defeat a Yonko. The energy I used this time was at least twice what I used at Dressrosa, and the energy temperature was even higher.
"Well, Whitebeard is the strongest one, so it also shows just how powerful the Yonko really are.
"But I should have Yonko-level strength now. I just don't know whether I can suppress Big Mom one-on-one."
After all, he had already achieved his objective. Ren brooded for a moment, then returned to normal.
Losing to Whitebeard could be considered within expectations.
Whitebeard under the blessing of Word Spirit: Don't Die… was truly terrifying beyond imagination.
But if it were any other Yonko, they would at least lose an arm or a leg.
Kaido… forget it. Red-Hair… forget it. Mm!
That's right, I'm talking about you, BIG MOM!
"After the Marineford War, if I'm going to make a move against the Yonko, Big Mom should be a decent entry point."
He temporarily set a rough direction. Then, his Observation Haki detected approaching presences.
Marco brought Whitebeard to this Island Cloud and also saw Ren, completely unharmed.
"He really did tie… This guy is only nineteen, but he can already fight Pops to a draw!?"
Stormy waves surged through Marco's mind, but on the surface, he stood calmly to one side.
This Island Cloud naturally had tables and chairs.
Whitebeard sat down boldly across from Ren.
"Gurararara…"
(End of Chapter)