In the first exchange between Marco and Shamrock, the advantage had clearly tilted toward Marco.
As the smoke gradually dispersed, Shamrock stood in the crater he had created—unharmed, his expression unchanged.
Marco narrowed his eyes slightly.
Among his six-dimensional attributes, raw strength had never been his greatest asset. His true advantage lay in recovery and endurance. In prolonged battles, he was nearly impossible to defeat.
Yet in that direct clash—where both sides had coated themselves in armament Haki and unleashed Conqueror's Haki—Marco had actually suppressed his opponent.
That surprised him.
Both were at the Strong Yonko level… yet Shamrock had clearly been overpowered.
If that had been Red-Haired Shanks instead, Marco doubted he would have gained such an easy upper hand.
Below, Shamrock looked up calmly, his eyes cold and utterly fearless.
"Hmph. For an insect, your strength is unexpectedly impressive."
Marco ignored the provocation entirely.
Instead, he opened his system interface.
Attribute Points: 58,400
His brows knit together.
That number felt… wrong.
Nearly half an hour had passed since the massacre began. He had personally slain hundreds of Celestial Dragons. By his estimation, there had been at least five or six hundred gathered in the area earlier.
At 500 attribute points per kill, he should have gained well over 200,000 points.
Yet the total displayed was barely over fifty thousand.
That meant—
Many of those kills hadn't counted.
Marco's mind moved quickly.
He recalled something subtle from earlier: several Celestial Dragons had fallen, yet the system had remained silent. At the time, he had dismissed it, assuming the notifications were lagging because he was killing too quickly.
But now…
A realization struck him.
"Impure bloodlines…?"
In the original story, York had coveted the status of a Celestial Dragon so desperately that she betrayed Vegapunk to obtain it. And the Gorosei had granted her wish.
That meant one did not necessarily have to be born into the Celestial Dragon lineage.
Outstanding contributions to the World Government could earn that status.
Furthermore, many nobles and royal families worshipped the Celestial Dragons fanatically. Through marriage or political maneuvering, some likely integrated into the so-called "God bloodline." Once accepted, they donned the same bubble helmets and paraded as World Nobles.
But blood was blood.
The system clearly distinguished between true descendants and mere beneficiaries of the title.
Only pure-blooded Celestial Dragons yielded the full 500 attribute points.
The rest—no reward.
Marco exhaled slowly.
Annoying. But not critical.
Even so, fifty-eight thousand attribute points in half an hour was still an enormous harvest.
He didn't have the luxury to obsess over genealogy.
The God's Knights were here.
The Gorosei would not be far behind.
Originally, he had intended to strengthen his Haki next.
But now—
He made a different decision.
Instead of upgrading his Haki, Marco shifted his focus.
He would enhance his Devil Fruit.
If his Phoenix ability evolved further, his survivability—and destructive power—would skyrocket.
Above the shattered Holy Land, blue flames flickered brighter.
Below, Shamrock slowly raised his saber again.
The true battle was only beginning.
Marco opened the system interface without hesitation.
Devil Fruit Upgrade:
Zoan Type – Phoenix Form (Awakening) → Phoenix Form (Redemption) — 50,000 attribute points.
Zoan Type – Phoenix Form (Impart)** — 50,000 attribute points
Zoan Type – Phoenix Form (Destruction)** — 50,000 attribute points
Marco's gaze locked onto one word.
Destruction.
He didn't even pause to consider the others.
Right now, what he lacked was overwhelming offensive power. And an ability called Destruction could only mean one thing.
He selected it.
Fifty thousand attribute points vanished instantly.
A violent surge of energy erupted inside his body.
The familiar blue Phoenix Flames that once danced around him began to darken—deepening, thickening—until they transformed into pitch-black infernos.
Black fire. Heavy. Oppressive.
Marco stared at the flames coating his body, a faint smile forming at the corner of his lips.
"Black Flames…"
He immediately checked his updated status.
Name: Marco
Age: 43
Attribute Points: 8,400
Devil Fruit: Zoan Type – Phoenix Form (Awakening)
Awakened Ability: Flames of Destruction, Flames of Undying
Haki:
Armament Haki (Top-tier)
Observation Haki (Top-tier)
Conqueror's Haki (Top-tier)
Body Techniques:
Soru (Top-tier)
Tekkai (Top-tier)
Rankyaku (High-tier)
Moonwalk (High-tier)
Finger Pistol (High-tier)
Kami-e (High-tier)
Six-Dimensional Attributes:
Strength: 32,054
Speed: 6,500
Defense: 13,800
Recovery: 60,000
Stamina: 25,100
Mental Power: 18,300
System Combat Assessment: Weak King Level
Marco quickly analyzed the changes.
His Strength had surged from 12,054 to 32,054—an increase of 20,000 points.
His Stamina rose by 5,000.
His Mental Power also increased by 5,000.
Thirty thousand points directly reflected in raw stats.
The remaining twenty thousand had clearly been converted into something more intangible—
The Black Flames.
He exhaled slowly.
Flames of Destruction.
The name alone carried weight.
Marco lowered his gaze toward Shamrock standing below.
A sharp smile appeared.
"Perfect… I'll use you to test it."
He flapped his wings.
Black flames exploded outward as he dove toward the ground like a falling meteor.
Below, Shamrock's pupils contracted slightly.
The pressure had changed.
It wasn't just stronger—
It felt heavier. Denser. More dangerous.
For a fleeting moment, trepidation stirred in his chest.
But it was quickly buried beneath confidence.
'Imu-sama granted us immortality.'
No mere pirate could threaten him.
He raised the saber in his hand.
The blade began to distort once more, flesh overtaking steel.
"Just a pirate…"
"Cerberus."
With a violent roar, Shamrock slashed downward.
The saber transformed again into the colossal three-headed hound, black flames curling around its massive bodies as it lunged toward Marco, jaws wide enough to swallow buildings whole.
Marco spread his arms.
Behind him, his wings of Destruction stretched dozens of meters across the sky, blotting out the light.
He laughed.
"Then let's see whose flames burn hotter."
"Destruction Black Flame—"
"Phoenix Wing Strike!"
The sky darkened.
The massive black phoenix descended like a falling sun.
Across from it, the ferocious three-headed hound lunged upward, jaws snapping, fangs tearing through the air.
They collided.
In an instant, inky Black Flames erupted like a tidal wave, swallowing the Three-Headed Dog whole.
"Awooooo—!"
The beast's howl tore through Mary Geoise. The Destruction Black Flame clung to its body like tar, burning hotter and hotter. No matter how violently it rolled across the ground, the flames refused to die.
They were not ordinary fire.
They devoured.
They destroyed. Similar to Amaterasu flames of Itachi.
The sheer temperature warped the air, and even the white marble streets began to melt.
From a short distance away, Shamrock watched with a grim expression, his brows tightly drawn.
Marco hovered above, wings unfurled, black fire cascading from his body.
"Destruction Black Flame—Dance of the Phoenix!"
With a roar, the flames behind him split apart, condensing into more than a dozen black phoenixes, each over a meter long. They screeched sharply and shot forward like living comets.
Shamrock tightened his grip on the sword.
The monstrous Cerberus shrank instantly, compressing back into the slender form of a saber. Yet faint black embers still flickered along the blade, remnants of Marco's flames.
His expression darkened.
He coated the blade in dense Armament Haki and slashed.
Sharp arcs of sword energy split the air, slicing through the incoming phoenixes one by one.
The black constructs shattered—
—but the fragments did not vanish.
They scattered across the battlefield and continued burning wildly, spreading destruction wherever they fell.
In that split second—
Marco had already closed the distance.
"Destruction Black Flame—Fire Fist!"
Before the final syllable left his mouth, his fist crashed against the saber.
Boom!
A terrifying Conqueror's Haki shockwave exploded outward.
Crimson lightning tore across the sky like furious serpents, blasting buildings apart and shattering windows throughout the Holy Land.
Shamrock' pupils constricted.
Marco's strength had increased dramatically.
Too dramatically.
With lightning speed, Marco twisted his wrist and seized the saber's blade with his other hand, Haki shielding his palm.
A fierce grin spread across his face.
"Got you."
"Since I'm already here… I might as well eliminate one Holy Knight before I leave."
Black fire spiraled violently in his free palm.
"Super Spiral Incineration Cannon!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A compressed shockwave of Destruction Black Flame detonated point-blank.
This was no mere Phoenix Flame.
It carried both crushing impact and annihilating heat.
Shamrock was blasted backward, spinning violently as though caught in a black inferno vortex.
He tore through one mansion—
then another—
then a third.
Each impact triggered explosions of black fire that devoured the structures instantly.
Finally—
BOOM!
The final explosion swallowed the entire block in a sea of black flames.
Marco remained suspended in the air, watching.
Yet a faint frown appeared.
Something felt… off.
He had expected a brutal struggle. After upgrading, his combat power had risen to Weak King Level—surpassing Shamrock.
But this exchange had been too easy.
Too clean.
"Is that really the strength of a Strong Yonko Level fighter?"
Before he could analyze further—
"Saint Shamrock!"
"Damn you, Marco!"
Several CP0 agents rushed in, forming a defensive line in front of him, their white masks gleaming beneath the firelight.
Marco's expression grew cold.
Just as he prepared to break through—
His Observation Haki flared violently.
From the distance—
Dozens of overwhelming presences were approaching at terrifying speed.
Ancient. Oppressive.
The real guardians of Mary Geoise… had arrived.
And this time—They were not coming alone.
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