As one of Doflamingo's earliest followers, Pica's loyalty was absolute. When Doflamingo fell as a child and scraped his knee, Pica wanted to burn down the entire street the next day.
Now, with Doflamingo buried within the gravity sphere, Pica completely lost his mind.
With his Stone-Stone Fruit, he merged with the surrounding rock, growing into a massive 800-meter-tall stone giant. His colossal fist came crashing down toward Tashigi.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Tashigi extended her arms—an invisible force blasted the enormous fist away. She leaped into the air, her sword flashing, and sliced off the stone giant's arm in a single stroke.
But something was off.
Pica's stone body wasn't as durable as Doflamingo's threads or Kuina's gravity sphere. It shattered easily.
Yet, the severed arm didn't matter—the surrounding rocks instantly reformed it.
Tashigi narrowed her eyes.
"So damage to the giant doesn't affect him at all?"
Her mind raced.
"Then the only way to defeat Pica is to find his real body hidden inside!"
But where was he?
With no clear answer, she had no choice but to keep cutting.
SLASH!
One by one, she hacked off the giant's limbs, torso, and head.
Each time, Pica simply reformed.
Tashigi stood there, panting.
"Damn it! I've cut everywhere, but I still can't find him!"
She raised a trembling hand, deflecting another massive stone fist.
Her strength was fading. Every attack took a toll.
She was running out of time.
"Could it be… he isn't fixed in one spot inside the stone giant but can move around freely!?"
Tashigi's heart sank.
That had to be it.
How was she supposed to find him now?
If only she had trained her Observation Haki properly. She almost wanted to cry—her attacks couldn't keep up with his regeneration, and she was running out of stamina.
Half her time had been spent studying famous swords. If she had devoted even a fraction of that to Haki, she might have stood a chance.
But it was too late for regrets.
With no other option, Tashigi stopped attacking. She focused all her energy on defense, using her Devil Fruit to repel attacks, hoping someone would finish their fight and come to help.
—
"I did it…"
Kuina let out a weak breath.
Doflamingo was completely trapped inside Chibaku Tensei.
Her arms lay limp on the ground—she had no strength left. Even moving a single finger felt impossible.
The gravitational pull disappeared, and everything that had been drawn toward the sphere came crashing down.
But the black sphere remained, floating silently in mid-air.
A breathtaking, overwhelming sight.
Suddenly, countless white threads spread across the surface of the sphere!
Doflamingo's voice echoed once more—
"Break White!"
His Awakening had activated upon contact with the material surrounding the black core.
Everything attached to the sphere transformed into white threads, surging like massive waves toward the core.
A violent rupture followed.
The core shattered, and in an instant, Chibaku Tensei collapsed.
—
In theory, a Paramecia Awakening can counter Chibaku Tensei.
The technique has only one true weakness—when the core is first formed, it is unprotected and can be destroyed with enough force.
Once fully formed, however, it becomes nearly indestructible, with its compressed layers of rock acting as an impenetrable armor.
But Paramecia Awakening introduces another weakness.
Since it can assimilate all surrounding material, the very "armor" meant to protect Chibaku Tensei had instead become Doflamingo's weapon.
A massive white cocoon wrapped around Doflamingo as he fell to the ground.
Though he had barely survived, his condition was seriously injured.
Kuina's attack had left every bone in his body shattered, and one of his legs was completely destroyed, crushed into pulp and lost forever.
At the last moment, he had desperately woven a silken cocoon to shield himself but even that wasn't enough to escape unscathed.
Even if he survived, he would never be the same again.
The cocoon opens, revealing Doflamingo's bloodied, broken body.
He could barely move and only three fingers still responded.
Yet, even now, he laughed a hoarse, bitter sound.
"Fuh... fu... fufu! In the end, I'm still the one who wins!"
With his last ounce of strength, he curled his fingers and activated his ability.
"Ever White!"
The land around him transformed into surging white waves of silk.
He knew the truth—his body was ruined. Even if he lived, he would be a cripple, and his dream of revenge against the Celestial Dragons would drift further out of reach.
So he made a final decision.
The endless white threads split into two deadly torrents
One surged toward Kuina, intent on strangling her.
The other shot toward Saint Monroe in the distance, aiming to take a Celestial Dragon down with him.
"I'll f**king kill you, Doffy! You dare try to kill me?!"
Saint Monroe's eyes widened in panic.
Just as the white waves surged toward him, his Devil Fruit ability activated, transforming his body into white stone.
Like most Celestial Dragons, Monroe had never trained or honed his strength, his fruit was purely for self-preservation.
After all, why would he need to train when guards protected him wherever he went?
In that sense, he was already better than 99% of Celestial Dragons, simply because he had any ability at all.
—
Meanwhile, Kuina lay on the ground, completely drained. The white silk waves surged toward her, ready to swallow her whole.
Yet, even as she faced certain death, her mind was analyzing the battle.
"Chibaku Tensei is useless against awakened Paramecia users unless it can kill them instantly."
Was Kuina really going to die?
Of course not!
Just as Lynch was about to move to save her—
A window opened out of thin air.
Tom the Great has arrived!
Together with Jerry and Monet, they had successfully captured Caesar Clown.
Now, Tom had rushed over using the Window-Window Fruit.
"Meow meow meow! MEOW MEOW!!"
As soon as he landed, a tidal wave of white silk threads came crashing toward him.
Tom let out a mournful wail—why was he always the one getting caught in disasters?!
Without hesitation, he pick up Kuina and bolted!
At blazing speed, Tom's short legs left behind a blur, moving so fast that even the white silk waves couldn't keep up.
Meanwhile, Emperor Jerry appeared silently next to the exhausted and bloodied Doflamingo.
With a casual slap, he knocked him unconscious.
"The only ones left now... are you."
Lynch reversed his blade, bringing his two long swords together.
"Secret Sword Style—Demon's Descent!"
A chilling ghostly aura erupted, darkening the entire space in an instant.
"Jiejiejiejiejiejiejie~"
The eerie laughter of the Demon Blade echoed in the ears of Saint Isha and Saint Boswald.
Before them, a terrifying figure emerged—a two-horned demon with a twisted, fanged grin, its bloody jaws wide open, ready to devour them whole.
.
.
TO BE CONTINUED
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