As the energy tremor's aftershock dissipated, Diarmuid felt a sudden sense of danger. It wasn't Observation Haki; it was pure instinct. Without a second thought, Diarmuid trusted his gut.
He stomped his foot, lifted his hand from the ground, and rapidly retreated from the area. Just as he moved, the space where he had been standing imploded. The powerful tremor crushed everything nearby into dust.
After landing, Diarmuid's heart settled, and he felt a wave of emotion. In twenty years, Shanks would have the strongest Conqueror's Haki, Kaido the strongest life force, and Charlotte Linlin the strongest defense. But right now, this guy, Whitebeard, had the absolute strongest offensive power! The Tremor-Tremor Fruit was ridiculously powerful.
While guys like Kaido and others needed to use Armament Haki or Conqueror's Haki to break through an enemy's defenses and damage their internal organs, Newgate didn't need any of that. He could just kill you with a tremor, turning your insides into mush with a single punch.
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Diarmuid didn't stop moving. He raised his sword, Kokorowatari, pointed it at Newgate, and shouted, "Doom's Embrace!"
Newgate's eyebrow arched. Before he could figure out what Diarmuid's move was, he felt an irresistible gravitational pull erupt from the tip of the sword. His massive body was involuntarily pulled toward Diarmuid.
In that instant, Newgate understood the meaning behind the move. Diarmuid didn't need to slash his opponent; he just needed to make his opponent slam into his blade. It was a very clever and unusual tactic.
But Newgate's reaction was swift. As soon as he was pulled into the air, he grabbed his Murakumogiri and grinned. Instead of resisting the pull, he simply let himself be dragged toward Diarmuid.
Diarmuid saw Newgate grab his Murakumogiri and a look of disappointment flashed across his face. Murakumogiri was much longer than his Kokorowatari. If Newgate had made even a small mistake and not grabbed his blade, Diarmuid might have had a chance to land a strike. But now, with Newgate holding his bisento, he would probably be bisected before he could even stab him.
Without hesitation, Diarmuid changed his plan. He let go of the hilt, and Kokorowatari shot forward like an arrow, heading straight for Newgate's chest.
"Gurararara, you're underestimating me, brat!" Newgate laughed loudly, punching the air. The tremor from his fist sent Kokorowatari, which was flying toward his chest, flying away. At the same time, Newgate landed on the ground and brought his blade down on Diarmuid's head.
"Shinra Tensei..." Diarmuid bellowed. A powerful repelling force erupted, causing Newgate's Murakumogiri to momentarily halt. But it was only for an instant. An invisible, transparent aura appeared on the blade, canceling out the repulsive force, and continued its downward path.
Diarmuid never intended to use this move to stop Newgate. He was just positioning himself. As the powerful repulsive force erupted, he was sent flying backward as if he had been hit.
The destructive tremor on the tip of Murakumogiri grazed his hair, sending a cold sweat down his back. When the blade hit the ground, the entire St. Poplar trembled again, as if a relentless earthquake had struck.
After dodging the attack, Diarmuid looked at Newgate. Newgate naturally returned Murakumogiri to his side and looked at Diarmuid. "Is that all you've got, brat?"
"When you're outmatched, you're outmatched," Diarmuid replied with a laugh. At that moment, Kokorowatari, guided by Diarmuid's gravity, flew back into his hand.
Newgate laughed as well. "That's not what the guy who just said the sea favors the brave should be saying!"
"I don't think so. Am I not brave enough?" Diarmuid asked with a smile.
Newgate was taken aback, then a look of understanding flashed across his face. He nodded. "I was overthinking it. You're brave enough, brat."
After a slight pause, Newgate continued, "Since you understand that you're no match for me, this fight should end, shouldn't it? Don't worry, I like you. I won't do anything to you. Once I've negotiated with Sengoku, I'll let you go."
"Sigh, that's a difficult request, Newgate. When have you ever seen a Marine Admiral Candidate surrender to a pirate?" Diarmuid said with a sigh.
"So you're saying that even if you know you can't beat me, you'll keep fighting until you're bleeding, paralyzed, or even dead... is that it?" Newgate asked softly.
A fierce smile spread across Diarmuid's face. "Why can't I keep fighting until I have a breakthrough on the battlefield and take your title as the World's Strongest Man?"
"Gurarararara!" Newgate laughed loudly.
Without any more chatter, he grabbed Murakumogiri. With a tremor on the blade, he stomped his foot and lunged toward Diarmuid, bringing his blade down in a slash.
Diarmuid's eyes flashed. He made a graceful flourish with his blade and retreated. The next second, a powerful, destructive aura came from the sky as a giant meteor descended.
"Tengai Shinsei!" Diarmuid yelled.
A look of disdain flashed across Newgate's eyes. "A pointless trick. Are you a magician?"
As he spoke, Newgate's blade shifted upward. A crack echoed, and though he hadn't hit anything, it sounded as if he had broken something. Sure enough, the once-imposing meteor shattered in mid-air, creating a magnificent shower of sparks.
"Gravity Blade: Tiger's Bite!" Diarmuid swung his blade horizontally. It was as if the meteor was just a distraction to get Newgate's attention. A powerful gravitational force, along with the razor-sharp slash and wind pressure from Kokorowatari, rushed toward Newgate.
Newgate had no intention of dodging. He shifted his great blade, Murakumogiri, from his left hand to his right. He twirled it twice, just as the gravitational blade reached him. He then brought it down in a powerful slash.
His strike didn't completely annihilate Diarmuid's, but the immense tremor cut the continuous gravitational blade in two. The area around Newgate remained unaffected, but the ground on either side of him was torn up, creating waves of earth that rushed into the distance.
Just then, another meteor descended from the sky. It was Diarmuid's Tengai Shinsei again. Newgate frowned, a look of irritation on his face. "Brat, are you trying to insult me? Show me your real power!"
This time, Newgate didn't even look up. He just punched the air, and the meteor in the sky exploded. But Diarmuid didn't reply. The immense gravity from his body surged into the sky again. "Tengai Shinsei!"
This time, he pulled down two meteors, both heading for Whitebeard. Newgate's anger intensified. With a roar, he slammed Murakumogiri into the ground, lowered his waist, and spread his legs into a wide horse stance. At the same time, he extended his arms forward, his hands in a claw-like shape, and grabbed at the empty space in front of him.
The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit erupted.
In that moment, it was as if the world had turned upside down. The shattered St. Poplar tilted almost ninety degrees. The sea was fractured into pieces, all at different levels. In the sky, the two meteors that were about to fall slammed into each other, exploding into a shower of fragments.
At the same time, Diarmuid lost his footing. The savage tremor pressure came at him from all directions. There was nowhere to hide from this attack.
Diarmuid desperately gripped Kokorowatari. A gravitational pressure surged from his body, resisting the tremors closing in on him from all sides.
Just then, Newgate seemed to have torn something from the air. He swung his arms, and with a cracking sound, the space in front of him shattered for over a hundred meters. The cracks spread, heading directly for Diarmuid.
Diarmuid, who was being crushed by the invisible tremor, had no way to dodge. He grabbed Kokorowatari with one hand and ran the other along the blade. "Secret Technique: Abyssal Devourer!"
The energy that gathered on the blade was no longer a light purple gravitational energy. Instead, it was so dark it was almost black. When Diarmuid's hand ran over the tip of Kokorowatari, the blade had become a deep, inky black.
It wasn't Haki; it was gravity at its absolute limit!
At the same time, the space around the blade began to crumble, as if it was being constantly devoured and crushed by the invisible gravity.
"HAAAHHH!" Diarmuid roared, swinging his blade. There was no flying slash. Instead, everything in the blade's path turned to dust!
Even Newgate's powerful tremor, when it collided with the pitch-black blade, was instantly annihilated, leaving not a single aftershock.
This sight caused a look of shock to flash across Newgate's eyes. For the first time since the start of the battle, his expression was solemn and serious. Even from a distance, Newgate could feel the deadly power in Diarmuid's attack. Even he had to take it seriously, or he would be severely wounded!
But soon, a smile returned to Newgate's eyes. He could tell that something was wrong with Diarmuid's condition.
To be honest, up until this point, while their fight was exciting and filled with back-and-forth attacks, Diarmuid seemed to be doing everything he could, while Newgate hadn't really been fighting seriously. So neither of them was truly injured. Their bodies should have been in good shape.
But now, after unleashing that attack, Diarmuid's hair was soaked, sweat was pouring down his forehead, and he was breathing heavily. His aura was extremely unstable. This was a clear sign of overexertion!
It seemed that while his last attack had the power to annihilate everything, it was a trump card he couldn't maintain for long!
That was the truth. Diarmuid had created that move specifically for Charlotte Linlin, the "Iron Balloon." He believed that this one slash would be able to break through all of Charlotte Linlin's defenses, and if he timed it right, he could deal a devastating blow to the old hag. But he never expected his first use of the move would be on Newgate's attack.
The slash was the result of a concentrated gravitational force. The reason everything in its path turned to dust was because a true gravitational collapse had been created on the blade.
"Are you spent?" Newgate asked, looking at Diarmuid.
Diarmuid didn't answer. At that moment, his Den Den Mushi began to ring. It didn't need to be answered. After ringing three times, it stopped. At the same time, a grin spread across Diarmuid's weary face. "My rear guard mission... is complete!"
With that, Diarmuid raised his arm, pointed it at Newgate, and shouted, "Planetary Devastation!"
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