When the auras of both men climbed to their peak, Diarmuid made the first move.
When he moved, he was like a fierce tiger. He pushed off the ground, which instantly cracked and burst backward, and his figure lunged toward Newgate with extreme speed.
A red glow flashed in Newgate's eyes. He stepped forward with the Murakumogiri in hand and brought the massive blade down.
"Break!" Diarmuid roared.
The Kokorowatari in his hand, carrying tremendous power, slashed against the blade of the Murakumogiri. Tremor and Gravity, two fundamentally different energies, violently collided.
First, they were compressed together, then they abruptly burst forth, spreading outwards in three distinct blasts, centered on Diarmuid and Newgate.
Kuzan and Smoker, who were currently fighting Charlotte Linlin, were both affected by the energy waves.
Looking at the ice layer not far away that had been instantly shattered by the aftermath, Kuzan softly murmured: "Arara, that's why I say I hate those kinds of brute-force, unreasonable abilities the most..."
Smoker, having turned into smoke rings, circled Kuzan twice, then landed on the ground, retorting: "Didn't you just say you hated fire the most?"
"Hmm? Did I say that?" Kuzan raised an eyebrow.
"You said it not long ago," Smoker chuckled.
"Well, I've changed my mind now," Kuzan said shamelessly.
Not only Kuzan and Smoker were affected, but Charlotte Linlin also restrained her aura and involuntarily looked toward Newgate and Diarmuid.
Just as her gaze turned that way, the struggle between Diarmuid and Newgate was decided!
Diarmuid gained the upper hand.
Newgate had, after all, taken a serious slash from Charlotte Linlin before fighting Diarmuid, and he had already been fighting with Kaido and Charlotte Linlin for three days.
Facing a full-power Diarmuid, he was ultimately outmatched.
"Hoooah!" Diarmuid roared. A dark-purple aura flashed across his Kokorowatari. The muscles on his arm flexed, and he gritted his teeth, forcing a burst of power that brutally cleaved the Murakumogiri aside!
Newgate struggled with the force. He failed to withstand Diarmuid's strike. His feet gave way, and his enormous body couldn't help but retreat three to five steps backward.
With every step he took, the ground shattered, dissipating a massive amount of force.
Diarmuid pressed his advantage, giving Newgate no time to breathe. Before Newgate could steady himself, Diarmuid's figure had already lunged in again.
"Gravity Blade: Ferocious Tiger!!!" Diarmuid roared.
The Kokorowatari in his hand unleashed a horizontal slash. The ferocious tiger roared. Gravity exploded from the blade. Where the slash passed, the ground was ripped up, and the very space subtly warped.
Seeing this, Newgate voluntarily retreated two more steps, pulling back some distance. The Murakumogiri rapidly spun three times above his head. With every rotation, the tremor force on the blade became more concentrated.
Just before the gravity slash reached him, Newgate roared: "Quake Zone Slash!"
As his voice fell, the Murakumogiri descended from above his head, carrying an extremely powerful tremor force, which immediately burst out!
The two equally mighty forces of Tremor and Gravity violently collided. Space instantly shattered, revealing a pitch-black void, followed by a powerful wind pressure that swept out.
Before the two forces could fully settle, a fierce explosion suddenly occurred. With a loud bang, the chaotic energy fluctuations first retracted, then erupted in all directions.
There was no smoke or black fog; this wasn't a violent explosion caused by gunpowder, but an explosion of raw energy.
Diarmuid bore the brunt of it. He was immediately thrown backward by the energy blast, soaring over ten meters through the air before landing on the ground.
Newgate was not much better off. His face was slightly flushed, and he was also tossed back a dozen meters.
When he landed, Diarmuid's eyes shone with excitement, and the corners of his mouth involuntarily curled up into a ferocious smile.
"Rend the flesh, sever the soul..." Diarmuid first murmured.
At the same time, he violently shook the Kokorowatari in his hand, then held it, tracing a shadow bloom, and placed the sword horizontally in front of him.
"To guide others and oneself, first guide the heart; this is the essence of Kokorowatari. Today, I shall guide you first, Newgate..." A fierce killing intent flashed in Diarmuid's eyes. As he spoke, his other palm pressed against the base of the Kokorowatari's blade.
"Is that the move?" A look of seriousness appeared in Charlotte Linlin's eyes as she watched the distance.
However, before she could keep watching, a cold flash passed, and an ice layer instantly surged up. A look of annoyance flashed across Charlotte Linlin's face. She raised a Haki-infused fist and violently slammed it onto the ground, shattering Kuzan's ice power, and cursed: "Bastard!!!"
Meanwhile, a pitch-black energy aura was already emanating from Diarmuid's hand.
"Abyssal Devourer..." Diarmuid murmured softly.
His palm lightly brushed along the blade of the Kokorowatari. Where his palm passed, the blade was rapidly stained with the black energy. Upon closer inspection, the black energy was constantly, ceaselessly devouring everything around it, even slightly tearing the space.
On the other side, a solemn look appeared in Newgate's eyes, and he whispered: "It's coming?"
Newgate wasn't going to be arrogant. Before Diarmuid could strike, he moved first.
He held his blade in one hand, while his other fist generated a tremor force. He raised his arm, pressing his elbow against his chin and raising his fist behind his head. Then, with a roar, he slammed a punch toward Diarmuid through the air.
It was an Air Quake!
A concentrated tremor force burst toward Diarmuid, tearing apart the space, atmosphere, and ground along its path. The scene looked like a shattered mirror.
The mighty tremor force reached Diarmuid's face in the blink of an eye.
And it was at this moment that Diarmuid's palm swept from the tip of the blade. The cursed sword Kokorowatari had become completely black.
Facing the absolute tremor force, Diarmuid's expression remained unchanged. The Kokorowatari in his hand descended with a perfectly natural slash.
The tremor force instantly collapsed the moment it touched the Kokorowatari. The vast amount of tremor energy was immediately absorbed by the black energy aura on the Kokorowatari.
Next, using the tip of the Kokorowatari as the vanguard, Diarmuid pushed off the ground, lunging toward Newgate. Newgate's tremor force offered no resistance where the blade's tip passed!
In the blink of an eye, Diarmuid had breached Newgate's defense. With a fierce look in his eyes, he raised his blade and slashed straight toward Newgate's chest.
Newgate's eyes showed gravity. The tremor force beneath his feet suddenly burst out. In this critical moment, he used the recoil to retreat three to five meters backward.
Diarmuid's first slash completely missed. The power it carried instantly tore space, leaving a black, rapidly mending spatial rift in the atmosphere.
Just then, Kaido's Bolo Breath suddenly erupted from the distance, accompanied by the power of lightning.
Clearly, this wasn't specifically aimed at Diarmuid or Newgate; the Bolo Breath had simply missed its target and happened to shoot toward Diarmuid.
Without any hesitation, Diarmuid swung his blade back, slicing directly into the Bolo Breath.
Kaido's pillar of fire was cleaved in half by Diarmuid's single slash, splitting into two residual waves that swept past the sides of Diarmuid's figure.
However, this did slightly impede Diarmuid's movement. Before Diarmuid could pull his blade back, Newgate's Murakumogiri, carrying an immense tremor force, descended from above his head.
Yet, Diarmuid's reaction speed was fast. Without dodging, he swung his arm, directly slashing Kokorowatari toward the Murakumogiri.
Bang!
A dull sound.
The Abyssal Devourer struck the tremor force on the Murakumogiri. In just a moment, the tremor force began to dissipate.
Just then, a transparent energy ring appeared on Newgate's other hand, and he punched downward toward Diarmuid.
It seemed he intended to use the Murakumogiri to lure out the deadly Kokorowatari and then counterattack Diarmuid.
A red glow flashed in Diarmuid's eyes. Still refusing to dodge, his other hand also emitted a dark-purple aura, which instantly formed a sphere wrapped around his fist. He met Newgate's punch, slamming his own fist against it.
Newgate seemed to want to enter a stalemate and wrestle for power, but Diarmuid gave him no such opportunity.
The moment Gravity and Tremor forces collided, Diarmuid roared: "Burst!"
The dark-purple gravity on his fist instantly exploded.
A powerful gravity shockwave, condensed in his fist and arm, burst forth instantly, carrying tremendous power. Caught off guard, Newgate's footing gave out, and he was sent flying backward.
As Newgate's tall figure flew through the air, a fierce look appeared in Diarmuid's eyes. He used Geppo to step into the sky, instantly appearing above Newgate. The Kokorowatari, imbued with the power of Abyssal Devourer, slashed down directly toward Newgate's completely exposed chest!
"Pops!!!" A flash of blue flame passed, blocking Newgate's front. It was Marco.
The next second, Marco was instantly cleaved in two by Diarmuid's slash, splitting into two halves and falling toward the ground.
Newgate seemed to gain a moment's respite because of this. Or rather, he didn't need Marco to take the blow at all.
Just as Diarmuid's Abyssal Devourer was about to land on Newgate's chest, a subtle, invisible, and seemingly insignificant tremor force precisely blocked the Abyssal Devourer.
A look of astonishment appeared in Diarmuid's eyes. This was the first time he had seen the Abyssal Devourer blocked.
And astonishment was also visible in Newgate's eyes.
Because he felt like it couldn't be blocked!?
But in the next second, the expressions of both Diarmuid and Newgate changed drastically. Where the subtle tremor force and the Abyssal Devourer met, a sphere of black and white mutually fusing energy abruptly condensed.
The sphere wasn't large; it looked just like a fist. But the power and aura condensed within this sphere made both Diarmuid and Newgate feel an immense threat.
At the same time, their eyes met, clearly seeing the surprise and confusion in the other's gaze.
"Not you?" Diarmuid and Newgate said simultaneously.
In that instant, both of them had assumed this thing was a killing blow saved by the other party. But now, they saw that neither of them was responsible?
Without thinking any further, Newgate and Diarmuid simultaneously coated their bodies in cloud-like Armament Haki.
The next moment, the black-and-white sphere instantly exploded. The incredibly powerful energy shockwave first engulfed Diarmuid and Newgate, then their figures were violently blasted away.
Subsequently, the powerful air blast instantly consumed the entire island.
Charlotte Linlin, Kaido, Kuzan, Smoker, Gion, and the others all simultaneously stopped their actions to resist the ferocious air blast.
The blast came quickly and left just as quickly. After three or five breaths, it completely dissipated.
But looking at Jam Island now, the iconic giant Jam Castle had completely collapsed. The topsoil of the ground seemed to have been entirely ripped away, exposing barren sand.
Looking at the area where Diarmuid and Newgate had been, it was even more exaggerated. A giant sand pit appeared there. That's right, the originally firm ground in their area had completely turned into something resembling a desert.
The firm ground had been utterly pulverized by the energy impact just now!
"Kurkk..." Diarmuid's head emerged from the sand pit. He spat out a mouthful of sand, mixed with some stagnant blood.
The Abyssal Devourer energy on his Kokorowatari was gone.
"What in the hell was that thing!?" Diarmuid spat out more sand and cursed.
Looking over a hundred meters away, Newgate's head also emerged from the sand pit. And look at that—half of his mustache was blown off...
The moment Newgate emerged, his face was flushed. Then, as if unable to suppress it, he spat out a large pool of blood!
Clearly, Diarmuid held the advantage in that exchange.