In that moment, Aatrox's body seemed to change somehow.
His wings behind him spread open in an instant, those blood-red wings showing endless evil and cruelty.
"Your funeral song should sing my name."
Boom!
Dark, corrupting power poured out from Aatrox's body. His frame seemed to swell a bit in the blink of an eye, the red and black colors growing even brighter. Under everyone's shocked stares, he flew into the sky.
This boiling sea, this tilting sky, both went quiet in that instant, as if the whole world had its eyes on Aatrox, while everything around him seemed so tiny and worthless.
As his body appeared again, the entire sea looked like it was on fire. A wave of darkness spread across the ocean, and those touched by it turned to dry bones almost right away. Their flesh, their souls, all stripped away.
Stripped by Aatrox, forced into his body, leaving just a few people still fighting back hard.
Charlotte Linlin gritted her teeth. Her hands gripped her soul weapon Napoleon, with Prometheus's flames and Zeus's lightning gathering on it. Combined with her strong Haki, it formed a huge force in a flash.
"Light Song Sword!"
She didn't want to die here just like that, because she still had her goals, her dreams. She wanted to make the Holy Mother's "All Nations" idea come true!
But in the face of such a big power gap, even the strongest beliefs were too late.
Aatrox came down to the sea surface, carrying even greater power. In one moment, he wiped out the whole area. Their fleet flipped over instantly, the massive force destroying countless pirates. Even Charlotte Linlin, standing on Zeus high in the sky, got hit by Aatrox's power.
The huge shock made even her, known as the Steel Balloon, struggle to hold up. She spit out a big mouthful of blood, then crashed into the sea with a boom.
In the blink of an eye, the whole sea area was empty.
If anything was left, it was just a bunch of wreckage.
"This war is my masterpiece."
Aatrox stood above the churning ocean, coldly looking at the hell-like world around him. With just one strike, he had nearly wiped out more than half of the New World's big pirates.
Eighty percent of Rocks's remnants were among them, but after this, they would truly be history.
He walked toward the distance, seeking another spot full of flesh and blood. He wanted to bring destruction equally to everyone, until the end of the world.
He wouldn't spare a glance at the dead. The survivors were his targets.
.........
So when Roger reached the Aite Wall sea area, that's the scene he saw.
In a sea of blood, limbs and wreckage were everywhere. Bits of meat and broken ships filled the world, the thick bloody smell making people sick.
Roger's eyes widened a bit. In the end, he was too late.
The killing was over, and clearly, those pirates had no power to fight back.
In the past, they were the top bosses on the seas, kings of the ocean, but not anymore.
Now it was the age of demons...
Roger took a deep breath. He glanced at Nameless, who was just about to say something, but Roger jumped straight into the sea. He wanted to check if anyone survived this war.
Jump into the sea?
Has Roger lost his mind?!
He's not like before, just a pirate relying on Haki. He ate a Devil Fruit now!
But Roger found that maybe because the demon cells changed his body, and with the magical effect of the Shikon Jewel fragment, the two powers together gave him strong resistance to seawater.
Sure, he couldn't use all his strength in the ocean, but he wouldn't lose all his power like other Devil Fruit users.
That's why he jumped right in, letting the red blood stain his body, putting up with the filth and ugliness, desperately searching for anyone who might still be alive.
.........
What he didn't know was that on the other side of the Aite Wall sea area, Makima had already arrived.
Makima's instant move ability even beat Nameless's, and her stamina and energy were way beyond his, so of course she got there faster.
Around her, a bunch of fruits floated in the air, held there by her mind power.
She came for the Devil Fruits of the pirates who died in this war.
And quite a few of them could make good puppets. How could she pass that up?
She stood steadily on a small island. She didn't need to do anything, because the sea creatures under her control would bring those bodies over.
Aatrox's final strike was powerful, sure, but it couldn't kill everyone in one go. It just sent them sinking into the deep sea, and for Devil Fruit users, that meant certain death.
The one Genichi wanted most was Charlotte Linlin's Soul Soul Fruit. Its power was to give and take souls, letting souls be given to things other than humans or corpses, making them like people as "Homies."
And anyone who feared her could have their souls taken by force to heal and strengthen her. This power was actually very strong, and Genichi thought it was the best fit for him.
With the Soul Soul Fruit, he wouldn't have to worry about not having enough followers, and all kinds of characters could exist.
Even if Charlotte Linlin didn't attack Aatrox first, he would have sent Aatrox after her sooner or later.
Now, Charlotte Linlin's body was carried to the surface by a tiger shark.
Makima used her mind power to bring her to the edge of the island.
Looking at the unconscious Charlotte Linlin, Makima smiled.
The future Four Emperor seemed so weak in front of her now.
And in this world, what would the new pattern of the future New World be?
Charlotte Linlin wasn't dead, but sadly, she had to die.
Right now, she had no way to fight back against Makima. Even the Steel Balloon couldn't take Makima's attacks when she was out cold and already hurt.
Linlin now wasn't like her future self, out of shape and fat like a big mom. Wet and lying on the ground, she still looked appealing.
But Genichi wasn't the lovesick type or someone who couldn't walk past a woman, so he killed her. Makima's mind power destroyed Linlin's mind, and right away, the Soul Soul Fruit floated out from her body.
She was ready for it and controlled the demon power, letting it all flow into the Devil Fruit in her hand.
In that moment...
The Soul Soul Fruit appeared in her hand!
----
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