The two God Knights lunged at Brook, their killing intent sharp as blades. Brook drew the Seven-Star Demon Sword, its edge humming with an ominous aura, and commanded his ghost generals forward. Today, he would test himself against two admiral-level enemies at once.
He was no longer the same pirate he had been. After years of building power, and with the souls of an admiral and an admiral candidate bound to him, Brook's strength had risen to terrifying new heights. For the first time, he was confident he could meet two such enemies head-on.
The appearance of his ghost generals stunned everyone.
"Damn it! That's Admiral Hoss!"
"And Candidate Braver too?!"
"Is that Overlord Diger Sparrow?"
"And the false overlords David Kyons and Saracha?!"
Shock rippled through both navy and pirates. Brook had enslaved the souls of so many powerful men that even Rocks felt a chill. If he fell here, would Brook bind his soul too?
Hatred welled in the hearts of the navy. Enslaving the dead—especially Hoss and Braver, who had been pillars of justice—was an unforgivable desecration. They longed to cut Brook down, to free their comrades' souls. But between them and Brook stood enemies too strong, and to charge blindly was to risk their own souls being harvested next.
Brook ignored their rage. Surrounded by death, he grew only stronger. Souls poured into his gate from the battlefield, feeding his generals and reviving them again and again. In this place of carnage, his power was bottomless.
"Come then, Knights of God," Brook laughed. "Let me see your strength!"
Though he often admitted he was no Rocks, Brook had long worked to surpass him. Rocks had slain two God Knights with brute force. Now Brook would prove his worth in his own way—by defeating two together.
The Knights of God, eager to avenge the Celestial Dragons, sneered at the ghostly army. To them, these specters were nothing but parlor tricks. The navy had already analyzed Brook's ghost army and deemed them limited. But what the reports did not capture was the transformation after Brook's Fruit had awakened.
"Advance, my ghost generals!" Brook commanded.
"Underworld Hell—Haunting of Evil Spirits!"
Green flames burned in the sockets of his ghost generals. The aura of the underworld clung to their claws, striking at life force itself. Even armored in Armament Haki, the Knights felt their energy draining at a terrifying pace.
"Tch… our haki is being devoured!" Gabriel cursed as a claw raked against his chestplate. Without haki, such an attack would sap years of his life—or kill him outright.
"The intelligence was wrong," Raphael growled, cleaving Saracha in half with a shining slash. "Brook's powers have evolved."
But to his shock, the bisected ghost simply reformed, stepping once more from the spectral gate.
"What? Immortal?!"
They could not know that the gate was drinking in the souls of the fallen, restoring Brook's generals endlessly. For every soldier who died, Brook's army grew stronger.
Realizing they could not win a battle of attrition, the Knights resolved to end it swiftly.
"Yohoho… spacing out now is a mistake!" Brook sang mockingly.
"Underworld Slash—Soul-Destroying Desolation!"
The Demon Sword blazed with red lightning as Brook swung, his blade howling with both conqueror's haki and the breath of the underworld. It tore straight toward Raphael.
"Imprisonment—Stasis!" Raphael's eyes flashed with golden light, and Brook froze mid-stride. In a blink, the knight's sword came crashing down.
But Brook forced a surge of haki through his body, shattering the invisible bonds. The blade missed his throat by a hair.
Brook's eyes narrowed. "What ability is this?"
Raphael lifted his sword with solemn poise. "I am Raphael of the God Knights, wielder of the Paramecia Imprisonment-Imprisonment Fruit. Brook—you slaughtered the Celestial Dragons. Your crimes are unforgivable. Death is your only fate."
Brook blinked, then burst into laughter. "Yohoho! You shouted your move's name and revealed your fruit ability? Two rookie mistakes in one breath! Truly the model of an honest knight!"
He tilted his head, amused. "And what about your friend? Does he have a devil fruit too?"
-------------
Something happened that Brook never expected, and it convinced him completely—there really were such honest, top-level warriors in this world. How had they grown up? Did they have no sense of vigilance at all?
"He is Gabriel, Knight of God, wielder of the Paramecia-type Weather Fruit, and one of the strongest among the Knights of God. I advise you to surrender, or you will suffer our fiercest attack!!"
Raphael announced it plainly, without hesitation. They had no intention of engaging in a drawn-out war with Brook. Their goal was simple: eliminate this heinous criminal as quickly as possible.
Few in the world could withstand their combined assault. The two Knights of God who had fallen earlier were the weakest of their order, often dispatched to guard Celestial Dragon chiefs during excursions.
"Weather Fruit… Imprisonment Fruit… such terrifying abilities. No wonder the Celestial Dragons trust you two the most."
Brook's eyes gleamed with greed. He wanted them—he wanted them both. Especially the Weather Fruit. The very name sounded like it belonged to a top-tier Devil Fruit.
As if on cue, Fleet Admiral Kukulkan, locked in battle with Rocks, shifted into his full Quetzalcoatl form. His massive wings brought heavy rain that blanketed the valley. At once, Gabriel thrived—his body moved like a fish in water, commanding the downpour across the battlefield.
"So the Weather Fruit can only control existing weather, not create it outright?" Brook asked in disbelief. "That's it? I thought it could summon tornadoes, thunderstorms, hail… enough to bury both the Hell Pirates and the Rocks Pirates alive!"
"Hmph! What do you know? How could we desecrate God's Valley—the residence of the Celestial Dragons—with such reckless destruction?"
Gabriel's cold voice was laced with pride. As Knights of God, their duty wasn't only protection. They were forbidden to destroy Celestial Dragon property.
Brook's jaw almost dropped. Again, he had overheard their limitations, straight from their own mouths. Bound by their own rules, they couldn't unleash the full might of their fruit. To Brook, this wasn't foolish—it was opportunity. The Weather Fruit was being wasted in their hands.
"Marijoa's pampered watchdogs… you've grown too honest for your own good." Brook's grin widened. He already began maneuvering the battle toward the Celestial Dragons' palaces, eager to press their restraint against them.
But Gabriel struck first.
Massive drops of water, each the size of a house, tore through the air toward Brook. If even one hit, he risked drowning—and with it, the fatal weakness of a Devil Fruit user.
At the same time, Raphael unleashed another golden beam of binding light. Their synergy pressed down on Brook like a vice.
"Let's test this."
Brook summoned a Ghost General, sending it forward to intercept the beam. The specter was instantly caught—proof that Raphael's power targeted its first victim. Useful knowledge, but dangerous nonetheless.
Brook's mind raced. These fruits were unlike anything else—he had to probe deeper.
"Hey! Do your Devil Fruits have any weaknesses?"
The question was absurd. No one would reveal such a thing in battle. Yet Raphael's answer came without hesitation.
"Weakness? If you're not caught by my golden light, that counts as one. As for Gabriel—dispel the weather, and he loses his strength."
Brook nearly laughed aloud. "You've got to be kidding me… this knight is actually that honest?!"
From the distance, Kukulkan roared furiously, his voice echoing over the valley. "You fools! Stop handing out your information! Shut up and kill him!"
His rage was palpable. These Knights, coddled too long in Marijoa, were revealing everything like children tattling on themselves.
"You dare trick us, villain?! We'll silence you here and now!"
Their courtesy vanished. Enraged, Raphael and Gabriel struck in perfect unison. Every clash of blade and power forced Brook back, his body rattled by their seamless teamwork.
Both Knights combined mastery of physical combat and Devil Fruits at the highest level. The World Government's strength was terrifying indeed.
Yet Brook's strength was not to be underestimated. With a battlefield overflowing with death, he had endless fuel. His Ghost Generals threw themselves into suicidal charges, whittling down the knights' stamina, forcing even them to bleed and stumble.
Still, the pressure mounted. Brook deliberately feigned weakness, drawing them into the grand palaces of the Celestial Dragons. Inside, Gabriel's Weather Fruit was restrained—the knight hesitated, unwilling to shatter the ornate halls of his masters.
But even holding back, the Weather Fruit showed its ferocity. Raindrops as hard as steel hammered down on Brook, while miniature tornadoes cut off his escape. Paired with Raphael's bindings, the fight became suffocating.
Compared to Rocks and Kukulkan's earth-splitting duel, Brook's fight was ugly—vicious, grinding, frustrating. He longed to battle openly, but Raphael's power robbed him of freedom. Each golden bind forced him to burn through Haki to break free, leaving him vulnerable to near-fatal strikes.
"You bastard!" Brook cursed as he broke another bind. "Doesn't that golden light of yours cost anything? Why are you spamming it like it's free candy?!"
He had tested enough. Ghost Generals alone would not turn this fight.
"I wanted to measure your strength, but you keep spamming cheap tricks. Fine. Playtime's over."
Brook roared.
"Underworld Gathering!"
One by one, his Ghost Generals merged into his body—Admiral Hoss, Overlord Diger, Bloody Hand Braver, Sea Butcher Saracha, Octopus Siren David Qiongs… dozens of tyrants and killers fused into his soul.
His aura exploded outward. The ground cracked, the sky trembled. His body swelled with otherworldly might.
Brook now radiated an overwhelming presence, beyond even the admirals of the Navy—comparable to the strongest overlords of the seas.
For a moment, he was no longer a pirate, nor a overlord. He was death itself.
Across the battlefield, even Rocks and Kukulkan paused, their eyes narrowing. The power surging from Brook was monstrous—nearly equal to Rocks in his prime.
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