Sengoku was also surprised. He had already seen Diarmuid's precise gravity fields, but this was different. He had assumed that when he entered the field to punch Shiki, he would also be affected by the gravity. But he found that while Shiki was being controlled by the gravity, he felt no pressure at all. The gravity had simply gone around him.
'That kid's mastery of his power is getting more and more refined…' Sengoku thought to himself. In terms of progress, Diarmuid's growth was faster than even Kuzan, Sakazuki, and Borsalino.
Although he was thinking this, his hand didn't hesitate. His punch slammed into Shiki. An immense force and shockwave erupted. Shiki, unable to dodge, managed to shield himself with Haki at the last second. But the power of Sengoku's palm was immense.
After taking the hit, Shiki couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood. The powerful shockwave sent him straight through Diarmuid's gravity field, and he shot toward the ground like a cannonball.
There was a massive boom! as Shiki was slammed into the solid stone plaza of Marineford, creating a huge crater. The residual shockwave from Sengoku's attack spread across the ground.
"Hell's Journey: Rock Burial!" Diarmuid's eyes flashed as he spoke. He gave Shiki no chance to escape. The moment he fell, Diarmuid's power activated.
The cracking ground was instantly covered by a gravity field and compressed inward. In moments, the cracks vanished, and the ground became incredibly solid and smooth. Shiki, likely disoriented from Sengoku's attack, hadn't managed to escape in time and was now buried beneath the ground by Diarmuid.
With a roar, a giant hole appeared where Shiki had landed, as if it were a direct path to hell. Sengoku quickly landed at the edge of the pit. His Observation Haki covered the inside of the hole, and his liquid-like Armament Haki was ready to erupt at any moment.
Diarmuid could feel that Shiki was still pushing back against the gravity from within the hole, trying to break free.
"He's still alive. He's putting up a big fight. He hasn't lost his will to resist, so his injuries probably aren't as bad as we thought," Diarmuid said to the Admiral.
"He's truly a pain in the neck," Sengoku said, a sharp gleam in his eyes.
To be honest, he was satisfied with how the fight was going. Diarmuid's power had greatly helped in nullifying Shiki's agility. Sengoku felt like Shiki could only use about 70 to 80 percent of his full power, if that. He was completely restrained.
This fight was far easier than any of their previous clashes. He could see that Shiki was the only one taking damage, while Sengoku was completely uninjured. How could this have happened before?
At the same time, Sengoku felt confused, as if Shiki's Haki had gotten weaker. He wondered if it was just his imagination.
Knowing Shiki was still fighting, Sengoku wouldn't let his guard down. He put his hands together in front of his chest. With his golden glow, he truly looked like a chanting Buddha.
"Buddha's Golden Body!" Sengoku roared.
Sengoku's already enormous Admiral-level body, once he activated his power, would grow into a golden Buddha even bigger than people like Bartholomew Kuma. But it seemed he hadn't reached his limit yet.
With a low roar, his seven-to-eight-meter-tall golden body grew several more times, reaching the size of a true giant. He stood at the edge of the pit, looking majestic and awe-inspiring.
Not to be outdone, Diarmuid began to shrink his massive Observation Haki range, which was now wide enough to cover all of Marineford. He slowly focused it to a few meters around him, and then condensed the rest of his Observation Haki into a single line that shot into the infinite sky.
This was the first time Diarmuid had ever used his Observation Haki like this, and the strain was immense. His body trembled slightly, and his eyes began to roll back.
Sengoku, who was in the distance, looked at him in surprise, unsure of what he was doing.
Meanwhile, Gion instinctively stood next to Diarmuid, her hand on the hilt of her sword, Konpira, ready to protect him. She didn't know what Diarmuid was doing, but she knew that no one should interrupt him right now.
"RAAAGH!" Diarmuid suddenly bellowed. His strength seemed to drain completely from his body. Because of this, his power faltered for a moment, and Shiki seized the opportunity.
With a loud crack, the compressed earth shattered, and Shiki crawled out of the pit. His eyes were filled with rage, and he looked incredibly battered, with blood seeping from his nose and mouth.
"SENGOKU!" Shiki roared. As he yelled, he flew out of the pit, but Sengoku seemed to have been waiting for him.
The moment Shiki took off, Sengoku slammed his hand down, and a brutal shockwave instantly filled the entire pit, leaving no room for escape. Shiki, who had just lifted off, was slammed back down by Sengoku's palm.
At the same time, Gion was watching Diarmuid nervously. What is happening? she wondered.
"Tengai Shinsei!" Diarmuid suddenly said. At the same time, several energy spheres within a few meters of him shot into the sky and disappeared.
Gion was confused. What was that? She looked around, but nothing had changed. Then she looked back at Sengoku and Shiki. Nothing had changed there either. Had the gravity disappeared?
Just then, Diarmuid slowly stood up, breathing heavily. "That was my first time using that. The toll on my Observation Haki is too much. I must have wasted too much energy because I'm not skilled enough. I need to practice this more often…"
Both Observation and Armament Haki drained stamina. Although he hadn't used much physical strength against Shiki, pushing his Observation Haki to its limit and connecting his power to space had completely drained him. He was out of breath. It made him wonder how many times the real Fujitora had practiced to be able to casually summon a meteorite with just a single slash of his sword.
As Diarmuid thought about this, Gion asked, "What in the world happened? Why are you suddenly so weak? Are you even okay?"
Diarmuid didn't answer. Instead, he simply pointed at the sky.
Gion looked up.
A thick layer of clouds still covered Marineford, and a light drizzle was falling, seeming to be the same as before.
Just as she was about to ask another question, she noticed that a section of the clouds above them had become darker. In the next moment, Gion watched as the moisture-laden clouds began to rapidly dissipate, as if they were being vaporized by something.
Before she could react, the sky was filled with a bright light. A massive, burning meteorite, shrouded in flames, scorched the clouds it passed through, and its intense heat seemed to evaporate the rain around it.
A meteorite… falling from the sky?
"What… is that?" Gion's hand almost slipped from her sword, Konpira. She had never seen a natural disaster of this magnitude!
Not only was Gion in shock, but all the Marines in Marineford were stunned. What was happening? They had just heard Vice Admiral Diarmuid yell "Tengai Shinsei," and a short time later, a meteorite was falling from the sky? Was he really that strong? Was the Vice Admiral trying to destroy all of Marineford?
Sengoku was also stunned, looking up at the 200-to-300-meter-wide meteorite. He was in awe. That kid Diarmuid actually used his power to pull a meteorite from the sky? This was a world-destroying level of power!
It was a good thing he had pulled down a smaller meteorite. If he had pulled a bigger one, he could have completely obliterated Marineford!
Even so, this was still a destructive force that could cause mass casualties. Sengoku cursed under his breath. He stomped his foot and got out of the way. It was clear the meteorite was heading for the pit, and he didn't want to be caught in it!
Meanwhile, Shiki was still at the bottom of the pit. Trapped, he was like a frog in a well, able to see only the sky above. He had no idea what was going on outside the pit.
He was confused as to why Sengoku had fled after his attack. But before he could think about it any further, the inside of the pit lit up. He looked up and was dumbfounded. A burning meteorite? That brief moment of shock made Shiki miss his last chance to escape.
But Shiki was a true king. He wouldn't give up. He stomped his foot, and the ground surged. He activated the full power of his Float-Float Fruit.
From Diarmuid's perspective, it looked as though several giant hands had suddenly grown out of the ground, acting as pillars to try and hold up the meteorite. But it was no use. The immense kinetic energy of the meteorite instantly shattered the pillars the moment they made contact.
In the next moment, the gigantic meteorite completely covered the pit and then plunged into the ground. Diarmuid also extended his hand, covering the area with his gravity to confine the damage to the smallest possible radius—one thousand meters.
Within that thousand-meter radius, everything seemed to have been completely destroyed. A cloud of dust rose, blocking everyone's vision. A massive crater now stood in the middle of the Marineford plaza. Everyone was speechless, as if they had forgotten how to talk.
"This time, he should be dead, right?" Diarmuid murmured softly. Under normal circumstances, this attack would never have hit Shiki. It was only with Sengoku's help in trapping him in the pit that it could hit him by surprise. And if he had taken a direct hit from an attack like this…
Just as Diarmuid was thinking this, a sharp slash flew out of the crater and shot into the sky. Then, Shiki's battered figure flew out of the pit. His long golden hair was now scorched. He no longer had the fierce, arrogant look he had when he first arrived. The Golden Lion now looked like a defeated dog.
The meteorite hadn't caused him much physical damage, but the intense heat and flames had left him with many burns.
Diarmuid looked at the beaten Shiki and sighed in disappointment.
'Sure enough, this kind of attack, while it looks spectacular, doesn't do much against a top-tier fighter. It's mostly just for show…' Diarmuid thought. It was his first time using this power, and he had hoped that its sheer suddenness would catch Shiki off guard. But it was no use.
It was just like how Fujitora's meteorite attack in Dressrosa didn't even harm Trafalgar Law or Doflamingo.
'Unless… it's a meteor shower…' Diarmuid's eyes flashed with a thought. But he couldn't use a technique of that magnitude yet, and even if he could, he wouldn't do it in Marineford. Even if it killed Shiki, Sengoku would probably tear him apart afterward.
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