Roger?!
At the key moment, it was Roger who arrived!
Sengoku noticed that Roger's sword had a piece of Shikon Jewel embedded in it. This fragment boosted Roger's already peak-level power even more, completely splitting apart the strike Aatrox had unleashed.
Of course, it was also thanks to him and Garp blocking most of that strike's power.
At this moment, he stood in front of Aatrox.
"You, your name."
Seeing Roger appear, Aatrox finally showed some interest. He asked in a voice that allowed no refusal.
"Gol D. Roger"
Roger gripped the handle of his sword tightly. His Haki turned the blade pitch black. He shouted his name loudly.
"Not a bad presence..." Aatrox seemed to praise Roger, but then his tone suddenly shifted. He said arrogantly,
"It looks like you still hold onto hope! Then, let me show you what true darkness is!"
Suddenly, countless thread-like tentacles appeared on his body. In an instant, they reached the dozens of demon followers.
In Roger's shocked gaze, he saw the threads instantly devour their flesh and blood, then transfer it to Aatrox's body!
Roger knew these were kin to Number One. Their power was very strong too. If dozens of them fought back together, even Aatrox might not kill them easily.
But at this moment, they showed no will to resist. They just let Aatrox devour their flesh and blood. That flesh and blood merged with Barrett's original body, causing a twisted change right away.
"Stop... stop it!"
Roger growled. He slashed through the air with his sword. Conqueror's Haki and Armament Haki wrapped around the blade, turning it into a fierce cut aimed at Aatrox.
He didn't know what Aatrox was doing, but he knew he absolutely could not let Aatrox keep transforming like this. Otherwise, something terrible would happen!
His full-powered strike burst out. Boosted again by the Shikon Jewel embedded in Ace, this slash seemed able to cut the entire island in half.
But such an attack hitting Aatrox only tore a gap in his outer flesh. In the blink of an eye, it was patched up by the flesh and blood from the following demon followers.
"What... is this?"
At the same time, Rayleigh and the others had arrived. They looked at Aatrox's change and felt a chill in their hearts.
A terrifying scene unfolded among these mountains. Massive amounts of flesh and blood tangled onto Aatrox through the threads, making his body huge, tougher, and more horrifying!
He grew incredibly tall. Two blood-red wings spread from his back, perfectly matching the size of the great sword he held.
And at this moment, an even more vicious and wild power burst from Aatrox's body.
He had absorbed all the demon followers, finally reaching perfect power and a form close to the true Darkin Blade Aatrox.
His body was as huge as a mountain range, radiating madness and chaos, evil and resentment!
Rumble...
The sky seemed ready to crush the ground. A heavy pressure descended on the world.
The mountains trembled because of Aatrox's presence. Demonic power strong enough to destroy the world poured wildly from him, making the world uneasy.
"This twisted shell, this cruel corruption, flesh and blood... Ah! I hate flesh and blood!"
But the larger and stronger Aatrox seemed to hate this power. His words were full of barely contained anger.
He roared wildly. The sound waves turned into countless crashing waves, sweeping everything around into a realm of destruction!
"Look at this clumsy body of mine!"
He roared, "Look at how I've become such a primitive beast. This body of flesh can only be held together by this filthy blood and chunks of meat!"
Clumsy?
But to the witnesses of Aatrox's roar, they didn't think his body was clumsy at all.
The power he released was almost at a despairing level. That power far exceeded anyone they had ever seen. It wasn't even on the same level...
The gap was too wide!
But Aatrox was not satisfied. With this huge body—his form after falling—he spoke to these ant-like mortals before him.
"My once finest form was completely erased. But this clumsily rebuilt body from crude materials is still enough to satisfy my urge to kill."
"And I said... no one can escape!"
Aatrox reached out, as if pulling something forward. The next moment, clouds in the distance suddenly gathered.
Then, as if dragged here, a figure burst from those clouds—it was Sakaki, who had left earlier!
Sakaki returned to the battlefield from the black clouds, his whole body giving off a cold aura.
"Great Aatrox, I have no intent to oppose you."
Sakaki said, "All I seek is the 'charm' of my lord, the Holy Master."
"Holy Master? Hahahaha?" Aatrox laughed loudly. "No one can stop me. No one can stop your deaths. It starts with you, then the villages and towns, and finally the whole world. I will cut bone and flesh until I become the god of evil demons!"
"As long as life exists, as long as time has meaning, my slaughter will not stop!"
Boom!
Suddenly, he swung his sword. That strike released unmatched power. It slashed past Roger in an instant.
Roger's eyes widened. He didn't dodge because he sensed the sword wasn't aimed at him or anyone.
The slash passed by his side and directly split the ground, revealing an impossibly deep chasm. No, not a chasm—it was a true fracture!
The entire island, the entire country, split from this point with Aatrox. His one sword destroyed everything in its path. After cutting the whole island, it reached the sea.
The sea surface boomed and split open, like a divine messenger parting the ocean. All ships along the way were swallowed by the destruction...
Many pirate crews had been rushing here, some moving along that line. But in this moment, they vanished from the world in less than a second!
And it kept going, with no end in sight!
Only now did Roger truly realize what kind of enemy this was...
A monster!
Even with so many of them here, even with so many experts, they might not win!
Or rather...
They would probably lose!
----
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