Boom! Boom!
The battle continued inside the arena, though calling it a battle wasn't entirely accurate.
"Nightmare Cave: Nightmare Legion!"
At Killingham's roar, multicolored Dream Fragments gathered together. Countless hideous Nightmare Creatures radiating sinister auras surged forth like a tidal wave and charged at Shinko.
"God-Slaying Spear: Bone Spears!"
Saint Pierre raised both hands and launched dozens of bone spears.
"Cut Scene: Accelerate!"
Saint Fabian swept the screen of light in his hand.
Both Killingham's Nightmare Legion and Saint Pierre's bone spears accelerated in an instant, appearing directly in front of Shinko. The three Knights of God worked together flawlessly, and their combined attack was undeniably powerful.
But...
"Petty tricks."
Shinko merely sneered. He didn't dodge. He shifted his shoulder and slammed into the attack sideways.
Boom!
Saint Pierre's bone spears shattered against his shoulder. The tremendous force behind the collision continued onward, reducing an entire group of Nightmare Creatures to dust.
{Vajra-Unbreakable: Mountain-Shaking Impact}
Shinko then plucked a handful of hair from his head and blew across it.
"Phew!"
Golden light flashed as numerous duplicates identical to Shinko sprang into existence. Each wore a simplified version of his golden armor and carried an iron staff.
{Homies: External Incarnation - Monkey Kin}
They formed an army and charged the Nightmare Legion, moving as swiftly as lightning while brandishing their staffs.
However, these Monkey Kin were noticeably different from the external incarnations Shinko had previously sent throughout Dressrosa to rescue civilians. Their strength and presence were on an entirely different level.
It wasn't an illusion. Under the effects of the God of War Stance, every ally near Shinko received a considerable boost in power. Without exaggeration, any one of these Monkey Kin would have been considered a formidable fighter in Paradise.
Boom!
The moment the Monkey Kin collided with the Nightmare Legion, their iron staffs became a blur. Golden light shone from their eyes, and their staff techniques were exceptionally refined.
The vicious Nightmare Legion melted before them like snow beneath the blazing sun. Countless Nightmare Creatures were smashed apart, their bodies dissolving into clusters of Dream Fragments.
And that still wasn't all.
Boom!
Shinko himself moved.
Whoosh!
He broke through the sound barrier at a speed impossible for the naked eye to follow and appeared before the three Knights of God. His golden staff, wrapped in black-and-red lightning, came crashing down upon Saint Pierre.
Pierre instinctively raised his arm, and a bone spear emerged from his armor to block the strike. But an instant later...
Crack!
The sound of something breaking rang out.
Saint Pierre watched in disbelief as his bone spear shattered like tofu. Even the blood mist surrounding him- his supposedly absolute defense- was instantly dispersed by the power of Shinko's Supreme King Haki.
"Tracking Shot: Reposition!"
Saint Fabian's voice rang out, and in the next instant, the other two Knights of God appeared on either side of Shinko.
"Tracking Shot: Prop - Earth-Destroying Sword!"
Saint Fabian raised his hand. The scattered boulders across the Stage gathered together and transformed into an enormous blade. He coated it with Armament Haki and swung it down.
"Dream Trident: Nightmare Venomous Thorn!"
Saint Rimoshifu Killingham had transformed as well, taking on a hybrid form with a human upper body and the lower body of a qilin. He swung his trident, its prongs dripping with purple venom.
The two took advantage of Shinko's attack on Saint Pierre to launch a surprise assault. But...
Clang! Clang!
Two crisp metallic impacts rang out. Both the giant blade and the trident were stopped by iron staffs.
"?!"
The three Knights of God stared in horror. Two additional sea-beast-masked heads had grown from Shinko's shoulders, along with four muscular arms, each pair gripping another iron staff.
{God of War Stance: Three Heads and Six Arms}
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In the next instant, all six arms moved and the three staffs struck at once. The trident shattered, the giant blade crumbled back into dust, and the bodies of all three Knights of God were torn apart beneath staff shadows wreathed in Supreme King Haki.
Their mangled remains were sent flying, smashing straight through the expanded Colosseum.
"Argh! Tracking Shot - Reposition!"
Despite the excruciating pain, Saint Fabian barely managed to activate his ability and move their regenerating bodies to the other side of the arena.
Shinko had no intention of giving them time to recover.
"Fiery Golden Eyes!"
Golden beams shot from his eyes, crossed the entire arena, and struck all three Knights of God. Their bodies had only just finished regenerating, yet half of each was instantly obliterated again.
At the same time, Shinko's body rapidly expanded until he was as large as a giant. He brought his staff crashing down, pulverizing the three Knights of God before they could escape.
"Unbelievable!"
Gaz and Doflamingo were now hovering above the arena, which had long since collapsed into ruins. Gaz was still doing his best to narrate the fight.
"What an intense and spectacular battle! Yet even someone who knows absolutely nothing about fighting can see which side has the advantage!"
"This is a completely one-sided beating! Those three are utterly helpless before Lord Shinko!"
"According to my own unofficial count, Lord Shinko has killed them more than fifty times altogether!"
Just as Gaz said, even the ordinary spectators outside the arena could understand what was happening. The Knights of God were fighting back with everything they had. Their teamwork was excellent, and each possessed an extraordinary ability, but none of it meant anything before Shinko.
The difference in raw power was simply too great.
Shinko could crush Saint Pierre's strongest attack with one hand. Saint Rimoshifu Killingham had built an enormous Nightmare Army from the dream slaves he had accumulated over many years, yet Shinko countered the entire force with a single handful of hair. Even the support provided by Saint Fabian's ability couldn't close the gap.
Speed, strength, endurance, defense, the difference in every category was overwhelming.
In fact, the spectators had already lost count of how many times Shinko had killed the three Knights of God, and that was precisely why they were growing increasingly anxious.
Everyone had realized that the most troublesome thing about these Celestial Dragons known as the Knights of God was their immortality. They naturally knew nothing about the Deep Sea Covenant and assumed it was some powerful Devil Fruit ability.
"The Birdcage is still closing in!"
"Are those three really immortal?"
"They can regenerate even after being reduced to dust? How can such an unfair ability exist?"
"Won't this fight continue forever?"
They watched anxiously as the Birdcage drew ever closer.
But, no.
Standing among the crowd, Marco quietly rejected that possibility. 'This won't continue forever.'
His gaze remained fixed on the broadcast screen. The Knights of God were still rebuilding their bodies through the power of the Deep Sea Covenant, but their regeneration had visibly begun to slow.
As previously mentioned, Marco had heard that the Knights of God had attacked the Roger Pirates on several occasions, only to be repelled time and again by the Pirate King and his crew. Although the Whitebeard Pirates had never fought these people directly, Roger had once told Whitebeard a few things about them.
For example, repeated high-intensity attacks infused with Supreme King Haki could gradually overcome their immortal bodies. Eventually, their regeneration would fail to keep up, allowing them to suffer genuine injuries and lose the ability to fight.
Clearly...
"Shinko knows how to deal with them too."
That was why Marco was certain the fight wouldn't last much longer.
Still, something puzzled him. From what he had heard, most of the Knights of God weren't particularly strong-willed. Roger had said as much himself, and it was one of the reasons the Roger Pirates had defeated them repeatedly. Whenever they realized victory was impossible, they would flee without hesitation.
Yet these three showed no intention of escaping, even though the enormous gap between them and Shinko was obvious and they had no visible chance of winning.
'Or do they believe they still have a chance?'
Marco had begun to realize the truth, and he was right.
Boom!
Inside the Colosseum, Shinko's golden staff once again shattered Saint Rimoshifu Killingham and Saint Pierre. By now, their bodies were regenerating extremely slowly.
"The Covenant's power is reaching its limit!"
They knew everything Marco did. Having their bodies repeatedly destroyed by attacks infused with Supreme King Haki had severely weakened the power of the Deep Sea Covenant within them.
Frankly, the only reason they had lasted this long was that they could cover for one another. Saint Fabian's ability was particularly useful, giving them brief opportunities to regenerate.
Otherwise, any one of them facing Shinko alone would have ended up like Saint Pierre when he fought Roy, severed from the Deep Sea Covenant and rendered completely helpless.
"We can't keep this up…"
With that thought, Killingham and Pierre both looked toward Fabian. Just as Marco suspected, they should have fled the moment they encountered someone who possessed Supreme King Haki and vastly outclassed them in strength.
The reason they hadn't was simple: they still had one final trump card.
Saint Fabian gave an almost imperceptible nod, and Killingham and Pierre immediately brightened.
Boom!
In the next instant, they ignored Shinko's incoming attack. Despite the pain and risk of being shattered yet again, both forcibly activated their abilities.
"Vector Manipulation: Stasis Field!"
"Dream Creation: Ten-Thousand-Year Ice!"
Every vector in the surrounding area came to a halt as enormous blocks of ancient ice materialized from the Dream Fragments. Naturally, the result was no different from before.
Boom!
A moment later, Shinko's Supreme King Haki forced the frozen vectors to move again, while a sweep of his iron staff smashed the enormous blocks of ice apart. Even so, the two Knights of God had bought themselves a brief instant to retreat.
Behind them, Saint Fabian, still covered in wounds that hadn't finished healing, raised the mass of light in his hand.
"Devil Fruit Awakening: Eternal Stage!"
Radiance poured down from his hand. This was the awakened power of his Devil Fruit.
{LV5: Devil Fruit Awakening, Unique Ability: Eternal Stage. Can only be used once.}
{After preparing for a sufficient period on an established Stage, the user can upgrade it into their Eternal Stage, covering an area of 500 square meters. The Devil Fruit user gains dominion over everything on the Stage and may write a script controlling the actions and development of all actors and objects within it. As long as the script remains "plausible," everything on the Stage must follow its contents. Permanent unlock cost: 11.1 billion Berries.}
{This ability cannot be activated outside the boundaries of the Stage. A new Stage must first be constructed and prepared.}
The awakening of Saint Fabian's Director-Director Fruit was exceptionally unusual. It could only be used once. Before activating it, he had to designate an area as his Stage and spend a considerable amount of time preparing it. That was why Saint Fabian had never used this ability before.
Then, not long ago, they received Doflamingo's report that the Twelve Zodiacs might be coming to Dressrosa. His great-grandfather, Saint Saturn of the Five Elders, had given him explicit orders.
"If a member of the Twelve Zodiacs appears, you must capture him, or, at the very least, bring his corpse back to me!"
"If you succeed, I will propose to that Great One that you be allowed to compete with Shamrock for the position of the next Supreme Commander of the Knights of God."
Even Fabian's two companions knew nothing about this. That was why he had been preparing from the very beginning. He intended to use his precious awakened ability at this exact moment.
In his mind, it was their one and only chance of winning.
However...
"?"
The anticipation on Saint Fabian's face suddenly froze. The supreme power he had expected to grant him dominion over everything never appeared.
Instead...
"I-I can't use it?!"
He stared at his hand in disbelief. The radiance spilling from his palm flickered violently like a faulty light bulb, then went out completely.
"Why?"
Saint Fabian couldn't understand it. He was standing on the Stage he had already established, and he had spent more than enough time preparing it. Why couldn't he activate the ability?
"You can't use it?!" Killingham and Pierre exclaimed.
The two had already returned to Fabian's side, and their expressions changed drastically. Still, they reacted quickly.
"If it won't work, then we retreat!" Saint Rimoshifu Killingham declared without hesitation.
"Right!"
Saint Fabian still didn't understand why his ability had failed, but he immediately came to his senses. "We have to retreat!"
If he couldn't use his Devil Fruit awakening, then their situation had become truly hopeless. They had to escape immediately, or they would undoubtedly...
"Retreat?"
A mocking voice pierced their ears like an icy needle.
"I already told you, didn't I?"
Shinko's voice echoed across the battlefield.
Rumble!
The Colosseum, already reduced to ruins by their battle, began trembling.
The three Knights of God instinctively looked around. Only then did they notice four objects floating above the boundaries of the arena, four battle flags that looked extremely familiar.
"?!"
At last, the three Knights of God realized what had happened. At some point during the battle, the four Fighting Seal flags Shinko had carried on his back, bearing the characters {GREAT SAGE EQUALING HEAVEN}, had silently disappeared. They had been beaten so badly that none of them had noticed.
And now, those four flags were transforming the entire Colosseum.
{Battle-Battle Fruit - Additional Combined Effect: God-Fighting Domain}
{After gathering four Fighting Seals and entering the God of War Stance, the user may deploy the four seals to create a Duel Arena nearby. Within the Duel Arena, the Devil Fruit user cannot be harmed, ignores all negative and control effects, and never expends strength, stamina, or any other combat-related attribute.}
{The Devil Fruit user may freely alter the terrain within this domain. If an enemy feels fear or develops the desire to flee, the user's attacks will bypass all defenses and inflict a "Lethal Effect."}
"I'm going to beat you to death right here. What makes you think I'd let you escape?"
As Shinko's words fell, the four flags transformed into four enormous gates and descended around the arena.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The moment they landed, a surging sea of pure white clouds covered the shattered arena floor. Every trace of destruction dissolved beneath the clouds, replaced by endless streams of radiant celestial mist.
In that instant, they were no longer standing inside the arena. They had been transported to a magnificent heavenly palace above the clouds.
{God-Fighting Domain: Heavenly Palace Wonderland}
(End of Chapter)
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