The battle between the three lasted for several hours!
Until the sun in the sky was about to drop below the horizon and the sky turned dark.
On the ground of God Valley, which was completely shattered beyond recognition.
Two figures lay sprawled on the ground, their chests heaving violently, their entire bodies soaked in blood.
They were Garp and Roger.
Rocks had been blasted hundreds of meters deep into the ground by their combined efforts and had not yet returned to the surface.
This gave them some time to catch their breath.
Roger panted heavily and spoke with difficulty: "Huff... huff... Garp! Did you see that black monster from the World Government? And they call it justice; it's absolutely laughable."
"Heh... heh... I concur." Garp coughed up a mouthful of blood and looked up at the darkening sky.
In the sky, dark clouds gathered, and a heavy rain was imminent.
Roger wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, stood up unsteadily, and looked at Garp, whose eyes held a complex expression.
"If you don't want to be a Marine anymore, you can come to me..."
"What nonsense are you talking about? If I quit, who will protect the soldiers!"
He also slowly sat up amidst a pile of rubble.
His eyes looked in a certain direction.
There, a terrifying aura was rapidly approaching.
"Roger, we must find a way to end this battle, otherwise, the two of us might be worn down to death here... that kind of immortality is just too cheap."
"I've already thought about it," Roger said thoughtfully. "So, don't you think the key lies in quality?"
Garp was stunned: "What quality?"
"The quality of Haki!"
"Armament Haki is already a power no less than Devil Fruit abilities, let alone the Haoshoku we're using! Even with that kind of immortality, it shouldn't be completely ineffective!"
Garp looked toward him:
"That's obviously because the opponent is also using Haoshoku for defense, canceling out both of ours. Don't you remember when we attacked that black monster together?"
Its Haoshoku was superior to all of ours, so no matter how we attacked, it had no effect.
Now, it's the same! Rocks' current Haoshoku is above both of ours!
Unless we unleash Haki that surpasses his, we won't be able to cause him any damage!"
"If we keep dragging this out, we'll definitely lose. It's impossible to beat that monster in stamina!"
"So... you want to unleash the highest quality of Haoshoku?"
"Exactly! No more thinking about a retreat. Let's risk everything, explode with all our Haki and stamina, and combine all our power into a single blow! Let's finish Rocks!"
"If we really do that, there's a high probability we won't make it back alive."
"If it works, then the three of us will be unable to fight." Roger rolled his wrists and gripped the long sword in his hand.
"If it doesn't work, then the two of us will be the ones who die." With a bitter smile on his face, Garp struggled to stand up from the ground.
The two of them looked ahead in unison.
There, Rocks' demon-king-like figure appeared once again.
However, on Rocks' hideous demon face, a long stream of tears was once again flowing.
Garp shook his head and suddenly shouted.
"Hey! Rocks! I can't think of anything to comfort you! I don't know what exactly happened to you either! But one thing's for sure!"
"I know you must be full of regret!!"
Seeing the weeping Rocks, Roger's eyes stung. "You idiot! Don't cry!!"
One of them raised his fist.
The other swung his long sword.
In unison: "We'll set you free right now!"
The next moment.
Two magnificent and overbearing auras, like erupting volcanoes or soaring angry waves, bloomed from their blood-stained bodies, rising infinitely.
"Rumble!!"
Thick bolts of black and red lightning surged from them, merging together and enveloping their leaping figures as they charged toward the demon-king-like Rocks.
This time, Rocks unexpectedly didn't attack; he just stood there like a statue, hot tears streaming down his face continuously.
Garp's fists, wrapped in black and red Haki, unleashed countless fist shadows in an instant.
And Roger, in that same instant, slashed out countless Haki strikes burning with raging flames!
"Infinite — Fist Bone!!"
"Hinokagutsuchi! Comet!!"
The two figures swept past Rocks' sides, delivering their ultimate combined strike — infused with all their remaining Haki — onto Rocks' body.
Rocks' body was instantly riddled with holes!
With the combined Haoshoku of Garp and Roger, its intensity now surpassed that of the demonized Rocks!
Under the impact of this earth-shaking Haoshoku, the traits of immortality on Rocks' demonized body were actually completely suppressed.
His battered body no longer emitted black gas and ceased its rapid recovery.
Instead, crimson blood flowed out!
That was the blood of a human!
Rocks' broken body flew backward and crashed onto the ground.
Behind him, that pair of wide demon wings slowly turned into black gas and dissipated.
The fangs that had grown in his mouth also vanished.
His blank eyes were also gradually recovering, revealing a pair of bewildered eyes.
"Cough, cough... Is the curse... lifted?"
Not far away.
Having exhausted all the Haki and stamina in their bodies, Garp and Roger were completely unable to get up, slumped powerlessly on the ground.
In the sky, heavy rain began to fall.
Cold rain drenched the three men slumped on the ground.
Rocks really wanted to get up and express his gratitude to Garp and Roger for waking him up.
But he had absolutely no strength.
He couldn't even manage to speak.
At this moment, he was utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally.
The mental fatigue came from the constant struggle against the blackened evil thoughts poured in by Imu.
If he hadn't done his best to resist that blackening erosion just now...
His fate now would likely be the same as those demonized members of the D. clan.
Either dead for good...
Or completely turned into monsters.
The physical exhaustion was the result of the consecutive intense battles against Carlo, Garp, and Roger.
Previously, he had the immortality trait bestowed by Imu, making him completely unaware of what fatigue was.
But now, the demonization on his body had been dispelled by Garp and Roger's combined effort using Haoshoku that surpassed his own.
All the fatigue and pain accumulated from the previous battles immediately erupted within him, leaving him unable to move even a single finger.
However, after enduring such a nightmare, the joy of surviving the disaster still couldn't help but surface in Rocks' heart.
He survived.
That meant he could still see Alice, Teach, and the others... right?
"Step, step, step..."
The sound of footsteps suddenly rang in his ears, approaching from a distance.