One Piece: Holy Light Swordmaster

Boom—

The violent clash of Haki tore through the sky, shattering the clouds. On Wright's side, golden lightning cracked the very ground of Oris Plaza!

"You brat..."

For a moment, a figure with red hair seemed to flashed before Whitebeard's eyes. His heavily scarred body wavered slightly.

Damn… Even though my body has recovered, its regenerative abilities can no longer keep up…

Even though Whitebeard had been healed by the near-rule-defying power of the Lightforged Crystal and various medical treatments had restored him to his peak, aging was an undeniable truth.

His body's natural regeneration and endurance had already reached their limits. That was also a fact.

To put it in more intuitive terms—

For powerful warriors in their prime, if their life force were represented as an HP bar of 10,000, then they would have a matching stamina bar, enabling them to sustain intense battles for days on end.

For older warriors, even if their life force and strength remained as potent as before—sometimes even surpassing younger warriors due to their experience—their endurance, weakened by age, significantly limited their battle sustainability.

And Whitebeard? As the world's strongest man, if his original life force had been 15,000, then after recovery, it would at most be 6,000, with stamina barely reaching 3,000.

By the time he arrived at Marineford, Whitebeard's life force had been restored to over 13,000. However, without regaining his youth, his stamina had only recovered to around 5,000.

Thus, compared to his pre-recovery state, Whitebeard's attack power, defense, reflexes, and resilience had significantly improved—but everything was still constrained by his stamina.

He could unleash his peak strength, but he could no longer sustain high-intensity battles for long.

And now, after enduring Akainu's relentless and reckless assault, clashing with both Akainu and Wright in a grueling exchange, and then taking their combined full-power attacks head-on to open a path for his men—

After such an intense Haki duel, Whitebeard's body finally showed signs of fatigue!

Wright noticed it immediately. And this—this was the moment the Navy had been anticipating—the opportunity to defeat Whitebeard!

"Whitebeard… you really have grown old."

Wright smiled faintly. "My Lightforged Crystal granted you one last moment of glory… but that's all it could do."

"Your era… is over!"

Holy Light Wings: Explosive Blaze!

"Guh…"

Whitebeard gritted his teeth. His rapidly draining stamina made it increasingly difficult to fend off Wright's relentless assaults.

"Unlimited stamina… What a little monster you are… But I'm just a little tired, that's all. And you dare say my era is over…?"

His eyes burned with fury as he unleashed a powerful shockwave, blasting Wright into the air:

"Not even close!"

"Not good!"

Kicked away by Kizaru, Marco had just managed to get back on his feet when he noticed Whitebeard's condition. The sheer force of the shockwave had caused blood to spill from Whitebeard's lips!

Damn it! Is Pops' body finally reaching its limit…?

No! Pops took on those two Admirals' attacks head-on just to create an escape route for us!

Even for him, enduring the full force of two Admirals' strikes is impossible!

"Pops! I'm coming to help!"

Marco flew toward Whitebeard, only to be intercepted once again by Kizaru's flashing movement.

"Oh my~ You're quite persistent~"

With another swift kick, Kizaru sent Marco crashing back down before glancing at the panting Whitebeard. His fingers flickered with a blinding glow.

"Still refusing to accept it, Whitebeard~?"

"That fleeting moment of health~ has only deceived you~"

"Pops!!"

Marco's furious roar rang out as a massive laser beam pierced Whitebeard's body, forcing him to cough up a mouthful of blood.

"Can't dodge anymore~?"

Kizaru narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Bastard!"

Marco flew toward Whitebeard at full speed. "Regenerative Flames!"

Holy Light Wall!

A towering barrier of Holy Light materialized between Marco and Whitebeard, blocking Marco's healing flames.

Floating in midair, Wright shook his head at Marco:

"Don't waste your strength. You know very well—Whitebeard has no chance of leaving this place alive."

Raising both blades overhead, Wright locked eyes with Whitebeard, who had gone eerily calm:

"Look around you… The Whitebeard Pirates are on the verge of annihilation."

On the battlefield, fewer than 20,000 pirates remained capable of fighting. Meanwhile, even after accounting for the large number of lower-ranking soldiers incapacitated by Conqueror's Haki, the Navy still had over twice that number standing!

Whitebeard's gaze dimmed momentarily before rekindling with a fierce light. Even with his body in ruins, he was still Whitebeard!

"Pops… Ugh!"

Marco tried to break through the Holy Light Wall, only to be intercepted once more by Kizaru:

"I'm quite~ the troublesome opponent~"

"Please don't~ interfere with my junior brother~"

"Ahh… Looks like my junior is getting serious."

Elsewhere, Aokiji and Issho had already settled their battle—

The once-uncontrollable Byrnndi World, the "World Destroyer," had been frozen solid by Aokiji's chilling power. Compared to Impel Down's Level 5 freezing hell, this was far worse!

"A troublesome foe… 'World Destroyer.'"

Issho sighed. "Thank you, Admiral Kuzan. Without your help, this battle would have taken far longer."

"Issho-san, I should be the one thanking you… No, the entire Marine Headquarters should be."

Aokiji patted the massive ice block containing World:

"Without you, capturing Whitebeard today would have been much harder. Now, we must extinguish his hopes, one by one."

"Whitebeard… such a formidable man. If only he hadn't been a pirate…"

"Ahh… If that were the case, he wouldn't be 'Whitebeard,' would he?"

"…You're right."

…

"I heard… you killed Teach?"

Whitebeard suddenly asked. Wright raised an eyebrow before nodding:

"That's right. What, do you regret it?"

"Gurarara… No. Compared to me dealing with him personally… being killed by a Marine Admiral might be a fitting end for that bastard."

Whitebeard slammed his naginata, Murakumogiri, into the ground. His magma-scorched chest, the deep slash from Ashes, and countless blade and burn wounds—

"Listen well, Whitebeard Pirates!"

His furious roar echoed across Oris Plaza:

"I now give you… my final Captain's order!"

"Pops!"

"What do you mean 'final'?! Don't say something so ominous!"

"Weren't we supposed to go back to the New World together?!"

"Pops! If you rest, you can recover!"

"Foolish sons!"

Blood trickled from Whitebeard's lips, but his voice remained as thunderous as ever:

"For a father to bury his sons is the greatest tragedy!"

"Today, I have already suffered through this agony thousands of times!"

"And I refuse to let it happen again—ever!"

"You will bid me farewell here!"

"All of you… must return safely to the New World!"

"Pops!!"

"Are you choosing to die here?!"

"Don't do this!!"

Whitebeard grinned. His eyes blazed with unmatched brilliance.

His muscles tensed as he channeled every ounce of his strength, assuming the classic stance of the Gura Gura no Mi—

"I am a relic of the old era…"

"There is no ship in the new age that can carry me!"

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