Chapter 152: The end of the war?

… 

Edam was quiet for a while. He shot a quick glance at Akainu's head before laying it on the ground silently. "..."

He took a look at his surroundings and saw the chaos around him… dead men, dead women, dead giants… many dead…

In a way, the Marine had won, but that was one bitter victory… 

His eyes then settled on someone.

"Gramps…" He saw Garp being restrained by Sengoku, and the questions and confusion he had restrained in his heart couldn't but fill his head. 'Why…?'

Given Garp's power, even if it was currently diminishing with his age, added with Whitebeard's frightening power, saving Ace would have been a lot more possible.

"..." Garp who was stuck on the ground saw his gaze and gritted his teeth as he lowered his eyes in guilt and bitterness.

"..." Edam too gritted his teeth, feeling a heart-wrenching pain shooting up in his heart.

But after a long time, he finally parted his lips to speak. "…it is not your fault grandpa…"

"...?" Garp lifted his eyes in surprise.

"You tried so hard to make them marines… but… they chose their ways a long time ago now…" Garp's job did not allow him to pass a lot of time with his grandsons and the fact that they didn't want to become marines in the first place didn't help at all.

"So… it's not your fault… it would be unfair if I were to hold you responsible…" Edam said as tears filled his eyes. "But, still... is duty so much more important than family...?"

"..." Garp gritted his teeth even harder as tears streamed down. "Dammit…"

Edam wiped his tears and then took a look at Whitebeard. "Old man… you…"

With just one sight, he understood that he couldn't do anything for him. The problem wasn't the injuries anymore, but his time that was running out and the worst was his illness that was slowly sipping the life out of him.

"Kid… don't look at me like that…" Whitebeard said with a fatigued expression.

"I'm sorry… pops…" Edam walked on him and set his hand on him. His hand glowed a faint and bright light.

Quickly, colors started to return to Whitebeard's face and his breath started to steady itself.

"I can only do so much…" Edam clenched his fist in regret.

"This is more than enough for this old man…" Whitebeard's eyes were soft as he looked at him, just like how he would view any of his sons.

Edam's eyes then suddenly glowed coldly as he gritted his teeth silently and looked backward, his senses scanning the entire island. "There's still one bastard I have to kill…"

"Where is this Marshall D. Teach…?" Having taken a peek at Ace and Luffy's memories, he was aware of this man's existence and past deeds. 

He patiently waited in the shadows and killed his own comrade for power. While gathering his strengths, he defeated and then captured Ace before delivering the latter to the Navy to be executed to in the end obtain the title of warlords of the seas.

He literally played Whitebeard, his crew, Sengoku, the Navy, and everyone else like fools.

The thought of killing him made Edam's hands already itching for the kill.

And it didn't take long to spot a few strange signatures on Marineford and a bit beyond it.

First, a giant was silently walking toward Marineford, using the battlefield's noise to hide his movements.

Second, on the scaffold, everyone was supposed to be away from it since Ace wasn't executed on it and so should have retired from it to fight on the battlefield but...

Edam's senses clearly spotted a few presences on it. 

"..." His pupils seemed to constrict and focus on one particular guy.

Meanwhile, on it, a black-bearded fat guy was present. They had arrived a few minutes ago, and he had been laughing at the situation since everything was exactly going as he planned, however…

What the… 

That was before Edam arrived on the battlefield...

What the hell just happened…?!

Although a bit disgusting, Blackbeard was quite the smart pirate and had already taken Edam in the equation and had planned many things to deal with him.

But, who in their right minds could have predicted that a mighty admiral would die as easily as that, by his hands...

Shit, not good! I have to do something-...!?

As his brain rapidly tried to find a solution, his two eyes just happened to meet two frightening and silent blood-colored pupils.

"Eek-!" He flinched back in fear and nearly stumbled backward. 

His ass didn't get to touch the ground when Edam flashed forward like a streak-shooting star and reached him in the blink of an eye.

Violently grabbing his head, Edam brutally planted it on the scaffold, demolishing it into pieces. Boom!!! Crack!!!

?!?!?!?

He was way too fast for any of them to react, and when the debris and dust settled, they saw him again. Edam was very near to him as he kicked him away like a soccer ball.

Bam! Crash!!

"Graaahh, it hurts, it hurts!" Teach rolled on the ground in agony. Stopping his rolling, he pointed his palm at Edam who was walking in his direction. "Fuck you! Liberation!"

A sort of black hole of smokes emanated out above Teach and suddenly started shooting out many rubbles, trashes, and even some living humans out, as if it had swallowed an entire town in it.

"Rubbish…" An invisible and unbreakable wall of ki was erected and shielded Edam, and as such, none of the debris could come close and hurt him. 

"Ugh!" Seeing his move being totally useless, frustration shot up. "I'll just trap you away then!!!"

"Black Hole!!!" Darkness started to spread out with him at the center and rapidly reached Edam's feet who merely glanced at it. 

"..."

They ate and tried to swallow at his feet before abruptly devouring Edam as a whole and disappearing in thin air.

"Zeh- Zehah…" Blackbeard's mouth twitched a bit and then burst into laughter.

"Zehahahahaha!!! So what if you can kill Akainu huh?! With this power, I can reduce anything to nothingness!" Teach rejoiced in his own power, completely delighted.

Swing! Crack! 

"...-?!" 

The sound of space itself being torn apart first echoed, as a rift was formed at the exact spot Edam disappeared formerly. 

"You…? Reduce me to nothingness?" Edam walked out of the rift with a slow but constant rhythm. 

And an extremely thick and profound arrogance seemed to seep out of his body, no, out of his very cells, blood, and soul even… an arrogance etched in his very existence.

"Even they couldn't…" His tone was truly weird and his eyes were vacant as if these words were coming out on their own.

After saying these words, light returned to Edam's pupils as they shone a savage yellow glow again. "You can die now…"

His killing intent rose again, as he produced a long and frightening spear of solid energy.

"Eeeerk!!!? No! Don't- Don't come closer!!!!" Teach kept backing off with a scared-shitless expression.

Another wave of dark smoke-like energy burst out of him while forming a massive sphere of compressed dark energy above him.

"Dark End!!!" Blackbeard screamed and threw his massive orb of darkness forward.

As the attack devastated everything to crash on Edam and crush him to pieces, the latter stood still.

His spear dissolved into thin air and vanished completely.

He took a step forward, and lifted his hand, and pushed his palm forward on the incoming attack.

Tung….!

"What?!" Blackbeard's eyes widened up in shock.

The dark ball was fully stopped in its tracks and couldn't move at all!

"...Making me waste so much time on you…" Edam's eyes began to glow a dreadful purple glow.

His hand that was stopping the advancement of the dark sphere also shone a frightening purple light out. 

"Hakai…" Edam muttered and...

In an instant, Teach's Dark Matter has thoroughly been covered in Destruction ki and turned entirely purple.

Rumble….!

Boom!

A small detonation resonated, and the once immense mass of energy blew up and was rendered to oblivion.

"Your power is impressive indeed…" Edam said as he approached a very frightened Blackbeard.

His left hand lashed out and caught onto the latter's neck as he raised him in the air.

"Gah!? Ghagaga! Let- IT go!!!" Blackbeard struggled fiercely but in vain. Edam's arm was like an unshakeable mountain. His grasp was only growing stronger and stronger.

Teach's eyes were convulsing and rolling backward as he began to lose consciousness. However, his mind was still running at full speed despite the difficulties of breath.

His eyes then stopped on one person as he screamed at his crew. "Ghug, the woman! Get the woman-!"

But, the poor crewmates didn't have time to move out as a mighty and crushing pressure manifested out and furiously pressed down on all of them.

"Gruagh, we can't move…!"

"F*ck!" Their bodies seemed to have gained a thousand pounds.

"..." Edam shot them one glance as it froze them on the spot and said.

"Right now, this is but a feud between me and him but… If you dare go after her, I can assure you, dying will be the least of your worry… this is my promise to you…"

"Kneel quietly…" He said and returned his attention back on Blackbeard, leaving his crewmates in shock and fear. They were paralyzed from top to bottom.

…

"Enough…" Edam murmured and created another spear.

"Noooooogh!!!!" Seeing his doom coming, Blackbeard struggled with all he's got. His powers were running at full strength, swarming over and trying to crush Edam into a pulp although in vain.

"Die…" The Saiyan's spear charged in a straight line to pierce and impale the pirate's heart in a very savage manner.

But, just as Blackbeard's was gonna end in a gruesome way… 

Edam's pupils that were entirely focused and concentrated on killing him, abruptly constricted and his eyes widened up. 

"...?!"

Spurt!

His movement trailed off and instead of going for the heart, it missed slightly and pierced his shoulder making Teach yell like a pig being butchered. "Aaaargghh, my arm, my arm!" 

Ting!

" Shut up..." With his spear still piercing Blackbeard's shoulder, Edam silently planted his weapon on the ground despite Blackbeard's butchered cry and turned around to set his eyes somewhere.

His sight landed on Ace's body which was still protected and glowing red from his ki covering him.

"...?" At this sight, Edam's face couldn't help but frown deeply. Uncertainty was present all over his facial expression, but he still instantly made his way back there to check.

He had sensed a very faint, but so very weak pulse of life coming out of Ace that he nearly didn't notice it.

However, as he took another look, he couldn't see anything worth mentioning.

His brother was still… 

"...?" Though, something drew his attention as Edam then kneeled and touched Ace's face. 

Warm…?

His hand that was touching Ace froze on it out of stun and dumbstruck.

What? His blood...

Ace's heart wasn't beating, or more like he didn't have the heart to use anymore, but, his blood was still circulating. 

My ki? It's helping it circulate… it's strong enough to maintain his body...

Can I consider that as him being in a coma?

He himself didn't believe it, but his mind, soul, and whole being were just yelling at him to hold onto this belief.

Gritting his teeth, Edam lifted and carried Ace's body in his arms. 

"Hancock, let's go, we're going home…" 

She quietly nodded her head clearly feeling and sharing his sadness, his anger, and his emptiness. Their spiritual senses were by now so in sync that they could feel whatever the other was feeling.

Luffy's unconscious body also began to float alongside him and followed right after. There was also a few other guys which Edam recognize as Luffy's benefactors according to his memories.

A spatial rift naturally appeared as Edam walked forward. Hancock was the first to disappear in and just as Edam was about to depart and leave, his feet stopped in place.

"..."

He didn't even turn his back on the battlefield but spoke straight.

"Don't think that I'm done with you… I just didn't decide how to end you yet Blackbeard…"

"As for the end of this stupid war…" Edam said and walked into the rift. "He will do a better job at that…"

The rift closed up and he left just like, leaving a silent battlefield like that...

… 

… 

(A/N: finally a bit satisfied with this chap 😤

And Merry Christmas to you all brothers, l wish you lot of happiness! 🥳🥳🥳