Chapter 77: The Elders of Mary Geoise

Although the Fleet Admiral was the first to recognize the significance of the black pentagram that appeared at the center of Marineford, his own dread, and guilt delayed the actions that should have immediately followed this recognition.

Admiral Akainu was about two-thirds dead at the moment from the beating he received from Whitebeard, but being closer to death strengthened the senses and he realized that Sengoku was not giving the order that he should be giving. Therefore, he gave it himself. As pillars of black smoke started pouring out of the pentagram, Akainu shouted to the whole of Marineford, “Any Marine below the rank of Commodore is hereby ordered to avert their gaze! Any who disobey will be executed!”

Seeing that most didn’t understand the order, Akainu shouted with an authority that would not allow being questioned, “TURN AROUND NOW AND DON’T LOOK YOU BASTARDS OR I’LL KILL YOU MYSELF!”

The rank-and-file Marines that had been previously ordered to scour the battlefield and take the injured survivors to the newly set up medical tents had to drop whomever they were carrying and turn away from the center of Marineford, facing the walls.

The Marines around Rayleigh had also turned away, but Rayleigh was not a Marine and did not follow the given order. Some of the Marines around Rayleigh noticed this, but were too nervous to say anything. Rayleigh ended up not fighting the Marines and even killed Blackbeard, so from the Marine’s perspective, he was on their side. He was being treated very differently than the Players who were surrounded by hostile glares and raised weapons.

Since he couldn’t walk over to them and ask, Rayleigh just posed his query in the Pirate Chat Room, assuming that the Players were keeping an eye on it as well.

[Swordsman: So what’s the plan?]

[Titan: Huh? Isn’t it obvious? We’re gonna piss them off enough to send the final boss.]

[Captain Jack: Obviously that’s obvious. I think he’s asking, how are you gonna beat the final boss and the Fleet Admiral and the Admirals?]

[Invisible Man: Yeah, Swordsman can’t see the plan. Cause it’s invisible.]

[Mimic: Don’t worry. The actual final boss isn’t someone you can beat yet, but some End Game Mini Bosses are gonna show up. Good luck with them. And Swordsman, if you want to make the fight harder, ask them about Saint Imu of House Nerona, the loser who simped for the first Queen Nefertari.]

[Swordsman: Is he the final boss?]

Mimic didn’t answer, but several other Players who weren’t even in Marineford started making fun of Imu, despite likely not knowing who he was.

The black smoke erupted and the silhouette of a giant figure with a monstrous form could be seen for a moment, but when the black smoke blew away, it revealed the figure of an old man in a high-class suit that carried a walking cane.

He scanned the area and momentarily met the eyes of the Admirals, the Players, Mihawk, Doflamingo, and Rayleigh. But when he saw a low-ranking Marine try to turn around and sneak a peak at him, a flash of light appeared in the old man’s eyes and the head of the Marine who looked at him exploded.

[Swordsman: Dufuq?]

[Captain Jack: Saint Jaygarcia Saturn. Warrior God of Science and Defense. One of the Five Elders who run the World Government. Looking at him is a crime punishable by execution for any low-rank Marine. Saint Saturn usually executes the punishment personally.]

[Wild King: What did he do?]

[Stoner: Made a dude’s head explode by looking at him.]

According to Rayleigh’s senses, Fire Queen, Wonder Woman, All Seeing Prophet, Lightning Lord, Glitter, Dyna Might, and Wild King had left Marineford. Both halves of Crystal’s body were also gone, but Rayleigh didn’t care about what happened to her.

The only Players present were himself, Titan, Stoner, Crow, Justice, and Goddess of Ice. Captain Jack was also around somewhere and though Rayleigh could not sense his Force presence, Rayleigh suspected that Invisible Man was also skulking about unseen.

Saint Saturn only took a moment to assess the situation with his own Observation Haki before another Black Pentagram appeared around him. Rayleigh sensed this one was a bit different from the previous one. The previous one was tied to the center of Marineford while this one was tied to Saint Saturn himself.

Three figures arose from the shadows around Saint Saturn. One was another old man while the other two were clearly swordsmen with strange hairstyles.

Titan looked upset when the smoke cleared and shouted to the old man, “What, only two of you came?”

The newly arrived old man was very bald, quite tall, and had glasses. He sneered a bit in Titan’s direction before stating, “The other Elders have much more important things to do than deal with you insects.”

[Swordsman: And that guy is?]

[Captain Jack: Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro. Warrior God of Finance]

When said old man finished speaking, he seemed to use Observation Haki before looking in the direction that Captain Jack was hiding.

Saint Saturn looked over at his fellow Elder and stated, “This is an unprecedented incident. How do you think we should proceed?”

After looking in Captain Jack’s direction for a moment, Saint Nusjuro answered, “The pair of Den Den Mushis used to transmit the forbidden secrets were really just for frequencies Zero and Twenty-Three and there are no other Den Den Mushis active on the island. This incident can be contained.”

Not only had Saint Nusjuro’s Observation Haki spotted Captain Jack, but he even saw the pair of Radio Snails that the Player used to transmit that story and confirmed that he had not lied about only transmitting it to their office and through the base speakers.

Hearing this, Saint Saturn erupted with a wave of Conqueror’s Haki. The weight of the world smacked into the consciousness of every person in Marineford, knocking a majority of the Marines below the rank of Rear-Admiral unconscious.

Saint Nusjuro then nodded and stated, “All Den Den Mushies have been rendered unconscious and will not work for the next few hours. During this period, I suggest that a cleansing is in order.”

The Elder in charge of the Marines asked the Elder in charge of the money, “Can we afford this?” The question lacked any kind of emotion one might expect from such a notion. It was as bland as if he had asked about the weather.

Saint Nusjuro answered, “Killing Whitebeard, Blackbeard, and the son of Roger will cause many to join the Marines. We can afford to give further incentives to raise the number of recruits and make up for any losses sustained during the cleansing.”

Saint Saturn nodded before turning to Sengoku. Neither Elder had lowered their voice, so their conversation and meaning was clear to everyone. Saint Saturn addressed the leader of the Marines. “This will be the final Order you will carry out as Fleet Admiral. Execute every Marine below the rank of Vice Admiral in Marineford.”

Sengoku shouted in protest, “But they’ve done nothing wrong! They survived this war and will become the backbone of the Marines!”

Saint Saturn shook his head, “Knowing too much is a sin in itself and only those who have reached the rank of Vice Admiral are authorized to be trusted with such knowledge. You know this. Do not question my orders Sengoku.”

Seeing an opportunity, Akainu stepped forward and said, “I will carry out your orders Elder Saturn.”

Saint Saturn glanced at the dog in front of him, fully aware of his intentions. He then saw the reluctance to follow this order from Aokiji and even Kizaru before turning back to Akainu, giving a small nod.

Akainu grinned widely. That small nod had just confirmed his future position as Fleet Admiral.

Saint Saturn then turned to the Warlord called Doflamingo and said, “Release the Birdcage.”

This caused the Admirals and even the Fleet Admiral to look over and Doflamingo in confusion, likely not understanding what the Elder was referring to. Doflamingo himself lost his smile and now looked somewhat constipated. The observing Rayleigh did not know if this was because the Warlord did not like being ordered or that he did not like that the Elder knew of this Birdcage thing.

Just like Rayleigh, Mihawk did not miss the chance that his opponent was distracted to chop off the man’s head. But the severed head seemed to break apart into black ribbons that dissolved into the air. The same black ribbons then reformed above the man’s neck and came together to reform the man’s head.

The Giant Spider rushed at Titan while his eyes flashed over and over, shooting more invisible webs that Titan had to use En to sense and dodge. Mihawk tried cutting off the centaur man’s legs to reduce him to a torso, but it was obvious that the legs would regenerate in a moment.

Coincidentally, Titan saw this and bent down to their fight, asking, “Do you mind if I borrow this?” while picking up Saint Nusjuro’s legless skeleton from the tailbone.

Mihawk replied, “By all means.”

Saint Nusjuro shouted in complaint and sent numerous flying slashes at Titan, but the golden aura around his golden Buddha form and his Nen blocked the flying slashes.

Saint Saturn’s charging form noticed his fellow Elder’s predicament and his charging speed only grew faster as he rushed forward to kill this pirate and get him to unhand Saint Nusjuro.

What neither suspected was what Titan intended to do with the skeletal horse spine and rib cage. Instead of keeping it as a hostage or something, he swung it at the incoming Saint Saturn, using the spine and ribcage that ended in Saint Nusjuro’s torso as a weapon similar to a flail and chain.

Titan smashed Saint Nusjuro into Saint Saturn and Saint Nusjuro’s rib bones broke off and got stuck into Saint Saturn, but they dissolved into black ribbons and regenerated back onto Saint Nusjuro only for it to break off again in the next hit.

Even though both Saint Saturn and Saint Nusjuro were essentially immortal, neither could understand what was happening because such a thing had never happened before. Saint Nusjuro could try to use Armament Haki to prevent his body from getting smashed on each impact but that would only increase the damage that Saint Saturn received from each blow.

One of Rayleigh’s Wills using Clairvoyance to watch this scene of an indestructible spine, ribcage, and skull being used as a weapon against another person felt like he heard Nsync’s song, Bye Bye Bye, but that feeling quickly vanished.

“ENOUGH OF THIS!” Saint Saturn shouted out and the black pentagram reformed around him.

Titan seemed happy enough to allow this, but Rayleigh saw a shatterpoint and his danger sense told him not to allow reinforcements. Up to this point, Rayleigh did not feel that the threat to his life from this place was high enough to be of concern, but now that was different.

Rayleigh poured his Nen and Haki into the Red Sword of Babylon and swung it with all his strength before running to the black pentagram. His opponent did not move and a moment later, the top half of the sword in his hand fell to the ground, followed shortly by his head.

The invisible webs of the Giant Spider Elder could not be detected with Observation Haki, but Rayleigh’s Sword of Babylon enhanced the effect of Babylon which already enhanced his senses. In this state, he almost had a knockoff Mystic Eyes of Death Perception when he used Shatterpoint to see weaknesses. Using this, he saw the invisible threads of spider silk extending from the black pentagram and slashed at his highest speed.

Elder Saturn had not expected Rayleigh to show up and certainly did not expect him to cut the world web lines that he used to teleport others to his location.

The black pentagram faded out, but the first person to complain was not Elder Saturn, but Titan. The giant golden Player shouted, “What did you do that for?! I’ve been trying to goad him into inviting the other Elders here this entire time!”

Rayleigh replied, “Because you have no idea what you’re doing.”

“Hey! I can kill these guys anytime I want to.”

“I don’t believe you. How about this, if you can actually kill him right now, I’ll admit I’m wrong and even join your crew.”

“Oh? You’d better keep your word.”

Within the Pirate Chat, Titan sent a message.

[Titan: Hey Goddess of Ice, can you freeze the spider with his mouth open?]

[Goddess of Ice: Get his mouth open and I’ll freeze it.]

Titan had already thrown Saint Nusjuro back to Mihawk and reeled his fist back to strike.

Saint Saturn took a step back to get out of range for what was obviously going to be a strong punch but was surprised when Titan threw his fist forward without stepping in to close the distance.

That was when they heard the crack.

Cracks larger than Marineford’s largest building formed at the impact point of Titan’s fist on the empty air.

Every building behind Saint Saturn crumbled to pieces and the Giant Spider Elder himself had cracks appear throughout his entire body as if he was about to explode. The massive damage obviously caused Saint Saturn’s mouth to open wide and in that moment, Goddess of Ice flash froze the elder, leaving his open mouth unblocked.

Titan then casually took something out of his pocket and tossed it into Saturn’s mouth. Anyone with good vision could tell that it looked like a devil fruit.

After it reached the giant spider’s stomach, the entire body of the Giant Spider Elder exploded.

Titan then turned back to Rayleigh and said, “Not everyone can use the power of two devil Fruits like I can. Welcome to my crew. As the new guy, it will be your job to scrub the decks for the next-“

Titan’s bragging was interrupted by a woman’s scream.

Saint Saturn’s giant spider legs had pierced Goddess of Ice’s stomach completely through. The pieces of his body dissolved into ribbons and reformed once more, the Elder returning to his uninjured state. This time though, he looked different.

Behind the Elder, around his back, and over his shoulders, was a black banner that seemed to be made of smoke and shadow. The Elder’s body also seemed to become a little larger.

Although he did not look very different, the feeling he gave off seemed to be many times more sinister and powerful than before. Previously, he had been treating this encounter as the extermination of pests. Now, he wanted his enemies to suffer.

Rayleigh looked back over to Titan and asked, “You were saying?”

Titan replied, “Oops.”

*Author’s Note*

Sorry that took a while. I kept thinking that the chapter was missing something so I didn’t like any drafts I had of it. Then I watched Deadpool and Wolverine and it came to me. I’m sure those who watched it noticed it.

Titan and the other 20 Talent Pirate Players have 2 Devil Fruits. Every 20 Talent Player gets a Special ability related to their class. Rayleigh gets Balance of the Force, Pirates get 2 Devil Fruits. Every special ability comes with a weakness, and having 2 Devil Fruits means that their weakness to standing water is also doubled. Have fun guessing what the other Classes get.

Next part should not take nearly that long. Also, I figured out the direction to go for the Star Wars Arc which is good, since I didn’t have a good idea before this. A Good MC has a strong Mind, Body, and Heart. My MC has a strong body and mind, but what about his heart? A strong heart can’t be forged alone.

I also think that Heart training is the main problem when it comes to Jedi and Sith. Training the Heart wrong will lead one to the Dark Side, so the Jedi forbid anything that can train the Heart, but this leads to them having weak hearts. Then again, a True Jedi doesn’t need a heart. The Heart can guide a person, but a Jedi lets the Force guide them, so the Heart is useless.

I’ve neglected training my MC’s heart by having him avoid drama, so it’s time to throw him into the heart of everything and let him make difficult choices and mistakes to train his heart. That will be the general direction of the Clone Wars Arc. MC will master the Force while mastering the new powers of his Devil Fruit Empowered Kyber Crystals while training his heart.