Chapter 544: Wrath in the Void: The Fall of Uranus

At some point, Im had quietly taken a seat inside the Heavenly King Uranus. No one knew how she managed to get up there.

Right now, she watched a colossal, energy-charged figure streak straight from the planet up to the heavens on her monitor.

“Last time you damaged the Heavenly King Uranus with some unknown power. This time, I’ll see for myself just what can destroy the Heavenly King.”

Im’s voice brimmed with defiance. The armor of the Heavenly King Uranus was said to be the toughest in all the One Piece World.

Even during that legendary divine battle, no one had managed to harm Uranus. Yet in Karl’s hands, it was like clay, simply molded at will.

Now, with the beams in the sky vanishing, Ledfield called back most of his crows, letting the clear sky shine above once more. Only he on the field realized that Karl had just flown into outer space alone.

“Looks like I broke my word again. Guess I’d better head down and see if I can find Im.”

Ledfield still naively thought Im was hidden in some palace below. He soared with his black wings to hover above the plaza, just as a red firebird shot up from the chaotic battlefield below.

The newcomer was Marcus Saint. Normally, handling Marco would’ve been no trouble for him alone, but the sudden appearance of a golden-winged Roc—a form taken by Dragon—threw his rhythm off. Together, Marco and Dragon forced him back.

“You’re just in time. I’ll start with you.”

“Oong…”

Ledfield opened his jaws wide. A violent subsonic blast wrapped around Marcus Saint, focused in midair so it wouldn’t spread below.

“What is this?”

Just as Marcus Saint was about to recover his balance and rejoin the fight against Dragon and Marco, a strange sound hit his ears. It grated on his nerves, making him irritable, and soon his whole body felt an overwhelming discomfort.

He felt like he’d been working for days on end—bone-tired and desperate for sleep. But every fiber in his body screamed out, warning him he was about to explode.

Dizzy, he frantically looked for the attack’s source. All he saw were Dragon and Marco flanking him, their gazes flicking up to something above his head.

Only when it was too late did he realize the enemy was right above. Blood began to seep from every orifice, and his body started to collapse.

“I will not be defeated.”

“Nirvana!”

Marcus Saint transformed into a massive firebird, his entire body blazing. A sphere of fire engulfed him as his wounds visibly healed at an astonishing speed.

But this power came with a price—and a strict limit.

Each use permanently weakened his very life force, and it could only be used three times across his entire life.

During that great war long ago, using Nirvana had let him survive. Now, here he was, forced to use it once more.

“You think you can use Nirvana in front of me? Dream on!”

“Smith, throw me your weapon!”

Smith, clad in red armor, was hacking away at a war machine with his blazing sword.

Hearing Ledfield call down from above, Smith leapt back and tossed the flaming blade up to him.

“It won’t last long.”

“No worries. I’ll only need a few seconds.”

Ledfield knew Smith’s armor and weapons well.

The armor somehow drew on the power of a Devil Fruit, making it capable of hurting even Haki-clad masters—real damage, not just surface cuts.

And the energy infused within it was different from any Devil Fruit power. It could even harm the soul itself. The only drawback: once the weapon left its creator’s hands, it would only last two and a half minutes.

Just barely longer than the time it took for Ultraman’s red light to start flashing.

But in a decisive duel, a few seconds was all you needed.

“Nirvana? Foolish! Let me give you an ending you won’t forget.”

“Demon-Sealing Slash!”

The flaming blade writhed with a dense black aura, Conqueror’s Haki flooding over it. As Ledfield roared the name of the technique, the fire blazed even hotter. Around Marcus Saint, the very flames seemed to shudder in fear.

With a burst of speed, a shadow gripping the red blade shot right through the giant fireball, slicing it clean in half. The flames were snuffed out midsky, leaving only Marcus Saint’s body, split in two.

Blood spewed from Marcus Saint, but the lingering heat vaporized it instantly, leaving just faint red stains.

“No… impossible. Absolutely impossible!”

“These flames could melt steel—how did you cut straight through them with a single strike?”

Ledfield tossed the flaming blade back down to Smith, then swept his wings and came face-to-face with Marcus Saint.

“For someone like you, death is the only solution. Rest easy—there’s no need for you to know the rest.”

“Bat Swarm Formation!”

A rolling fog spilled from Ledfield. From the mist, bats the size of human heads darted out, clinging to Marcus Saint and sucking his blood.

“You… uh…”

Marcus Saint barely managed two words before the swarm of bats completely enshrouded him, blocking out everything.

A few seconds later, the bats scattered—and two halves of a dried corpse tumbled from the sky.

“Marcus Saint!”

“Damn it!”

“Bone Hell!”

Nassourang Saint watched his old comrade fall, rage boiling inside. Trading wounds with Whitebeard, he was sent flying but managed to brace himself against the ground.

Suddenly, the plaza started shaking. Stones bounced harshly across the ground like an earthquake’s warning.

“What’s happening? What’s going on?”

“Ugogogogo!”

“That old man’s just thrashing around. Ignore him—step up the attack and wipe them out!”

“Great Weide—Thunder Bagua!”

Kaido shook his empty gourd and smashed it on the ground, brandishing his kanabo as he charged Borg Saint, aiming straight for his skull.

His strength was truly monstrous. He and Borg Saint were like beasts locked in endless struggle—neither showing much visible injury, but both racked with internal wounds.

Borg Saint marvelled. Who would’ve thought that the rookie once sheltered by Karl and Whitebeard now packed such power?

If he’d known, he would’ve made sure to finish him in God Valley all those years ago.

“Thrust!”

As the tremor faded, huge bone spikes shot up from the ground—ten centimeters thick and several meters long.

“Dodge!”

“Don’t let those spikes run you through!”

But these weren’t clumsy low-level pirates—each fighter had their own skills. The attack didn’t wound many, but formed tough bone walls, carving the battlefield into a sprawling maze. In the heart of the plaza, the next round began.

Meanwhile, Karl floated silently in outer space, wearing his iconic red underwear, facing the three Heavenly King Uranus vessels before him.

“Impressive—so these were the trump cards. Three of them.”

His words were for himself; nothing could travel in the vacuum of space.

“Time’s short—just a bit over two minutes left. Let’s get this done.”

Im, sitting in the rearmost Uranus, watched Karl streak toward her. With a thought, she commanded the other two to fire their beams at maximum power.

Instantly, three laser pillars swallowed Karl whole.

But to Im’s shock, her dashboard showed that blazing red figure completely unaffected—still pushing forward, already at the first Uranus.

“It may only last a short while, but with Superman’s power out here in space, I’m constantly absorbing energy. The beams burn less than I can recover!”

Karl gazed past the Ursnuses to the distant sun. He had no idea how big it really was, but the growing energy inside told him: in these final seconds, Superman’s Underpants would show their true power.

“Will you live to witness this?”

“Let me shatter your trump cards with my own hands.”

Karl drew a deep breath, raised his fist high, and smashed down on Uranus’ armored hull. Bang!

The armor shattered under his blow. In a blink he was inside, red lasers lancing from his eyes to devastate the vessel. Three seconds later he burst out again.

Im barely had time to react before the first Uranus erupted with blinding light, rings radiating outward from the exploding reactor. Waves of photons swept across the void, devastating the battlefield.

The shockwave knocked the remaining two Uranus vessels back, desperate to dodge the inferno.

But that was just the beginning. Karl gave Im no chance to counter, instantly streaking toward the second Uranus.

“How can this be?”

“Last time, taking out even one cost all his strength—how has he destroyed one so quickly this time?”

“No—the other one!”

Im stared at the empty void, fear rising, as she tried everything to move the third Uranus. She hammered at the controls, but got no response from the second ship.

Suddenly, a blinding flash to her right and violent tremors told her there was only one Heavenly King Uranus left in space.

And in that same heartbeat the last Uranus was knocked flying by another explosion.

As it finally stabilized, she heard a thud right above and instinctively looked up.

Could it be…?

“So, I found you, didn’t I?”

Karl knelt on one knee, fist planted on the hull, gazing toward the distant sun.

“What a sight.”

Creak, creak!