The strange phenomenon in the sea left Roger with an uneasy feeling. Before he could understand what was happening, an inky darkness surged and spread beneath his feet.
In an instant, the waters around Roger transformed into an endless ocean of pitch-black. He tried to use his abilities to escape, but found himself trapped by an unseen force that held him immobile. His powers were rendered completely ineffective.
Meanwhile, Akainu and the others were unaffected, standing steadily atop the blackened sea. Even though the ice beneath them had vanished, they did not sink.
Aokiji attempted to freeze the black sea, but his freezing abilities dissipated uselessly into the void below.
Roder drove his blade Ace into the dark ocean and said in a deep voice,
"Black Dragon... I know it's you! Come out! Let's end this!"
As his voice echoed, a massive vortex appeared in the black sea. Slowly, Carl's figure emerged from the whirlpool.
Behind him, his bat-like wings had transformed into jets of dark energy resembling twin plumes of black fire. His crimson right arm, where it connected to his shoulder, was encircled by a black halo, suppressing the uncontrollable surge of power within him.
From Carl's presence, Roger sensed an overwhelming aura of darkness. Yet there was something eerily familiar about it, as though he had seen this power before. Shaking his head, Roger glared at Carl and said gravely,
"So, you've awakened too."
Carl raised his cursed blade Muramasa, which radiated a sinister black glow, and replied flatly,
"Indeed. I have you to thank for that."
During their previous battle, Carl's blood claws had pierced Roger's skin, drawing a significant amount of blood infused with the essence of Nika. Carl's Dark-Dark Fruit powers had already neared awakening, and Roger's blood provided the catalyst needed to break through the final barrier.
As Roger watched, Carl plunged Muramasa into the black sea. A ripple of invisible energy spread outward.
The dark waters surged violently, and Carl muttered to himself,
"As thanks, allow me to show you this... !"
The sea stilled momentarily, but an oppressive aura of terror permeated the calm.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thunderous roars echoed from beneath the sea. Roger stared tensely at the waters below, gripping Ace tightly as his Conqueror's Haki formed a barrier around him.
The next instant—
"ROAR!!!"
A deafening roar erupted from the depths as an enormous black dragon's head, as massive as a mountain, emerged from beneath Roger's feet. From his vantage point, the dragon's maw was a swirling vortex of pure, concentrated darkness.
Roger swung Ace, releasing slash after slash of Haki-infused energy, but the attacks failed to hinder the dragon in the slightest.
In the blink of an eye, Roger was swallowed whole.
He felt his body being torn and compressed from all sides. The dark energy enveloping him had undergone a qualitative transformation, surpassing even Nika's formidable durability. Cracks, resembling spiderwebs, spread across his resilient form.
Gritting his teeth, Roger endured the excruciating pain and forced Nika's power to inflate his body. With one final push, he broke free from the dragon's jaws before being completely dragged into the abyss.
Roger stumbled onto the surface, his body drenched in blood and his aura severely weakened. His skin began to shrivel rapidly, making him appear decades older—a fragile, withered husk of his former self.
Despite his still-imposing frame, it was clear to all that Roger was now a shadow of his past strength, like a balloon on the verge of deflating entirely.
With trembling hands, Roger raised Ace, its blade faintly flickering with Haki-infused arcs. With a hoarse roar, he swung with all his might.
"Divine... Departure!!"
A crimson slash of Conqueror's Haki tore through the air, but Carl stood motionless, allowing the attack to pass harmlessly through his awakened darkness.
Thanks to his Dark-Dark Fruit powers, Carl had broken the spatial restrictions of Nika's influence. He was now able to use Kamui freely.
Seeing his final strike fail, despair flickered in Roger's eyes. With a guttural roar, he suddenly began hammering his fist against his chest, directly over his heart.
Roger struck with such ferocity that his chest caved inward, yet he paid no heed and continued pounding. Blood poured from his mouth as he gritted his teeth through the agony.
Then, a low, rhythmic drumming echoed from within his chest.
"Doom... Doom... Doom-doom... DOOM! DOOM! DOOM!"
The drumming grew louder and faster until it reverberated across the sea and sky.
An immense aura surged outward, distorting the space around Roger.
Carl frowned as he watched. In his eyes, Roger's actions resembled the activation of Nika's fabled Drums of Liberation, an ability that supposedly granted the user a miraculous "second wind."
However, Roger's version was far from what Carl had seen with Luffy. Unlike Luffy's natural, automatic heartbeat, Roger's activation required him to brutalize himself—like comparing manual labor to an automatic system.
Moreover, while Luffy's revival seemed relatively harmless, Roger's transformation was grotesque. His already shriveled body deteriorated further, skin clinging to bones, his once-mighty stature reduced to a skeletal form resembling a desiccated corpse.
A decaying stench wafted from Roger's mouth as he glared at Carl with hollow, sunken eyes.
In a raspy voice, he growled,
"Black Dragon..."
-----------
+210 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg