One Piece: Kaido's adopted son, starts with the Eight Gates Formation.

When Jack thrust his spear, he himself didn't expect it to be so accurate.

But Yhwach merely tilted his head, and the spear grazed past his ear, the Armament Haki on the spear tip shaving off a few strands of his hair.

"Oh?" Yhwach pinched the spear shaft between his fingers.

Jack tried his best to pull back, but he couldn't budge it.

"Let go!"

Yhwach didn't let go. Instead, he pulled hard, dragging Jack and his spear together, and slammed his knee into Jack's abdomen.

Jack's armor shattered, his body curled up like a shrimp, and he flew backward, spitting out blood.

"Lord Jack!" the members of the Beasts Guild exclaimed from afar.

Jhin was still battling Yhwach's left hand, unleashing a barrage of blue flames in an attempt to burn through the opponent's shield.

"Your flames aren't hot enough," Yhwach commented, then twisted his wrist, pulling Ember's ankle in the opposite direction.

Jhin's expression changed. He flipped in the air, broke free from Yhwach's grip, and retreated several meters.

"This person—" King quickly assessed his combat strength in his mind, "is at least on par with Lord Kaido. No, he might be even more difficult to deal with—he can adapt to different fighting styles."

Hawkeye strikes again.

This wasn't a test, but a true killing move. Black Blade Night drew a black arc, and space itself cracked open along the blade's trajectory.

Yhwach had no choice but to parry head-on—he reconstituted his spirit sword and clashed with Hawkeye's blade.

boom--

The shockwave sent fragments of the surrounding palace flying.

"Three against one?" Yhwach said during the collision. "I thought outsiders would be more disciplined."

"You invade someone else's territory and expect them to follow the rules?" Hawkeye retorted.

"That makes sense." Yhwach acknowledged this, and then his aura surged.

The power of the Spirit King's son was fully unleashed; black patterns reappeared on his skin, and his triple cross-shaped pupils spun rapidly. A spiritual storm formed around his body, tearing apart anything that approached.

"Back off!" Hawkeye leaped backward.

Jin also sensed the danger and spread his wings to retreat.

But Quinn—who had just arrived breathless from the Isle of Godslayers—crashed right into the edge of the Spirit Storm.

"What the hell—Ouch!" Quinn's mechanical arm had a layer of its outer shell shaved off by the spiritual storm, and he rolled away with a scream.

"Idiot." Jin commented expressionlessly.

Yhwach ignored these minor figures. His goal remained singular—the golden core suspended in the center of the void.

"Hasward," he whispered.

"exist."

"I'll hold them off, you go get the core."

"Yes."

Haschward emerged from the shadows, the black sword in his hand gleaming with a cold light. He moved with incredible speed, almost instantly traversing the battlefield and flying towards the golden core.

Hawkeye was the first to notice.

"ember!"

As soon as Jhin realized what was happening, he flapped his wings and sent blue flames flying towards Haschward.

Hasward flicked his wrist, and the black sword drew an arc, deflecting all the flaming arrows.

"Your attacks—" Hasward said coldly, "are meaningless before my 'perfect balance.' The damage you inflict on me will be returned to you in full."

He reached out to touch the golden core—

An icicle shot from the side and froze his arm.

Hasward turned his head.

Aokiji—Kuzan stood on the roof of a palace in the distance, his hands in his pockets, looking exhausted.

"...Sorry, I just woke up." Aokiji yawned. "It seems something terrible has happened?"

"You are—" Hasward tried to break free of the ice, but the ice kept thickening.

"Let me sort out the situation," Aokiji said slowly. "A group of people dressed in white have infiltrated the Spirit King's Palace, trying to steal the golden ball that the young master made. Is that right?"

"you--"

"Then I'll have to stop you. Even though I'm really sleepy and don't want to fight."

Aokiji's body began to turn into ice mist, and the temperature dropped sharply. Within his ability's range, the movement of spiritual particles was frozen, and cracks appeared in Haschward's spiritual particle shield.