A pitch-black bat flitted across Big Mom's face.
Her expression darkened immediately at the sight of the bat. Before she could react, a heavy strike landed squarely on her back.
Boom!
Before Kuma's eyes, the ground beneath Big Mom's feet collapsed into a square-shaped crater. In an instant, her massive figure vanished without a trace.
Kuma froze for a moment, then looked at Carl, who floated mid-air with his hands in his pockets.
Carl's foot was encased in a layer of deep purple energy.
"Thank you for your hard work, Kuma," Carl said with a smile as he looked down.
Before Kuma could respond, a furious roar erupted from the crater.
"BASTARD!!!"
The next second, Big Mom shot out of the pit, riding on Zeus. At the center of her back, a distinct black shoe imprint stood out.
Blood poured from her mouth in violent spurts as she coughed uncontrollably, the ferocity of Carl's attack apparent.
Lucia, her black wings gently flapping, arrived to hover alongside Carl, both of them gazing down at Big Mom.
On the ground below, Kuma clasped his paw-like hands together, watching the enraged Big Mom. She crouched on Zeus, her face pale with fury. After the defeats of Whitebeard and Dragon, Carl's blade was finally poised to take her down as well.
Yet, even as she faced what seemed like certain death, Big Mom, one of the Four Emperors, refused to show any hint of submission.
Steeling herself, she called back Napoleon, the sword previously knocked away by Lucia, and launched herself at Carl.
Carl narrowed his eyes, choosing not to draw his cursed blade, Muramasa. Instead, he stopped Big Mom's ferocious strike with a single hand cloaked in Haki.
The clash sent black lightning crackling through the air. Big Mom gritted her teeth, struggling to press Napoleon forward, but her efforts were in vain.
Carl smirked, twisting his wrist to fling the sword aside, then planted a heavy kick into Big Mom's stomach, sending her crashing into the ground again.
Before she could hit the earth, Carl appeared below her in a blur, driving an uppercut into the black shoe print on her back.
Crack!
The sound of bones shattering echoed through the battlefield. Big Mom's eyes widened, bloodshot and filled with agony. Her body hung mid-air, held aloft by the black gravitational pull of Carl's power.
The sight of Big Mom in such a state stunned Katakuri and the others fighting the Marines. Despair enveloped them as Carl's dominance became clear.
Big Mom struggled, but her body no longer obeyed her commands—her spine shattered by Carl's brutal assault.
Lifting her effortlessly, Carl remarked, "Charlotte Linlin, you were so gracious back in the Valley of Gods, weren't you?"
Big Mom's teeth gnashed audibly at his words.
"I should've killed you back then!"
Carl chuckled. "You're not wrong."
With a flash of cold light in his eyes, Carl hurled her high into the air before leaping up in pursuit. His knee collided with her back again, and with another crack, Big Mom's spine finally gave out completely.
Even in her extraordinary condition, Big Mom remained conscious—a curse in this instance, as it forced her to endure Carl's unrelenting punishment.
Drawing Muramasa, Carl slashed twice in quick succession, each cut forming a black X across Big Mom's limbs. As he landed, her severed arms and legs followed, crashing to the ground alongside her mangled torso.
The Homies Zeus, Prometheus, and Hera combined and dove toward Carl in a desperate attempt to save their creator. But Carl, without even sparing them a glance, unleashed a black tornado of darkness, obliterating the three instantly.
Big Mom, reduced to a limbless torso, glared at Carl with unyielding hatred. Concentrating her Haki, she propelled herself forward like a cannonball in a final, futile attack.
Carl didn't budge. Encasing his hand in gravitational force and Haki, he stopped her headlong charge with a palm pressed against her forehead.
Time seemed to freeze.
Muscles tensed, and Carl took a single step forward, pushing Big Mom's head into her chest cavity.
Thud!
Her spherical form rolled to the ground, lifeless yet grotesquely intact.
The battlefield fell silent. Every eye turned to the "steel balloon" that Big Mom had become, struggling to process the humiliation of her defeat.
With a flick of his foot, Carl sent her body tumbling to Kuzan's feet.
"Kuzan, freeze her," Carl ordered calmly.
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+250 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg