This article contains spoilers from One Piece's Elbaf arc.

Summary

The Holy Knights are confirmed to be immortal, making them powerful enemies in One Piece.
To counter their immortality, one must find and destroy the Abyss Mark on their bodies.
Advanced Conqueror's Haki can nullify the Abyss Mark, potentially rendering the Holy Knights vulnerable.

The Elbaf arc of One Piece has finally introduced some of the most powerful enemies that fans have seen so far in the story, known as the Holy Knights. First teased in the story by Dragon, the Holy Knights of the World Government have now taken center stage, being the main antagonists of Elbaf and showcasing strange abilities as well.

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By Rei Penber

When it comes to the Holy Knights, there is one ability that stands out more than any other, and that is the power of their immortality. The Holy Knights are incredibly strong, but a big chunk of that can be attributed to their immortality, which was directly confirmed in One Piece chapter 1148. So far, this power remains a mystery, but Oda might already have revealed its weakness to the fans.

The Immortality Of The Holy Knights Is Revealed By Oda

The Holy Knights Are Confirmed To Be Immortal
Gunko, Sommers, and Killingham Are Monsters

The Immortality of the Holy Knights was first teased in One Piece by none other than Gunko. When Usopp fired his special Bug Grass Bomb at Gunko, it blew up half of her body, but much to the surprise of the fans, she fully regenerated. This wasn't the first time that fans saw an ability like this. In the Egghead arc, fans saw Saint Saturn and all the other Elders use the power as well.

It's no use fighting them. These guys are immortal! — Luffy

It was not a surprise in their case, given that fans already had a good idea of the fact that all the Five Elders are immortal. However, when it comes to the Holy Knights, few knew that they would be immortal as well. One Piece chapter 1146 confirmed this for Gunko, while One Piece chapter 1147 saw Saul outright state that all the members of the Holy Knights are immortal, which makes a lot of sense, given the fact that they are above the regular Celestial Dragons when it comes to power and hierarchy.

As such, all the Holy Knights that fans have seen in One Piece so far, such as Shamrock Figarland, Gunko, Saint Sommers, and Killingham, are all immortal. Naturally, fans have no idea of how this immortality can be beaten in One Piece, but Oda has already revealed hints to the ways of countering it, which will soon become a key plot point moving forward.

The Counter To The Immortality Lies In The Abyss Summoning Circle

The Abyss Mark Gives The Holy Knights Power

While not many will have noted it to be an important reveal, Oda confirmed the name of the Summoning Circle used by the Five Elders and the Holy Knights in the Elbaf arc. When Sommers and Killingham were called to Elbaf, Gunko stated that only those who carry a certain Mark can pass through the Abyss. Clearly, the Holy Knights carry a mark somewhere on their bodies that allows them to pass through the Abyss. The Abyss in itself is connected to Imu somehow. Naturally, the only way to get past the immortality of the Five Elders is going to be to get rid of the Abyss mark somehow. It is difficult to ascertain how the mark can be removed so that the connection with Imu is severed, but that's the difficult part of the battle.

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By Rei Penber

Robin, Chopper, hide! These are the Holy Knights. I've seen them before. They're immortal. We can't win. — Saul

To counter the immortality of the Holy Knights, one most likely needs to find the Mark of the Abyss on their body. This Mark then needs to likely be destroyed in one way or another. It might be that only Haki can truly remove this mark from the body. Once the Mark is removed the body should most likely lose access to immortality, meaning the Holy Knights would be vulnerable to regular hits.

Conqueror's Haki Can Seemingly Nullify The Abyss Mark

Another weakness that Oda seems to have demonstrated of the Abyss is Advanced Conqueror's Haki, although of a very high level. For instance, Joy Boy's Conqueror's Haki was able to nullify the powers of the Abyss mark and send the Five Elders back to Marijoa, canceling their summonings and even removing them from their Yokai states. In other words, with strong Conqueror's Haki, the power of the Immortality can be countered as well.

One Piece chapter 1148 will be out soon, in two weeks' time. As usual, One Piece is going to drop on Sunday. In Japan, One Piece drops at 12AM JST on Monday. However, the vast majority of international readers will see the chapter available on May 11. The official release date of One Piece Chapter 1148 is May 11, 2025. Fans can read the chapter for free on Manga Plus.

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Release Date: October 20, 1999
Network: Fuji TV
Directors: Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou