Inside the bedroom of Duke de La Vallière and Duchess Karina.
"Why?"
"Why is my magic failing? Just moments ago it was working perfectly fine!"
Staring at the dazzling, shimmering transparent barrier before her, Louise was utterly confused.
And the moment she instinctively turned her gaze toward Hiraga Saito—
She suddenly noticed a sound above her head, the increasingly sharp crackling of something breaking apart.
Not just her—everyone present snapped their heads upward.
At once, they saw countless jet-black beetles drilling out from the ceiling. Each one was nearly the size of a fist, their bodies gleaming with a metallic luster—terrifying to behold!
At the same time—
From outside came the sounds of explosions, panicked shouts, and screams rising one after another.
Everyone instantly realized—the World Government had arrived!
"Watch out!"
"Get out of here first!"
The nearly seventy-year-old female archmage, the Sage Mimoza, shed her usual gentle and kind demeanor. Her face turned stern as she barked out a sharp warning.
Even as her voice fell—
The yellow jade gem embedded in the tip of her mithril staff suddenly flared with brilliant golden light.
Scattering beams of gold radiated out, passing effortlessly through walls and barriers alike, flooding every corner of the mansion.
In the corridor, Levi was darting rapidly through midair with Moon Step.
With the half-blade in his hand, he had just cleaved two guards in half at the waist.
Before the hot spray of blood could even scatter—he was swallowed whole by the dazzling golden light.
[BOOM!!!]
On the lawn outside the mansion, Amatori Biba, Green, Tsukushi, and Mashiro witnessed a golden pillar of light tear through the roof and soar skyward.
But almost immediately, it was blocked by a warped, distorted layer of air above.
[Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!]
At that moment, beams of light descended from the sky.
They landed roughly 50 meters away from Amatori Biba and the other three.
In the blink of an eye, the radiance faded.
Louise, Saito, the Sage Mimoza—
Tabitha, Kirche, Tiffania, Hodolew, and Tuka—
Along with Louise's father, Duke de La Vallière, her mother, Duchess Karina, her second sister Cattleya—
And standing at the forefront, Safary and Molmon—two magical scholars.
Altogether, thirteen figures appeared one after another.
Illococoo had already transformed into her Wind Dragon form, guarding closely at Tabitha's side, eyes sharp with vigilance as shadows continued to gather all around them.
Just like the other members of CP8—
"I am Amatori Biba, captain of Cipher Pol No. 8 under the World Government!"
"Miss Louise, you deserted from the World Gate Base, and in doing so, you severely disrupted the advance of General Golden Lion's forces into the Nuclear Weapons World!"
"You have violated the laws of the World Government. You are hereby ordered to accompany us to Enies Lobby, where you will face trial before the Supreme Court!"
"Trial?"
"You're the ones who invaded Saito's homeland! If anyone deserves judgment, it's you!"
"And before, I was only helping you. But now I don't want to anymore—what's wrong with that?"
"What wrong have I done?!"
Perhaps the presence of so many allies gave her a sense of security.
Louise's haughty temper surged forth, and she lashed back at Amatori Biba without hesitation.
At the same time, she poured out all the thoughts in her heart.
She truly believed she had done no wrong.
Was it wrong to stop her beloved's world from being invaded?
Was it wrong to help a friend search for her missing daughter?
Of course not—so why should she be the one put on trial!
At fifteen years old, Louise felt nothing but aggrieved.
Everything she had done was right—righteous, even—yet she was wanted as a criminal, dragging her family into this mess as well.
It was the World Government that was truly evil!
The more she spoke, the angrier Louise became.
The little girl's eyes gradually turned red, tears welling up within them—yet she stubbornly refused to let them fall.
That small, defiant expression left Amatori Biba, as well as Merraid, Levi, and the others nearby, momentarily stunned.
Why did it suddenly feel like they were bullying a young girl?
She looked as though she was about to cry.
Biba's expression turned cold.
"In that case, we can only take you by force. Move!"
At his command—
The CP8 members immediately unleashed their own abilities, launching attacks at their chosen targets.
Levi raised his twin single-edged blades, his body blurring as he leapt high into the air. He began to spin at tremendous speed, forming a horizontal green tornado that surged forward.
"Wind?"
"I'll handle this. I may not wish to oppose the World Government, but at this point surrender is impossible!"
Louise's mother, Duchess Karina stepped forward, brandishing her short staff.
A raging whirlwind burst forth from the tip of her wand, swelling outward at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In the next instant—
The white tornado and the green tornado collided violently in the open space between them.
[BOOM!!!]
A fierce shockwave of air exploded outward in an instant—
Forcing everyone around them to deal first with the overwhelming gale.
Amidst the storm, Tabitha rode upon Illococoo's dragon back, soaring into the skies.
Then she raised her long staff, pointing it at the black-clad figures below.
At once, waves of cold surged forth from the tip of her staff.
One after another, thick and elongated icicles swiftly condensed.
[Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!]
As the icicles tore through the void in rapid volleys, a piercing chorus of air-splitting shrieks filled the sky.
"Heh, watch this one!"
Lubbock's lips curled as he spread his arms with a cheeky grin.
"Breath of Love—Shield of Protection!"
In an instant, countless threads—so fine they were almost invisible to the naked eye, glowing with a faint pink light—sprang forth.
They quickly wove themselves in midair into a pink-white barrier, blocking every single falling icicle.
High above, Tabitha frowned at the sight.
On the other side—
Kirche joined forces with the salamander at her side, hurling blazing columns of fire at the sword-wielding warrior charging toward her.
But each time, her flames were shredded apart by the opponent's slashing wind blades.
Her expression darkened with frustration.
Kirche's opponent was Kurusu from the Kabane World.
"Saito, hurry and help Kirche!"
Louise, seeing the scene unfold, hastily called out to Saito.
"But…"
Saito hesitated, clearly more inclined to stay by her side.
Yet Kirche was a comrade too, and Louise still had Sage Mimoza by her side.
So he grit his teeth, drew his blade, and charged into battle against Kurusu.
Between the two sides, the ringing clash of blades echoed without pause, sparks bursting and flickering endlessly.
On Louise's side stood Hodolew, his own daughter Tuka, and his foster daughter and master Tiffania.
All three were elves skilled in magic and archery.
Forming a triangular position around Louise, Sage Mimoza, Duke de La Vallière, and her second sister Cattleya, they loosed arrow after arrow of magic energy at the members of CP8.
Though the power was not great, it was enough to serve as constant interference.
Facing the mage Safary and her mastery of shadow magic—
Two antennae sprouted from Merraid's forehead, her eyes transforming into cyan-yellow compound eyes.
From her back unfurled a pair of enormous, iridescent butterfly wings, dazzling with multicolored light.
Her height surged from 1.65 m to nearly 1.9 m.
This was the Zoan-type Insect-Insect Fruit, Mythical Model: Mothra Butterfly Form, that Esdeath had given her last year!
The terrifying black hands wrought from shadows rushed toward her—
But Merraid, radiating a seductive allure, only gave a light flutter of her wings.
In an instant, a rainbow-hued gale swept forth, erasing them all.
The entire battlefield froze in stunned silence at the sight!
Only Amatori Biba, standing behind her, remained perfectly calm, his eyes utterly unshaken.
Merraid's dazzling transformation pushed the atmosphere to its absolute peak.
Both sides instinctively increased the power of their techniques, their attacks striking with greater frequency and ferocity.
Though the Vallière Manor was vast, it could not withstand such devastation from so many masters.
[BOOM!!!]
In an instant, the grand villa—large as a small castle—collapsed under the barrage of magic, Devil Fruit powers, Teigu abilities, blades, and shockwaves. It crumbled into a ruinous wasteland, clouds of dust billowing skyward and spreading outward in rolling waves.
Meanwhile—
Standing beside Sage Mimoza, Louise continued casting "World Gate" again and again.
Louise desperately tried to open a spatial passage to take everyone away.
But under the interference of the Teigu Shambhala's ability, Eightfold Golden Lock, the white light disintegrated again and again before it could take shape.
"Ahhhh!"
"Why is this happening? I have to get everyone out of here—uuuuhhh!"
Louise's spirit collapsed completely. She crouched down, sobbing uncontrollably.
At that moment, a warm hand gently patted her shoulder.
Louise instinctively lifted her tear-filled eyes.
There stood Sage Mimoza, smiling kindly as she said, "Don't panic. Since they were able to come in, there must also be a way out. If the World Gate doesn't work, then we'll just have to think of another method."
After speaking, Sage Mimoza paused and turned her gaze toward Amatori Biba, who was still standing motionless.
"For example, if we capture their leader, we should be able to learn how to get out."
As her words fell, a radiant golden light surged from Sage Mimoza's body.
Above her head, a golden magic circle with a diameter of 10 meters appeared.
The next instant—
At the center of the array, a golden sphere of light condensed, brilliant as a miniature sun.
Sage Mimoza raised her secret-silver staff, crowned with a gleaming yellow jade, high overhead.
[Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!]
Suddenly, beams of light shot out from the radiant orb.
Like a torrential downpour, they spread outward in every direction with incredible density and speed—striking everyone in their path, friend and foe alike.
Faces across the battlefield changed instantly.
But those struck—Lady Karina, Hiraga Saito, Tabitha, Kirche, and even the mages Safary and Molmon, who were further away—quickly realized their stamina, mana, and injuries were being rapidly restored.
In contrast, the beams raining down on the CP8 members were nothing like the gentle ones that had struck Louise's group.
Instead, they burned with extreme heat.
Where they landed, the ground erupted into pits of scorched earth, molten like lava.
"So strong…"
Louise, seeing this, stopped crying. Her face lit up with a wide smile. "As expected of Sage Mimoza!"
"Hehehe… it's been so many years since I fought seriously. I'm a bit rusty."
Sage Mimoza turned her head with a kind smile toward the adorable girl.
[BOOM!!!]
But at that instant, a massive explosion resounded from overhead.
Louise's smile froze on her lips.
The beams of light falling from the sky cut off all at once.
In an instant, Vallière Manor fell into deathly silence.
Every gaze turned upward, to where Amatori Biba had appeared in the air without anyone noticing.
In his hand he held a longsword, its blade veined with red light like pulsing blood vessels.
His cold, merciless eyes fixed on the astonished Sage Mimoza below.
"What just happened, Louise?"
The Sage immediately turned to ask the girl behind her.
"A… a snake. A terrible white snake. It swallowed the light sphere you made—then it exploded."
Sitting on the grass, Louise trembled all over, her voice shaking violently.
It was clear she was truly terrified.
"A snake?"
Sage Mimoza narrowed her eyes.
Around Amatori Biba's body, a phantom white serpent appeared, wreathed in violet mist.
Its scarlet tongue flicked out, and its icy reptilian eyes locked onto her.
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---