A terrifying aura of slaughter swept across the battlefield.
To the hundreds of thousands scattered throughout the Red Line, it was almost imperceptible. Yet around Imu, that overwhelming force had become tangible, coiling around his body like a living thing.
The earth-shaking Conqueror's Haki surged violently, condensing into countless black lightning bolts that tore through the heavens before converging upon the crossed blades.
At the same time, a chilling abyssal demonic energy continuously poured into Evil Shirogai's body.
He resembled a supreme demon lord awakened from the deepest reaches of the abyss.
Despair.
Annihilation.
Corruption.
Every ounce of that terrifying presence locked firmly onto Imu.
"Damn insects!!!"
Imu's body stiffened.
His pupils contracted sharply as he stared at the power radiating from Evil Shirogai.
"You are not worthy of such power!"
"Only Imu is worthy of wielding such power!"
His voice trembled with fury.
"That Haki!!!"
"That demonic energy belongs to Imu's authority!!!"
Especially those cold eyes.
Those merciless, murderous eyes.
For the first time in countless centuries, Imu felt something he had long forgotten.
Fear.
A primal terror buried deep within the soul.
The instinctive dread all living beings feel when confronted with death itself.
Yet the realization immediately transformed into humiliation.
A profound shame surged through him.
Fear was something he imposed upon others.
Never something he experienced himself.
He was Imu.
The supreme ruler of the world.
How could he fear a mere child?
How could he believe he might die at Shirogai's hands?
To him, such a thought was blasphemy.
The true offense was not his fear.
It was the existence of those insects daring to threaten a god.
"Damn insect!"
Imu's blood-red turbine eyes burned wildly.
"You think you can kill Imu?!"
Demonic flames erupted from his pupils.
Black, blood-like liquid seeped from the twisted horns protruding from his skull.
The demonic energy surrounding him surged endlessly.
His body became increasingly monstrous.
Increasingly terrifying.
His fingers curled tightly as his physique expanded at an alarming rate.
"Shirogai!!!"
His roar shook the sky.
"Do not underestimate demons!!!"
"I have devoured beings as powerful as gods before!!!"
Joy Boy.
That man had once believed himself superior to Imu.
They had fought together.
Faced enemies together.
Yet in the end...
Imu had been the one who remained.
Only Imu stood at the pinnacle.
Only Imu had been chosen by the world.
No one would ever be permitted to threaten his position.
Joy Boy had died because of it.
And now Shirogai would meet the same fate.
Crack!
Imu's body expanded violently.
Layers of flesh tore apart as muscles swelled beneath them.
His skin split like garments unable to contain the growth.
Blood-red muscles emerged.
Grotesque.
Monstrous.
The composed and indifferent ruler who once viewed all life from above had vanished completely.
Only madness remained.
Only rage.
"I am the sole ruler of this world!!!"
His voice echoed throughout the heavens.
"No one can escape my control!!!"
Under the pressure of death, Imu's body twisted violently.
Strange bulges surfaced across his flesh.
Round protrusions pushed outward repeatedly.
It looked as if countless trapped souls were struggling inside him.
As though innumerable beings imprisoned within his body were desperately attempting to escape.
They writhed endlessly beneath his skin.
"Get back!"
Imu looked down at the swelling masses and roared furiously.
The demonic energy surrounding him thickened.
Black.
Cold.
Viscous.
Like stagnant water from the deepest abyss.
"This body belongs to me!"
"Not one of you weaklings has the right to fight me for control!"
...
...
After the roar subsided, the strange protrusions gradually retreated.
The restless masses slowly sank back into his flesh.
Silence returned.
For a moment.
Then Imu's rage exploded once more.
"You are nothing but insects!"
"Lowly creatures!"
"How dare you threaten my rule?!"
His skeletal frame thickened.
His body became even more ferocious.
Sharp spikes protruded from every part of him.
His size now rivaled that of a giant.
No.
He was even larger.
"Shirogai!"
His monstrous voice shook the battlefield.
"THIS WORLD BELONGS TO ME!!!!!!!!!!"
Crack!
His body expanded again.
Violently.
Uncontrollably.
This was not arrogance.
Nor was it an attempt to intimidate Evil Shirogai.
It was fear.
Pure fear.
Deep within his soul, Imu lacked confidence.
He was not certain he could survive the attack about to descend upon him.
If he truly believed he could withstand Evil Shirogai's strike, there would be no reason to strengthen himself so desperately.
Ordinary enemies meant nothing to him.
The attacks of countless pirates could not even shake the demonic energy forming his outer defenses.
Let alone penetrate the protection of his Conqueror's Haki.
Combined with his near-immortal body, even powerful pirates such as the Supernovas could not leave so much as a scratch upon him.
Even if he stood still and allowed them to attack freely.
But the enemy before him was different.
Across from him stood the world's strongest.
Shirogai.
Even if it was only his incarnation, Evil Thought.
The destructive power contained within those crossed black and white blades made one thing clear.
This attack could not be avoided.
It could only be endured.
Imu continued growing.
Taller.
Larger.
More monstrous.
"ROAR!!!"
His voice thundered across the heavens.
"As long as filthy creatures like humans continue to exist, my source of power will never run dry!"
His body had already grown to the size of a mountain.
Looking down from above, Shirogai appeared no larger than a firefly.
His expression twisted into savage fury.
"I have lived for thousands of years!!!"
"What right does an insect with only a few decades of life have to challenge me?!"
The ruins of Pangea Castle could no longer conceal him.
His colossal body towered above everything.
A true apocalypse incarnate.
The terrifying figure was visible throughout Mary Geoise.
"Look over there!"
A pirate pointed upward.
"Is that a giant?!"
"No... it's even bigger than a giant!"
"My God!"
"A monster!"
"A terrifying monster!"
The invading pirates stared in disbelief.
Its overwhelming presence surpassed anything they had ever witnessed.
Even many Yonko seemed insignificant before such a creature.
"What kind of monster is that?!"
Apoo, covered in wounds, stood frozen.
His mouth hung open in shock.
"The Haki from earlier..."
"Did that monster release it?"
Beside him, Hawkins frowned.
Completely unharmed, he gripped his eerie straw-transformed blade.
"No."
His eyes narrowed.
"That's not right."
"This monster's Conqueror's Haki is powerful."
"But it isn't the same."
"The Haki from earlier belonged to someone else."
...
Amid the ruins.
Evil Shirogai stood unmoving.
The black and white swords remained crossed before him.
His destructive Haki merged completely with demonic energy.
The combined force engulfed Imu's gigantic form.
"The Sword of Termination."
His voice was quiet.
Yet it echoed across the battlefield.
"Godfall and Demon Annihilation."
...
At the same moment.
"Shirogai!!!"
The mountain-sized Imu roared madly.
His massive black claws were coated in crackling Haki lightning.
"Imu is immortal!!!"
His gigantic arm descended.
The heavens shattered beneath its momentum.
"Demon King, Fallen Slash!!!"
BOOM!!!
The two world-destroying powers collided head-on.
Snap!
Black lightning exploded in every direction.
Countless Haki bolts crashed against one another like divine punishment descending upon the world.
The sky fractured.
The earth trembled.
Space itself twisted under the pressure.
...
For a brief moment.
The entire Red Line fell silent.
...
Every sound disappeared.
The battlefield became eerily still.
"What terrifying power..."
Luffy sat atop the head of the miniature dragon Loki.
His eyes remained fixed on the center of the battlefield.
The energy there had become so dense that space itself warped.
Nothing inside could be seen.
Loki flapped his wings unconsciously.
His face had gone pale.
"Hey..."
"You're kidding, right?"
"What kind of terrifying power is this?!"
Suddenly, Luffy's expression changed.
His eyes widened.
He immediately lowered his head and shouted toward his companions below.
"Watch out!!!"
"Crouch down!!!"
The next second—
The distorted energy field erupted.
BOOM!!!!!!!!!!
===
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