The Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
Panic spread through the city like a plague.
This city, which had long proclaimed itself the center of the world, was now drowning in fear.
Those World Nobles, the Celestial Dragons who once stood above all others and treated ordinary people as insects, were now revealing their ugliest sides.
"Useless! All of you are useless!"
A bloated Celestial Dragon, his face smeared with tears and mucus, grabbed a CP0 agent by the collar and shrieked hysterically.
"The Five Elders are fighting right now! Why aren't you helping them?!"
"…"
The CP0 agent in a pure white suit was drenched in cold sweat, his voice dry and trembling.
"M my lord… battles at that level are far beyond what we can intervene in…"
"I don't care!" the Celestial Dragon screamed. "You are the World Government's strongest intelligence force! You must go!"
"Kill those traitors! Kill those Marines!"
Scenes like this played out in every corner of the Holy Land.
These so called descendants of "gods" shed all pretense in the face of annihilation, leaving behind nothing but cowardice and incompetence.
Boom!!!
A thunderous explosion echoed from the horizon.
Everyone instinctively looked up.
The sky had turned an ominous dark red.
A massive meteor wreathed in crimson flames tore through the heavens, dragging a blazing tail behind it as it crashed toward Mary Geoise like the end of the world itself.
"Th that thing… what is it?!"
The screams of the Celestial Dragons grew even more shrill.
Then, from another direction, an overwhelming chill swept in.
Crack. Crack.
The ground froze at a visible speed, layers of deep blue frost spreading rapidly.
Magnificent buildings and lavish gardens were instantly sealed into glittering ice sculptures.
A streak of dark crimson light and a massive ice bird descended from opposite directions, landing in the central plaza of the Holy Land.
"It's it's Fleet Admiral Sakazuki!"
"And Admiral Kuzan!"
A Celestial Dragon cried out in disbelief.
"Why would the Fleet Admiral and an Admiral come to the Holy Land?!"
…
Sakazuki and Kuzan stood dozens of meters apart, their gazes meeting in midair.
On Sakazuki's face was the stillness before a volcanic eruption.
At the corner of Kuzan's mouth was a cold, quiet smile.
They smiled at the same time.
"Meteor Volcano Barrage!"
Sakazuki's arms transformed into seething magma as he slammed them toward the sky.
Countless molten fists rained down like artillery shells, blanketing the entire Holy Land.
"Ice Age!"
Kuzan pressed one hand to the ground.
Extreme cold surged outward from him, spreading in every direction.
Rumble!!!
Magma and ice, two completely opposite forces, fused into the most harmonious symphony of destruction imaginable.
"Aaaah!"
The Celestial Dragons' confusion froze on their faces, replaced by terror and despair.
One Celestial Dragon, dressed in extravagant robes, tried to order the CP0 beside him to block the falling magma fist.
The next second, both he and the CP0 agent were instantly vaporized.
Another Celestial Dragon tried to flee. After taking only two steps, he was frozen solid, locked in a running pose, before being smashed to pieces by a falling magma meteor.
"No!"
"We are gods! How dare you?!"
"Stop! Stop at once! We are World Nobles!"
"Stop it!!!"
Wailing, screaming, begging, cursing.
All of it was drowned out by the apocalyptic roar of destruction.
The once sacred and inviolable Holy Land was reduced to a hell of ice and fire in just a few minutes.
…
Pangaea Castle, the Room of Flowers.
This was the deepest part of the Holy Land, isolated from the world, serene and tranquil.
Countless rare butterflies danced gracefully through the air.
Then the violent tremors shattered the silence.
On the throne at the center of the flowers, a slender figure slowly opened crimson eyes, eyes that resembled the Rinnegan itself.
"Im…?"
Im had awakened.
They felt the violent shaking from outside, the two overwhelming auras filled with pure destructive intent.
Their consciousness snapped fully awake.
…
Im was stunned.
What was happening?
The five subordinates they trusted most, the five undying "stars," how had two of them gone completely dark?
The remaining three were barely flickering, their presence weak to the extreme, as if they could be extinguished at any moment.
What had happened?
Who could possibly have crippled the Five Elders so thoroughly in such a short time?
Rumble rumble!
The continuous shaking of Pangaea Castle broke Im's thoughts.
They extended their perception outward.
Marines… Admirals?
…
Im rose slowly from the throne.
A clear emotion surfaced on their face.
Anger.
Mere mortals dared to wreak havoc in their garden.
Im vanished from the Room of Flowers.
…
Sakazuki and Kuzan halted their indiscriminate bombardment.
Both looked up toward Pangaea Castle.
An indescribable, sinister aura poured out from that direction.
"Hm?" Sakazuki frowned deeply. "Who is that?!"
"Could it be…" Kuzan said coldly, "that the World Government still has top tier forces guarding the Holy Land?"
In the next instant, a slender figure appeared soundlessly in midair.
A crown rested upon their head. A black robe draped their body. Crimson eyes gazed down without emotion upon everything below.
"Lowly insects."
Im spoke.
Their voice was ethereal and distant, overflowing with arrogance.
"Who allowed you to make such noise in Im's garden?"
Sakazuki and Kuzan's pupils shrank simultaneously.
They did not know who this being was, but that terrifying aura was unmistakable.
This was the true "king" who sat at the very top of the World Government.
"Another piece of trash hiding in the shadows, pretending to be a god."
Sakazuki's magma boiled violently.
"Are you the source of this rotten world's sins?"
Cold air exploded outward from Kuzan, freezing the surrounding atmosphere into crystals.
Im let out a disdainful snort.
"Ignorant mortals. You are not even qualified to stand before me."
"Kneel, and then die."
The answer was two earth shaking roars.
"To hell with your godhood!"
"Inugami Guren!"
Sakazuki shot upward, his magma forged fist carrying the fury to burn everything, smashing straight toward Im.
"Ice Block: Partisan!"
Kuzan followed closely, countless spears of extreme ice tearing through the sky toward the figure above.
Im merely raised a single finger.
At the fingertip, a point of pitch black void condensed.
A thin black arrow shot forth, silent and impossibly fast.
Where it passed, space itself seemed erased. Magma and ice alike vanished the instant they touched it.
Pfft.
The black arrow pierced straight through Sakazuki's magma body and grazed past Kuzan's ice bird.
Sakazuki grunted as an unhealable hole appeared in his elemental body, a strange annihilating power devouring him from within.
Kuzan's shoulder was clipped, flesh and ice armor erased completely.
They exchanged a glance, shock written clearly in each other's eyes.
This level of power?!
"Sakazuki, hold them!"
Kuzan shouted, his freezing aura surging as he clasped his hands together.
"Ice Age: Eternal Permafrost!"
The cold did not spread outward. Instead, it compressed inward, turning the entire Holy Land and the sky above into an airtight prison of ice.
"Trying to trap Im?"
Im scoffed and waved a hand casually.
Crack.
The seemingly indestructible ice prison shattered like fragile glass.
Sakazuki seized the opening, transforming into a torrent of magma and lunging from behind, a claw of superheated magma aimed straight at Im's heart.
Im did not even turn around.
A backhand strike unleashed black energy like a tidal wave, dispersing the magma and slamming into Sakazuki's chest.
Sakazuki was sent flying, blood staining his admiral's cloak.
"Ice Ball!"
Kuzan appeared above Im and slammed his hands downward, sealing Im inside a massive sphere of ice.
The next second, the ice cracked from within.
Im stepped out unscathed, impatience flashing in their crimson eyes.
"The game is over."
Their body blurred into an untraceable shadow, weaving between Sakazuki and Kuzan.
Bang. Bang.
The Navy's two highest powers crashed into the ruined plaza below, grievously wounded.
Just as Im prepared to finish them off
Whoosh!!!
A crimson streak tore across the heavens.
That figure carried an aura so overwhelming that space itself trembled in its presence.
"Hmm?"
For the first time, Im halted.
They slowly raised their head, solemnity appearing in their eyes for the first time.
At that same moment, far away in the New World, the three already dim "stars" were extinguished completely.
Boom!!!
The crimson figure slammed into the ground, sending shockwaves through the air.
Tap.
From the dust, a man walked forward.
Renn Hawk.
He glanced at Sakazuki and Kuzan struggling to rise and smiled lightly.
"Fleet Admiral Sakazuki. Brother Kuzan. You've worked hard."
"Leave the rest to me."
Then he turned.
Those deep eyes, sharp as drawn blades, locked firmly onto Im in the sky.
"So…"
Renn Hawk thought to himself.
"Deep Blue, crank it all the way up!"
[Host has consumed ten million Justice Points. Conqueror's Haki upgraded to: Absolute Ceiling!]
[Congratulations! Observation Haki, Armament Haki, physique, martial arts, and Conqueror's Haki have all reached the ceiling of this world!]
[Ceiling Observation: Past and future laid bare. All things within grasp.]
[Ceiling Armament: Absolute defense. Nothing unbreakable.]
[Ceiling Physique: Boundless strength. Endless vitality.]
[Ceiling Martial Arts: Reason incarnate. Fists that shatter all laws.]
[Ceiling Conqueror's Haki: Sovereign of the world. Will becomes reality.]
[Host has reached the apex of this world and is now an invincible existence within it.]
Boom!
A world overturning power detonated within Renn Hawk.
His aura surged without limit.
Crimson Conqueror's Haki no longer merely wrapped around him. It solidified into a godlike crimson royal mantle that draped over his body.
He stood there calmly, yet the world itself seemed to bow at his feet.
Renn Hawk raised his hand and clenched his fist.
That single supreme iron fist, carrying the strongest power of this era, pointed toward Im.
"Im," he said, grinning.
"I'm here to play with you."
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