Boom!
At that moment, inside the stone temple at the summit, a gigantic pentagram magic circle suddenly rose into the air. Black-red lightning jumped across the lines of the formation.
Immediately after, a thick dark-red bolt of lightning descended from the heavens like a crack tearing open the sky and fell precisely into the stone temple.
Bang!
The stone temple exploded instantly, sending rubble and dust high into the air.
At the center of the pentagram magic circle on the ground, a figure slowly emerged.
He had black curved horns, the tips bending upward like symbols of some ancient devil.
His face was thin and pale, with two faint tear tracks on his cheeks. Long silver-white curls floated loosely around him.
He wore a black-and-gold robe with ancient patterns. Complicated symbols were embroidered along the hem, like writing from a language long lost to time.
Behind him floated a ring of black mist. Its surface was covered with countless dark-red eyes, each one slowly turning, their gazes seeming to pierce through every disguise.
Below him hung skeletal ornaments. His entire aura was eerie and coldly beautiful, like a deity walking out from an ancient painting.
Perhaps because the descent had caused backlash, the instant he arrived, his chest trembled violently and a thread of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
He slowly wiped the blood away, but a sinister smile appeared on his face.
Imu raised his head and swept his gaze across the ruined battlefield ahead. In a voice without the slightest emotional fluctuation, he said, "New Davy... is this the grave you chose?"
As his words fell, a pair of huge black wings suddenly grew from his back. With one beat of those wings, his body shot toward a certain direction like black lightning.
At the same time, on Ron's side, seeing that the battle had ended, Kaido ran quickly to Ron. The two walked together toward the direction where Sengoku had fallen, planning to see whether Sengoku was dead and finish him off if he was not.
But before they had taken more than a few steps, a black shadow streaked across the sky at incredible speed. With a boom, the shadow landed at the place where Ron had just blasted the blond woman apart.
Ron and Kaido both turned sharply, locking their gazes on that figure ahead.
Imu only glanced at the traces on the ground. His expression did not change at all. Then he slowly turned around to face Ron and Kaido.
"Ron..." Kaido lowered his voice. "Another one came."
Ron did not answer. His gaze was fixed tightly on that figure, and his expression became grave.
This devil-like person before him was someone Ron had never seen anywhere, not in the original work and not in his memories.
Strong.
Ron made the simplest judgment in his heart.
"Imu!" Ron tested him. His voice was not loud, but it reached Imu's ears clearly.
"Imu? Who?" Kaido turned his head curiously. "Your friend?"
Imu's gaze had originally been calm like a dead pond, but when he heard the name "Imu" come from Ron's mouth, that still water seemed to ripple. His eyes changed for the first time.
"Who are you?" Imu's voice remained flat. "How do you know that name?"
'Shit!'
Ron's heart sank halfway.
He had only wanted to test the other party's reaction. But with a reaction like this, there was no need to think. This devil-like guy really was Imu.
And this Imu looked completely different from the image Ron had seen on the screen before.
'Damn it, Oda, what the hell have you been hiding?!'
"Are we going, Ron?" Kaido asked in a low voice. "This time, Eight Gates or the big guy?"
Ron did not answer immediately.
"Kaido," he said softly.
"What? Did the plan change again?" Kaido asked.
Before Ron could reply, Imu was already walking slowly toward them. The dark-red eyes on the black mist ring behind him turned gently with every step.
"Answer me," Imu's voice grew colder than before.
Ron's gaze moved rapidly. Then he suddenly raised his chin toward the direction behind Imu and shouted, "Davy... you finally came?!"
Imu's gaze instantly sharpened, and he instinctively looked back.
It was that exact instant.
Boom!
Golden light erupted from Ron's body. He transformed directly into the golden nine-tailed fox demon, then turned and ran without the slightest hesitation.
Imu quickly turned his head back, and his expression changed again.
"You know Davy? You know me?" Imu murmured.
Then he spread his wings and chased after Ron.
Inside the golden nine-tailed fox demon, Kaido looked at Ron in complete confusion, his voice filled with bewilderment. "What's going on? Weren't we going to go up and kill him?"
"Idiot!" Ron cursed. "Can you kill just anyone?! That guy is the ruler behind the World Government. You really dragged me into a disaster!"
"The ruler behind the World Government? Him?" Kaido's face was full of shock. "Why don't we exchange a few moves first? What if you can beat him?"
"Screw you..." Ron could not help swearing. "That guy has lived for eight hundred years! You don't even need to think. Anyone who lived that long is definitely an old schemer. We know nothing about him. Fight my ass!"
Kaido fell silent for two seconds, then honestly said, "Oh. That makes sense."
As the golden nine-tailed fox demon ran, Ron suddenly spotted a familiar figure in the air.
Golden Lion Shiki!
That guy was drifting slowly through the sky. Hearing the noise, he turned around. His expression first stiffened, but once the golden fox demon drew closer, he quickly recognized Ron and Kaido inside.
Then Shiki grinned. "Ron? Kaido? Jihahahaha..."
After laughing, Shiki quickly added, "Hey, Kaido! Did you find that god-tier Devil Fruit?"
As soon as he finished, the golden nine-tailed fox demon flashed past him.
Shiki watched the golden fox demon grow farther away and said unhappily, "Bastard. Ignoring me?"
Very soon, Ron's voice drifted back.
"There is one, brother, there is one. That god-tier fruit is on the person behind us!"
Shiki froze slightly. He instinctively turned his head and truly saw something that looked neither human nor ghost flying toward him.
"Jihahahaha..." Shiki quickly adjusted his position and blocked Imu's path. "Ron... I, Shiki, will remember this favor!"
Imu did not slow at all. He roared, "Move!"
Then he clenched his hand toward empty space. A black mist spear appeared in his grasp, dark-red lightning wrapped around its shaft.
Shiki suddenly could not laugh anymore. His Observation Haki predicted an extremely strong danger.
Almost without hesitation, he turned and chased after Ron at high speed.
"Hey, Ron!" Shiki shouted in irritation. "What the hell is that thing behind us?!"
Whoosh!
The instant Shiki spoke, Imu threw the black mist spear. It erupted with a sonic boom that tore through the air, chasing straight after Shiki's back.