The Menos Grande had clearly recovered quite a bit.
The change in its body was obvious, which meant the energy leaking from the passage really was replenishing it.
Cyrus raised a hand and tried to sense the surrounding environment for himself.
Nothing.
He still couldn't perceive anything resembling Reishi.
Not far away, the Rose Hunter stood motionless in the middle of the desert.
Robin and the others remained aboard, watching from a distance.
Cyrus raised one hand to signal that everything was fine.
Then his body dissolved into flame.
Imu, who had been warily observing her surroundings, suddenly shifted sideways and landed beside the Hollow.
Flames appeared where she had been standing and condensed into Cyrus.
"I've confirmed it."
He looked directly at Imu.
"Your consciousness can't leave this place. The one standing here really is you."
Imu, still wearing Gunko's appearance, seemed intent on negotiating.
"In that case, there should no longer be any irreconcilable conflict between us."
"When you put it that way, I suppose you're right."
Cyrus nodded.
"That is simply the truth. I have already abandoned everything in the previous world, and I have no intention of remaining your enemy. There is no longer any reason for you to attack me."
Even after Cyrus agreed, Imu did not relax in the slightest.
"You're right."
Cyrus nodded again.
Then his eyes sharpened.
"Unfortunately, you know too much."
In some respects, the world they were about to enter possessed a far higher ceiling of power than the One Piece world.
Cyrus had no intention of introducing an uncontrollable variable into it.
More importantly, he had no intention of underestimating Imu.
If he simply allowed her to roam freely, there was every chance she would eventually create another catastrophe.
The moment that thought entered Cyrus's mind, Imu sensed something was wrong.
Boom!
Black ribbons wrapped around the Menos Grande and hurled its enormous body straight at Cyrus while Imu disappeared into the shadows.
Darkness erupted from where she had been standing, spraying outward in every direction and swallowing the surrounding area.
Cyrus casually knocked the incoming Hollow aside.
The darkness completely blocked his vision.
It changed nothing.
His spatial ability might not have been capable of stabilizing the point where the two worlds overlapped, but temporarily sealing the area was well within its limits.
That spatial confinement could not ordinarily imprison consciousness itself.
Anything else, however, would be trapped.
Even Cyrus had once been sealed inside the Duel-Duel Fruit's isolated space for a period of time, although the version caught back then had only been one of his flame bodies.
This place was different.
Strictly speaking, the island itself already existed as an independent space between two worlds, completely cut off from the world they had just left.
For Imu to transfer her consciousness elsewhere, she first needed a vessel beyond the boundary.
Now Cyrus's spatial seal had been layered over the isolation that already existed here.
Neither body nor consciousness could escape.
Whoosh!
A flaming blade flashed.
The darkness surging around Cyrus split apart.
A muffled grunt came from somewhere beyond it.
Cyrus turned and prepared to slash again, only to suddenly pause.
His gaze dropped toward the sword in his hand.
It was still En, the blade he had originally obtained from Shimotsuki Village.
After being repeatedly tempered and washed through with Cyrus's power, En could barely be considered an ordinary physical weapon anymore.
It had become something closer to an extension of his own strength.
But this time, something had changed.
The energy Cyrus poured into the sword did not return to him.
It stayed inside the blade.
En seemed to develop a rhythm of its own, almost like breathing.
For a moment, it felt less like a weapon and more like some strange living being.
'The rules of this world.'
Cyrus understood immediately.
The world intersecting with theirs was one where power was closely tied to swords and weapons.
Its entire system revolved around them.
Without hesitation, Cyrus began pouring more energy into En.
The blade, which had previously pulsed between brightness and darkness in a steady rhythm, began glowing more intensely.
White-hot light erupted from its surface.
Heat flooded the surrounding area once again.
Then Cyrus stopped.
Robin and the others were still nearby.
If he released too much power here, Imu would not be the first person unable to withstand it.
They would.
Cyrus disappeared.
As he moved, he drew the sword back with one arm before slashing again.
Clang!
The sound of weapons colliding rang across the desert.
Cyrus did not immediately follow with another attack.
Instead, he looked at the figure now wrapped in darkness.
"So that's how it works."
Imu's voice came from within, filled with unmistakable excitement.
Cyrus turned toward the place where the Menos Grande had landed.
The creature was gone.
Only a handful of dried, yellowed pieces of bone remained scattered across the sand.
His gaze returned to Imu.
White fragments of exoskeleton now covered parts of her body.
A bone mask sat diagonally across one side of her head.
In her hand was a long, narrow sword, its blade slender and elegant while black mist continuously bubbled from its surface.
"So this is the power of a spiritual body."
Imu's eyes locked onto Cyrus.
They had changed as well.
Her pupils had become golden, while the whites of her eyes were now completely black.
"Power is pouring into me."
Her voice carried a faint trace of satisfaction.
"It seems you still haven't adapted to the power of this new world."
Imu raised her left hand and admired the pale skin now decorated with fragments of white bone.
A trace of fascination appeared in her eyes.
This was her body.
Not a vessel stolen from someone else.
Her own.
Ever since abandoning her original body centuries ago, Imu had moved from vessel to vessel countless times.
Each transfer had come with its own burden, no matter how compatible the replacement body might have been.
Now, for the first time in centuries, she possessed something that truly belonged to her again.
It was only a spiritual body.
But this was a world built around spiritual beings.
The moment she became one, Imu began sensing energy surrounding her that had previously been completely invisible.
And now that energy was slowly strengthening her new body.
Her gaze toward Cyrus gradually became calm.
She had gotten ahead of him.
The instant she came into contact with this world, she had already grasped part of its power system.
How many others could possibly adapt this quickly?
Cyrus noticed the change in her expression and smiled.
His Observation Haki could sense enough of Imu's emotions to understand what she was thinking.
She apparently believed she could finally fight him properly.
Whoosh!
The air exploded.
Cyrus crossed the distance between them so violently that the wind seemed to tear open the space itself.
Before Imu could react, his left hand closed around her face.
"The only reason you were troublesome before was because your abilities were annoying to deal with."
Cyrus smiled as his fingers slowly tightened.
Crack.
The sound of bone fracturing came from beneath his palm.
Pain finally appeared on Imu's face.
"Somehow, that convinced you that you might actually be able to defeat me."
His grip tightened further.
"Compared to all the abilities I possess, my body has always been my strongest weapon."
Cyrus's smile remained unchanged.
"You seem to have forgotten that."
Crack!
The white bone mask angled across Imu's head shattered beneath the force of his hand.
Fragments of pale bone exploded outward and scattered across the desert.
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