The Kingdom of Music
Erensig landed on this island and headed straight for his destination. If he remembered correctly, the musical score of Tot Musica was sealed in the basement of a castle. That castle had to be the royal palace, as this country only had one. This wouldn't take much time for Erensig.
Soon, he arrived at the massive castle. Avoiding everyone, he made his way alone to the basement. Elegia, the Kingdom of Music, lived up to its name as a famous capital of arts in One Piece; the people were so free-spirited and casual that even a vital area like the royal palace wasn't heavily guarded. Erensig barely had to hide his tracks along the way. Perhaps no one expected someone to sneak into a subterranean warehouse filled with sheet music.
Upon entering, Erensig looked at the countless scores surrounding him and felt a bit stumped. Out of so many, which one was the one sealing the Music Demon King, Tot Musica? Erensig closed his eyes, attempting to perceive the scores through his spiritual sense to see if he could distinguish them by energy. However, he felt nothing!
The Music Demon King seemed to exist in a different Dream Dimension, so he wasn't disappointed; it was only an attempt.
"To call forth Tot Musica, the score alone isn't enough. You also need the Sing-Sing Fruit... and the summoner must be a vocalist."
Erensig thought for a moment. Perhaps he could use the Soul King's power of connection to bridge reality and the dream world. He opened a Garganta and brought Keiko over. Since their minds were linked, no explanation was needed; they immediately split up to search. If all else failed, they would take everything, then find a way to obtain the Sing-Sing Fruit and use its song to summon the Demon King.
This wasn't something the Age-Age Fruit could simulate. Keiko had simulated the Soul-Soul Fruit before because Beltz had actually seen it and fought Big Mom. More importantly, as Quincies, they inherently understood souls deeply. The soul-devouring traits of the Soul-Soul Fruit shared many similarities with Hollows and the Quincy Sklaverei, making simulation easy.
The Sing-Sing Fruit was different. Putting aside the special powers within the fruit, he wasn't even good at ordinary singing. If it really came down to it, they would have to try the scores one by one—but certainly not in the Kingdom of Music, as there were too many people here.
Unable to distinguish them quickly, Erensig opened his mouth and activated the power of the Munch-Munch Fruit, swallowing every single score in the warehouse. If Beltz's main body were here, his Subconscious ability might have made the search easier.
Erensig and Keiko left the Kingdom of Music together and found a deserted island on the sea. There, they spat out all the swallowed scores and began testing them one by one. Luckily, it didn't come to searching for the actual fruit.
After trying about a third of the scores, Keiko again attempted to activate the connecting power of the Soul King's Right Leg. In the next instant, she felt her spirit enter another space! It was as if she had established a link with a powerful entity, and the score suddenly emitted a magical glow!
Found it!
Keiko's heart jolted. She immediately increased her power, pushing the connection further into the world within the score.
Roar!
In an instant, this power seemed to awaken a terrifying being. A massive surge of energy erupted from the score!
Rumble!
An invisible force was released, causing the entire island to vibrate! The most obvious change was the weather. The previously clear sky was instantly swallowed by dark clouds, thunder, and red lightning, a harbinger of the apocalypse.
"Is it coming out?" Seeing this change, Keiko felt no tension. She simply withdrew her hand from the score and rested it on her sword hilt.
As she let go, Erensig's body distorted, and he was drawn toward the score as if being absorbed by the power emanating from it. Keiko didn't stop him, because she knew that defeating Tot Musica required this Pincer Attack method.
In terms of pure combat performance, Tot Musica's raw power wasn't actually that high. Although it was strong enough to plunge a Yonko crew into a bitter struggle, that was primarily due to its "dream-like" nature. It was an immortal demon king from the dream world; to defeat it, one must attack from both the inside and the outside! One person in the dream world and one in the physical world must attack the exact same spot simultaneously to deal damage. Essentially, it normally takes two Yonko-level crews to defeat it.
Keiko wasn't sure if her current strength was enough to brute-force a kill, so she sent Erensig into the dream world as insurance. In a frontal confrontation, she had no problem holding her own. As mentioned before, Tot Musica is simply very hard to kill. Relying on its immortality or its "Hollow-like" special ability, it can withstand the offensive of a Yonko crew. It is somewhat similar to the Five Elders' immortality; aside from that, its combat capability in the physical world is roughly Emperor-level.
Such a character is essentially just an alternative version of Kaido. Kaido is currently an Emperor-level combatant, and with the "Knight of God" immortality granted by Imu, he can walk the seas virtually unopposed. These two types of immortality have their own merits. The immortality granted by Imu can be damaged or even nullified by Conqueror's Haki, but the downside is that standard Conqueror's Coating can usually only wound them, not truly kill them. Tot Musica's immortality, however, can normally block even Conqueror's Haki! Even a specialist like Shanks would find it difficult to deal damage alone.
But once its weakness is discovered and the internal-external pincer attack begins, then even without Conqueror's Haki, any sufficiently strong attack can deal damage!
At this moment, a massive Demon King gradually manifested before Keiko. This demon was a gargantuan humanoid being, but without a lower body. Its colors were vivid and gaudy. It had yellow hair and a short beard, a white face with a long nose, and a mouth full of fangs fixed in a permanent grin. Its right eye was a black hole, while its left was a glowing red 'X', looking quite terrifying. It wore a top hat, a black cloak, and burning skulls floated around its neck like a necklace.
This was the Music Demon King, Tot Musica!
The moment it appeared, the entire island was permeated by a powerful, violent force of destruction!
Boom!
Red lightning fell from the sky, seemingly released by Tot Musica, or perhaps as a natural byproduct of the atmospheric destruction. Lightning struck the island around Keiko, causing massive damage! If she hadn't left Elegia, the entire nation would have been destroyed by this overwhelming power!
Keiko narrowed her eyes at the giant demon. Its appearance was accompanied by a strange melody that tried to pull her into the world of dreams. However, Erensig was already inside—not just as a spirit, but with his physical body within that dream space! While Erensig's strength couldn't compare to Keiko's, as long as the attack intensity was sufficient, their individual power levels didn't need to be identical.
Tot Musica lacked the ability to speak. Once forcibly summoned, it expressed its rage through bursts of destructive light!
Boom!
A red beam of light erupted from its eyes, blasting toward Keiko! She instantly slashed her blade, cutting the beam in two! After testing the opponent's strength, Keiko made a basic judgment.
Yes, it's about what I expected.
After slicing the laser, Keiko casually flicked her blade, her eyes turning sharp.
"Move!"
Whoosh!
She lunged forward, her body nearly vanishing from sight! Tot Musica was a violent demon king whose presence brought ruin, but he was now facing an existence that transcended destruction! In this world, Keiko was like a god!
She appeared before Tot Musica almost instantly. The demon was colossal, making Keiko look like an ant, yet in this moment, the "ant" felt as grand as a deity!
In the dream world, Erensig also launched an attack. Both hit the exact same spot on Tot Musica!
Boom!
The moment her blade swung, a barrier-like structure appeared on Tot Musica's body, but it shattered instantly before Keiko! There was a slight issue on Erensig's side, however. The barrier's defensive power was quite high; Erensig wasn't particularly powerful yet, so breaking it alone wasn't easy. But while his strength was lacking, Keiko's was immense!
The strike Keiko delivered in the physical world not only shattered the barrier in reality, but the force even pierced through into the dream world, shattering Tot Musica's barrier there as well!
Crack!
With a crisp shattering sound, Tot Musica's massive body seemed to suffer a severe impact, and his entire frame tilted!
"Roar!"
The Demon King was furious! Being wounded immediately upon appearing enraged him. He threw a punch toward both of them! This strike was extraordinary—even the Barrier-Barrier Fruit couldn't block it, showing just how terrifying the force was.
Erensig, naturally, did not take it head-on. His body expanded slightly, and his aura grew significantly more powerful!
Resurrección!
"Devour it, Apocalypse!"
This wasn't just a release; it was his Hybrid form! Erensig had also eaten the Azure Dragon Fruit, but combined with his Munch-Munch Fruit and his Hollow nature, he became a Great Red Dragon! This Great Red Dragon was his true form, named Apocalypse!
In his hybrid release state, Erensig's aura climbed steadily! However, even in this form, he didn't clash directly with Tot Musica, instead using his speed to evade the fist. He didn't need to fight head-on; he only needed to provide support. The real battle was happening outside!
Seeing the fist descend, Keiko's blade erupted with terrifying Haki, and she slashed forward without retreating! Even against a force that could shatter the Barrier-Barrier Fruit, she chose a direct clash!
Boom!
Sword and fist collided! In that instant, the grin disappeared from Tot Musica's face, replaced by an expression of pure rage! The surrounding space was enveloped by a vast dark power, as if the entire world were being dragged into a dark dream world!
Kaboom!
The massive collision released terrifying lightning that struck everywhere! Erensig seized the opportunity and threw a punch that landed directly on Tot Musica's fist—the exact same spot Keiko had struck!
In that moment, the Tot Musica struggling against Keiko was defeated! He could only stalemate Keiko due to his unique properties; once Erensig provided the internal echo, he could no longer withstand Keiko's might!
Another barrier appeared, only to be crushed by the immense force! Tot Musica frantically attacked, swinging fists, firing beams, and even summoning a vast army of Music Soldiers! But Keiko and Erensig were of one mind; they didn't even need Observation Haki to communicate, performing a perfect, zero-latency coordination!
Every time Keiko slashed, Erensig followed up perfectly. Under this relentless internal-external pincer attack, even Tot Musica couldn't hold on!
Finally, seeing Tot Musica's aura weaken significantly, Keiko gripped her sword with both hands, and scorching flames erupted from the blade! The previous attacks were merely to weaken him; this strike was the true finishing move!
Ryūjin Jakka!
Using the ability of Enrakyōten, she unleashed the power of Ryūjin Jakka! In the dream world, Erensig also unleashed his strongest strike!
"Kotodama: Candle Dragon!"
This strike was aimed squarely at Tot Musica's life!