Imu's gaze was ice-cold. It wasn't that he had completely ignored Marco before—he had simply climbed up far too quickly.
Only now, after briefly crossing blows with him, did he truly grasp it: Marco's growth was unnaturally fast, on a level no ordinary person should reach in such a short time.
He had no proof. But as the king of the world, Imu needed no proof. If something had even the possibility of becoming a problem, he had the authority to erase it.
Marco's power was still far below his, yet it was enough to cast the faintest shadow over his rule.
Imu disliked trouble. If there was a threat, it was best to crush it early.
The two of them faced each other in silence, tension hanging in the air, until Imu finally spoke. "So you've chosen to refuse."
Seeing that Imu had no intention of saying anything more, Marco let out a disappointed breath. "Forget it. I'm not interested in what you have to say anyway."
Black flames surged around him as he finished speaking. With a powerful beat of his wings, he shot toward Imu. From that brief exchange, he'd already judged: he could win. As long as he defeated Imu, everything would be settled.
Whether Imu was a transmigrator or not didn't matter. Even if he was, so what? He was a transmigrator with a System. Unless Imu also had a system and a cheat like his, then given enough time, Marco was confident he could surpass and defeat her.
Imu, for his part, showed no fear. The two clashed again and again in midair. Black flames and arcs of purple sword pressure rained down like burning meteorites, blasting small craters into the ground below.
Then, suddenly, blood trickled down Imu's arm. Pain flared there and then spread through his entire body. He immediately understood: this was the warning that this body was nearing its limit.
"The time is even shorter than I expected," Imu muttered with a hint of regret.
After all, this body was not his own. It couldn't endure such high-intensity combat, nor could it withstand the full force of his Haki. Even if the original owner of this body wasn't weak, they were never meant to bear Imu's power.
Marco also sensed it—the weakening of Imu's aura, the subtle changes in his body.
He didn't waste the opening with words. His attacks grew fiercer as he roared, "Destruction Black Flame: Dance of the Phoenix...!"
Countless birds of black fire streaked toward Imu, only to be wiped out in an instant by a single sweep of her sword pressure.
Even so, every time Imu attacked, Marco could feel the damage eating away at the body of Naronar Crimi Palace, the person he had possessed. Imu's offensive power was simply too overwhelming, far beyond what Naronar Crimi Palace's physical body could safely channel. That body just wasn't built to unleash such force.
Marco's excitement spiked. As long as this dragged on, defeating Imu would only be a matter of time.
But just then, a massive five-pointed star magic circle suddenly appeared above Saint Peter's head.
Everyone instantly understood what they were seeing. King stared at the scene, face dark, and growled, "Damn it, are they summoning the God's Knights again? And other organizations too?"
Now that the World King Imu had appeared, King had gotten his first real glimpse of the World Government's true foundation. Whatever hope he'd had of defeating them had almost completely vanished. Their power was overwhelming—far beyond anything they had imagined.
It wasn't even on the same level as Marineford.
A crushing wave of Conqueror's Haki suddenly erupted from the five-pointed star array. One surge after another rolled out, and then, more than a dozen figures stepped out from the magic circle.
The pirates quickly noticed that among them was Saint Nusjuro—the same man Marco had cut down before.
Yet the Saint Nusjuro standing there now showed no trace of injury. The man whose body had been split in two by Marco earlier looked as if nothing had ever happened.
Marco's gaze sharpened the moment he saw him. He couldn't help but acknowledge how terrifying that "Immortality" really was. Unless you killed him outright in a single blow, given even a little time, he would return to his peak—just like Marco did with his Phoenix Fruit.
And because he possessed the Phoenix Fruit himself, Marco knew better than anyone how troublesome that kind of ability was.
"It seems that to deal with the Gorosei, it's best to go directly to the Holy Land," Marco muttered under his breath. From his previous fight with Nusjuro, he had learned that the Gorosei had all come to Egghead Island through a teleportation magic circle. If they were gravely wounded, they could simply dissolve the circle and retreat to Mary Geoise to recover, then be summoned back once they had fully healed.
In a prolonged war, that tactic was practically unbeatable.
Not only Nusjuro, but next to him stood a red-haired man. The pirates stared at him, stunned.
"This guy looks exactly like Red-Haired Shanks!"
"Is he also Red-Haired Shanks's brother?"
Marco also recognized the man: Saint Figarland Shamrock, whom he had seen once before.
His expression sank even further. The situation was becoming more and more dangerous. Saint Shamrock alone was Yonko level. Now add the fully recovered Saint Nusjuro, plus the rest of the God's Knights—without even checking, it was obvious their strength would be anything but ordinary.
"This is really bad…" Marco felt the pressure closing in. With the Gorosei, the God's Knights, and Imu all joining the fray, the Three Emperors Alliance was steadily being pushed onto the back foot.
Especially in terms of top-tier combat power, they were clearly outmatched.
Watching all this unfold, Big Mom felt her heart turn cold. The situation before her was enough to make even her feel despair.
Imu, seeing Saint Nusjuro and the God's Knights arrive, gave a calm order:
"Nusjuro, go assist Mu in eliminating Marco. Shamrock, take your people and deal with Vegapunk.
"The rest of you, end this quickly. Prioritize taking down Big Mom and Kaido."
"Yes, Imu-sama..."
The Celestial Dragons accepted the order at once, not daring to hesitate after hearing Imu's command.
When Marco saw Saint Nusjuro approaching as well, his expression darkened.
Imu alone was already no weaker than him. Adding Saint Nusjuro, who possessed King-level strength, made the situation downright desperate.
Shamrock immediately chose two members of the God's Knights and rushed toward the dome.
Linked by telepathic communication, they had already learned that Saturn Saint was still trapped in the laboratory, entangled by three commanders and several Seraphim, unable to move on Vegapunk for the time being.
Before long, Shamrock used Observation Haki to roughly lock onto Vegapunk's position.
Saint Peter turned to Saint Garling and said, "Garling, leave Linlin to me.
You go help Saint Warcury! He and Kaido have been fighting over there for a long time without a clear victor."
Saint Garling gave a slight nod, then headed straight in Kaido's direction.
Big Mom watched as Katakuri, Smoothie, Fossa, and the others were all bogged down by members of the God's Knights.
Even King, Snack, and the Big Mom Pirates, who had come as reinforcements, were blocked one after another by those same knights.
Against a Yonko head-on, the God's Knights were indeed somewhat lacking. But when it came to anyone below that level, their strength was overwhelming.
Their Immortality alone couldn't be broken without Conqueror's Haki.
Even if someone wanted to chop them to pieces and stuff them into boxes, they would still need enough raw power to do it.
Unfortunately for the pirates, every member of the God's Knights possessed at least Yonko Commander–level strength. They were the Celestial Dragons' elites, their power fully comparable to Marine Vice Admiral candidates.
On another part of the battlefield, Ace and Yamato no longer had the luxury of paying attention to anything else.
Their clash with Aramaki had entered a brutal peak—a life‑and‑death struggle where none of them had any room left to care about other fronts.
Facing the Pirate King's son and Kaido's daughter, Aramaki was covered in wounds, coughing up blood.
He had to admit it: both of them were monstrously strong. They each possessed Conqueror's Haki, and their Devil Fruits were among the very strongest in the world.
"Damn brats…" Aramaki wiped the blood from his nose and roared.
He had never imagined he would be driven this far by two kids.
On the opposite side, Ace and Yamato were also badly injured, yet neither of them fell.
Now, they had only one thought left in their minds: defeat the enemy in front of them.
"I said, I won't lose!" Ace roared, charging straight at Aramaki.
Ever since his loss to Teach—since that defeat had led to the death of his father and so many comrades—Ace had lived in guilt.
He had always wanted to protect his crewmates, and he hated his own weakness all the more for failing to do so.
For more than half a year since his rescue, he had thrown himself into brutal daily training, all for one purpose—to gain enough strength to protect his comrades when it truly mattered.
Yamato roared as well. "Me too! If I can't even beat you, how am I supposed to beat that stinky old man?!"
Their spirits ignited, the two of them launched themselves at Aramaki again.
"At a time like this, you're still struggling?" Aramaki said coldly. "Can't you see the gods have descended? Your resistance is useless no matter what you do."
As he spoke, countless vines sprouted behind him. He bellowed, "That's enough! Forest-Forest: Death Forest..."
In the next instant, an overwhelming number of tree vines burst from the ground, more than ever before.
Each one writhed like a man-eating serpent, its tip morphing into a snake's head that lunged straight for Ace and Yamato.
"I won't lose! Great Flame Commandment: Hellfire..."
Ace unleashed a massive area attack. Fierce flames roared out, engulfing the vines and burning them to charcoal.
No matter how many trees Aramaki summoned, they were swallowed by Ace's flames.
Fire counters wood; even if Aramaki's raw power surpassed his, that elemental disadvantage couldn't be overturned.
"Thunder Bagua..."
While Aramaki was locked in a head-on clash with Ace, Yamato had already closed the distance.
Her spiked club, Ake, smashed upward into Aramaki's chin, sending him flying.
"Nice opening! Cross Fire Blast..."
Ace didn't let the chance slip by. A burning cross-shaped brand seared itself into Aramaki's body, then detonated, erupting into a colossal cross of flame hundreds of meters long and wide.
"AGHHHHHHH!!!" Aramaki spewed blood as his eyes rolled back. The searing pain wracked his body, hurling him through the air.
But just before he crashed down, he twisted in mid-air, forcing his feet under him. He skidded backward for dozens of meters, boots carving trenches in the ground, one hand clutching his chest as he hacked up blood.
It was obvious that last strike had damaged his internal organs.
Before he could catch his breath, Yamato charged again, roaring, "Fall down! Thunder Bagua..."
With a thunderous crash, her club—coated in Armament Haki and crackling with Conqueror's Haki—slammed into Aramaki's head.
The impact drove the admiral, who had just regained his footing, down onto both knees. His upper body slammed into the earth, his face grinding into the ground and gouging out a crater.
Being forced to his knees by a brat filled Aramaki with burning humiliation.
He, a dignified Marine Admiral, had been pushed this far.
His left arm morphed into a bundle of vines that plunged into the soil, ravenously drawing in nutrients as he strained against the crushing weight of Yamato's club.
Gritting his teeth, he slowly raised his head, eyes blazing up at her.
"Don't underestimate me, brat..." Aramaki snarled, bloodshot eyes wide as his right hand transformed into razor-sharp vines that shot forward, piercing straight through Yamato's abdomen.
Blood sprayed from Yamato's mouth. Enduring the stabbing pain, she grabbed the vines skewering her and ripped them out by force.
Aramaki watched them with a faint smile just as Ace charged in, fists wreathed in roaring flames.
"Don't even think about sucking up any more energy from the ground to recover!"
"Flame: Rising Dragon Fist!"
Ace's blazing uppercut slammed into Aramaki's chin.
The searing heat and crushing impact made Aramaki spit blood as his body shot straight up into the sky.
Seeing him launched into the air, Ace and Yamato's faces lit up.
After fighting Aramaki for so long, they already understood his power: the Logia-type Mori Mori no Mi, the Forest-Forest Fruit.
Like seawater, the forest—the mother of nature—held terrifying power.
Its raw destructive force couldn't match the Mera Mera no Mi, but its regeneration was absolutely first-rate.
Aramaki could constantly draw nutrients from the earth to restore his stamina and heal his wounds.
No matter how badly they injured him, as long as he touched the ground, he could recover by absorbing nutrients from the soil.
To bring him down, they had to knock him into the air, then unleash an attack in one burst that outstripped his regenerative ability.
"Good chance, Ace…" Yamato gritted her teeth against the pain in her abdomen, kicked off the ground, and leaped skyward.
"Cough… cough…" Still flying from Ace's Rising Dragon Fist, Aramaki's vision swam with stars.
Before he could pull himself together, he saw Ace and Yamato closing in, and his expression darkened.
Ace's body burned with bright orange flames, his lower half turning into fire as he rocketed toward Aramaki.
"This time, it's over! This is my final Fire Fist!"
"Ice Thunder Bagua!"
With a thunderous boom, both of their attacks crashed into Aramaki at once.
Scorching flames and biting frost tore at his body together, making him feel like he was being ripped apart by ice and fire.
The leftover force of their blows spewed out from his back, tongues of flame and jagged ice twisting and colliding as they burst into the air.
In what should have been a simple free fall, Aramaki instead coughed up blood, his eyes rolling back as the impact sent him flying skyward yet again.
Ace and Yamato hit the ground soon after, both of them panting hard.
Roughly half a minute later, Aramaki's body finally came crashing down from the sky, slamming into the earth with a heavy boom and gouging a huge crater into the ground.
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