Chapter 204 RED (11): Thunderous Ice Mirror Slashes the Demon Sound!"Whew... I was careless!"Sanji took a deep drag of his cigarette, his face turning slightly pale.With his strength, in this sea, except for monsters like Luffy who stood at the peak of the Emperor-class, there were almost no opponents who could instantly defeat him.But the monster before him was different... The power of the Song Demon King Totem Gika was too eerie; its attacks were wrapped in a dark rhythm that struck the soul directly. One wrong move, and one would be dragged into an endless abyss of melody."What should we do? It seems... it simply can't be killed."Law gripped kikoku tightly, his sharp gaze fixed on the churning black mist not far away.The Demon King's body had clearly been sliced and dispersed, yet it quickly reorganized amidst the shrill singing, as if it lived and died with the rhythm of the entire space.He frowned deeply and looked sideways at Rayleigh, who remained standing steadily at the front."It is indeed troublesome."Rayleigh spoke slowly, his eyes filled with the gravity forged from decades of battle.The longsword in his hand vibrated like a low hum, and pitch-black Armament Haki flowed along the spine of the blade like living water."Ordinary attacks will only be 'absorbed' or 'reorganized' by it... We must perfectly synchronize with Luffy's rhythm. In the same instant, with internal and external forces combined, we must completely destroy the 'core' of its existence."However, Totem Gika did not win solely by mechanics... That pressure permeating heaven and earth, the power in every swipe of its claws that made space tremble, clearly touched the peak of an elite Admiral.Adding to that this eerie characteristic of immortality, it was simply a nightmare."—Whew."Rayleigh suddenly let out a long breath, the hesitation in his eyes instantly vanishing, replaced by a calm determination.He poured all of his Haki... the flowing Armament Haki, the surging Haoshoku, and even the sword intent honed over long years, into the tip of his blade.The longsword began to emit a low hum, and the surrounding light distorted along with it."You guys hold it off for me, no matter what method you use."Rayleigh's voice was steady as iron."Leave the rest... to me."If this slash still couldn't sever its cycle, then... they could only try again next time!"Understood!"Yamato swung her Spiked Club through the air, frost and Haki coiling around it.Sanji's feet stepped on lightning, his figure already in a combat stance.Law's ROOM expanded silently, the domain enveloping the battlefield.The three of them responded in unison and charged toward the black Demon King as it reformed once more.Rayleigh closed his eyes, sword in hand, as if holding the time of all victory and defeat... "—ROAR—!!!"Totem Gika was completely enraged.As the Demon King who ruled over melody and eternity, how could it be truly wounded in its essence by mere "ants"?The damaged wings behind it suddenly spread wide, and the ink-thick black mist between heaven and earth boiled completely, turning into an overwhelming torrent that swept toward everyone.Amidst the churning sea of mist, countless soldiers clad in black armor and holding shimmering spears took shape, launching a devastating group charge with silent steps that made the earth tremble."Leave it to me!"Yamato shouted clearly, her body expanding in a flash of light, transforming into a human-beast form that combined majesty and wildness.She slammed her Spiked Club heavily onto the ground, the frost divine power of the Makamiwithin her and her own surging Haoshoku Hakipouring out without reservation."Ice Pillar: Immaculate Mirror Realm!"In an instant, a sky-blue circle of extreme cold burst open with her at the center.Wherever the frost reached, the battlefield instantly turned into a translucent and silent "Mirror World."The hard ice on the ground was like a mirror, reflecting the distorted sky; the air condensed into suspended ice crystal prisms, refracting a chilling light.—Crack, crackle!The surging torrent of black mist and the army of demon soldiers were captured by absolute "silence" and "freezing" the moment they touched the Mirror Realm.Their charging postures, churning malice, and even the fluctuations in space were all sealed within crystal ice coffins, frozen into an eerie and spectacular tableau of destruction."Well then, let the cleanup begin."Amidst the ice mirrors, a low and composed voice rang out.The spark from the cigarette butt in Sanji's mouth drew a bright arc in the pure white world. His hands remained in his pockets, but his figure had already turned into a dazzling and violent flash of lightning.There were no footsteps, only the faint hum of ionized air and thousands of afterimages reflected by the lightning weaving between the ice mirrors."Lightning Flash: Gentleman's Tribute."He stopped abruptly during his high-speed movement, his right leg rising like a battle-axe. The blue-white lightning was no longer just coiling; it erupted from within him, as if his entire leg had become the manifestation of lightning.The next instant—Shiu! Shiu! Shiu! Shiu!It wasn't just one kick, but hundreds of lightning kicks blooming at the same moment!The violent leg shadows wove into a net of lightning covering half the sky, each strike precisely hitting the core of a frozen demon soldier or tearing through the black mist trying to reconsolidate.The "swiftness" and "conductivity" of the lightning were utilized to their limit. Before the targets hit could even shatter, the power of paralysis and disintegration had already exploded inside them.The clearing of the field happened in a mere breath.Even more lethal was a condensed, solid blue lightning bolt that, like a gentleman's kiss crossing space, pierced through the ice mist and accurately stabbed into the joint connections of Totem Gika's main body.The Demon King's massive body stiffened abruptly, its brutal roar came to a screeching halt, and the malicious black mist coiling around its body experienced a brief, unnatural stagnation."Now!!"Law's pupils suddenly constricted, a hunter-like sharp light flashing within them.He suddenly opened his left palm toward the void, his fingers as if gripping an invisible scepter."ROOM!"Buzz—A larger and more solid blue translucent domain than ever before expanded rapidly, not just enveloping the Demon King, but also encompassing the "Mirror World" and "Lightning Trajectories" at the heart of the battlefield.Within this space where he was the absolute ruler, his high-level Observation Haki and the unique spatial perception of the Ope-Ope no Mi merged perfectly.The world was "deconstructed" in his eyes.Inside Totem Gika's massive, chaotic, and inhuman body, the trajectories of countless energy flows and the nodes of material structure were clearly presented like a precise yet cruel anatomical diagram.Those flickering dark cores, those energy pathways trying to regenerate and reconnect... they were full of openings.What half a month of hellish training had hammered out was not just power, but an understanding of the essence of "cutting.""I see it... your 'Death Line'."Law whispered, his right hand firmly pressing on the hilt of kikoku.The spatial power of the Ope-Ope no Mi, high-frequency vibrations, and the internal destruction characteristics of advanced Armament Hakispiraled and resonated along the blade like two colors of surgical thread.He stepped forward and swung his sword.The movement was extremely simple, without any flair."Pulse Flow Severance: Line of Fate."—Clang!A pale thin line, condensed like silk yet seemingly severing space itself, extended from the blade.It silently swept across the ice mirror world, and wherever it passed, even the light distorted slightly.The thin line easily sank into Totem Gika's massive body.The next moment, on the Demon King's chest, a pale white slash hundreds of meters long and incredibly smooth suddenly appeared!There was no blood deep in the wound, only space turbulence and black energy crazily annihilating each other.Even more lethal were the fine pale ripples constantly spreading from the edges of the slash.The power of the Ope-Ope no Mi continued to erode and obstruct the Demon King's almost instinctive, terrifying regenerative power and energy circulation, acting like the most precise surgical operation to cut off the most critical main nerves and energy pumps.A tiny human body had delivered a slash capable of slaying a god.Totem Gika's movements froze completely, and its crimson gaze, filled with rage and incomprehension, locked onto the "ant" standing on the ground with a sword for the first time.—————————On the other side, the Uta World!This was the melodic purgatory corresponding to reality.The sky was a permanent dark purple, the ground was cracked, and a viscous swamp of musical notes flowed through it.Black mist ten times denser than in reality writhed like a living thing. In the sea of mist, countless demon soldiers with hollow soul fires burning in their eye sockets launched an endless charge to the beat of destruction.Thick black tentacles, as large as mountain ranges, lashed out violently from the depths of the mist sea, each strike making the world tremble.Even more lethal was the ubiquitous eerie singing, shrieking directly in the depths of the soul, trying to drag all will into an eternal melodic sinkhole."Tsk tsk, this is indeed a bit of a problem!"In this landscape of despair, the only light was a silver-white flash weaving through incessantly.Luffy's figure had already surpassed the limits of visual capture. [Infinite Teleportation] made him appear as if he existed in countless "nodes" simultaneously.The demon soldiers' blades, the crushing tentacles, the binding ripples condensed from song... no matter how overwhelming, they could only pass through his residual afterimages in vain, failing to even lift the brim of his rubber straw hat.Was the Song Demon King weak?Absolutely not. In this home field composed of melody and obsession, the clone of Totem Gika, which controlled all laws, possessed enough power to make an ordinary Emperor-class powerhouse fall into a hard fight.But even among Emperors, there are levels!Luffy's way of fighting had already entered another dimension.Observation Haki that could [Future Sight] allowed him to look down as if at a chessboard; before enmity even arose, its trajectory was already clear in his heart.[Infinite Teleportation] allowed him to jump out of the rules of the chessboard, turning space itself into a dance step at his whim.The combination of the two was the "lawlessness" of standing in an invincible position."Everyone's progress... is quite significant!"While weaving through, a flash of surprised red light flickered in Luffy's eyes.His Observation Haki, powerful enough to penetrate the barriers between reality and illusion, allowed him to "see" the intense battle on the real battlefield simultaneously.Yamato's Mirror Realm that froze space, Sanji's gentlemanly kicks weaving a lightning net, Law's slash that severed fate... Under the enhancement of his system's [Potential Doubling] rules, the results of his companions' half-month of hellish training were terrifying, almost covering a distance that would normally take half a year or even longer to traverse.Especially Torao... that kid was originally a genius who relied on tactics and rules to fight. Once his potential was ignited, the increase was naturally the most startling.After all, he was weak—ahem, I mean, his room for improvement was the largest!!The distraction was only for a moment.His gaze finally pierced through the churning black mist and demon shadows, locking onto the highest point of the sky... There, darkness so thick it wouldn't dissipate acted like a cocoon, wrapping around the slightly curled figure of a young girl.Uta floated within it, her brows furrowed deeply, her face written with struggle and pain, as if she were enduring a tearing from the deepest part of her soul.The cynical smile on Luffy's face gradually settled, turning into a calm and sea-like determination.The power of the nika fruit roared silently within him, a holy silver-white radiance faintly flowing from his body."Wait for me, Uta."His whisper sliced through the noisy singing, carrying an unquestionable power."You must hold on!"