"Old hag, have you no shame?!"
No one understood better than Magnus what it meant for Imu to personally take the field.
He had always believed Imu would never step out herself.
Because he knew Imu's existence was the greatest taboo in this world.
The reason the World Government could unite hundreds of nations was that those nations believed the World Government was merely a public institution that coordinated disputes and protected them.
The Five Elders represented the highest authority of the World Government, and because there were five of them, each stood for a different Celestial Dragon lineage.
That was the only reason the rulers of nations could suppress their resentment.
But if someone suddenly told them that the World Government had always had a single master—someone who had ruled the entire world from the shadows—
What then?
Countless ambitious men would sprout from the cracks, countless people would march toward that supreme throne, and the World Government would fall into a decadence countless times worse than now.
So Magnus had always believed that even if the Five Elders acted personally, Imu would not.
Who could have guessed—
Imu's Devil Fruit had one more trick: an avatar.
She had possessed that young girl.
Though the power Imu now unleashed was not as overwhelming as when Magnus faced her in Mary Geoise, it was still far beyond the likes of Lucas Saint.
"Imu!"
The instant Imu appeared, Ryuma could no longer spare attention for Lucas Saint before him.
Even if he needed only a little more effort—
Lucas Saint would die.
But Ryuma had once seen Imu with his own eyes; he knew even better than Magnus how terrifying this woman was.
"Magnus, that's your name, yes?"
Ryuma's voice sounded at Magnus's ear.
"I'll deal with her. Don't forget what you promised me."
"Alright!"
Magnus agreed in a heartbeat.
He was pinned by Claude Saint and Stephens and couldn't break away. The only one who could face Imu was Ryuma.
What was done was done; since Imu's avatar had descended, no matter how bad it looked, Magnus could only accept the situation.
When eleven nations rebelled and chose them, the White Wolf Pirates were fated to clash with the World Government.
If Imu could still deploy an avatar—
Then whether they fought at Acropolis Harbor or in the Nation of Steel, they could not escape the fate of facing Imu.
Unless they abandoned those eleven nations from the beginning.
Which, of course, was impossible.
"Then come!"
The moment he saw Imu's avatar, a crushing weight pressed on his back, but the stone in Magnus's heart finally fell.
If even Imu herself had entered the fray, it meant the World Government had no other cards to play.
In that case—there was only battle!
"Ryuma?"
Seeing the swordsman charging at her, Imu's eyes flickered. She glanced at Harald, who had fallen into a magic array but was resisting with Armament so the conversion ran slowly, then turned first.
"Admiral Ortega, take him out!"
"Yes."
He didn't know who this winged girl was who looked like a demon once she spread her wings, but Ortega obeyed her instinctively.
Once Harald was caught inside the array, he was reduced to a passive target, far easier to handle than before.
"Damn it, what is this thing?!"
Only Harald's face had gone iron-blue. He could feel a powerful force within the array eroding his body. If he didn't resist with Haki, in the end he would become something he most dreaded.
"Hold the line! If this array erodes you, you'll no longer be yourself! No one is allowed to approach!"
Ryuma's shout rang across the battlefield.
Fortunately, because the destructive power of Harald's and Ortega's fight was too great, both pirates and marines had avoided their position and were fighting as far away as possible.
Of course, there was nowhere truly safe in all Acropolis Harbor; battles between top combatants were natural disasters to the weak.
"Ryuma, tell me—why have you returned to life?"
Great bat wings unfurled behind Imu. A long trident and a pointed demon tail appeared as well.
Her appearance barely changed from before, but the power surging off her was entirely different.
"No comment!"
Ryuma barked and swung.
"Dragon Flash!"
Conqueror's Will burst forth without restraint. If this had been Granreed Saint—or even Lucas Saint—he could never have blocked it so easily.
But Imu merely lifted her trident.
Clang!
Ryuma's blade met Imu's trident in midair.
A violent shockwave ripped across the entire battlefield.
Boom—!
As the World Government's last insurance for this war, the moment Imu appeared, the tide turned.
Harald, who had been evenly matched with Ortega and even holding a slight edge—
Now fell into absolute disadvantage.
Aside from Magnus, the strongest among them, Ryuma was forced to abandon his pursuit of Lucas Saint and intercept Imu to keep the situation from collapsing further.
Lucas Saint, one of the top combatants, finally got a moment to breathe.
That was right.
Lucas Saint couldn't beat Magnus or Ryuma, but that didn't make him weak; it was because Magnus and Ryuma were too strong.
Aside from Magnus and Ryuma—
He was on par with Harald and Ortega and stronger than standard Admiral-class powerhouses like Kong and Grindwin by a clear margin—already beyond the tier where second-line forces could trade evenly.
Dorry and Brogy were tiring.
Yoruru and Aruru were showing fatigue on their faces as well.
As time stretched on—
The gap between true Admiral-class combatants and the tier below became stark.
They had no strength to spare.
Meanwhile, Lucas Saint's wounds were rapidly knitting.
Once Lucas Saint fully recovered, an Admiral-class fighter with no one to check him would butcher the entire White Wolf Pirates.
But the board hadn't collapsed—yet.
Because Magnus still had strength to wield. With Granreed Saint gone,
Just Stephens and Claude Saint—
"Then I'll remove one first!"
Lucas Saint needed at least thirty seconds to recover; within those thirty seconds, Magnus would cut down either Stephens or Claude Saint to rebalance the field.
With Magnus's current power, if he faced an ordinary Admiral-class foe, he might well manage it by trading blow for blow.
But both Stephens and Claude Saint possessed undying bodies.
Anyone could see it: to break the game, Magnus had to kill one of them before Lucas Saint was restored.
Could he do it?
Neither Stephens nor Claude Saint dared to bet.
Stephens: "Careful—he's going all out!"
Claude Saint: "Stephens, stop him!"
Stephens: "???"
Stephens had a very colorful curse on the tip of his tongue he didn't know whether to spit.
If he truly were undying, fine.
But Granreed Saint, who had that very same undying body, had just been hewn down by a single stroke from Ryuma.
Judging by Magnus's performance so far—
He had the power to cut them down too!
Yet no matter how unwilling he was, Claude Saint was a noble Celestial Dragon.
Even if it meant dying—
Stephens couldn't voice a complaint.
So he steeled himself and moved to the front—straight into Magnus's most violent strike.
"Dominion Slash!"
With one hand, Magnus unleashed a single, kingdom-crushing stroke—Conqueror's Will coiling around the blade. Stephens was hurled hundreds of meters away. Even with Armament defending, the forearms he'd used to block were split to the bone.
Wreathed in Conqueror's Will, that wound would still take him a few seconds to heal even with an undying body.
He had to first use his own Haki to purge the will Magnus had left in the cut.
At Magnus's current level, the only reason he merely maimed Stephens instead of lopping off both arms was because he had held back.
"Feigaran Style: Descent of the Gods!"
As Magnus's slash fell, Claude Saint—who had slipped past the attack—lunged at him.
His strike fell like a meteor—aimed straight at Magnus's eyes.
But to Claude Saint's surprise—
Magnus, who had no undying body, chose to take it head-on.
Claude's Observation saw no future at all.
Observation Kill!
Screech—!
The Armament-coated blade did not pierce Magnus's eye—but struck his forehead instead.
The instant the tip touched, a huge hand clamped down on the blade.
Crack!
"You might be undying—but your sword isn't, right?"
The hand that had just unleashed Dominion Slash dropped its weapon, clenched into a fist, and smashed down. Before Claude Saint's disbelieving eyes, his sword snapped in two.
Then Magnus twisted and turned. The foot that had been grounded rose high and came down like a giant axe.
Claude Saint couldn't react at all.
They had all forgotten: Magnus wasn't only a great swordsman—he was also a top-tier martial artist. Beyond his hands, every part of his body was a weapon.
He had been forced on the defensive because he was fighting one against three before—
But now—
Boom—!!
A deafening impact detonated against the ground at Magnus's feet. His ax-kick drove Claude Saint straight down, tearing open the largest rift the battlefield had seen since the war began.
All of Acropolis Island was nearly split in half by that one kick.
Watching from afar, Whitebeard was stunned.
Who was the Tremor-Tremor Fruit user again—him, or Magnus?
How could Magnus casually kick harder than his full-power blow?
Seawater poured into the yawning chasm.
Knowing one kick wouldn't kill Claude Saint, Magnus gave him no chance to breathe. Ignoring Stephens, who had rushed back in, he dove straight into the man-made fissure.
"Father, save me!"
Seeing Magnus charge like a god-demon, Claude Saint was terrified to the core. If Magnus focused him down alone, he had no idea how long he could last.
Worse—his sword was broken.
"It seems the Divine Knights need a purge."
A cold snort sounded. A magic array bloomed beneath Claude Saint.
Magnus's killing intent spiked.
"Don't even think about running!"
This wasn't Magnus's first time seeing Imu's teleportation arrays. He knew their flaw well.
All you had to do was disrupt them with Conqueror's Will!
Wummm—!
Black-and-crimson willpower roared skyward—not only Magnus's, but Imu's and Ryuma's as well.
When the wills of the three apex combatants erupted at once—
Control was impossible.
In an instant the entire island was cleared. Terrifying will surged like something alive, swallowing the island and spearing into the heavens.
Even fighting two at once, Imu did not fall behind.
At root, Ryuma's stamina had started to dip.
Magnus lunged to stop Claude Saint's escape—
But his vision flashed, and a wrongness struck him.
This array wasn't teleporting Claude Saint away—
It was—
"Whether Ryuma or the White Wolf Pirates—none of them matter. If not for the extra time you've given them, they are but ants."
"So—"
"If I eliminate you, everything returns to its origin."
Imu's voice fell.
At the same time—
Imu's figure stepped out of the teleportation array.
A deep, bone-baring gash marred her body, threaded with Conqueror's Will that prevented quick regeneration.
Clearly, she had paid a steep price to shake off Ryuma.
But the result was pleasing.
Claude Saint, Lucas Saint, Stephens—and Grindwin, bound in seastone and already out of the fight—
Four top-tier powerhouses appeared before Magnus at once.
And—
Imu.
This time, Magnus couldn't use Conqueror's Will to send the others back to their starting points.
Imu's will was enough to cancel his.
"You do think highly of me."
Four top-tiers plus Imu—anyone facing that lineup would die.
Even if Lucas Saint had yet to fully recover and Grindwin was trussed in seastone, Imu alone with Claude Saint and Stephens—
It was still a certain-death board.
"Fine by me."
Yet faced with so many top-tiers, Magnus smiled.
"If you're all here, that means everyone outside is mine."
"Let's see, then."
"Will you kill me first—or will my companions get here faster?"
As Imu's brow creased slightly, Magnus pulled out a syringe and drove it hard into his vein. In an instant, his body flushed red like a boiled shrimp.
"Also—do you still have any more tricks?"
Magnus looked straight at Imu, a brilliant grin breaking across his face.
"My little one is home!"
Outside Acropolis Harbor, a pirate ship burst up through the surface.
It appeared in full view of pirates and marines alike!
(End of Chapter)
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