[Blood-red color surged like a tide over the white bones, dyeing everything a dark red.]
[A cheetah's agile body chased across the wilderness, fangs sinking into the gazelle's taut throat; beneath a grizzly bear's massive jaws, snow-white rabbit fur mixed with blood beads splashed; a pack of hyenas tore at a wildebeest's abdomen, its curved horns futilely carving deep marks in the dust.]
[These images kept overlapping and repeating, gradually losing color, turning into black-and-white interwoven silhouettes, becoming pale lines intertwining in the void.]
[In the end.]
[All the lines converged and collapsed toward the center… forming a singularity that devoured everything—]
[An existence darker than darkness itself.]
[In the churning sea of blood, countless crimson arms stretched out from the water's surface, like the final struggles of drowning victims. They frantically tried to grasp…]
[But aside from nothingness, they had nothing.]
[Black Swan reached out in terror, her slender fingers clawing at the void, as if trying to seize the last thread of hope for survival.]
[Yet her body was being dismembered and crushed by some invisible force… turning into drifting feathers that spun as they fell into the void, completely disappearing.]
——
One Piece.
"Black hole."
Kuzan pushed up his glasses. The lenses reflected the moment of terror on Black Swan's face right before she was dismembered.
No one dared to laugh at her, because they were no different from her. When nothingness capable of annihilating everything descended, nothing remained except futile struggle.
"This is true… gravity."
Kuzan subconsciously glanced at Blackbeard beside him.
Blackbeard, who had questioned Acheron's strength not long ago, now had a completely frozen expression. His Adam's apple moved up and down, as if wanting to say something, but only producing a few dry "heh heh" sounds. His thick black beard trembled slightly, and his missing teeth looked like the gates of hell—his signature feature now made him look extremely disheveled.
"What… what the hell is in this woman's head?"
It took a long time before Blackbeard squeezed out this slightly trembling sentence from his throat.
He slumped down dejectedly onto the deck.
The Dark-Dark Fruit possessed the infinite gravity of a black hole, but when staring into the depths of Acheron, he realized he was the one being firmly sucked in. Not just physically, but spiritually… everything collapsed and was destroyed inside the black hole, just like the rabbit in the grizzly bear's mouth… completely powerless to resist.
After Aventurine revealed Acheron's identity as an Emanator, he had been curious whether his Dark-Dark Fruit could affect an Emanator like her. Now this question had an answer.
Black Swan was annihilated into pitch-black feathers inside the black hole, and everyone finally—escaped from this hellish black hole.
"Damn it…"
Shiliew felt his legs had gone completely weak. He could only use his blade to support himself and barely remain standing. The other captains also broke free from the memories, their chests heaving violently, as if they had just gone through a deadly battle. Even their breathing carried unnatural tremors.
——
[The last note trembled in the air and dissipated.]
[In the center of the dance floor, Black Swan powerlessly collapsed into Acheron's arms. Acheron steadily supported her waist. After the dance ended, damp fragmented hair stuck to her slightly pale cheeks. She gasped for breath, her chest heaving violently, greedily taking in every breath.]
[Yet Acheron's eyes remained indifferent, even carrying a hint of… confusion.]
["The Annihilation Gang… who are they?"]
——
"Hah… she, she actually doesn't know the Annihilation Gang?"
Iai An's fingers trembled slightly as he pointed at Acheron's somewhat dazed expression on the Celestial Screen. After experiencing a nightmare-like memory, he finally managed to squeeze out a smile on his pale face.
"Master… her memory really is quite bad."
Under the sunlight, Atomic Samurai slowly turned his head. Shadows covered most of his face. When he slightly raised his head, the disciples finally saw his expression.
"M-Master?"
Iai An's smile froze on his face.
He rarely saw his Master show this kind of expression: cold sweat covering his pale face, bulging veins on his forehead like two wriggling earthworms. The last time he saw this expression was during the battle with Phantylia and Jing Yuan.
"Idiot." Atomic Samurai's voice seemed squeezed out from between his teeth. "Do you remember the names of the ants you stepped on?"
The surroundings suddenly fell into dead silence.
Only the sound of the disciples' violent heartbeats… and chattering teeth remained.
"Master, what do you mean by that?"
"It means that Duke Inferno… was just an ant she stepped on."
"A powerhouse like Duke Inferno has probably already been slain countless times along her journey. Someone of his level, a force like Duke Inferno's mansion—even in her memories, they are not worthy of having a name."
——
["I have watched her for a long time. Tonight is the last invitation. [Galaxy Ranger]…"]
[Acheron walked alone down the long street.]
[The sky seemed to be quietly changing—the pitch-black night sky appeared to be permeated by the blood of the dead, gradually seeping out a dark red hue. That red grew deeper, spreading across the Celestial Screen like diluted blood, enveloping the entire street in an eerie glow.]
["No, I made a fatal mistake."]
["Everyone has a past, but some people's pasts are silent deep seas, filled with the corpses of the drowned."]
[As the crimson faded, Acheron quietly walked along the street while trying hard to recall the name Black Swan had just mentioned.]
["Annihilation Gang… Annihilation Gang…"]
[Suddenly, her steps halted. Acheron slightly raised her head as if realizing something.]
["Ah… it's them…"]
——
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.
"No wonder when Stelle suggested teaming up with Acheron back then, Black Swan looked a bit wary…"
Shinobu Kocho let out a long breath. She had been holding this in for a long time. When she saw that apocalyptic scene, she really didn't dare breathe for a moment. Only after the Stone Hashira gently patted her from behind did she barely snap out of that endless "gravity."
"Just peeking into her memories turned out worse than getting hit by an illusion-type Blood Demon Art. What exactly is this woman's background? Why is she so strong?"
Although the appearances of these Pathstriders on the Celestial Screen couldn't be judged by ordinary human age, she wasn't a long-life species like the Xianzhou people. She looked to be in her twenties, even younger than the Hashira.
Iguro Obanai couldn't understand how many battles this woman had gone through to reach her current realm.
"…Could it be that the Aeon's blessing gave her near-infinite life? Like Lady Jingliu, she only looks young?" Kanroji Mitsuri offered her guess.
"In reality, she has already experienced countless slaughters. Both her skills and Path have gone extremely far."