The sword slash came out of nowhere, carrying tremendous power. A force like solid energy seemed to cover the blade, giving off an ominous purple aura.
Little Demon Dragon had been wearing a careless, arrogant expression, but he became serious at once. Instead of taking Zoro's Hell Demon Slash head-on, he quickly moved backward, spitting flames as he retreated.
The purple demonic aura clashed with the flames. The surrounding snow was torn apart by the sharp sword energy, while other areas melted into slush.
The two forces should have remained locked in a stalemate, but Zoro's strength suddenly surged again. In an instant, he cut straight through the flames!
After slicing through Little Demon Dragon's breath, Zoro charged forward and swung again. Little Demon Dragon hurriedly raised his arms to protect his head. Just before the blade could cut it off, he managed to block the attack with both arms. A bloody mark appeared across his green limbs.
Using the force of Zoro's attack, Little Demon Dragon quickly retreated several steps. Zoro followed closely behind, but this time Little Demon Dragon was no longer careless. He brought out his true strength and began fighting Zoro seriously.
Zoro felt as if some force were pushing him forward. Rather than fighting the enemy on his own, it felt as though someone else was controlling him.
The feeling irritated him. At first, he had not noticed that his strength was increasing, but once he realized what was happening, he began actively resisting the force driving him into battle.
"What's wrong, righteous swordsman?" Little Demon Dragon noticed that something was off with Zoro. As he dodged Zoro's sword, he mocked him, "You don't look like you're doing so well."
"Do I really look that bad?" Zoro gave a cold laugh. "You're the one who seems to have made a lot of enemies. Then again, a demon like you is bound to end up that way."
He was sure that this demon's enemies were helping him from the shadows. Little Demon Dragon raised his head with a gloomy look when he heard that.
"The Black Order really is as boring as ever. Whatever. Now that those hyenas have arrived, the game is over."
He suddenly retreated several steps to put some distance between himself and Zoro. Zoro did not continue chasing him. He was deeply annoyed by the idea that some unknown person had used an unknown method to strengthen him. It made him feel as though he were being controlled.
Little Demon Dragon shook his head.
"Swordsman, tell me your name."
"Three-Sword Style, Roronoa Zoro." Zoro sheathed his swords and asked in return, "And you?"
"Little Demon Dragon, son of the Demon Lord. We'll meet again."
Little Demon Dragon jumped backward once more and soon disappeared into the endless white snow.
Only then did Zoro feel the power strengthening him completely disappear. He looked around irritably, trying to find whoever had been acting from the shadows.
But there was no one else nearby except Nami. When she saw that the battle was over, she ran over and said in surprise, "You were amazing just now!"
Nami was no longer someone who knew nothing about fighting. Judging from Zoro's performance just now, he had been completely different from before.
"Someone nearby was helping me," Zoro said. "Little Demon Dragon said it was someone from The Black Order."
"The Black Order!" Nami's face suddenly went pale. In truth, she was even more afraid of The Black Order than she was of the Marines.
According to The Black Order's standards, she herself had received demonic power and could be considered a demon-human. On top of that, there might still be traces of Muzan Kibutsuji's will inside her. Someone like her was practically a natural target for The Black Order, just as pirates were obvious targets for the Marines.
So when she heard that someone from The Black Order might be nearby, she instinctively felt afraid. But she quickly calmed down and lowered her voice.
"If someone from The Black Order is here, why didn't they capture that green lizard? Why did they help you instead?"
Zoro was about to say that he had no idea, but a woman's voice reached their ears. It did not come from somewhere around them. It came from…
The sky?!
That's right, from above!
The two of them looked up in surprise and saw a woman floating in the sky. She was rather petite, with long, pale green wavy hair. She wore a black robe with high slits, an outfit so revealing in the middle of this frozen wasteland that it made people want to call her crazy.
"Of course, that's because I'm not from The Black Order."
She slowly descended from the sky, though her feet never touched the snow. She stopped in midair a short distance above the ground.
"I drove Little Demon Dragon away for you, but you don't seem very grateful."
The green-haired woman looked at Zoro with great interest.
Zoro stared at her with dull, lifeless eyes.
"I never said I wanted your help."
The woman chuckled.
"How interesting. Don't tell me you think you could have beaten that little dragon with your own strength? He may still be a 'child,' but he is the Demon Lord's son. Even as a child, he's far stronger than you are now."
"Even if I lost, that would still be my problem, wouldn't it?" Zoro replied coldly, still showing no gratitude.
"All right, all right. There's no need to argue about this."
Nami quickly grabbed Zoro. It was obvious at a glance that the green-haired woman was not someone they should provoke. It would be better not to create any more trouble.
She then asked cautiously, "Thank you for helping us just now. May I ask who you are?"
"Monet. I'm from Pandora Island." Monet answered casually. "Are you pirates?"
Pandora Island?
Nami wondered if that was another organization belonging to the World Government.
At least they were not Marines or members of The Black Order, but it would still be better not to admit that they were pirates. She was just about to deny it when Monet spoke again.
"Never mind. I'm not a Marine, so whether you're pirates or not has nothing to do with me."
"I only want to ask you one question. Did you come here for the Eternal Flame?"
This time, her tone was serious. It was clear that she would treat them differently depending on Nami's answer.
Nami shook her head.
"We've never even heard of the Eternal Flame. We only came here to find a doctor and look for a Log Pose."
"I see."
The corners of Monet's mouth lifted slightly.
"That's really disappointing. Are you interested in the Eternal Flame?"
"What exactly is it?" Nami complained. "We already told you we've never heard of it!"
"It's a flame that The Black Order says can never be extinguished. It exists somewhere in the land of extreme ice, so everyone suspects that it is here in this country cursed by the Ice Witch."
Monet explained, "Whoever gains the power of the Eternal Flame can become the god of this frozen world and obtain unmatched strength."
"Something that valuable, and you don't want it?" Zoro asked coldly.
"Of course I want it. Why else would I have come here?" Monet replied with a puzzled look. "What's strange is that you didn't come here for the Eternal Flame. This country will soon become a battlefield. If you truly have no interest in fighting for the Eternal Flame, you should leave as soon as possible."
"We'll leave once we find a doctor," Nami quickly said. She was still worried that Monet might think they were interested in the Eternal Flame. Judging from what she had done earlier, this woman named Monet was clearly terrifyingly powerful.
Monet studied the two of them carefully.
"Little Demon Dragon followed the guidance of the dark energy and found this place, then happened to run into you. Perhaps you're deeply connected to the Eternal Flame after all."
"The guidance of dark energy? And who exactly is Little Demon Dragon?" Zoro had no interest in the Eternal Flame, but he was curious about the green lizard who had fought him earlier.
Monet raised her eyebrows slightly.
"Little Demon Dragon is the Demon Lord's son."
"Yeah, that's what he said," Zoro replied. He remembered Little Demon Dragon's words.
Monet slapped her forehead when she heard that.
"Are you two country bumpkins? You don't even know who the Demon Lord is?"
Nami and Zoro frowned. They really did not know who the Demon Lord was.
"A demon lord who is sealed away."
Monet answered impatiently, "Little Demon Dragon has spent all these years trying to break the seal on his father. I think the Eternal Flame must be an important part of that plan."
"A demon lord?!" Nami cried out. "Wouldn't that be incredibly dangerous? If he's such a dangerous demon, shouldn't The Black Order capture him?"
"Of course. But Little Demon Dragon is very cunning, and capturing him isn't easy."
Monet gradually began to rise into the air again. She smiled.
"All right. We seem to have some kind of connection, but since you're not interested in the Eternal Flame, we can't travel together. Let's leave it at that."
Nami let out a sigh of relief. She did not feel any connection with Monet, so she was glad to hear that the woman was leaving.
"I have a feeling we'll meet again."
Before leaving, Monet looked back at them.
"You'll come back after you leave… and perhaps that will be when the Eternal Flame appears."
"…Isn't that a little dramatic?" Nami's mouth twitched, but Monet said nothing more. She simply flew away.
Compared with the inexperienced Nami and Zoro, Monet knew far more about the world.
The World Government had taken her in when she was young. At an early age, she entered Pandora Island, where she trained alongside Lucci in the Pandora's Box program. There, she gained powerful telekinetic and teleportation abilities.
Her talent in both areas was even greater than Lucci's. After Lucci betrayed The Black Order, Monet became Pandora Island's only remaining agent. However, she did not join any other government department because her identity was unusual.
She was a member of the World Government's official forces, but she had also been invited by Fiamma of the Right to join the Cross Church's Right Seat of God. In other words, she had the support of two major organizations: the World Government and the Cross Church.
She knew far more than Nami and Zoro, so she understood exactly what the dark energy guiding Little Demon Dragon meant.
Dark energy was the force of evil in this world. And the evil force capable of guiding Little Demon Dragon was most likely his father, the Demon Lord.
The Demon Lord was one of the eight great demons. His dark energy had led Little Demon Dragon here, where he encountered Zoro. That meant Zoro and the others were likely to play an important role in the struggle for the Eternal Flame.
Even if they were not interested in the Eternal Flame right now, and even if they left the island for a short time, they would eventually return and bring the Eternal Flame to light.
To be honest, Monet was not very interested in the Eternal Flame.
It sounded powerful, but the magic she controlled was wind, while the power she normally used was telekinesis. Fire did not suit her abilities.
She had come here only because of a message from Fiamma of the Right. The members of the Right Seat of God were supposed to gather this time to deal with a massive crisis.
Monet did not yet know exactly what that crisis was.
But for Fiamma of the Right to gather the three of them…
It was probably because a demon lord was about to descend into the world, wasn't it?
That explained why both the World Government and the Marines had recently been so vague about the situation in the first half of the Grand Line. Did they also know that a demon lord was nearby?
No demon lord had appeared in the world for many years. Now, after all this time, demon lords seemed to be descending one after another. Could this world…
Could it be destroyed?
Monet felt uneasy, but she forced the feeling down.
She told herself that even if a demon lord really did descend, it might not be able to run wild in front of the Right Seat of God the way Aatrox had at first.
She did not know how strong the other two members were, but she had complete faith in Fiamma of the Right. She was deeply impressed by his strength. In her eyes, Fiamma of the Right was the strongest person in the world. As long as he was there, even a demon lord was nothing to fear.
Monet stopped on top of a snowy mountain and looked down at the country covered in ice and snow. At the center of the island stood a warm, brightly lit city. The villagers in the surrounding areas could barely survive with help from the Cross Church, but the people in the city lived in luxury, just as they had before the Ice Witch's curse descended.
She could not help finding it ironic. No matter how much the world changed, the nobles and aristocrats always stayed the same. In fact, they could even be called the main cause of the world's worsening condition.
She shook her head and forced herself to stop thinking about it.
She believed that these people would eventually face the consequences of their actions. On the day God judged the world, they would all fall into hell.
But for now…
She still could not carry out God's will in his place. She was still human, living in the human world, and she still had to follow the rules of that world!
People could not simply do whatever they wanted. Even if it might feel great to do so!
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