Imu, possessing Gunko, glanced indifferently at the twitching, drooling form of Saint Saturn and subtly raised an eyebrow.
During the chaos of the God Valley incident and these two recent major battles, the King of the World suddenly realized something deeply irritating. The five absolute subordinates they had always used so smoothly to govern the world no longer seemed as effective against this new, enemy.
Leaving aside Saint Mars and Nusjuro, Saint Ju Peter and Saint Saturn were proving to be remarkably disappointing vessels against York's peculiar abilities.
'That's enough,' Imu thought, their concentric-circle eyes narrowing. 'I will consider selecting new candidates for the Five Elders after this battle is over. But I still need these pawns for now.'
With that cold realization, Imu no longer paid any attention to the three Elders who had completely lost their combat ability to euphoria. Imu controlled Gunko's body, lightly flying out of the gap created by Saint Warcury's initial impact.
She floated as lightly as a falling leaf, yet in a matter of seconds, she arrived directly beside the recovering Warcury and Nusjuro.
Imu gazed up at York. York gazed back down at her.
His jet-black hair was once again ignited by pure, blinding white flames, and the pure white flame ribbon swirling behind his back inverted, dyed jet-black once more as he activated his combat-oriented Sun Mode.
York slowly floated downward, descending to hover at the exact same height as Imu. Neither looked up; neither looked down.
Imu, possessing Gunko, suddenly spoke, her voice carrying an unnatural, multi-layered echo.
"I have observed you carefully, Atlas D. York. I have found that you and Joy Boy still share many similarities."
"Hah!" York chuckled, resting his three-meter blade on his shoulder. He asked Imu in return, "Then tell me, compared to that ancient ghost, which of us is more like the true Sun God?"
Imu actually considered this arrogant question seriously for a moment.
"Purely in terms of destructive ability and heat, you are indeed far more similar to the actual star. But... Joy Boy's title of Sun God is recognized by the hearts of more people."
"Is that so?"
York extended his free left hand and clenched it tightly, the air around his fist warping from the heat.
"Then, starting today, I will usurp his title! I will prove to the entire world—and to you!—that I am the true Sun God!!"
Imu's eyes darkened, and her voice became terrifyingly deep.
"No. You will have no future. I will not allow you to have a future!!"
As soon as she spoke, Imu raised Gunko's delicate hand and summoned a massive, five-pointed demonic magic circle in the air. A dark, ethereal grimoire appeared within the circle, and from within the pages of the book, a slender, pitch-black rapier slowly rose.
"Since mere abilities are proving ineffective against your will, then I will use absolute physical power to make you understand that my world cannot be shaken!!"
Imu's small hand gripped the sword hilt. Instantly, an apocalyptic wave of black-red Supreme King (Haoshoku) Haki violently pierced through the atmosphere, instantly covering the entirety of Pirate Island.
Far away, Kaido—who had just finished crushing Ochoku behind the Great Skull Mountain—looked up as he saw the sky split open with jagged red lightning.
"What terrifying Haki..." Kaido's expression turned grave, gripping Hassaikai. He vividly recalled the apocalyptic battle between Rocks and that mysterious woman at God Valley.
"Did that terrifying woman come here too?!" Kaido muttered. "Things are not looking good! York! Don't get taken down like Rocks did!!"
Back to York.
The suffocating Haki that erupted when Imu gripped the rapier's hilt surprised York slightly. Only when truly facing Imu directly in combat did he clearly understand the immense, crushing pressure Rocks D. Xebec had faced back then.
'Such heavy Haki...' York thought, the pressure physically pushing against him.
'But...'
York grinned, his eyes gradually shifting from their previous predatory greed into absolute, battle-hungry madness.
"This only makes me more excited!!" York roared. "Only by conquering an ancient 'God' like you... will I consider this life well-lived!! HAHAHAHAHA!!"
Laughing uproariously, a wave of Supreme King Haki—not a single fraction inferior to Imu's—violently erupted from York.
The rolling, invisible pressure transformed into a literal black-red torrent centered entirely on himself, spanning nearly a hundred meters in diameter as it shot into the sky. The dark thunderclouds, which had been torn apart by Imu's Haki, were violently dragged back together by York's pressure, forming a massive, churning vortex that slowly revolved around York's position.
Imu's concentric-circle pupils constricted slightly.
'This Haki...' Imu thought, deeply unsettled. 'Its intensity is almost reaching the realm of my true body.'
But York was only twenty-five years old this year! He was not the reincarnation of Davy Jones or Joy Boy, as she knew them. Could it be that a third, entirely new "God" was truly about to cement himself in this world?!
York was completely enveloped in the torrent of Haki he unleashed. Only his burning, flowing white hair and his glowing, pupil-less white eyes were vaguely visible within the dark storm.
In this posture, at this exact moment, the 'Sun God' looked far more like an apocalyptic demon than Imu did.
BOOM!!
The swirling Haki violently retracted, coating York's entire body. His right hand had already securely gripped the hilt of the Miaodao he had personally forged.
Black-red Supreme King Haki and flowing Advanced Armament (Ryuo) were tightly, densely intertwined around the three-meter blade. Merely the slight, resting tremor of the steel in the air pulled out jagged, lightning-like afterglows.
"Let's fight, Imu!!" York roared. "I will prove to you! I am not Joy Boy! But I will ultimately be far stronger than him!!"
With that, Imu no longer hesitated. Gripping the pitch-black rapier, she instantly vanished, thrusting the blade directly at York's heart.
Seeing this, York's right hand, holding the long blade, suddenly erupted in raging, scorching flames. Pure white fire completely enveloped the Haki-coated steel, its internal temperature pushing past a million degrees.
York swung the three-meter blade horizontally with catastrophic force.
"Sweeping Through a Thousand Armies!!"
Pure white flames mixed with black-red Haki lightning, forming a massive, horizontal curtain of thunder-fire that literally isolated the sky from the earth.
Imu's eyes narrowed slightly. Holding her rapier forward, she transformed into a sharp, dark arrow that forcefully pierced through York's sky curtain. The wall of flames and Haki lightning was violently torn open, creating a massive void in the fire.
Imu continued her thrust, shooting toward York like a streak of dark aurora.
York had long anticipated that a wide-area attack would not stop the King of the World. So, before Imu's rapier could reach his chest, he stepped forward and thrust his three-meter blade in a devastating counter-stab.
CLANG!!!
The needle-like tip of the rapier and the razor-sharp tip of the Miaodao collided perfectly in mid-air.
The microscopic point of impact emitted a crisp, terrifyingly loud sound. Simultaneously, an even more apocalyptic shockwave of Haki lightning exploded outward.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
Down below, the central pirate town of Hachinosu—unable to withstand the sheer atmospheric pressure of this collision—violently split apart, a huge, bottomless abyss ripping the island in two.
Rolling seawater surged in from the coast through the massive cracks, crashing into the abyss with a deafening, thunderous roar.
In the sky, the clash between York and Imu was only just beginning.
Both sides possessed Haki protection that could be called absolute, making their respective weapons utterly indestructible.
In the next instant, Imu retracted her rapier and swept it aggressively upwards, while York simultaneously chopped his Miaodao violently downwards.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Blade and sword collided in a blinding flurry of strikes.
The sheer kinetic force and Haki shockwaves radiating from their duel formed an impenetrable, spherical barrier. Saint Nusjuro, who had attempted a high-speed skeletal sneak attack from the flank, was violently repelled backward. The erupting Haki created such immense atmospheric resistance that the Elder felt like he was trying to run through a solid wall of iron just by approaching them.
"How is this possible?!" Saint Nusjuro gasped, his skeletal hooves skidding in the air. "A mere mortal! How could his Haki match the Creator?!"
Saint Warcury on the other side found himself in the exact same predicament. The giant four-tusked wild boar found it impossible to charge into the sphere of their clash, grunting in profound surprise.
However, York, who was currently locked in a blinding, high-speed blade clash with Imu, merely curved his lips into a smirk.
The absolute, unshakeable pride of a Transmigrator was something these natives could never understand.
"Wield absolute power over the world in waking hours! Sleep with absolute beauties in drunken bliss!!" York roared, parrying a lethal thrust from Imu.
"If I can't become the absolute strongest existence after coming to this world! Then what the hell is the point of me being here?!"
York loudly proclaimed his unfiltered ambition.
ZIIIIING!
In response to his absolute Conqueror's will, the three-meter long blade in his hand suddenly let out a clear, resonant, almost joyful ringing sound.
York was momentarily stunned.
'A famous blade gaining a spirit?! You must be joking!!' His blade had only been forged a few days ago, and it was already developing a weapon spirit from soaking in his ambition?! Originally, only the destined protagonist's group should have received such absurd, anime-style treatment!
However, even though he knew this was absolutely ridiculous, since the blade had actively responded to his will, he naturally shouldn't disappoint it.
"Let me truly show you my absolute power!!" York roared, his eyes glowing blindingly bright.
The surging, visible flames instantly vanished from York's entire body.
He didn't cool down. Instead, the very air around his body appeared violently twisted, blurry, and warping, as if reality itself was melting.
"The true core of the sun... is 15 Million Degrees!!"
A massive, invisible, apocalyptic heatwave exploded outward.
Saint Nusjuro and Saint Warcury instantly spontaneously combusted under the sheer, ambient radiation. The other three incapacitated Elders, who were still twitching on the ground, were directly reduced to fine ash without a shred of resistance.
Imu, possessing Gunko right in front of York, was no exception.
Not only were all of the clothes instantly flash-vaporized, but her physical flesh was completely consumed by the invisible flames, leaving only a blackened skeleton moving within the heat.
The scorched skull's jaw opened and closed, and Imu's deeply shaken, horrified voice emerged from it.
"Your ability... how can it possibly be this strong?!"
Far, far away, Kaido—in his hybrid dragon-human form—was fleeing at extreme speed toward the coastline.
"He's gone absolutely mad! Is York actually going to use that move again?!" Kaido roared in panic.
Even from his distance, Kaido's majestic, virtually indestructible blue dragon scales were spontaneously combusting, catching fire without any visible flame touching them. Fortunately, he was utilizing the massive remains of the Great Skull Mountain for cover. Combined with the distance and the relatively small physical volume of York's heat source, Kaido could barely endure the radiation.
However, if he stayed on Hachinosu for another minute, he would undoubtedly be baked alive inside his own scales.
"This is too outrageous... York's ability is a glitch..." Kaido cursed, pushing his speed to the absolute limit as he gradually disappeared over the distant horizon.
York watched Kaido disappear to safety. He then looked down at the rapidly boiling, evaporating seawater rushing into the abyss, and felt the massive, stolen reserve of life force within his body rapidly depleting just to sustain this mode for a few seconds.
"One strike... to kill you!!"
York raised his three-meter long blade high above his head with his right hand. There were no fancy sword techniques, no intricate forms—just a simple, devastating, absolute vertical slash.
"Ashes of Heaven and Earth!!"
Infinite, incalculable heat was condensed entirely into the razor-sharp edge of the blade. With a single, devastating swing, it was released in an instant.
The skeleton of Gunko, still possessed by Imu, had absolutely no physical resistance. The vessel was completely annihilated, atomized on the spot.
Then came the Great Skull Mountain behind where she had stood.
The massive stone fortress had struggled to hold its shape until now, only gradually turning into molten magma from the ambient heat without completely collapsing. But under the direct, concentrated strike of York's ultimate slash, the entire mountain violently shattered and evaporated.
It didn't even leave many fragments to fall to the ground; the stone was simply erased.
Far, far away, deep within the tranquil Room of Flowers in Pangaea Castle, Imu staggered backward, deeply shaken. A hint of genuine, profound fear subtly emerged in their ancient eyes.
"How is this possible?! How can his output be this strong?! Even Joy Boy wasn't this destructive!!" Imu gasped, gripping their chest.
But fortunately, Imu could still faintly sense the mystical connection between themselves and the atomized remains of Gunko.
This meant that although York had instantaneously obliterated the physical vessel, he still hadn't completely cracked or severed Imu's core immortality ability. As long as Imu used their infinite, immortal power to continuously exhaust York's mortal stamina, no matter how ridiculously high his burst limit was, he would eventually run out of gas and become their most loyal, exhausted henchman.
The very millisecond after York instantly vaporized Gunko, he immediately deactivated his 'True Sun Mode'.
Using the true, 15-million-degree core power of the sun consumed far too much stamina. It was only thanks to him having absorbed the life force of thousands of pirates earlier that he managed to withstand the catastrophic consumption without dying himself.
However, even so, he now had absolutely zero stolen reserves left. He was running purely on his own baseline, natural stamina. In the upcoming battle, if he exhausted this as well, he would truly become a helpless fish on a chopping board.
Fortunately, York was a master tactician; he had already planned for this exact scenario before ever unleashing his ultimate power.
To permanently crack Imu's immortality and Black Turn Domination, the best tactical route was still to rely on his Purification Light. As long as the upper limit of the Purification Light was pushed to its maximum, Imu's possession would no longer be an invincible technique.
So, the absolute first thing York did after exiting True Sun Mode was sprint toward Saint Saturn's previous location.
Scattered, dust-like body fragments were slowly, unnaturally reorganizing above the cooling magma. Saint Saturn's consciousness was still blissfully immersed in the mind-breaking, happy dream York had forcefully granted him earlier.
York extended both of his hands, directly plunging them into the constantly aggregating, immortal dust of the Elder's body.
"Purify!!"
York let out a low, commanding roar. His hands released a pure, intensely gentle, and absolute white light.
Under the direct, concentrated illumination of this sacred light, the immortal dust of Saint Saturn's recovering body began to permanently disappear, particle by particle.
The speed of the erasure was not very fast, but the absolute fact remained: the immortal flesh was indeed being permanently destroyed.
York's eyes lit up with fierce joy, and he gritted his teeth, pouring his remaining stamina into maintaining this posture.
Time passed, second by agonizing second. High above the crater, the demonic magic circle flared as Imu desperately tried to reform Gunko's atomized body in the air.
When Gunko's skeletal structure had condensed almost halfway, the last remaining speck of Saint Saturn's dust that could be purified completely vanished within York's light.
Only a final, completely unpurifiable, ordinary bone structure—driven by the dying inertia of the Elder's ability—reformed. The mundane skeleton collapsed, falling into the magma and gradually being swallowed by the molten rock. Saint Saturn was dead.
Imu, who had only managed to recover the upper half of Gunko's body in the air, watched this scene with absolute horror. The arrogant confidence the King of the World had felt just a short while ago instantly evaporated.
The telepathic, immortal connection between the Five Elders, Saint Saturn, and Imu... was completely, permanently gone!
This didn't refer to Gunko, the vessel Imu was currently possessing. Imu's true, ancient body—sitting far away in the Room of Flowers—could no longer sense Saint Saturn's existence in the mortal plane.
York had truly, fundamentally cracked their immortality ability!
"Why?! How is this happening?!"
An emotion they had not experienced in over 800 years—a cold, long-lost sense of primal fear—emerged from the deepest, darkest depths of Imu's ancient heart.
Their power was no longer absolute. Their rule was no longer invincible! The legendary Joy Boy hadn't even been reborn yet, and a man infinitely more terrifying than him had already firmly established himself in this world!
Imu instinctively wanted to flee. But because they hadn't felt genuine fear for eight centuries, their mind was deeply disturbed, causing their reaction time to be a single, fatal beat too slow.
York caught this delayed beat perfectly.
He vanished, moving with untrackable speed. He appeared directly in front of Imu—whose vessel was only half-recovered—as if teleporting. York's massive hand shot out, firmly gripping the skeletal wrist of Gunko's reforming arm.
"Don't even think about running away!" York growled, his grip like a vice. "Our battle isn't over yet!!"
Imu began to struggle instinctively, thrashing wildly. But on one hand, their ancient mind was in complete disarray. On the other hand, as York gripped the vessel, he continuously injected concentrated Purification Light directly into her bones, causing the telepathic connection between Imu's true body and Gunko to experience a violent, static-like lag.
Fortunately, Imu had, after all, been the absolute King of the World for 800 years. Even if their mind was momentarily fractured by fear, panic couldn't trap them for long.
Knowing that physically struggling against York's grip was futile, Imu chose the second option.
First, Imu remotely controlled the magic circle and forcefully dispelled the summoning of the remaining four Elders. The dust and ash of Warcury, Nusjuro, Mars, and Ju Peter vanished, allowing their true bodies to return directly to the Holy Land of Mary Geoise to slowly, agonizingly recover.
Then, the half-formed skeleton of Gunko looked up at York, speaking in a deep, composed voice.
"Let's call a truce, Atlas D. York."
York raised an eyebrow, his grip tightening. "You're afraid?!"
Imu let out a soft, echoing laugh, regaining a fraction of their ancient composure.
"You merely permanently destroyed a single pawn, and defeated a disposable clone I was possessing. Do you really have the guts to march up the Red Line to the Holy Land right now and fight my true, ancient body?"
York was slightly silent.
He tightened his jaw. He indeed didn't have enough confidence or stamina left to launch a full-scale assault on Marie Geoise to face Imu's true, unrestricted form today.
So, his aggressive tone gradually softened, though his grip did not loosen.
"Tell me, then," York demanded. "What are the conditions for this truce?"
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