Creed and Imu's all-out clash—after an endless blaze of radiance—was followed by darkness spreading across three thousand li.
The surrounding void had been destroyed by their near god-tier power. In the very core, an enormous black hole had formed—
A vast black hole that could swallow anything.
Yet what was strange was this: within that black hole, profound ice was being born, spreading without end. And opposite that ice, countless void gates yawned open, the space inside twisting into chaos.
Within it, two figures were still colliding at terrifying speed.
They were moving so fast the human eye couldn't track them at all.
Their bodies were barely intact—both of them covered in wounds from head to toe—yet the battle intent in their eyes only burned hotter, pushed to its absolute limit!
Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!
No death. No surrender.
Only an endless battle to the very end!
Boom boom boom boom!
Even that black hole spanning more than 310 miles trembled violently under the shock of their power.
The strength they released was so overwhelming that even it couldn't quite swallow everything.
After all, it was a black hole formed by the two of them shattering the void together—far weaker than a true cosmic black hole.
Boom!
No one knew how long it lasted, but at last, that gigantic black hole spanning more than 310 miles could no longer withstand their final explosive clash—
It shattered!
Rumble rumble rumble!
A terrifying shockwave swept in all directions, turning more than 900 miles into powder. Countless volcanoes erupted, smoke billowing into the sky.
Even the tallest peak that held Mary Geoise was instantly sheared away by half—over 310 miles reduced to drifting ash!
Fortunately, the blow didn't hit Mary Geoise directly. Otherwise, the only ones who might have survived up there would have been Admiral-level powerhouses.
The entire Red Line trembled. Earthquakes rolled without end, and the sea birthed monstrous tsunamis that rampaged in every direction.
Ain—who had helped Dragon and the others seize the Holy Land—instantly transformed into lightning and shot toward the place where Creed and Imu were deciding life and death.
The moment she saw her beloved—battered and ragged, yet still smiling warmly—her tears finally spilled beyond control.
"Creed…!"
She threw herself at him, terrified she might lose him.
"Silly girl. I'm fine."
Creed raised a hand, suppressing the turbulent spatial currents around them.
That was the power of a space-type Devil Fruit!
In the final exchange, Creed had used a Devil Fruit Ability Extraction Card to extract the Space Fruit ability from Imu!
If he couldn't find a Time Fruit, then securing a Space Fruit first wasn't bad at all.
He patted Ain's back to soothe her, a faint sense of emptiness rising in his heart.
Defeating Imu meant he had become the true number one in the world…
And it felt like he'd temporarily lost his direction forward.
This victory had relied not only on Hyorinmaru (Ice Ring) and the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, but also on his defenses, recovery, and monstrous vitality—all of which had played a major role.
Still, none of it compared to the Vitality Potion and the Stamina Recovery Fluid.
Those two were the real heroes.
Without them, he couldn't have fought Imu to a decisive conclusion.
Creed flipped his hand and produced an apple, watching as it slowly transformed into a fruit etched with strange patterns.
The Space Fruit was born.
Whoosh!
And the number one Supreme Grade Sword—Saijō Ōwazamono: Void—was also called forth from the void into his hand.
Imu had been shattered by Creed's final blow inside the black hole, but this Supreme Grade Sword didn't seem to have suffered much damage.
Over at the Holy Land, the fighting was also reaching its end. The Five Elders were stubborn to the last—each of them died in battle, and not a single one begged for mercy.
After Blood Shadow was defeated by Redfield, he was surrounded and finished off as well.
What surprised Creed was this: Shiki died in this battle.
After he chopped down the First Elder, even as he was on the verge of death, he actually roared that it was "worth it!"
Creed suspected that the ship's wheel stuck in Shiki's head had harmed him. Over the years, Shiki's emotions had grown increasingly unstable. Under the pressure of fighting the Five Elders, he likely went completely berserk, lost control, and fell as a result.
Aside from Shiki and the annihilated Beast Pirates forces, the price paid by Creed's alliance was not as heavy as expected.
The combined elite forces of the Emperors were stronger than the Holy Land's defenders, and with Ain's lightning bombardment from the sky, breaking Mary Geoise didn't require an excessively long bloodbath.
What truly surprised Creed was that the Marines didn't seem to provide any real support to the Holy Land at all. Not a single Admiral-level fighter appeared there.
Only when Kizaru arrived did everyone finally realize why—
He had delayed the Marine reinforcements all by himself.
With the Glint-Glint Fruit, hit-and-run interception was exactly his specialty. No matter how you fought him, it was miserable.
And once the Marine reinforcements realized Creed's side had already won, they withdrew.
"Leader, my mission's done, right? It's been three years, and then three more years—if you still won't let me come back, I'm afraid I'll end up becoming Fleet Admiral."
Kizaru—who looked badly injured—arrived at Mary Geoise and immediately landed in front of Dragon, pleading with a helpless expression.
"Borsalino, welcome back! Thank you for everything you've done! The people will remember you. You've worked hard."
Dragon pulled him into a big hug and patted his shoulder, full of emotion.
Without Kizaru's intelligence, the Revolutionary Army would have been wiped out early on. Calling his contributions immense was no exaggeration.
Creed also smiled.
Back before he crossed into this world, when he used to read One Piece, many fans had discussed whether that "lazy guy" who loved to slack off was actually a Revolutionary Army undercover agent.
Now that the truth was revealed, Creed wasn't surprised at all.
As for what came next, Creed handed it all over to Dragon and Sabo to handle.
He would temporarily step back from direct control—though he wouldn't reduce the necessary oversight.
The Revolutionary Army's ideals were advanced, but Creed still needed to see whether they could be implemented smoothly, and whether the entire world could truly be remade.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For 20+ Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!] [[email protected]/Draumel]
[Thank You For Your Support!]