Chapter 496: Nightmare
The fierce gale dissipated, but the firelight had yet to extinguish.
Between heaven and earth, only flying embers and the low hum of the wind remained.
The death of Saint Mafi—
Brought the entire battlefield to a sudden, grinding halt.
In that moment, whether it was the remnants of the God's Knights or the Mythical Zoan Five Elders still clashing high in the sky, everyone's movements froze.
The belief in immortality, once seen as a "blessing from the gods," was completely shattered by reality within half a day of the war's outbreak.
Saint Warcury, Saint Mafi—
Two existences sheltered by "Imu's Blessing" and symbolizing eternity, had actually been thoroughly annihilated one after another by the hands of mere humans.
Shock, terror, fury, and chaos spread like a virus in their hearts.
Even the air seemed to grow heavy, the wind permeated with an unprecedented sense of despair and unease.
"This... this is impossible..."
A low voice sounded out amidst the chaotic dust and fog.
Saint Chiringorm raised his head, his crimson pupils trembling slightly.
His breathing was rapid. The fiery mane on his chest swayed in the wind, like flames being simultaneously torn apart by fury and terror.
It was a posture that struck fear into the hearts of all who witnessed it: his neck was stretched extremely long, surrounded by white clouds like swirling currents of breath;
His head resembled both a dragon and a beast, with backward-curving horns of fire growing from his forehead;
His skin was dark brown, shimmering with a flowing red-gold luster, as if molten magma flowed through his veins;
The manes on both sides of his cheeks burned madly like raging fire, connecting with his fiery eyebrows and extending all the way from his neck to his chest,
Acting like the cape of a war god in the wind—burning, twisting, and roaring;
Behind him, that blistering red flame tail swayed in the squall, the firelight at its tip continuously expanding in tandem with his emotions.
With a face like a nightmare, he murmured in a low voice: "Why... why is this happening..."
It was a soliloquy mixed with shock, bewilderment, and terror.
The bizarrely shaped, asymmetrically bladed trident in his grasp trembled slightly.
The shrieking sound of grinding metal lingered in the wind, like the weeping of someone jolted awake from a nightmare.
And just in the instant he blanked out—
"BOOM—!!!"
A searing red, giant magma fist came howling down!
Wherever the fist passed, the earth was burned right through, the air transforming into scorching shockwaves.
"Dodge it!!!"
An anxious, furious roar tore through the clamor of the battlefield!
Saint Junzi's hands transformed into a chain-firing arrow array. Dozens of silver-white arrows shot out explosively, piercing into the armor on Saint Chiringorm's chest!
SWOOSH—!!!
Accompanied by the pulling of distorted space, the arrows violently retracted, forcibly dragging Saint Chiringorm's entire body away from where he stood!
"RUMBLE—!!!"
The giant magma fist smashed heavily into the spot where he had just been standing.
Magma blasted outward like a waterfall. A fanatical airwave swept across the surroundings; heatwaves rolled, metal melted, and the ground warped!
"Don't just stand there blanking out!!!"
Saint Junzi roared, her gaze as chillingly sharp as a blade.
She looked up at the sky—
Atop the ruins of the high-and-mighty sanctuary, a blurred throne still stood amidst the flames and the sea of clouds.
—That was Imu.
Her figure was obscured by light and shadow. Only those blood-red Rinnegan pupils looked down coldly upon all creation.
Soundless, yet an oppressive majesty like that of a deity blanketed the entire battlefield.
Saint Junzi gritted her teeth and said in a low voice: "Lord Imu... is still watching us!"
Saint Chiringorm shuddered violently. His breathing grew rapid once more, and a twisted fanaticism gradually reignited in his eyes.
"That's right..." he murmured. Biting the tip of his tongue, fresh blood dripped onto the scorched earth of the battlefield.
The blood evaporated as if sucked into some sort of magical array, transforming into burning runes.
Gripping the trident tightly with both hands, he roared furiously—
"Her Highness... is still watching us!!!"
It was the fury of faith, and also the sacrifice of despair.
Saint Chiringorm's aura instantly skyrocketed. Raging flames shot into the firmament, dyeing the sky red!
"Then let Her Highness bear witness—to the return of the Divine Nightmare!!!"
He violently plunged his trident into the earth!
"—Dream Manifestation: Nightmare Cavern!!!"
CRACK—CRACK—CRACK—!!!
The entire battlefield ruins trembled violently!
The earth beneath their feet twisted, convulsed, and split open like a living creature. Crimson fissures spread across the surface, extending in all directions like veins.
Pitch-black energy spewed forth from deep underground. Accompanied by waves of low, weeping howls, the sky abruptly darkened. The cloud layers churned, compressed into an abyssal blood-red.
The fierce gale stopped. Even the flames seemed to be swallowed by some force, plunging the battlefield into a suffocating, dead silence.
—And then, the light was devoured.
"BOOM—!!!"
A bizarre light erupted from deep within the ground, followed by the emergence of a massive and complex magic array.
The array's patterns seemed to be woven with blood for ink and dreams for threads, madly spinning like a vortex devouring all light!
"Hehh... Hehh... Hehh—"
Accompanied by scalp-numbing groans, countless twisted shadows crawled out from within it.
Those shadows came in all sorts of bizarre shapes:
Some resembled humans, yet their limbs were deformed and their facial features upside down;
Some resembled beasts, yet they were covered in countless eyes, their mouths constantly chewing the air;
They had no eyes, yet they could "see" life;
They had no physical bodies, yet they could tear at flesh;
They had no souls—because they themselves were a collection of nightmares.
The birth of every shadow was accompanied by cries resembling human souls.
The sounds came from deep underground, mixed with the echoes of countless agonies and despairs.
Saint Chiringorm stood at the center of the magic array, his trident planted in the ground, his eyes crazed.
His burning mane was illuminated by the dark of night, looking like a burning nightmare.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA—!!!"
"Look! This is Her Highness's blessing! The incarnation of dreams and terror—a hell that you cannot escape even in death!!"
"Nightmare Legion, heed my command—!!!"
He roared, spreading his arms wide, the flames gathering behind him into a massive red curtain.
"Destroy them—!!!"
"Ahhh—!!! Heh heh heh—!!!"
Countless nightmare creatures erupted amidst howls and screeches. They surged like a tidal wave, churning out from underground.
The ground was swallowed by the black tide, the air warped, and the sky obscured.
"They're coming—!!!"
Sabo instinctively drew his steel pipe, scanning the area ahead with vigilant eyes. The footsteps of those things actually followed no discernible pattern, as if they were walking through a dreamscape.
"What the hell are those things?!"
Karasu's wings abruptly spread, black feathers dancing wildly. He replied in a cold voice: "Those aren't living beings... they are the physical manifestations of fear. They are souls swallowed by nightmares."
"Hah—fear?"
Sakazuki snorted coldly. The magma on his shoulders churned, the searing red light illuminating half the battlefield.
His gaze was like a knife, the corners of his mouth curling into a cruel sneer.
"That's perfect—I am their nightmare!!!"
Before his words faded, he violently raised both arms. Magma surged, and the sky was instantly dyed red with firelight!
"Ryusei Kazan (Meteor Volcano)—!!!"
"RUMBLE—!!!"
A sky full of magma shot up, transforming into hundreds of burning meteors that tore through the firmament, plummeting onto the battlefield with air-tearing roars.
Raging flames and the black tide intertwined. Light and darkness collided in the exact same instant!
The nightmare tide surged forward amidst roars, turning into thousands of sharp claws and fangs lunging at the Marine lines;
While the volcanic meteors falling from the sky pierced through heaven and earth like divine punishment!
"BAM—BAM—BAM—!!!"
Explosions and wails wove together. Magma vaporized the bodies of the nightmares, yet the black mist reconverged amidst the high temperatures—they possessed no concept of death, only continuously repeating the cycle of destruction and rebirth.
Sakazuki's eyes burned with a crimson light, his fists erupting with blistering flames.
"Then I'll burn you all until not even a dream remains!!!"
Behind him, Tesoro's gold spread across the surface, condensing into thousands of golden chains that swept across the field;
Karasu's black shadows blotted out the sky, slicing and separating the nightmares;
And Sabo, imbuing his steel pipe with Armament Haki and accompanied by rotating wind pressure, shattered the incoming nightmares one by one!
Fire, gold, shadow, and wind—four forces converged, tearing apart the tide of hell!
Just as all sides on the battlefield fell into a chaotic, fierce battle, fighting until heaven and earth shattered, one figure remained exceptionally calm.
Like a Grim Reaper walking at the apex of a storm, Roy's pace was neither hurried nor slow.
Raging flames and hurricanes automatically parted beneath his feet; magma and nightmares were reduced to nothingness the moment they touched his vicinity.
Every step seemed to tread upon thin air, steady and soundless.
He raised his head, his eyes as profound as a sea of stars.
High above—
That throne floating amidst the severed ruins of the palace finally entered his line of sight.
Imu sat quietly at the boundary of light and shadow, her body flowing with a bizarre black-and-gold radiance.
Her demeanor remained composed, her gaze so freezing cold it didn't hold a single trace of emotion.
But deep within those blood-red pupils looking down upon all creation, a long-lost glimmer of... interest flashed.
The wind stopped.
The clamor of the battlefield seemed to be isolated into an entirely different world between the two of them.
Roy slowly raised his head. His gaze was indifferent and sharp, pointing straight at the firmament like a sword blade.
Imu's gaze finally withdrew from the chaos of the battlefield as well, landing upon him.
Their lines of sight crossed in the air—
Wordless, yet shaking heaven and earth.
Their auras slowly condensed, and the air began to emit faint cracking sounds.
The very fabric of space began to warp the moment their eyes met.