Hearing Setsuna's provocative words, Imu's stunning face, so similar to Vivi's, darkened abruptly.
"You will pay for your arrogance..." Her voice was no longer ethereal but carried a distorted, raspy quality.
As her words fell, the massive airship suspended high in the sky, Uranus, suddenly projected a dazzling beam of light.
Within the beam, a flawless female body slowly descended.
Silver-white hair flowed like moonlight. Her skin was lustrous, like the finest gem.
"Still a woman," Setsuna felt a bit disappointed. He had thought Imu might be a gender-bender.
Two glowing blue cables extended from the bottom of Uranus, wrapping around the two bodies as if alive.
Energy resembling electricity surged through the cables. An expression mingling agony and ecstasy appeared on Imu's face.
When the consciousness transfer was complete, those eyes, closed for eight hundred years, snapped open.
Boom!
A terrifying pressure erupted like a tsunami. The entire Red Line trembled.
The cloud layer was forcibly scattered, revealing a brilliant starry sky.
"Hahahaha!" Imu stroked her long-lost body, her laughter tinged with maniacal joy. "Eight hundred years, a full eight hundred years! Imu has finally returned!"
She looked at Setsuna again, her dark purple eyes full of mockery. "Disappointed? Imu's lifespan is not yet exhausted!"
"No, the current outcome is exactly what I wanted," Setsuna smiled slightly, asking curiously. "What was your relationship with Queen Lili and Joy Boy? It couldn't be that the two of you were fighting over Joy Boy, he chose Queen Lili, and you turned love into hate?"
Imu scoffed. "Imu has no time for such trivial emotions. The people you should be asking about are Lili and the Mermaid Princess."
Setsuna asked another question. "What about Davy Jones?"
Imu, now back in her original body, became quite patient. "He was the last king of the Great Kingdom. Utterly foolish. Imu convinced him to transfer control of Uranus to Imu with just a few words. As a reward, Imu sank him into the deep sea."
Setsuna felt speechless, 'So Davy Jones was Imu's simp?'
"Do you have any other questions? Imu can answer them all for you."
"Forget it. I'm not really that interested in that Void Century history anyway."
"Since you have no other last words, let Imu grant you eternal damnation." Imu's wings flapped, and she appeared before Setsuna almost instantly, throwing a punch.
Setsuna crossed his arms to block. The triple defense of his dual-color Haki and Earth Release Chakra Mode shattered significantly.
He spat out a mouthful of blood, his body flying backward like a cannonball, smashing through four ruined palaces before barely coming to a stop.
"So fast!" Setsuna wiped the blood from his mouth. Imu's true body was nearly twice as fast as before.
"Why can you still use the Fallen Angel Fruit's ability?" Setsuna stood up and asked.
According to common sense, Devil Fruit abilities should remain with the original body.
"The Chesu Chesu no Mi and the Fallen Angel Fruit..." Imu lightly stroked her wings. "...were originally the powers of Imu's true body."
She raised her right hand. A pentagram spun in her palm. "Back then, although Lili used her body to trap Imu, Imu also used Domi Reversi to transform her body, then used the Chesu Chesu no Mi's power to grant that body the identity of the 'King'."
"So, Imu's strength wasn't weakened much. The only flaw was that Imu, due to the 'King' identity, could not leave Mary Geoise." As Imu spoke, her figure vanished again. "Well, Imu has answered another question for you. You should be able to die in peace now, right?"
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
A dense series of impact sounds echoed through the heavens.
Imu's assault was like a violent storm, each strike landing precisely on the weak points of Setsuna's defense.
Although the triple defense of Earth Release Chakra Mode and dual-color Haki prevented Imu from directly inflicting heavy wounds, the terrifying force still churned Setsuna's internal organs.
"What's wrong?" Imu's voice suddenly sounded by Setsuna's ear. Jet-black wings swept past like blades, smashing Setsuna away once more. "Where's your earlier cockiness?"
Imu hovered in the air, her six wings spread.
That flawless face wore a cat-and-mouse smile, elegant yet cruel.
However, she didn't see the expected regret or fear in Setsuna's eyes. Instead, his gaze was so fervent it was frightening.
"Just like this, perfect!" Setsuna laughed heartily. If Imu's strength was too overwhelming and he was instantly killed, this battle would be meaningless.
Like this, just strong enough to suppress him but not so strong that he couldn't resist at all.
Each blow walked the line between life and death, each second danced on the edge of a blade. This was the opponent he needed most.
As for Domi Reversi, he had mostly figured out the mechanism of Imu's ability. It wasn't like Hidan's curse, requiring blood to activate.
So vomiting blood was fine, as long as Imu didn't pierce his body.
"Already gone mad?" Imu shook her head slightly. She didn't think he had any chance left. "Or do you believe that triple defense makes you invincible?"
"Not being able to break the defense is fine. Imu will use the internal destruction property of Armament Haki..." Imu's fingertip condensed pitch-black Armament Haki. Pressing close, she struck a palm against Setsuna's chest. "...and grind your internal organs to dust, bit by bit!"
Pfft!
Setsuna spat blood again. But at the same time, his right fist, sheathed in dual-color Haki, smashed heavily into Imu's abdomen.
"Haki-Bound Star Crusher!"
Imu grunted in pain, retreating. Fine cracks appeared on her abdomen but vanished in an instant.
"Useless," she wiped the blood from her mouth. "The regenerative power of Imu's true body is not as fragile as that vessel's."
She closed in on Setsuna again, a knee strike slamming into his chest. The internal destruction of Armament Haki jolted his organs, making him spit another mouthful of blood.
Setsuna flew backward hundreds of meters, his back smashing through the ruins of a palace, scattering rubble.
"How much longer can you last?" Imu looked down from above. Dark purple energy gathered at her fingertip, like a beam of judgment, aimed straight at Setsuna.
"Divine Punishment: Annihilation."
Boom!
A pitch-black energy wave instantly swallowed the spot where Setsuna stood. The earth shattered, and dust surged skyward.
Yet, before the dust could settle, a golden streak of light abruptly broke through the darkness.
Setsuna's figure flashed behind Imu, his right fist wreathed in boiling Conqueror's Haki, smashing towards her back.
Imu hastily turned to block, crossing her arms, her jet-black wings wrapping around her body. She was still forced back dozens of meters by the punch.
"Interesting. You can still counterattack in this state?" Imu's eyes held a trace of admiration. It had been too long since she fought. In terms of battlefield adaptability, she was indeed inferior.
Setsuna gasped for breath, his chest heaving violently, but his eyes remained sharp as blades. "You talk too much."
Imu said no more. Her wings flapped, and her figure vanished.
When she reappeared, her pitch-black tail tip stabbed towards Setsuna's throat like a spear, so fast not even an afterimage was left.
Setsuna jerked his head to the side. The tail tip grazed his neck. His left hand formed a claw, grabbing Imu's tail. His right hand gathered power, dark golden Haki swirling around it.
This punch landed solidly on Imu's abdomen, making her grunt, dark purple light blazing in her eyes.
"You are dead!"
She violently beat her wings. The six wings rotated like blades, slashing. Setsuna crossed his arms to block. The crystal armor cracked under the slashes.
But instead of retreating, he charged forward. With a low roar, he forced his way through the wing blockade, an elbow strike smashing heavily onto Imu's chest.