Chapter 418: Your Eternity Ends Here
Accompanied by that low response.
Above the starlight-shrouded sky canopy and the fiercely burning Holy Land, a spot of mixed color appeared.
BOOM!
A black pillar formed from pitch-black flames rose from the depths of Pangu Castle with a boom.
The surrounding space seemed to whine and collapse.
The pitch-black flames began to spread.
And within those pitch-black flames.
A figure growing demonic wings was slowly flying up.
His posture had already been seen by everyone not long ago.
But his posture was also something they had never seen before.
He was not descending through Gloriosa's body, nor was he sending down a portion of His power.
Right now, in this Holy Land, under the power of the Pillar of Creation and the power of "freedom" stolen not long ago.
What manifested was the true King of the World.
Through Roy's eyes, he could even look directly at the true posture behind Imu.
That was a massive silhouette constructed from countless painful, evil, despicable, and ugly desires.
That was a monster composed of all the malice in the world.
That was... the Abyss.
"Truly ugly."
But at this time, Roy was not panicked.
Even though he could perceive that the restrictions on the other party had mostly dissolved after devouring the majority of Luffy's "Nika power" not long ago, and combined with the influence of the Pillar of Creation's power here, it could even be said that He had recovered His full strength.
Even just standing there, the pressure radiating from Him seemed enough to make the world collapse.
However, Roy's heart remained calm.
The starlight on his body continued to flow, unwavering.
"Truly presumptuous."
Imu similarly looked at Roy, His voice low.
He didn't dwell on Roy's identity, nor on the fact that The Zodiac was originally one person—to Him, these things were unimportant.
The only important thing was... killing this [Kindred] in front of Him.
BOOM!
There were no flashy probes or verbal clashes.
After just two greetings, the battle had already erupted.
Imu raised His hand—darkness gathered in His hand.
RUUUUMBLE!
Thus in an instant, the entire Red Line let out a booming sound as if it were a living creature.
But that was clearly not because the Red Line had truly become a living creature—rather, this magnificent behemoth existing at the ends of the four seas was shattering.
Massive cracks expanded on the imperial crown like spiderwebs, and countless rocks on the edge of the continent collapsed and fell with a boom.
Within Mary Geoise, the Celestial Dragons began to let out wails and terrified screams because the entirety of Mary Geoise began to collapse right now, and they could even feel themselves continuously sinking.
"Lord Imu... You..."
"Help! Help! Protect the King!"
"Didn't You have an agreement with our ancestors? Stop this!"
They roared lowly.
But Imu turned a deaf ear.
He merely extracted the "mass" of more than two-thirds of the entire Red Line completely, letting them fall.
But as they fell, those countless rocks dissipated into flying ash out of thin air, replaced by a massive pitch-black flaming sword.
Its mere existence, its massive mass, caused the surrounding space to distort.
"Abyss Sword!"
Imu raised His hand, and that giant sword condensing the mass of more than two-thirds of the Red Line... crashed down towards Roy with a boom!
Even though everyone knew that an attack of this caliber would inevitably destroy Mary Geoise along with it, and would also result in the deaths of the descendants of the World Nobles who signed the contract—this would cause Imu to suffer the backlash of the contract from back then after the battle.
But Imu clearly couldn't care about those things anymore.
Engaging with the person in front of Him, He only had killing the other party as His first priority.
Everything else could be ignored.
But facing this strike from Imu, Roy's response was very calm.
He didn't move, just similarly raised his hands.
Countless spatial doors gathered in his hands, and subsequently from within the doors, vast seawater began to flow out.
Exactly the same.
As that countless seawater flowed out, it continuously transformed, turning into a massive barrier sufficient to shelter Roy and all the allied forces behind him.
The next moment, the barrier and the giant sword clashed.
RUMBLE!
Thus, the foundation of the entire Red Line seemed to be shattered.
"Ahhhhh!"
Amidst howling sounds, Mary Geoise, along with the Celestial Dragons within it, fell in an instant.
These so-called World Nobles probably never could have imagined in a million years—they who always touted themselves as noble, touted themselves as proud.
Their final ending was actually to forever dissipate without a trace in a battle between two existences, in the posture of bugs almost crushed to death by the shockwaves of the battle.
Those two didn't even show explicit malice towards them.
It was just that in the battle of "Gods", these so-called descendants of gods were not even as good as bugs.
And clearly, right now nobody cared about them at all.
Because the clash between Roy and Imu continued.
Heaven and earth, sea and land, wind and fire, thunder and rain and snow—all phenomena and myriad things in the world seemed to have become toys they could casually knead and manipulate in their hands.
Every clash of theirs whipped up massive waves reaching heights of thousands to tens of thousands of meters, even seemingly capable of overturning sky islands and submerging the world.
The terrifying scenes brought about by every clash of theirs could almost make the entire world shake.
And amidst the clashes, that massive tree existing deep within the Red Line, hidden here by Imu, also began to gradually manifest.
The Warrior of Liberation led a grand army, beneath the giant tree, to overthrow the rule of God.
Everything seemed to correspond with that ancient myth.
All of that clearly told the world.
This battle was a "War of Gods" in the truest sense.
But exactly in this divine war, Imu's expression seemed to become increasingly gloomy and cold.
Clearly, He had not expected this either.
On His home turf, under the influence of the Pillar of Creation's power, Roy could actually still fight Him to a standstill.
"Even if he stole the reverberations of the previous world, and the crown Mu gave Davy, and those three tree seeds... it still shouldn't be enough."
Imu almost saw the source of Roy reaching such a status, but He didn't understand.
Where did Roy's Lineage Factor Source Energy, which was massive to the extreme, and this ability to casually manipulate Lineage Factor Source Energy just like Him, even manipulating it more finely and perfectly than Him, come from?
Imu could even distinctly feel—the abilities and wishes Roy used had no flaws, unlike His power which would be disgusted by the world.
Imu even had to admit.
Roy, was a more perfect "Deity" than Him.
But...
"It is only thus!"
Once again shattering the wind and thunder giant beast spawned by Roy with a sword, the silhouette of the Abyss behind Imu also seemed to let out a sharp mocking laugh along with His words.
"Gods are immortal, Star Lord."
He seemed to still be accustomed to calling Roy "Star Lord".
"Both you and Mu are Gods holding the power of a world. You should be very clear—Mu's power spreads across this world at all times, Mu's will and power eternally entrench this world."
"You can fight against Mu, but you cannot kill Mu, much less completely overthrow Mu's rule."
"Give it up, let's sit down and talk. Mu can share this world with you, and your retainers."
"Mu can let you become a New God, let the people you choose ascend a new Holy Land, and become the new Kings of the World."
His words were cold, seemingly stating a fact.
And that was indeed a fact He acknowledged.
Even if unwilling, He had to admit that Roy was already a "New God" not inferior to Him.
But at the same time, Imu was also certain.
Both He and Roy held the wishes of a world, enough status to bear everything, and almost infinite Lineage Factor Source Energy. With all three gathered, they could not be killed.
Take Imu for example.
Eight hundred years of rule had long left profound marks and bonds on this world.
Even if His entire body and power were completely annihilated, the bonds He left on the world controlled the wishes of the people in this world.
The human heart is the Abyss.
Just like His birth back then—as long as the mortals of this world were still thinking, the Abyss would be reborn from their negative emotions and cognition in their hearts, and instantly re-ascend the divine throne.
Neither of them could completely annihilate the other.
Under such circumstances, Imu chose to "take a step back".
He could acknowledge Roy's status as a God, and even conveniently, since the Celestial Dragons were almost all dead now, He could form a coalition government with Roy, even granting Roy the authority to choose new Celestial Dragons.
In Imu's view, this was clearly already a massive concession.
But...
"Sit down and talk? Coalition government? Rule everything in the world?"
Roy's voice was not loud, but it clearly overpowered all sounds.
"Sorry, I actually have no interest in that kind of thing."
"I just want to kill you... that is all."
As he spoke.
"Moreover—who told you that both you and I hold everything of a 'world'?"
He slowly raised his hand again.
Vmmm!
Magnificent power, countless wishes, gathered in his hand once again.
"Fool!"
And upon hearing this, Imu also shouted lowly: "Refusing to admit it won't change anything, both you and Mu are..."
He merely thought that the current Roy just hadn't discarded that bit of inconsequential obsession as a human, and was just unwilling to admit the facts.
But, just the next moment...
"!!!"
Imu's expression changed.
"This... is impossible!"
The pitch-black flames burning on His body, as well as the Abyss behind Him formed by the convergence of boundless darkness and dark emotional wishes, truly let out an incomprehensible shriek for the first time.
Because in this instant, He felt that one of the anchors He rooted in this world... those "wishes" from all living beings in the world that He devoured at all times, were undergoing some kind of change.
Their convergence was drastically decreasing, and even... filled with "hostility" towards Imu.
"You... what did you do!?"
Thus, Imu widened His eyes.
"Exactly what I have always been doing."
And Roy replied calmly: "I gave all living beings in this world a chance to choose—and you... you are too arrogant, Imu."
Hearing this, Imu instantly recalled when The Zodiac told the truth of history to the world through Dragon's hands not long ago at Marineford.
He was naturally angry at the time, but didn't care too much.
After all...
"It's impossible... Even if everyone knows the truth of the world, even if they all want to rebel against Mu, Mu's power has long penetrated deeply into everything in this world. Even if they harbor disloyal thoughts, the power of their wishes will still be absorbed by Mu..."
He found it hard to understand.
Yes.
During the eight hundred years of ruling the world, He erased history and repeatedly caused the sea level to rise.
The sea was His symbol—and in the current world, the sea had long submerged almost everything.
That meant Imu's restrictions on all living creatures in this world had long reached the extreme.
Even if people wanted to rebel against Imu, even if another Joy Boy led them to rise up and rebel, the power of their wishes would still be absorbed by Imu—this was also the reason why, for a long time, although Imu was disgusted by and wary of Joy Boy, He had never truly feared him.
He was confident that He could not be annihilated.
But now, this absolute control was shaken.
"You... what did you do!? Star Lord!"
And accompanied by Imu's terrified and angry low roar.
At this time, everywhere in the world that He didn't know about.
Vmmm!
Within every kingdom, within every city, boundless starlight was spreading.
And among them, in the desert of Alabasta.
That countless starlight even almost replaced the color of the desert, making this country become incredibly dreamlike.
"Father, is this what the Zodiacs said..."
And at this time, Vivi was looking at the object radiating starlight in her hand.
That was a tiny, illusory figure.
But although it was very miniature, if one looked closely they would discover—that figure was clearly exactly the same as Roy.
"Yes, the product of the Star Lord's power—the [Star God] that brings destruction to the Abyss and guards all living beings."
Beside Vivi, Cobra replied with a smile.
"Is it because of this that we didn't choose to participate in the war..."
Vivi looked at the little person in her hand and said softly.
"No, we participated in the war—Vivi."
Cobra said calmly.
"And because of the past glory of our ancestor Queen Lily, The Zodiac placed immense trust in us."
"They entrusted one of the most important, most crucial parts of this war... to us."
As he spoke, he turned his head to look at the sublimated starlight of the entire country.
Or perhaps, what he was looking at... was the entire world.
And Vivi naturally understood her father's meaning.
Just as mentioned before, before this war completely began.
The sea had briefly experienced turmoil not long ago.
Kingdoms were overthrown, nobles gathered together to either surrender or do something else.
But clearly—The Zodiac would not place a bit of trust in these nobles and kings.
The reason they hadn't completely annihilated them yet was just to ensure the temporary stability of all countries in the world.
And in this temporary stability of the world, Alabasta played a crucial role.
As one of the twenty Initial Kingdoms back then, as a superpower on the sea today, Alabasta's national strength and status were enough to make them the backbone of all kingdoms under such circumstances.
They also actively mobilized resources, dispatching merchant ships and think tanks to various kingdoms to assist in management and mediation.
At the same time, they were also using this opportunity to deliver some things to every kingdom without affecting the stability of the kingdoms, without stimulating the bottom line of all kings and nobles, and without inciting war or chaos.
That was these "Star Gods".
Or rather...
[Dice-Dice Fruit · Infinite Slices]
[Fruit of the Stars]
[Can split into countless miniature self-avatar slices]
These tiny Roys were exactly the materialization of the power of the Slice Fruit, one of the most crucial fruits in Roy's growth thus far.
Every single one of them was an avatar containing an insignificant amount of Roy's power.
Their only commonality was that as "Roy Amos", they could all mobilize the power of the Fruit Encyclopedia.
So...
[Discovered Wish · Distortion · Abyss]
[Absorb?]
"Yes."
Right now, such inquiries existed in almost every corner of the world.
That was also the source of Imu's anger right now.
Yes.
The Fruit Encyclopedia was Roy's golden finger, a power higher than everything in this world.
It was even far higher than the Abyss, this was a fact Roy had long been certain of—after all, in Dressrosa, he had forcibly devoured a portion of Imu's power through the Fruit Encyclopedia, and even intercepted the power on the Holy Knights from returning to Imu's embrace.
In other words.
Even if this world had already been restricted by Imu, and everyone's wishes would instinctively be distorted by the Abyss's power and become Imu's power.
But as long as Roy was nearby, as long as the power of the Fruit Encyclopedia was activated.
Then this wish would naturally be absorbed by the Fruit Encyclopedia.
And right now, this kind of miniature sliced avatar of Roy had long been delivered by Alabasta to every corner of every country in the world.
"Do you still want to continue being slaves?"
"Do you still want to continue having no freedom?"
"Do you still want to continue feeling pain?"
"If you are unwilling."
"If you want freedom, want to be at ease, want happiness, want to resist... then come!"
"Those who give the correct answer to this will be guarded by a Star God by their side!"
In other words...
The wishes rising from every place in this world could no longer return to Imu's embrace right now.
"This is the revenge of the myriad living beings of this world against you, Imu."
Above the sky of the Red Line, Roy stood in the center of heaven and sea.
Feeling the convergence of countless wishes within his body, feeling the gradual weakening of Imu's power in front of him.
His voice was calm, yet resounding.
Exactly at this moment...
RUMBLE!
Lightning struck straight down from the sky, as if dividing heaven and sea, or perhaps... dividing the new world and the old world.
"Listen, Imu."
Roy raised his hand.
"They have all stood up—those who refuse to be slaves."
"And you..."
As he spoke, the now panicked Imu finally changed His expression: "Wait, Mu..."
But clearly, Roy had no interest in hearing nonsense.
He merely swung his hand down.
Like a judge on the bench, making that final pronouncement.
"Your eternity ends here."