The Real Im? The Time to Connect the World!
"Waaaaaah!!"
Im's screams were so shrill they were almost ear-piercing; just listening to them sent chills down your spine.
Pain!!
I haven't felt this kind of pain in a very, very long time!
His body had completely Polymerization with the Sky King's; the Sky King's arm was shattered, which meant his arm was shattered as well.
The pain of limbs being torn apart inch by inch was far too unfamiliar and unbearable for Im, who had not fought against anyone for eight hundred years.
"Aaaaaah!!"
Im's face was contorted in pain, sweat poured from his forehead, and his body trembled with agony.
Pain!
It hurts so much!
"Ancient Weapon weren't as unattainable as they seem."
After smashing the Demon Machine God's right arm with a single punch, Ian made this comment.
Simply relying on sheer Haki is no match for Ancient Weapon, but when combined with physical strength, it becomes a different story.
Besides his Haki, Ian invested more points into his abilities and his physical body.
Their basic strength and abilities both increased dramatically in that instant.
The end result is that, after using his ability, Ian's physical strength is likely to surpass even his Haki.
The combination of physical strength and Haki ultimately produces overwhelming power!
Sky King's material strength is so great that it can withstand Pluton's main cannon. Unless it is hit repeatedly, Pluton will not be able to destroy it in a short time.
But now, Ian has shattered a part of the Sky King with just one punch!
This is the truly unparalleled power gained after absorbing the strength of countless people!
At this point, Ian had already surpassed the Ancient Weapon!
His massive body twisted, and his enormous left fist slammed out once more.
However, the punch missed its mark, and at the last second, Im's teleportation ability finally activated.
In the blink of an eye, the enormous Sky King appeared in the sky hundreds of kilometers away.
"Tsk."
Ian smacked his lips.
Even with an overwhelming advantage in strength, the ability to teleport is still so troublesome.
"I don't believe it!!"
Inside the Sky King's chamber, Im's face was utterly distorted.
How is this possible? How could this guy suddenly become so strong!
Hallucination!
It must all be just an illusion!
You can't fool me! May you be reduced to ashes!
With a roar, the Sky King unleashed all his cannons, and beams of brilliant light eventually converged into a massive beam of light.
"Oh, what a dazzling light!"
Ian narrowed his eyes slightly. "But you still haven't come to terms with reality?"
With a twist of its body, its tail, which resembled a giant serpent reaching the sky, tore through the air and lashed mercilessly at the incoming beam of light.
The beam of light, containing earth-shattering power, was actually deflected and turned by this attack, heading straight into the depths of the sky.
It wasn't just overwhelming power; its technique was equally astonishing.
Using the most delicate power manipulation, forcibly changing the direction of this beam cannon was not a difficult task for Ian.
The beam of light flew all the way to the deepest part of the sky, perhaps even beyond the world, into the depths of space before finally exploding.
A colossal sphere of light, dazzlingly bright, stretched across the sky in an instant, even more radiant than the sun.
"..."
Im inside the Sky King was completely stunned.
It doesn't work.
Why isn't it working?
How could the all-out bombardment of the Ancient Weapon, the Sky King, which nearly destroyed the world eight hundred years ago, have no effect? How could it possibly have no effect? How could it possibly have no effect?
"I don't believe it! I don't believe it!!"
Im yelled like a spoiled child.
At the same time.
One beam of light after another rained down on Ian like a storm.
Faced with Ian's overwhelming power, Im completely lost his mind, disregarding the Sky King's energy reserves and relentlessly attacking Ian with all his might!
Such an attack, of course, would be meaningless.
Ian raised his right hand, and the golden flames expanded in the next instant, forming a massive fireball tens of kilometers in size.
Then, Haki was infused into it.
"The Winged Dragon's Blazing Flame!"
Ian hurled away the enormous fireball that blotted out the sky.
The blazing sun instantly extinguished all the incoming beams of light and hurtled towards the Sky King with unstoppable force.
"..."
Im, who had almost gone mad, regained his sanity in that instant, and his eyes became clear!
Without any hesitation, the enormous Sky King teleported again, disappearing directly from the sky.
The enormous fireball swept across the sea. The seawater below evaporated instantly, and the seabed itself turned into lava in the blink of an eye.
After leaving a long, enormous trail over the sea, the fireball eventually disappeared at the horizon, and then, because it was moving in a straight line, it eventually flew back into the sky.
It exploded in the sky very, very far away, bringing a second sun to people in a fairly vast area.
"... Isn't that a bit too strong?"
Inside Pluton, Law, who felt that this battle was completely irrelevant to them, couldn't help but click his tongue repeatedly as he looked at the images displayed on the screen.
"Even I have to exclaim, how could there possibly be a Devil Fruit ability that's this powerful?"
Im is indeed strong, and his Devil Fruit ability is indeed very troublesome.
However, his strength stemmed from his accumulation over the long period of eight hundred years, and it could even be described as somewhat inspiring. He truly relied on himself to become stronger little by little!
During this long period, he honed his Haki and strengthened his physique, finally reaching a level that could be described as superhuman.
But Ian is completely different.
It was just the Awakening of his ability that propelled him from a monster to a near-godlike level!
It has even surpassed Ancient Weapon, reaching a level of power that no one could have imagined.
So, what exactly is Ian's ability all about?
"But no matter what,"
The Red-Haired said lazily, "We are about to win."
It's finally coming to an end.
Im has no chance of turning the tide; Ian is about to seize the final victory.
The eight-hundred-year-long nightmare is about to end, and the world is about to usher in a new dawn.
I wonder how Ian will reshape this world next.
But that's not something he should be considering.
Because whatever Ian decides to do next, no one can stop him now.
Trust him. Trust that man is a true strongman who will not be devoured by power and desire, and who always adheres to his own principles.
"Oh."
Ian also gazed at the brilliant sun in the distant sky.
It has already flown beyond the Earth's borders, so there's no need to worry about the explosion causing too much damage to the ocean below.
"Ho--Ho--Ho!"
Im was panting heavily; he didn't turn around, nor did he need to.
He was absolutely certain that if he had been hit by that attack, even with his current Sky King defensive capabilities, he would not have been able to withstand it.
"It seems you've run out of ideas."
Ian twisted his neck slightly and stretched his right hand upwards.
Surtur understood and landed in the middle of his enormous palm.
Compared to Ian's enormous hand, the tiny Fire Spirit was no bigger than an ant.
But in the next instant, Surtur's body suddenly swelled up, transforming into an enormous Crimson Sword that Ian held in his hand.
"Then let me end this boring war."
Surtur is Ian's alter ego; when Ian evolves, Surtur evolves in sync with him.
Ian added a lot of points to his abilities, so Surtur has also evolved to a new level!
The crimson flames had completely materialized; what should have been merely a phenomenon had now truly become a solid blade!
Moreover, Haki began to be infused into the blade.
The imposing Haki, which also possessed a physical form, was now perfectly Polymerization with the flames.
It is no longer entanglement, no longer mixing, but a true unification.
Haki is fire, and fire is Haki.
Finally, a dark red sword appeared in Ian's hand; its sharp blade even reflected a faint light in the sunlight.
It seemed to be created from nothingness.
"Are you ready, Im?"
Hundreds of kilometers away, Ian shouted to Im.
"This really is the last one!"
"..."
Im didn't speak; he simply stared blankly at Ian in the distance through the Sky King's enormous eyes.
Then.
Laugh!
The Sky King's enormous body vanished from the sky in an instant.
"Um?"
Ian raised an eyebrow.
His Haki completely surpassed that of Im, so neither techniques that concealed his presence nor the Observation Kill" could affect him anymore; he could sense Im's presence with perfect clarity.
That's why Ian was somewhat surprised at this moment.
Im's teleportation this time was not for offensive purposes.
Quite the opposite, in fact.
They were already hundreds of kilometers apart, and now they've gone a thousand kilometers in one go.
They ran away.
It's truly ugly; it's hard to imagine that this guy ruled the world for so many years.
His previous nonchalance was all a facade; now this is his true nature.
"Tsk."
Ian couldn't help but click his tongue, "What a hassle."
If they were to engage in direct combat now, they could end all of this immediately. But instead, Im chose the tactic that would best prolong the fight.
Since that's the case.
His massive body shrank, and the blade in his hand shortened as well; Ian finally reverted to his Beastman Mode.
Since we now need to pursue Im, who can teleport, we should naturally choose the fastest mode.
"Boom!!"
Ian flapped his wings.
At the same time, a powerful Haki surged out like a rocket booster, propelling Ian's body to its maximum acceleration!
The air in front of him was shattered in an instant by Ian's impact; just because he moved forward, trails of air shattered in the sky!
It was as if the long-dead Whitebeard was unleashing his full power!
None of the spectators inside Pluton saw clearly how Ian disappeared from the sky.
Quick!
Faster than I could have imagined!
Before anyone could even react, Ian had vanished into the sky!
"Now,"
Redfield sighed. "It seems like even watching the game is no longer an option."
Although he loathed Ian, he was equally curious about just how powerful Ian had become.
But we can't see it anymore.
"Huff--Huff--Huff--"
Somewhere in the New World, the colossal Sky King suddenly appeared. Inside this massive machine god, Im was panting heavily.
You'll die!
If I continue fighting Ian, I will definitely die!
Already completely outmatched by that guy's power, he's now going all out, even unleashing his destructive flames!
If they don't escape, the only outcome will be that they are completely reduced to nothingness by that guy's flames.
Im was trembling all over.
They ran away.
He ran away again, just like he did when he faced Joy Boy.
"Ian! Ian!!"
Two streams of bloody tears streamed down the face of the demon Im. He trembled and roared, almost weeping, almost wailing.
Once again! Once again, it brought back the humiliation and fear of that time!
Suddenly, Im turned around in horror.
It was completely invisible to the naked eye, Observation Haki could only detect it vaguely. Suddenly, a golden line pierced the sky.
At this point, Im was speechless, unable to utter the words, "How could this be?"
It only took a few seconds to traverse a distance of thousands of kilometers.
Ian's demonstrated strength is completely insignificant.
Escape!
Run!
Ian's here to kill me!
Ian's body trembled as his teleportation ability was about to activate again.
At the same time, Ian, who was hurtling towards them, had already glimpsed the future. He raised his crimson sword high, shouting, "Heaven and Earth Ash!!"
As the sword fell, a dark red arc of light instantly pierced the heavens and earth!
Piercing the ocean below and piercing the sky above, this world has never seen such a massive strike!
But at this moment, this strike, which seemed to Creation of Heaven and Earth, suddenly tore the world apart!
Im's pupils contracted so sharply they looked like they were about to burst.
He has reduced the time required to initiate the teleportation to the absolute limit.
However, Ian's strike came even faster!
Just as it was about to be cleaved in two by a single sword strike, and the massive blow was about to land on the Sky King, the teleportation finally activated successfully.
The colossal Sky King vanished from his spot, but the world-tearing slash did not stop; instead, it continued its relentless advance.
Finally, it struck the Red Line in front of it.
This land, which divides the world, is now unable to withstand Ian's attack.
The dark red slash moved forward with unstoppable force, tearing the Red Line apart.
The Polymerization of multiple forces—slash, flame, Haki aura, and destructive power—gives this slash the true power to tear everything apart!
Forward! Forward!
Keep moving forward without stopping!
Unstoppable, unyielding!
The Red Line, whose width is measured in thousands of kilometers, is constantly shaking.
Just seconds later, this boundless continent was cut in half!
Ian cleaved the Red Line in two with a single sword strike, creating a canyon thousands of kilometers long!
From then on, the Paradise was completely connected to the New World.
Sabaody Archipelago.
"Oh."
Rayleigh stood atop a mangrove tree, gazing at the massive slash that pierced through the Red Line and continued its relentless advance across the sea.
"So it really is today. But, I didn't know Ancient Weapon could launch such attacks."