The Sword Returns to Its Rightful Owner

Just as Imu was consumed by rage!

Luffy gripped the rough sword hilt tight.

The moment his five fingers closed around it, the First Nika's weapon, dormant for eight hundred years, erupted with power.

Brilliant pure-white light burst forth.

From the center of its mottled blade.

This was not energy.

This was the echo of souls reaching across eight hundred years.

White flames climbed the door-wide blade.

The flames seemed to come alive.

They surged over the hilt like a tide, then raced up Luffy's enlarged arm.

A sharp crackling filled the air.

The sword's flames.

The sun in Luffy's chest.

The two powers resonated.

Born of the same source, they did not repel each other.

They merged in an instant.

Eight hundred years of slumber had ended.

The divine weapon had found its new master.

Ancient patterns lit up along the mottled blade.

Light coursed through their grooves.

Hot blood flowed once more through a long-dead bloodline.

White light turned the entire frozen plain of Elbaf bright as day.

The heavy clouds overhead were torn apart.

Sunlight poured through at last, shining alongside the white flames below.

Pure excitement filled Luffy's eyes.

The greatsword was rejoicing.

Heat spread through Luffy's palm.

They were bound by blood.

Their wills were one.

The sword was part of his body, perfectly attuned to every current of power within him.

He could not wait.

Luffy gripped the sword with both hands.

He drove his strength through his waist.

Then he swung it sideways with a gleeful sweep.

The door-wide blade left a pale afterimage.

The divine weapon could have crushed a mountain, yet it weighed nothing in his hands.

Its edge tore through the air.

Resistance meant nothing.

Boom!

A terrifying sonic boom exploded.

A white shockwave spread wildly in every direction from