The King of the World Falls

Luffy's final blow shattered the first barrier, and the entire icefield flared blindingly bright. It wasn't light. Pure force was tearing at the seams of space.

The patterns on the black barrier had barely lit up when lightning outran them. Golden arcs raced along the patterns and plunged inside, blasting countless hairline cracks through the barrier.

White flame followed through the cracks, pouring in like a torrent of molten lava. The barrier didn't even have time to crack. It melted outright.

The black substance twisted and curled under the flames. Its edges peeled away inch by inch, sending dark fragments flying across the sky. Before they could land, the shockwave ground them to dust and scattered them on the wind.

From formation to collapse, the first defense had lasted less than two breaths.

Imu's pupils contracted. The white-gold torrent hadn't slowed at all.

A second barrier rose, a dark-gold shield woven from laws by Imu himself. Corrosive power permeated every inch of it. Anything that touched it would be broken down, whether matter or energy.

The shield met the torrent. Corrosion took hold at once, dissolving the white flame at the front of the sword strike.

Luffy pressed his Conqueror's Haki hard against the blade's leading edge. Black-and-red lightning wrapped around the white flame like armor, shutting out the corrosive force.

The two laws collided furiously. An ear-splitting shriek tore through the air, like iron plates grinding against each other with all their might. Cracks appeared in the shield's dark-gold surface.

They spread from the center, multiplying as they raced toward the edges. The shield exploded.

Dark-gold motes drifted everywhere. The white-gold torrent punched through them, its momentum surging. Luffy drove a second wave of rubber recoil into the sword.

The giant sword bent in midair, then snapped straight. Its