The darkness had been scorched into fragments by the intense heat, looking more like a tattered black robe.
Clad in that black robe, Imu hovered steadily high in the sky. His form, a fusion of a phoenix and a giant dragon, gave him an even more ancient air.
It was as though he was the incarnation of Devil Fruits, rather than merely an individual life-form.
Before Shane appeared, no one had ever been able to shake Imu's position. For an immortal god like him, this world had been like a playground where he could do whatever he pleased.
But now it had become a world where Imu alone had the final say, a world belonging exclusively to a god.
"It's useless. You will never understand what kind of power Devil Fruits truly possess. They are a god's creation, a miracle, and the power that can break every taboo in this world."
"The strongest can not only obtain the full power of Devil Fruits, but also uncover an even more ancient, hidden power: the divine strength that creates Devil Fruits and turns imagination and greed into combat power!"
"In eight hundred years, you are the second human fortunate enough to see me fight with all my strength."
Imu rose into the air. Branches seemed to be growing out of his body, and on those dark branches were things that looked just like Devil Fruits.
The world's greed coalesced within the darkness. That tree was also utterly different from the Devil Fruit Tree on Laugh Tale, embodying pitch-black darkness and destruction.
If the Devil Fruit Tree itself was an existence that combined humanity's ideals and evil thoughts, then Imu was drawing upon the side that belonged exclusively to darkness.
"Rocks once tried using it too. He let the dark will fight for