Imu has been defeated again since he appeared on the field.
His shoes left two deep grooves in the scorched earth, and he retreated dozens of meters before regaining his footing.
Loki's vertical pupils, like two golden suns, were fixed intently on Imu.
"So this is your level?" Loki scoffed.
"Is that all there is to it?"
Loki lunged forward again, and he and Imu fought from the ground into the air, and from the air into the forest.
Wherever they went, everything was reduced to ruins.
The clash between Iron Thunder's Lightning and Imu's black flames resembled two ancient ferocious beasts tearing at each other.
The sky was divided in two by two kinds of light: the left half was a dark red sea of lightning, and the right half was a jet-black tide of flames.
Loki became increasingly aggressive as the fight progressed.
His right shoulder was cleaved open by Imu's Black Blade, leaving a deep wound that exposed bone, but the muscle healed within a few breaths.
His Ancient Giant Tribe physique combined with the regenerative power of the Nidhogg Fruit gave him the ability to fight Imu head-on for a short period of time.
Is that all you've got?
Loki laughed wildly and slammed Imu from the air to the ground with his hammer.
Imu crashed into the mountainside, splitting the entire mountain in two, sending rocks flying in all directions like a torrential downpour.
But Imu did not fall.
He stood up from the pile of rubble, his black robe torn in several places, revealing unnaturally pale skin underneath.
"I admit, you are better than your father."
Imu's voice remained calm, but there was a very faint hint of anger in his tone.
"But that's all."
He raised his Black Blade, and the black flames on the blade condensed into the shape of a dragon, lunging towards Loki.
Loki raised the Iron Thunder, and lightning gathered into a wall in front of him.
The dragon-shaped black flames crashed into the lightning wall with a loud "sizzle". The two forces remained locked in a stalemate for a full three seconds before exploding simultaneously.
Loki and Imu were both blasted away.
Meanwhile, at the edge of the battlefield, Luffy, who had been blown there by some unknown force, finally regained consciousness during the time that Gaban and Loki bought for him.
Luffy gripped the broken tree branch and slowly pushed himself up from the ground.
The piercing wound in his chest was still smoking, but he could feel the Awakening power of the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika rapidly repairing his body.
Unlike when he first Awakening six months ago, Luffy has now learned how to "reboot" his body from the brink of death.
He looked up at Loki, who was locked in a fierce battle with Imu in the sky, panting heavily.
He staggered toward Gaban.
Gaban lay on the massive tree root, covered in blood, one arm severed at the root.
At this moment, a bandage of unknown origin is tightly wrapped around the severed arm to prevent it from bleeding to death.
"Old man." Luffy knelt before Gaban, his voice hoarse.
Gaban struggled to turn his eyes and look at Luffy.
He grinned, his lips already split open in a terrible way.
"You... you're still alive."
Luffy nodded.
"Who exactly is that guy?" Luffy asked.
"Why is he so strong? Why does he know you? Why does he want to kill me?"
Gaban opened his eyes, looking at the distant sky reddened by flames, his voice broken and intermittent.
" Imu... the true master of the World Government... eight hundred years ago, he defeated Joy Boy... and then established the world we have today..."
Roger went to Laugh Tale... He hid everything there... But Roger said... they went too early... the timing wasn't right..."
Gaban coughed, and blood gushed from his mouth.
"Now... you've arrived."
He looked at Luffy, and the light in his eyes slowly faded.
"So, it's your turn... to finish what Roger didn't do..."
He didn't finish speaking.
But Luffy understood.
Luffy stood up and wiped the blood and ash from his face.
I don't care what kind of god he is.
Luffy turned around and looked at Imu, who was fighting Loki in the distance. His voice was soft, but every word seemed to burn from his heart.
"If they're enemies, just beat them to a pulp."
Chopper ran over from a distance, stumbled and rushed to Gaban's side, opened the medical kit and began to treat him.
But Luffy is already gone.
He walked step by step toward the battlefield between Imu and Loki.
Each step made the ground tremble.
With each step, the white steam emanating from his body grew stronger.
Zoro and Sanji, who were in the distance, also ended their entanglement with the Five Elders.
The Five Elders were repelled once again, but this time they retreated even deeper, as if they had sensed something even more terrifying.
The entire battlefield was divided into three parts.
Robin, Brook, Franky, and the giants fight against the demonized giants.
Zoro, Sanji, and the Five Elders are fighting in the scorched earth, while Luffy is heading towards Imu.
He wasn't walking fast, but he was increasing his pace with each step.
The Ark Maxim, Part 1.
Roy hovered in mid-air, his Observation Haki weaving the entire battlefield into a dense, intricate web.
He could sense that Luffy had stood up again; the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika within him was frantically draining Luffy's life force.
With each step Luffy takes, his injuries heal at an astonishing rate.
Loki had been locked in combat with Imu for nearly ten minutes.
The Five Elders were also held back by Zoro, Sanji, and the Giant Elder.
"It's about time to push it in."
He muttered something under his breath, as if discussing it with himself.
Kyros's voice came through the communicator:
" The Pluton Battleship has reached its designated position, and the Seastone Cannons are ready."
"Hit," Roy said.
The cannons of the three Pluton Battleship simultaneously lit up with white light.
Seastone shells streaked across the sea like meteors, bombarding the remaining CP fleet near Elbaf.
Explosions rang out one after another, and huge columns of water shot up from the sea.
Bullet was already standing on the ship's railing, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.
Beneath Tesoro's gold-rimmed glasses, his eyes were narrowed so much they resembled two thin gold lines.
"Boss, can we make our move now?"
Roy glanced back at the officers behind him and gathered everyone together:
"Once inside, we'll immediately divide the battlefield."
Kaido, Bullet, Hawk Eyes, you and I await the final moment to enter the fray.
The rest of the team led their officers in a simultaneous ground offensive to expedite the elimination of the remaining World Government personnel.
"What about Imu and Luffy?" Bullet asked.
"That's none of your business," Roy said.
Bullet raised an eyebrow but didn't ask any further questions.
The sea breeze blew through Roy's black trench coat, causing him to billow backward. He glanced in Imu's direction again, then smiled.
"Set off."
On the main battlefield of Elbaf, the battle between Loki and Imu continues.
Loki's offensive was ferocious and outrageous.
In his hands, Iron Thunder was like a thunder hammer that could split the heavens and the earth; every swing carried the destructive power of Lightning.
Despite his enormous size, his movements were incredibly fast, and he clashed with Imu's Black Blade in close combat, the two fighting back and forth.
"What's wrong! Aren't you so capable?!" Loki slammed his hammer into Imu's Black Blade, slamming Imu from mid-air into the ground.
The moment Imu landed, the ground collapsed as if struck by a meteorite, causing everything within a radius of 100 meters to cave in.
Black flames erupted from his body, forcing Loki back a few steps.
"Are you scared because you're not saying anything?"
Loki pressed on, stepping across the collapsed ground, and Iron Thunder swung his sword down at Imu's head.
Imu looked up, and a hint of obvious impatience finally appeared in his cold eyes.
"Rude," Imu uttered two words indifferently.
He raised one hand and caught Iron Thunder's hammer head directly with his palm.
The lightning on the hammerhead surged wildly towards Imu's palm, but it vanished the instant it touched Imu's skin.
It felt like being sucked into an invisible black hole.