Imu was dead.
There was nothing complicated about it, and Magnus did not show the slightest mercy.
Killing such a great beauty was a pity.
But with a woman as venomous as this, Magnus absolutely did not dare keep her at his side.
Not for anyone else.
If nothing else, he had to do it for the people around him.
So this battle had been destined to end cleanly. The moment Magnus gained the ability to kill Imu, there was never going to be any holding back.
As for that so-called prophecy of salvation.
Before he had his system, the world supposedly needed the Sun God Nika to save it. After his system awakened, it still needed the Sun God Nika to save it. In that case, what was the point of his system awakening at all?
Imu was strong.
But his blade was far from dull.
And it was only now, only when Imu saw that Magnus truly was ruthless enough to kill her, as the last trace of Haki poured into her body and her flesh finally lost the ability to regenerate…
That she stopped resisting.
Possessing top tier Conqueror's Haki, even in defeat, Imu was never going to grovel like some clown and beg for her life.
"You claim you will grant freedom to the masses, yet you yourself are the greatest shackle upon them. Your descendants will, sooner or later, become just another family of Celestial Dragons," she said.
Magnus laughed.
"If that day really comes, someone else will naturally stand up and overthrow me."
"From here on, it is my era."
The instant Imu died, the collapse of the World Government was already decided.
Magnus and Imu reached their conclusion quickly.
Because their duel ended so fast, although the battlefield clash was fierce, the final casualties were far lower than expected, not even a tenth of what they might have been.
After all, the people of this world had always possessed an absurdly tenacious vitality.
As long as there was one breath left, they would not die so easily.
Imu's death first triggered the disappearance of the Five Elders.
The Five Elders did not belong to this era.
They had followed Imu for far longer than anyone imagined.
The whole world knew the Five Elders were the highest authority of the World Government, but very few people ever noticed that, from the beginning, the five of them had never been replaced.
The lifespan of the Five Elders was close to Imu's own.
So when Imu died, the Five Elders died with her.
"How is this possible?!"
"Lord Imu actually…"
"No!!"
"…"
Shock, panic, disbelief… whatever expressions twisted their faces could not change the fact that they were about to vanish.
As for those who belonged to this era, the ones who had merely signed a contract with Imu for immortality, they felt the power leaking out of their bodies.
Imu had promised them an undying body.
But with her death, that power was stripped away. Their physical condition plummeted. In an instant, they became unbearably frail.
In order to face Magnus, every combatant at Admiral level and above in the World Government had signed that contract. Imu's death meant the World Government instantly lost all real ability to resist.
Only two rising stars remained standing by virtue of their youth.
Garp and Sengoku.
And who did they now have to face?
Rocks and Newgate fighting side by side. Harald wielding the power of the Azure Dragon. Charlotte Linlin, who had finally mastered the full extent of her own talent…
What were they supposed to fight with at that point?
Even a rock head like Garp could do nothing but surrender straightforwardly.
Sea Calendar 1470.
In that year, history turned a brand new page.
First came the restructuring of the government.
Magnus kept the original framework of the World Government's operations, but carried out a massive purge of the officials within, clearing out a huge number of useless, bloated high-level parasites.
The existing member nations remained as they were, while the dozen or so nations that had joined the White Wolf Alliance were merged back into the original network of member states.
The one real change was the membership fee.
After Imu's death, the White Wolf Alliance stormed the Holy Land of Mariejois and took treasure worth more than a trillion Berries.
Nearly ninety percent of all Celestial Dragons captured were sentenced to hanging. Of the remaining less than ten percent, almost all were given life sentences.
Only a very small number of Celestial Dragons were spared. Maybe one or two out of every ten thousand.
There was no need to fear wrongful convictions.
In this world, the Devil Fruits covered nearly every imaginable ability, including fruits that could distinguish truth from lies, and Observation Haki users able to read the heart.
Magnus simply dragged Rocks's vice captain Baroric out and pressed him into service.
His talent was too useful.
What Magnus had not expected was that among those dozen or so Celestial Dragons who were spared, one of them would be Imu's former avatar, Junko.
She was called a Celestial Dragon, but later Magnus found out.
Junko was not a true Celestial Dragon, but what they called an Honorary Celestial Dragon.
And becoming a Celestial Dragon had never been her own choice.
She had been abducted by them.
Originally the princess of some member nation of the World Government, she had been taken away because her physique was suitable. Imu seized her, turned her into a vessel for her own split body, and made her a member of the God Knights.
After capturing her, Imu wiped away all of Junko's past memories.
Only when Imu died did those memories return.
But that was not the reason she was pardoned.
The real reason was that she had not been under Imu's control for very long. When she first appeared at Acropolis Port, she was not yet fourteen.
Even now she had not reached twenty.
During her time as an Honorary Celestial Dragon, she spent most of her days among the flowers, serving Imu. She simply did not have the chance to indulge in the same kind of depravity as ordinary Celestial Dragons.
And during the final battle, although Junko displayed strength no less than that of a top tier great pirate, she had been locked down by opponents of the same level. She did not manage to kill a single person before Imu's defeat arrived.
So in the end, although she was pardoned, she still had to undergo a year of ideological reeducation. Every Celestial Dragon who was spared had to walk the same path.
The war between Magnus and Imu was over.
But the fact that Magnus had uprooted the greatest mountain pressing down on the heads of this era's people did not mean that ordinary lives would immediately become good.
Still, this was already the furthest Magnus could go.
Rona accepted the Marines who had been defeated in this battle, reorganized the Navy, and took Ortega's place as the new Fleet Admiral.
Tsuru began a life of running herself ragged from country to country.
Barring any accidents.
She would likely become the first Secretary General of the World Government after the disappearance of the Five Elders.
Magnus continued being a pirate.
Oh.
He should probably be called an adventurer now.
Magnus did not seize any formal power, but his strength by itself was the greatest form of power.
He could not make the world perfect.
But he could be the Sword of Damocles hanging over everyone's head.
He could make the world better than it had been.
An era had fallen.
What followed was the era named after White King Magnus.
Until Sea Calendar 1473.
Thirteen years later, Rocks finally challenged Magnus.
No one knew what the outcome of that battle had been.
They only knew that after that fight, the Rocks Pirates disbanded.
The story that began here also ended here.
The End.
(End of Chapter)
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