Chapter 221: The Final Battle, Silas vs. Imu!
[The black sun ruled the sky, bringing fear and darkness; it was the deepest color before the dawn.
And so the white wolf devoured the sun, dispelling the night.
A new era had begun.]
Perhaps in countless years, the reality of today would be recorded in mythic books for future generations to read.
But no matter how the books described it—
The scenes they painted could never match the shock of seeing it with one's own eyes.
Imu had not expected it.
Silas had actually swallowed her sun in such a way.
And now—
She could not make a second sun in time.
The giant wolf Silas, still gripping her, raced away from the battlefield at blinding speed, giving her no chance to resist. He carried her across a hundred kilometers and slammed her into the ten-thousand-meter-high Red Line.
Only then—
The giant wolf let out a series of whimpers, as if it had eaten something rotten.
"Ugh, what is this? It tastes awful!"
Below the Red Line was the World Government's exclusive port, still guarded by a number of Marines.
Silas was too fast for them to realize what had happened. All they heard was a thunderous boom.
The ground shook violently. When the smoke cleared, Imu was embedded in the wall, her body gripped by Silas.
The giant wolf Silas held Imu with one claw and used the other to dig at his mouth, as if trying to pull out the black sun he had swallowed.
Of course, he could not.
Black flames burst from Silas's body. They were not hot, but they kept eating away at him, trying to turn him into a demon.
"How... arrogant!"
Silas's claw nearly crushed Imu. Even as she resisted with all her might, her beautiful body twisted and deformed under his pressure.
Silas, at his peak, could not use Haki, but his physical strength completely overwhelmed Imu. With a single blow, he left her helpless.
But Imu laughed.
"Do you want to become my servant?"
If Silas had simply taken her far from the battlefield and fought her head-on, she might not have been his match. After all, though she had infinite lifespan, her stamina was not endless.
But Silas had swallowed her black sun.
Why was Devil Fruit power so strong?
Because it was unreasonable. It ignored the user's stamina—once used, it would last.
The black sun she made by sacrificing her lifespan was the same.
Unless she canceled it herself, or died—
The black sun would exist forever, endlessly releasing its black flames of domination!
But as Imu spoke, a pair of crimson eyes swept over her.
"Shut up!"
Silas's claw squeezed hard. Imu's bones cracked, but even as her body twisted, not a drop of blood spilled.
"Why not try Haki?"
Imu sneered. She saw that Silas could suppress her black flames only by reinforcing his body with Haki.
The same was true for suppressing her.
But if Silas used Haki to reinforce his body, he could not use it to suppress her immortality. Without suppressing her immortality, he could not kill her.
And if Silas returned to his normal state—
The black sun would instantly explode within his weakened body. His normal state could not suppress her.
It was an unsolvable problem!
But as Imu's voice faded, her head exploded.
Silas punched her head, turning her into a headless corpse.
But quickly—
A new head grew on the headless body, the woman's face still wearing that mocking smile.
Silas did not lose heart.
One punch, two punches, three punches—one after another, each faster than the last. Every time Imu's head regrew, Silas immediately knocked it off again.
This feeling of being helpless drove Imu mad.
"Sto—"
"p—"
"you—"
"ba—"
She managed only four words, each taking an eternity.
Silas's logic was simple.
No matter how strong Imu's regeneration, she needed a brain to think.
Most Devil Fruit powers required the user to be conscious to maintain them. If the user lost consciousness, the power vanished.
No brain—was that losing consciousness?
Silas only had this guess, but his body acted on instinct.
And so, this scene unfolded.
The stationed Marines watched in horror as Silas, half-wolf, half-man, kept unleashing terrifying attacks.
Boom!
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom—!
At first, only fine cracks appeared in the rock around Silas. Then the cracks grew, spreading upward.
One hundred meters, two hundred meters, three hundred meters—
Countless spiderweb-like cracks spread beneath the Red Line. Each blow from Silas brought a shock like an earthquake.
Immortality was indeed a troublesome Devil Fruit ability.
If Silas did not think eating Imu would kill her, he would not mind stuffing her into his stomach.
Silas considered himself a normal person, so he would not eat people.
But was Imu a person?
She called herself a "god." If he could not eat a person, eating a "god" should be fine, right?
Unfortunately, it was not that simple.
Even if he ate her, she would continue to regenerate inside his stomach.
So, he still had to use Haki!
Boom!
While the Marines trembled at Silas's back, a wave of black flames hundreds of meters high erupted from Silas.
But the flames did not harm him. Instead, Silas smiled.
"Haha, Imu, you can't hold out either!"
Silas kept attacking for ten minutes, almost collapsing half of Red Port, before Imu finally lost her ability to think.
In that instant, Silas seized the chance and completely expelled the black sun from his body.
At the same time—
Silas flung Imu's body away with a single sweep of his hand.
"Phew~"
Steam rose from Silas's body. Though he was much stronger than at Acropolis Port, reinforcing his body with Haki still drained him.
But it was all worth it!
After throwing Imu's body, black-red lightning flared across Silas again. He did not stop for a moment.
"Frost Wolf Slash!"
A blade wreathed in Conqueror's Haki slashed down at Imu.
Imu, stunned from ten minutes of relentless attacks, was slow to recover. But once Silas released her, her state began to improve rapidly.
No matter how fast she recovered, she could not match Silas, who held the initiative.
BOOM!
Silas split Red Port in two with a single blow. He did not hold back, could not hold back. He poured every ounce of his Conqueror's Haki into Imu's body.
Pfft!
Half of Imu's body was instantly shattered by Silas's heavy strike.
"Mon!!!" "Geeeee!!!"
Imu, finally regaining consciousness, unleashed her Conqueror's Haki. She tried to fly, but Silas would not give her the chance.
Another slash forced Imu to dodge frantically.
When your enemy is down, finish them!
Silas knew how rare it was to push Imu this far. With her immortality, her margin for error was far greater than his.
But in top-tier battles, even Imu could not deliberately avoid using Haki for defense to save stamina.
A person only had two hands and two feet. Losing any part weakened them. In a battle of the strongest, a moment of weakness could reverse the tide.
Silas had shattered half of Imu's body while she was dazed, but for Imu, this injury was nothing.
But Silas kept pouring Haki into her, making her regeneration fail for a time. In the face of Silas's attacks, she was now at a complete disadvantage.
"You insolent bastard."
Imu was furious, knowing she could not continue like this.
She had not expected Silas to swallow the sun.
She had not expected Silas to knock her unconscious and completely eliminate the black sun.
Now she could not summon a second sun, nor could she turn Silas into her servant. Or rather, she had never had a chance from the start.
Perhaps Silas did not realize it, but in Imu's eyes, his arrogance surpassed even hers. It was not just arrogance—it was lawless recklessness.
How could such a man ever become someone's servant?
But if this continued—
Without a second's hesitation, between life and death, Imu chose to sacrifice Mars Marcus Mars on the distant battlefield.
A massive magic circle instantly appeared beneath Imu.
At the same time, their Conqueror's Haki clashed.
Silas grabbed Imu, preventing her from falling into the circle, but could not stop her from summoning others from it.
But—
"Impossible!"
A chorus of shouts came from the other side of the magic circle. If only Silas blocked her, he could not stop Imu from summoning her contractors.
But with Rocks and the others, it was different.
Their Haki might not match Imu, who had stood atop the world for eight hundred years, but they could still block her summoning.
After all, Imu's Haki was clashing with Silas's.
So Imu never expected to summon anyone.
Her goal had only ever been one thing.
The giant demon she summoned to help Mars Marcus Mars fight Harald—only that demon's summoning could not be affected by others' Haki.
"Come back!"
A giant demon burst from the magic circle beneath Imu, lunging at Silas.
But Imu did not expect the circle to bring back not only her summoned pet, but also a terrifying surge of heat.
"Dragon's Breath!"
The blue dragon's flames pierced the magic circle, slamming into Imu. The Haki wrapped around them made Imu groan in pain.
"Ugh~"
She summoned the demon, but it was not unharmed. During the time she fought Silas, the battle on the other side had not stopped.
Her demon had already lost an arm to Harald, and the Haki wrapped around it kept it from regenerating.
Add to that Harald's breath piercing the magic circle.
The demon stopped Silas for a moment.
But the next instant, Silas's body surged with wild power.
"Haah!"
He became a savage.
Right in front of Imu, he tore the giant demon in half.
Split in two!
And after Silas did this, Imu was still affected by Harald's dragon's breath. Not only had her body, shattered by Silas, failed to recover, but now it was covered in burn marks.
BOOM!
Silas's fist, filled with wild power, slammed down. The flood of Conqueror's Haki made Imu's consciousness blur.
"How... is this possible!?"
Imu could not believe she would lose. Even Joy Boy had lost to her. How could Silas, a mere mortal who had not eaten the Nika Fruit, defeat her, a "god"?
"It's time to end this."
Silas's eyes showed a hint of fatigue. His battle with Imu had not lasted long, but every blow against her required a massive release of Haki.
If Imu's mind had been clear, she would have realized that in less than half an hour, Silas had released several times more Haki than she had.
Silas was tired, but that did not mean his power was gone.
"Truly a broken Devil Fruit ability!"
Imu's own fruit ability was not bad. If she only had her own strength, she might be stronger than Rocks and Newgate, but not by much.
But with immortality, she could freely use some forbidden powers of her fruit.
That was why Silas had not killed her yet.
But it did not matter.
He did not have to kill her. As long as he could restrain her, it was enough.
Silas's final blow shattered the entire island of Red Port. Seawater poured in, and Silas grabbed Imu by the neck, throwing her into the shallows.
The once invincible woman, once she fell into the water, was like an ordinary person, unable to stand steadily against the waves.
"Haha, indeed, no matter how strong a Devil Fruit ability is—"
"You still fear seawater!"
Devil Fruit users, hated by the sea, even if they reached the peak of the world, were just ordinary women once they fell into the water.
But Silas did not underestimate Imu.
Her Devil Fruit ability was gone, but her Haki remained. Her immortality still held.
But without her Devil Fruit ability, Imu's strength was at least halved.
And weakened by the water—
Could Imu still use Conqueror's Haki to fight Silas?
Looking down at Imu, Silas saw her silver teeth nearly grind to dust.
"What do you want?"
"Do you want to see me humiliated like this?"
"Or do you want me to become your concubine?"
Imu thought she understood Silas. She was also confident in her appearance. As a victor, what man would kill the most noble and beautiful woman in the world?
If it came to that, Imu would endure.
One defeat meant nothing.
As long as she lived, she would one day reclaim everything she lost!
"No."
Silas's calm voice suddenly cut through.
"I have no interest in an old woman over eight hundred years old."
"By the way—"
"I prefer younger women."
Meeting Imu's shocked gaze, Silas grinned.
"So."
"Farewell."
"Former King of the World!"
He threw Imu into the water not to see her humiliated.
But because—
It was easier to kill her like this.
The result was decided from the start, when Silas asked Imu if she had any tricks left.
She herself was not a trick.