Chapter 418: Pinokangni (97)

In a daze, the Void seemed to blur the boundary of time.

Otherwise, how could she have seen that girl in a kimono?

Her plain white undershirt was soaked by the rain, clinging to her slender frame as she stood silently in the center of the wasteland; the longsword longer than a person at her back glowed with a blue‑gray light in the rain.

And before her—

Countless swords were slanted into the earth, some broken, some intact, like the final tombstones of fallen warriors.

With a soft sigh, Huangquan slowly drew the longsword from her hand.

"... Like a tide rising, I will lead you home."

——

Pirate King.

White.

Only this color remained between heaven and earth.

Mihawk slowly opened his eyes to see an endless expanse of pallor. There was no boundary between sky and ground, no shifting of light and shadow, and even whether he stood on solid ground beneath his feet was hard to tell.

In his impression, he remembered just standing on the deck with Crocodile, watching the sky, and happening to see Huangquan draw her sword… but for some reason, after barely a second's gap, he found himself in this strange space.

"Is this some kind of illusion? Or… did I die?"

He instinctively reached up to touch his neck, but there was no wound there—not only that, he felt no pain at all. He still wore his signature shirt, long pants, and knee‑high boots, the small cross‑shaped knife at his chest still hanging in place.

Strangely, his whole body looked as if it had been bleached—all color had vanished, leaving only a monotonous white.

"Is this heaven?" he snorted coldly, "If so, it's far too boring."

He tried moving his fingers, touching the hilt of the sword "Night" at his back—the familiar icy feel convinced him he was not in an illusion.

... But where could it be?

Just as he was about to draw his sword to probe this space, a ripple suddenly appeared on the distant "horizon."

It was a shade of gray slightly deeper than the pallor, like ink diffusing slowly in clear water. Mihawk narrowed his eyes, watching that gray spread and shift into more layers—first a misty light blue, then indigo, finally returning to the deep blue the sea ought to have.

The return of color unfolded like a reversed film, sweeping from far to near. Mihawk saw his black blade regain its true color first, then his clothing, the burgundy pattern on his shirt appearing, and the small cross‑knife once again gleaming with metallic luster.

When the color spread to his skin, Mihawk finally felt a breeze brush his cheek. He lifted his head; the formerly pallid "sky" had returned to normal, a few wisps of white cloud drifting lazily within.

"Hey! Hawk-Eye!"

From behind came Crocodile's slightly hoarse voice; Mihawk turned to see him sitting on the deck, drenched in sweat, his golden hook dug deep into the planks, as if to steady himself after the disturbance.

"You saw that too, right?"

"That whiteness…" Crocodile drew a deep breath, "... it appeared only after that woman drew her sword—no need for me to say, you can guess what it is, right?"

"Void."

"Damn it." Crocodile couldn't help cursing, "How long has it been? One minute? Ten? The moment that woman drew her sword, the Void swallowed the world's color… just how far has she gone down this damned path?"

——

Dragon Raja.

When the color in his field of vision returned, Chu Zihang instinctively glanced toward Caesar beside him.

From the other's dazed and shocked gaze, he quickly realized the situation had far exceeded his expectations—he had expected to see an exhilarating slaughter of emissaries, but he hadn't imagined that merely Huangquan drawing her weapon, whose power carried the Void's path, would affect them, the onlookers of that battle.

"Bang!"

Outside the High Heaven, the sounds of successive car collisions rang out; Chu Zihang and Caesar rushed out of the host club to see vehicle accidents everywhere on the streets, the cries of the injured and their pain echoing without cease.

"This…" Caesar was momentarily stunned into silence.

"Perhaps during those tens of seconds when we were deprived of color, real‑world time kept flowing, and for those drivers… those tens of seconds were enough to cause a traffic accident." Chu Zihang said.

"Isn't this just like the disaster caused when Phantasma crushed the stars last time?"

"No." Chu Zihang shook his head to deny it, "This time there's no power of Abundance radiating from the Fusang tree to heal us."

——

"Huangquan's blade lightly traced the Void."

"At first it seemed merely a scar left by Pinokangni's damage, but the instant the sword left its sheath it turned into a crimson crescent. Where the blade's light passed, space was split cleanly like fragile silk, revealing the surging pure white Void beyond—"

"Then everything was swallowed by the Void."

——

Demon Slayer.

Tanjiro had his heart in his throat, staring fixedly at the sky, not daring to move his eyes even a fraction.

But——

He only felt a flash before his eyes—a thin bright line burst forth in the oppressive wind and rain, swift and sharp, like a red lightning bolt, finally striking toward the sky‑covering stake and the Shajin that would destroy everything!

——Huangquan has made her move!

——She finally drew her sword!

Tanjiro almost wanted to cheer.

He had long bound himself to the train crew in his heart, and he had long yearned to see Huangquan draw her sword!

The sky‑wide "wind and rain" suddenly ceased, but what vanished was not only the wind and rain, but also color. Tanjiro rubbed his eyes, suspecting something wrong with his vision. This feeling lasted about twenty seconds; just as he began to feel tense, the color in his sight started to gradually return.

——The clouds drifted across the heavens, finally a sliver of moonlight broke through. In that faint light, Tanjiro saw only Miss Huangquan standing alone.

Her motion of sheathing the sword was light.

But at the instant the sword's guard touched the scabbard, the last stagnant sheet of rain curtain crashed down. Countless raindrops struck the ground simultaneously, splashing into countless depressions in the standing water; the world that had just been solidified suddenly gained sound— the crisp patter of drops hitting metal billboards, the tapping of drops bouncing on her skin…

Time began to flow again, and the pallid Pinokangni finally regained its usual colors.

Tanjiro widened his eyes.

Because he saw the heavens split—no, not shattered, but the sky of Pinokangni within the firmament cracked open a long gullet—tens of thousands of meters of cloud layers were cleanly divided in two, revealing the deep Void beyond.

Only then did he realize that a barrier‑like thing had been shrouding the skies above Pinokangni—but unfortunately that thing was also shattered by Huangquan's single slash, and the torrential rain poured through the rift, forcing passersby to scramble for shelter under billboards.

That slash just now... it seemed to release something, swallowing us all up.

Is that the void? Is it the effect of Miss Huangquan's fate? Fortunately...

Tanjirou finally came to his senses from the shock, looking toward Zenitsu and Inosuke beside him, but the two of them were now huddled in the corner, trembling.

Tan, Tanjirou!!

Zenitsu went deathly pale, clinging tightly to Inosuke without letting go: "What the hell is that?? I even doubt I'm blind! Ahhh don't make it so scary!!"