Chapter 286

"No, no!!"

One by one, the Celestial Dragons and the attendants and slaves beside them screamed as they fell into that bottomless fissure.

This holy land, Mariejois.

At this very moment.

The heavens collapsed and the earth split asunder!

247, King and King

Deep within Pangu City.

Two of the Five Elder Stars arrived before the Void Throne and knelt in audience.

"Lord Imu, the Holy Land faces a calamity. Now is the time to use this Great Secret Treasure."

The Five Elder Star—wearing a deep blue suit, long straight white hair, and a very long beard—raised a scepter in his hand toward Imu above.

Imu, draped in a long black robe, raised her hand.

That scepter flew into her hand.

She lowered her gaze to the scepter, her eyes empty and still.

Afterwards.

She rose from the Void Throne, raised that golden scepter, and recited a string of ancient words from her lips.

The golden scepter gradually radiated a dazzling light.

The two Five Elder Stars kneeling below kept their heads lowered, their eyes filled with fanaticism.

When Imu finished reciting.

The light on that golden scepter had already become so dazzling it was impossible to look at directly. In the end, that light gathered into a pillar of light that shot straight into the sky!

Whether it was the battlefield at Marine Headquarters, the battlefield on Luo En's side, or the battlefield here at Mariejois—everyone stopped attacking and looked up at that pillar of light piercing the heavens.

Even those in the first half of the Grand Line, or in the New World, could see that pillar of light shooting from the top of the Red Line up into the sky.

That pillar of light seemed to lead to another world.

"Oh?"

Luo En, hovering high in the sky, gazed at the pillar of light ahead, his azure eyes narrowing slightly.

With the vision of his Rinne Sharingan, he could ignore that dazzling light and see where that pillar of light ended in the heavens.

Space was distorting.

When the light dispersed.

An extremely long, pitch-black fissure suddenly appeared in the heavens.

The three Five Elder Stars fighting against Kaido, Zephyr, and Lei Li stared at that spatial fissure, a glint of fanaticism in their eyes.

Zephyr and Lei Li wore solemn expressions.

"That is……?"

Sengoku stared at the sky, his brow slightly furrowed:

"Could it be……"

"It's finally going to return to this world!"

An elderly Celestial Dragon exclaimed in excitement: "This is the power our ancestors left behind to protect us!"

"One of the three Ancient Weapons—the Sky Sovereign that, by legend, commands the heavens!"

Hum!

A gigantic crimson vertical pupil opened from within that spatial fissure.

A wave of might descended from the sky.

Under the horrified gazes of countless people across the three battlefields on the Red Line.

Two dragon claws reached out from within, forcibly tearing that narrow fissure wider.

Then.

A massive figure flew out from the fissure and came to a halt in the sky above Mariejois.

Many Marines stared blankly at the black dragon hovering in the air—over five hundred meters long, its wings beating.

"It's……a dragon!"

Dragon felt the might radiating from that black dragon, his expression grave: "Could it be……is this the Sky Sovereign?"

This dragon was probably also an 'inheritance' from that great empire of eight hundred years ago. The artificial red dragon on Punk Hazard simply could not compare to this black dragon.

The gap was enormous.

Two Five Elder Stars flanked Imu, draped in an extremely long black robe, as she walked out from the shattered Pangu City.

The instant that black dragon saw Imu and met her quiet, still gaze, its intelligent crimson pupils contracted sharply, and a flash of fear and submission flickered deep within.

Under the slightly narrowed eyes of Ace, Sabo, and the others, it beat its wings, flew above Imu's head, and its dragon gaze swept across the entire battlefield.

"To be able to have the Five Elder Stars at her side—who on earth is that person……?"

Dragon stared at Imu, a flash of shock in his eyes.

"This aura, bottomless—so this is the hidden mastermind behind the World Government that that kid Luo En mentioned?"

Lei Li stared at Imu, his expression somewhat grave.

Even Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Kong the Bone, Staff Officer Tsuru, and Aokiji were utterly astonished at this moment.

They had always assumed the highest authority of the World Government was the Five Elder Stars. Now it seemed there was someone even higher!

Imu looked up at the sky, a flash of red light passing through her dead-still eyes.

A terrifyingly overwhelming wave of Conqueror's Haki erupted from her body, spreading across all of Mariejois in an instant—like ripples on water—radiating from the top of the Red Line out toward the entire world!

The skies over both the Grand Line and the New World changed color because of it.

GLOSSARY:

【Luo En, Hu Zi, Lei Li, Wang Zuo, Kage, my lord, the Root】

On island after island, countless people were overawed by this aura, their eyes rolling white as they fainted.

Luffy, Zoro, and the others who had just defeated Weibull were stunned by this aura, losing consciousness for a full dozen-plus seconds; when they came to again, every one of them stared toward Mariejois in utter horror.

"What is this terrifying aura?!"

"Who on earth is it?!"

"There's still such a being on the sea!"

……

On Mariejois's side.

Ace, Sabo, Ma Erke, and the others also stared at Imu in terror and shock.

This was already a strength beyond their comprehension.

"Strong! Strong beyond imagination!"

"The World Government is actually hiding someone like this?!"

Zephyr, Lei Li, and Dragon all wore grave expressions.

Kaido, having taken his strongest form, stared fixedly at Imu in the distance; the danger the Admirals, the Fleet Admiral, or the Five Elders gave him was far less than that person's.

He felt an intense aura of death from that person.

"Beyond the third stage, reaching the fourth stage — the highest level of Conqueror's Haki… as expected, impressive."

A calm voice rang out across the silent battlefield.

Everyone raised their eyes to look.

Luo En, clad in a suit of black, appeared abruptly before Imu, on the shattered plaza ground.

Sengoku clenched his fist, staring hard at him.

"So you've finally shown yourself?"

Under the gaze of every eye.

Luo En, with the Blood Saber at his waist and hands clasped behind his back, wore his usual unhurried composure; his pair of azure eyes seemed able to see through everything in the world. Gazing at Imu, who wore a long black robe ahead, he smiled and said:

"This ancient, desolate, and extinct aura — if I'm not mistaken, you must be someone who, through the power of the Op-Op Fruit, has lived from eight hundred years ago until now, yes?"

The Five Elders' faces changed instantly.

"!!!!"

Nearly everyone in all of Mariejois was shaken by his words.

Imu's gaze, dead and still, fixed on Luo En.

"But it doesn't matter anymore."

Luo En slowly drew the Blood Saber Moon from his waist, his azure eyes looking straight at Imu: "In any case, everything ends today."