The throne room burned.
Fire licked the pillars, smoke curling toward a cracked ceiling where centuries of gold and marble began to fall like ash. The world above the world — Marie Geoise, the seat of so-called gods — was collapsing under its own lies.
And at the center of that ruin stood Nyx D. Ada, her red dress torn, her heels blackened by blood and soot.
Before her, Imu was still.
Silent.
Watching.
The Five Elders stood behind their master, panting and bleeding, their divine arrogance replaced by something far older — fear.
"Monster," whispered Shepherd.
"No," Ada said, her voice cutting through the fire. "That's your word for anything that doesn't kneel."
Her crew spread out behind her — Mihawk's blade gleaming faintly through the haze, Bullet's fists steaming, Fisher Tiger's muscles taut and ready.
Enel hovered above them, lightning crawling across his arms. Lilith stood near the back, hands trembling as her denden mushi recorded everything, the lens glowing faintly red.
The air itself trembled.
The ground beneath their feet cracked again.
Then, Imu moved.
Their head lifted slowly, eyes now two pits of void. A soft smile curved across their lips.
"So," Imu murmured, voice almost gentle. "You remember. All of it."
Ada's expression didn't waver. "I remember enough."
Imu's hand rose, the sleeve falling back — skin pale as glass, veins black as ink.
"You shouldn't have spoken those names, Nyx. The world was not meant to hear them again."
Ada stepped forward, her shadow slicing through the light. "You're not the world's protector, Imu. You're its parasite."
The Elders tensed — but Imu only smiled wider. "A parasite? That's rich… coming from a descendant of Joyboy."
They raised their other hand — and the light dimmed.
The fire died.
The air turned cold.
And from Imu's skin, the illusion of humanity began to peel away.
The Five Elders fell to one knee, eyes wide in horror.
The creature standing before them was no god. No ruler.
It was something ancient, inhuman, and hungry.
Its limbs stretched like shadow through the flame. Its face cracked open to reveal black ichor where veins should be, and eyes like burning suns turned hollow.
Its voice deepened — layered, echoing, unnatural.
"You speak of truth," Imu said. "Then let me show you mine."
The room shook. The torches exploded in bursts of black flame. The scent of sulfur filled the air.
Lilith gasped, nearly dropping the denden mushi. "W-what… is that?"
Ada didn't blink.
"The truth, Lilith. The god they've worshipped all these centuries was never divine."
She clenched her fist. "It was a demon pretending to be one."
Imu's laughter rumbled through the ruins, so deep it made the ground tremble.
"Demon… god… call it what you like. It changes nothing. I am eternal."
Mihawk's eyes narrowed. "Eternity is overrated."
Enel grinned, arcs of light dancing between his fingers. "And it burns like everything else."
Bullet stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. "Let's see if it bleeds."
Ada nodded once. "Then let's tear the mask off this world."
The hall erupted.
Imu's hand snapped upward — spears of black flame tore through the ground. Mihawk slashed through them, Yoru carving clean arcs that split shadow from stone. Bullet charged through the smoke, fists colliding with the marble floor as it exploded beneath him. Enel's lightning followed, crashing into Imu's side — but the energy vanished on contact, absorbed into that dark body like water into sand.
Fisher Tiger dove in next, a blur of muscle and fury, his trident striking with a roar that cracked the air — but Imu caught the weapon effortlessly between two fingers.
"Strength," the demon said softly. "How quaint."
Tiger's eyes widened as black veins snaked up his weapon. He yanked it free just as Ada appeared between them, her hand glowing.
"Pierce."
Her arm shot forward, the power of her fruit splitting the air — light condensed into a sharp point that drilled through space itself.
Imu's chest split open.
For a moment, the world seemed to stop. The impact rang like thunder.
Then Imu's body rippled and closed, the wound sealing like melting wax.
Imu smiled.
"Still so small."
The creature's shadow expanded, swallowing the floor, the walls, the ceiling — until Ada and her crew stood in a void of twisting black flame. Their reflections flickered across the dark, hundreds of versions of themselves mirrored in the abyss.
Lilith's voice cracked. "We're in another dimension—!"
Imu's voice echoed around them. "You call it 'space'. I call it… home."
Ada steadied herself. "Then let's burn your house down."
She turned, shouting to her crew, "Spread out! Don't let it isolate you!"
Mihawk vanished in a flash, his blade singing through the dark. Enel followed, hurling bolts of lightning that crackled like thunderheads. Bullet leapt through the storm, smashing through shadows that screamed as they broke apart. Fisher Tiger fought beside Ada, striking down the black silhouettes that spawned from Imu's darkness.
Imu moved like smoke and light — too fast to track, too strong to block. Each blow it dealt shattered the air, sending shockwaves through the void.
And yet — Ada pressed on.
She dodged one strike, then another, leaping up into the swirling dark. Her hand shone brighter, a blade of pure energy bursting from her arm.
"Pierce — Heaven's Divide!"
The beam erupted, splitting the dark dimension in half — light cutting clean through the endless shadow. The real world came crashing back, the throne room reappearing in shards of color and flame.
Imu staggered slightly, eyes narrowing. "Persistent."
Ada landed hard, panting. "You should know by now — the Will of D never dies easy."
Behind her, Lilith crouched behind a shattered column, still recording everything. The denden mushi's lens glowed red, its mechanical eye blinking as it stored every frame — the proof of what the world's "god" truly was.
Above them, Enel's voice cracked like thunder. "Ada! Move!"
She turned just in time — Imu's hand lashed out, and the ground erupted beneath her.
She flew back, slamming into a cracked pillar.
"Captain!" Fisher Tiger dove to catch her, helping her up. "You alright?"
Ada wiped the blood from her lip, grinning faintly. "I've had worse dates."
Imu's voice boomed through the smoke. "Do you think this rebellion matters? You will die here, and the world will forget again."
Ada rose, eyes glowing. "The world's already seen your face."
She pointed toward Lilith, whose trembling hands held the denden mushi steady.
"Every word you've spoken is recorded. Every lie burned into history."
Imu's head turned slightly toward Lilith. For the first time — they hesitated.
Then Ada struck.
She moved faster than lightning — her hand pierced through the air, light blinding and pure.
"Pierce: Genesis."
The beam ripped through Imu's side, sending waves of white energy through the hall. The ground cracked, towers split, the sea far below roared like it recognized the sound of truth breaking free.
The Five Elders screamed — their bodies contorting under the backlash, blood spilling from their mouths as the throne room collapsed.
But Imu didn't fall.
They straightened slowly, black fire wrapping around their wounds, sealing them again.
Their voice dropped to a growl, layered with thousands of tones. "You cannot kill what was born before death."
Ada's expression hardened. "Maybe not. But I can expose it."
She turned briefly, shouting over her shoulder. "Lilith, keep recording! Fisher Tiger, get ready to pull everyone back!"
Lilith nodded shakily, her voice trembling. "A-Ada… if we die—"
"Then let the truth live," Ada said.
Lightning flashed — Enel reappeared beside her, bleeding from the temple but still smiling. "You've got a real talent for pissing off gods."
"They were never gods," Ada said. "Just demons afraid to die."
Imu's wings — if they could be called wings — spread wide, black and veined like tattered silk. "Then die with your truth."
The world darkened again.
The Five Elders, desperate to regain control, lunged at once. Saturn's claws slashed across the floor, Warcury summoned molten stone, Mars hurled fire that consumed the shattered hall.
Bullet intercepted Mars mid-charge, punching straight through the flames, roaring as he drove the elder back. Mihawk crossed blades with Shepherd, sparks flying like stars. Fisher Tiger clashed with Ju Peter, his trident ringing like thunder with every strike.
The battlefield became chaos.
And in the center — Ada and Imu collided again.
Their powers exploded against each other — light and shadow twisting into a single column that pierced the sky. The very heavens split, lightning carving through clouds that had never seen a storm.
Lilith's denden mushi shook in her hands, static rippling across the feed. "Captain— the energy is—!"
Ada's hair whipped around her face, eyes glowing like fire. "Keep recording!"
The light burst outward.
Everything went white.
And through it — Ada's voice.
"You said the Will of D would vanish. You were wrong."
She thrust her hand forward, driving a beam through Imu's chest again, forcing the creature back against the cracked throne.
"Because you can't erase an idea!"
Imu screamed — not in pain, but fury. Their voice rattled the ruins.
"You think you've won, Nyx?! You are not Joyboy! You are not the one who will end me!"
Ada's expression didn't change. "I know."
Imu froze.
The air stilled.
Even her crew paused mid-fight.
Imu rose from the wreckage, body reforming from shadow and black flame, monstrous yet trembling faintly.
"You… still stand?" the demon hissed, voice cracking with disbelief.
Ada didn't answer.
She just stared — the way one stares at a memory they've decided to end.
Then, something changed in the air.
A sound like cracking thunder split the silence. The ground shook. The surviving Elders fell to their knees as the sky darkened, not from fire — but from sheer pressure.
The wind bent.
The stones groaned.
And every living thing on Marie Geoise felt it — a will so heavy it crushed the breath from their lungs.
Fisher Tiger fell to one knee. Enel's grin faded into shock. Mihawk's eyes widened, even Yoru humming under the weight of it.
Lilith's denden mushi screamed in static.
Ada's hair lifted in the unseen wind, her pupils glowing a molten gold.
Conqueror's Haki.
But this wasn't like anything the world had ever seen.
It rolled out from her like a tidal wave, swallowing the Red Line. The heavens split. Lightning flashed red across the clouds.
The air itself bent around her — alive, furious, and ancient.
Imu staggered.
For the first time, the so-called god flinched.
Their eyes widened — and for a fleeting second, they saw something behind Ada's gaze.
A silhouette laughing in the sun.
A man with the same eyes.
The same will.
Wearing a Straw Hat.
Joyboy.
The image shattered through Imu's mind like a nightmare returned from the depths.
"N–No…" Imu's voice cracked. "Not again… you—"
Ada took one step forward, her aura flaring.
"I'm not him," she said, voice steady, almost sorrowful. "But you remember him, don't you?"
Her Haki surged again — the entire throne room shaking, cracks spiderwebbing through the floor.
Imu stumbled back, dropping to one knee, clawing at the ground.
The Elders shouted, panicked. "Imu Sama—!"
But Ada didn't move to strike. She simply watched.
"Even demons can tremble," she said quietly. "So tell me… how does it feel, kneeling before a D again?"
Imu's eyes blazed, hatred twisting their face. "You insolent—"
Ada's aura flickered — her knees buckled slightly. Blood trailed from her nose. Mihawk stepped forward but stopped when she raised a hand.
"No," she said softly. "Not yet."
She looked at Imu, still kneeling, still trembling before her.
"This isn't my victory," Ada said. "Joyboy's will burns in me — but I'm not the one meant to finish you."
Imu's snarl faltered. "What…?"
Ada's Haki slowly faded, though the air still crackled with its ghost.
Ada's voice then dropped to a whisper. "I was never meant to be the one who ends you. My task was only to remind the world who you really are."
She stepped closer, her words calm, terrifyingly certain.
"You were never a god, Imu."
The demon's eyes widened.
"You were a demon who called itself one."
Imu lunged, roaring in fury — but Ada met it with a final strike, her hand blazing with pure light.
"Pierce — Eclipse!"
The beam hit point-blank, consuming the throne in white fire. The explosion shook the Red Line, a pillar of light tearing through the heavens, visible across the entire world.
Below, the seas raged. The revolutionaries and freed slaves stopped in awe as a blinding beam erupted from the summit of Marie Geoise.
Okiku shielded her eyes, clutching Hiyori and Perona close. "That's… Captain Ada…"
The light faded. Smoke rose from the ruins.
Imu was gone.
Or perhaps merely hidden again.
Ada fell to one knee, breathing hard. Her crew surrounded her — Mihawk, Bullet, Fisher Tiger, Enel, and Lilith all scarred, burned, but alive.
Lilith held the denden mushi, its lens cracked but still glowing faintly.
"It's all here," she whispered. "Everything. The world will know."
Ada stood, her silhouette outlined by the embers of the fallen throne.
"Not yet," she said. "We send it when the sea is calm. Not before."
Behind her, Fisher Tiger looked at the burning ruins, jaw tight. "You think that thing's dead?"
Ada's eyes flicked toward the shattered dais.
"No," she said quietly. "Demons don't die that easily."
She turned away, her voice calm but cold.
"And neither do I."
The flames roared behind her as she walked toward her crew, the sky above Marie Geoise split open like a wound.
The world below watched the light fade.
And somewhere in that silence — the gods of the old world began to tremble.