Imu suddenly transformed into another form entirely, shedding his previous appearance.
This time, the figure of Saturn, which is originally known as the spider demon Gyuki, twisted and changed into a figure of a demonic one.
It sprouted the dark, leathery wings of a typical devil that blocked out the light, as well as growing a tail that seemed to be tipped like a sharp arrow.
Imu's transformation was accompanied by a sudden release of massive conqueror's haki that washed over the entire island.
It was so potent that it distracted even the other fighters for a moment from their own intense battles.
Imu's subordinates felt it as well, as they all looked in the direction where Imu was fighting against Rocks and Thor with fear and awe.
Imu immediately moved his lethal tail to attack Thor. Thor reacted fast and slammed his hammer directly towards the tail to parry it.
However, while Thor was occupied, the floating grimoire beside Imu summoned out another weapon.
It is a massive cannon-like weapon, which is significantly larger than his previous double-barreled flintlock weapon.
Imu immediately fired it at Thor, who was distracted by parrying the tail.
The blast hit Thor directly across his torso and made him fall far back due to the heavy impact that had happened.
"THOR!" Rocks yelled out in concern. Rocks, who had been watching while also defending themselves from the relentless assaults of Imu as well, suddenly got distracted by his friend's plight.
Because of this split second of lost focus, he did not notice Imu summoning multiple dark tentacles across his body.
The shadows surged forward, stabbing towards Rocks's body and piercing him.
Thor, who had managed to recover from the cannon blast, was now visibly bleeding.
He saw Rocks' predicament and immediately moved to cut the tentacles as he knew what would happen next if he stayed idle.
But before he could do so, he was attacked violently from his side. It is Warcury, still in the form of a massive boar, as its tusk stabbed Thor in the ribs.
Thanks to the immense durability and natural defense of Thor, which was enhanced by Big Mom's talent that he possessed, the tusk didn't manage to pass through completely.
However, the force was so great that it still penetrated enough to stab his organs.
"Ughhh!" Thor just managed to make some hurt sound through gritted teeth. Thor then sent out a powerful punch towards Warcury's figure and freed himself from his tusks' hold.
Seizing the moment, Thor grabbed Warcury. He then transformed into his true height, becoming a giant once again.
In this form, he grabbed the figure of Warcury by his hands, which looked like it is a small ball in his giant palm.
Covering Warcury with his blackened armament haki, he threw it towards the figure of Imu with earth-shattering force, much like how Garp threw cannonballs onto its opponent.
Warcury hit towards Imu, flying through the air with incredible speed. But the figure of Imu did not move an inch to dodge.
Instead, upon contact, Warcury disappeared from the space entirely, as if he was swallowed up by the abyss itself. The same thing happened to the other Elders on the island, as they all vanished into thin air.
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Garp had been previously fighting against Warcury with a grin on his face, but the massive boar suddenly ran off and ignored him due to a command to attack Thor, which left Garp momentarily without an opponent.
Now, Garp is fighting against Saint Mars, who had been transformed into his Mythical Itsumade form.
Garp found this opponent a little troublesome due to it being able to fly high above the ground and rain down attacks, but Garp is not one to be outdone by a beast.
Once he saw an opening, he leaped into the air and got a hold of the massive tail of the Itsumade, and Garp had no intention of letting go as his fingers dug into the scales.
Garp then threw Mars towards the ground with all of his physical might, intending to crush the bird into the earth.
But when suddenly, just before impact, a dark abyss mark opened from the ground, which swallowed the entire bird whole, causing Garp's attack to hit nothing but empty air.
"What?" Garp audibly asked, as he got confused about what had just happened, scratching his head as he landed.
He also turned towards Roger to see if he saw it, who is fighting a figure that has a lower half of a bone like a horse, while the other part has his normal body, the skeletal centaur Saint Nusjuro.
Roger swung his sword Ace with black lightning crackling around it, but before it reached towards the Elder to deliver a cutting blow, the abyss mark appeared on its foot, and he was then swallowed whole by the darkness, vanishing instantly from the battlefield.
"Where did that horse bone go?" Roger asked Garp, who did not understand what was happening as well, as the two rivals shared a look of bewilderment.
Meanwhile, Newgate also stared confusedly at the ground near him, as he had just been fighting against a giant worm-like creature, Saint Ju Peter, which had just dug into the ground and never resurfaced, having been recalled by the same power.
"Where are they?" Newgate asked as well, his vibration powers still humming on his blade, ready for an enemy that was no longer there.
But before they could further discuss things or figure out where their opponents went, a loud and terrifying explosion of haki happened once again.
This time, it is something that they recognize, but it feels twisted and darker. They all stared at the figure in the distance and saw Rocks' figure, but he was changed.
He stood there with now demonic traits, appearing similar to the demonic creature that is standing beside him, as if the corruption had taken hold of his mind and body.
Besides this terrifying transformation, Thor is visibly bleeding heavily, standing in front of them as well, but in his true, gigantic form, looking battered but defiant.
Linlin and Kaido, however, didn't know this was happening, as they are currently busy chasing the Holy Knights who are ordered by Imu to evacuate the remaining gods and Celestial Dragons from the God Valley.
Kaido is not in his full dragon form, as he was able to figure out how to transform into his hybrid beast form earlier while fighting against one of the remaining Holy Knights, a form that gave him speed and power.
There is blood that is dripping from the wounds that he got from this intense fighting, and it is a similar situation with Linlin, who is also covered in scrapes and bruises.
But despite the injuries, the two of them are grinning like maniacs due to their liking the feeling of fighting against someone strong.
Coupled with the Holy Knights' status as Celestials, they had been more than eager to fight them and hunt them down before they could escape the island.
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The narrative returned to a few moments earlier, back to the specific instance when Rocks had just been stabbed by the shadow tendrils of Imu due to a brief moment's show of weakness regarding his concern for Thor.
And now, because of that singular mistake, Rocks is fully in the grasp of Imu's overwhelming, corrupting influence.
"The prince of Elbaph is harder to bend than most. No matter, there is an unprecedented opportunity, the current sovereign of the Giant's nation is incredulously pliable," Imu said with a cold, detached tone.
As he spoke these words, he then transferred even more dark power towards the body of Rocks.
The energy surged into the pirate, who directly lost the ability to move his limbs as his motor functions were overridden by Imu's will.
"YA BASTARD! HARALD JUST WANTS PEACE!" Rocks then said, shouting in defense of his friend.
However, their conversation is not heard from the other side or by anyone else on the battlefield.
This was due to the forced connection that Imu had linked to Rocks, creating a private psychic channel where he could talk to him in his mind without others eavesdropping.
"Davy, what do you think would happen if their king learn that you had killed one of his sons?" Imu then said towards Rocks.
He was twisting the narrative to break Rocks' spirit, suggesting a future where Rocks is framed for the fall of Thor.
Rocks was trying his hardest to resist the mental and physical intrusion, but was being forcibly transformed by Imu, who was rewriting his very biology.
'Damn it, I'm fading!' Rocks thought frantically as he felt his consciousness slipping away into the dark.
His will is getting overpowered by a primal drive to destroy that Imu was instilling in him.
Imu continued to pour his power without restraint, as he was not only transforming Rocks into a normal devil, as he had just done in the original story timeline.
But this time, due to the variables present, Rocks is being transformed into a higher being.
The power he had given to Rocks is stronger than he had given him in the original history, intending to create a perfect monster.
Suddenly, the ritual was violently interrupted. Imu had been hit by Warcury's figure, who had been thrown with immense force by Thor from across the battlefield.
The impact was significant, which made Imu lose his concentration, and he undid the entire summoning abyss that he had done to the other Elders, causing them to vanish.
"DOMI REVERSI!" Imu then cast the final command to seal the deal before he lost control completely. As the words left Imu's mouth, Rocks then completely transformed into a demon.
The transformation finished instantly, and the new creature, who had immediately released a massive conqueror's haki blast towards the entire island, signaled his birth.