Kaoru Tsubasa felt a strange sense of disbelief as he watched the Ten Commandments step forward without hesitation, forming a protective wall behind him.
It was… unnerving.
After all, the Demon King—at least, the one recorded in legend—was known as a cruel and merciless tyrant, a being capable of slaughtering even his own son without a shred of remorse. And yet, these demons now stood loyally at his back, their posture one of defiance and protection.
Still, Kaoru pushed those questions aside. There were more pressing matters to address.
"Where are the cores of those dying worlds?" he asked calmly.
He still hadn't given up on saving those realms—worlds whose life-cores had been stolen but not yet completely extinguished.
The Demon King fell silent for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Then he shook his head.
"We don't have such things," he said flatly.
Kaoru frowned. "How is that possible? Weren't those world cores taken by your kind?"
He could hardly believe it. The pattern had seemed obvious—every corrupted world bore traces of demonic interference.
"I didn't take them," came a deep, irritated voice. It was Jerus, one of the Ten Commandments. His tone carried anger barely restrained. "Those were taken by the previous Demon King."
The others clenched their fists, faces dark with resentment.
"The… previous generation of Demon King?" Kaoru echoed, startled. "You mean there are two Demon Kings in existence?"
He stared at Jerus in disbelief, but the Demon King himself nodded slowly.
"Let me explain," the monarch said at last, his tone grave. "The story begins a thousand years ago."
He gazed into the distance, his voice echoing through the silent hall.
"A millennium ago, our clan—the Demons—launched a massive invasion of the human world. Countless demons and all Ten Commandments marched under the banner of conquest. But we were stopped by a powerful order of knights known as the Seven Deadly Sins."
"Even when the Ten Commandments failed, the previous Demon King himself tore open the fabric of time and space to descend upon the human realm. His power was overwhelming—none among the Sins could oppose him."
"But then, at the brink of defeat, their leader, Meliodas, unleashed an unfathomable surge of magic. His power spiked beyond measure, and in that moment, he gravely wounded the Demon King."
"The Supreme Deity then allied with Meliodas and the Four Archangels, driving the Demon King and our entire clan from that world."
The Demon King's voice darkened.
"Exiled, humiliated, the Demon King refused to accept defeat. Lacking the strength to fight back, he sought to absorb the world cores of other realms to rebuild his power."
"At that time, our clan split into two factions. One faction—led by the Demon King himself—supported his vengeance and prepared for war once more."
"The other, weary of endless bloodshed, sought peace. We became the Anwen Faction, the ones who desired stability."
He sighed heavily.
"But our words carried no weight. The war faction dominated our people."
"Five hundred years ago," he continued, "the Demon King entrusted me with part of his original magic. I grew stronger—stronger than he expected. When he lowered his guard, I seized the Ten Commandments and led the Anwen faction away. We left the Demon Realm behind… to start anew."
The story ended in a deep silence.
Kaoru remained still for a while, mulling it all over. Then he asked, "If your people desire peace, why invade the Pirate World?"
The Demon King met his gaze, his eyes like twin voids.
"Because," he said, "I heard of a mysterious power there—something capable of suppressing magic. If the war faction ever finds us, we'll need strength to defend ourselves."
He wanted Gado, his strongest warrior, to learn that ability.
Kaoru's eyes narrowed. He understood now.
"What you're seeking," he said, "is Haki—the willpower that can overpower and suppress magic itself."
Nothing else fit that description. Devil Fruits certainly didn't. They were rare, yes, but not impossible to find. If that were what the demons sought, Gado wouldn't have remained there for so long.
After some thought, Kaoru extended his hand, channeling faint energy. A pale glow flickered, connecting to the demons' souls—his mark of control.
He couldn't risk trusting them completely, no matter how genuine their story seemed.
In return, he left behind a method to cultivate Haki and reinforced their refuge with a powerful barrier, ensuring the war faction could never breach it.
Before departing, he requested a small portion of the Demon King's magic—just enough to trace the threads of cause and effect later.
Beyond the Pirate World
Kaoru tore open a shimmering rift in the air. The distortion widened until he stepped through it, floating between worlds.
Before leaving, he took out a shimmering talisman—a World Wall Reinforcement Token from his system inventory—and activated it. The Pirate World's spatial barrier pulsed and strengthened, ensuring its stability.
Truth be told, Kaoru had intended to confront the war faction himself. But his Nascent Soul trial voucher was nearly expired.
Without that power, he wouldn't even be able to tear open another rift. If he overstayed… he'd be trapped forever.
As he returned, Kaoru used the last remnants of the Demon King's magic to invoke the Power of Causality, erasing all traces of the Demon Clan from the Pirate World's history.
Every memory of them—gone.
When it was done, exhaustion washed over him. His strength rapidly dwindled. The voucher's effect had ended.
Not long after, Kaoru appeared on a quiet island near Whiskey Peak.
He stepped into a virtual space of his own creation—a pocket realm where he could alter time, terrain, and even the laws of nature. Inside, two years could pass while only an hour elapsed outside.
He smiled faintly as he looked down at the island landscape he'd built: to the north stood Wano's Onigashima, to the south the Kudon Islands, to the west Mihawk's shadowed domain, and to the east an endless plain. Floating above it all was a shining Sky Island.
"It seems they've trained well," Kaoru murmured, amusement touching his lips.
Below him, the Straw Hat crew trained fiercely, their Haki surging like tidal waves.
"Two years of training should be enough," he muttered softly before descending from the sky.
His first destination—Kaido's fortress, Onigashima.
There, the three main fighters of the Straw Hat Pirates were clashing head-on with the Emperor of Beasts himself.
And so began the next stage of Kaoru Tsubasa's journey.
...
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