Chapter 13: The True Weapon of the False God
Monkey D. Kelean stood on the smoking, exposed ridge of the severed Red Line, facing the summit of the world. Below him, the sea churned where the two halves of the Grand Line had briefly merged. The air above was thick with the scent of ozone and cooling iron.
Above, at the pinnacle of the Pangea Castle, Imu stood revealed. The mysterious figure was no longer a shadow on the Empty Throne but an active, terrifying force. Imu was clad in robes of pure white, their form unnaturally elongated, and their face hidden behind a crown-like shadow that radiated an aura of oppressive finality.
"You are the memory of the world, Kelean," Imu declared, their voice echoing with authority that transcended language. "And all memories must eventually be suppressed."
The Unveiling of the Ancient Power
From the central spire of the castle, the complex mechanism Imu had activated shuddered. It was not a cannon or a missile launcher. It was an ancient, highly polished crystal array, focusing the energy of the world itself.
"Eight hundred years ago, we defeated you by mastering the ultimate law," Imu stated, raising their arms. "Not the Haki you wield, but the law of Absence. The power to erase concepts from existence."
Imu commanded the spire, and the great crystal pulsed. From the device, a single, silent wave of light erupted. It was not fire or energy; it was a wave of pure nullification.
The wave hit the titanic, kilometer-wide pillar of molten Red Line that Kelean had thrust into the sky. The result was instantaneous and horrifying. The massive magma pillar did not cool, explode, or collapse; it vanished. One moment it was there, a billion tons of glowing earth, the next it was nothing. No smoke, no debris, no shadow—the concept of that rock existing was utterly erased.
Kelean watched, unblinking, as the nullification wave raced toward him. "The power that destroyed the original kingdoms," he murmured, his face grim. "A Devil Fruit of Void, awakened."
The wave struck the forward deck of the Crimson Monolith. The colossal iron ship, built of Kelean's solidified will, met the wave of Nothingness. The black hull dissolved instantly into non-existence, leaving only the water where the material had been.
Kelean was now standing on the open sea, the last man between Imu and the world. He met the terrifying power of the Void with his own ultimate expression: the Crimson Veil.
He raised his hands, and every drop of free blood within a mile—from the scattered victims of the earlier chaos, from the air itself, and from his own veins—flew toward him. It formed a rapidly rotating, spherical shield of pure, condensed blood Haki. It was a barrier of life's essence, the very thing Imu sought to deny.
The nullification wave hit the Crimson Veil. The impact was silent, yet the world felt the strain. The space where the shield met the Void twisted and buckled, unable to decide if the material should exist or not.
Kelean roared, pouring every ounce of his ancient Conqueror's Haki into the defense. "You cannot erase the Founder's Will!"
The Crimson Veil held, shimmering violently, but it held. Kelean was bleeding profusely from his nose and eyes from the strain of resisting conceptual erasure, but his shield protected him.
The Duel of Foundational Power
Imu, seeing the resistance, abandoned the slow pulse of the spire. They descended from the castle, manifesting the power of the Void around their own body. Imu was now surrounded by a field of absolute nothingness, a mobile sphere of erasure.
"You protect the past," Imu hissed, floating directly toward Kelean. "I will secure the future."
Kelean knew he could not sustain the defensive barrier. He had to attack the source. He allowed the Crimson Veil to dissipate, letting the final remnants of the Void wave harmlessly pass through the space it had occupied.
He lunged forward, closing the distance instantly. He coated his fist not just in Haki, but in his controlled blood, creating a solid, garnet-red glove that shimmered with the density of neutronium.
"I am the Law of Life, Imu!" Kelean roared. "Chi Chi no Gekitou (Blood-Blood God Strike)!"
The punch was aimed directly at the center of Imu's Void field.
Imu met the attack with an open palm. "And I am the Law of Silence!"
The moment Kelean's blood-coated fist entered Imu's Void field, the fist began to shrink, dissolving into non-existence at the molecular level. Kelean's skin burned as the Void tried to erase his very existence.
But Kelean was ready. He allowed the outer layers of his fist to be consumed. Just before the nullification reached his bone, he unleashed a sudden, devastating surge of concentrated Haki-infused blood from within the glove.
The compressed blood, already under his control, acted as a temporal bomb, bypassing the slow conceptual erasure of the Void. It slammed into Imu's body, which immediately cracked and bled a thick, black substance—the anti-life energy of the Void Fruit.
Imu screamed, a sound of ancient, raw pain. The Void field around them flickered and failed.
"You bled!" Kelean observed, pulling back his injured hand. "The body that rules the world is not immortal. You are merely the guardian of a very fragile concept."
Imu staggered, clutching their side. The wound was shallow, but the shock was profound. No power had touched them in eight centuries.
"You will not win, Kelean," Imu whispered, the ancient fear returning. "The world has moved on. The people are content with the lie. Even if you defeat me, you cannot defeat the system."
Kelean stood ready, his posture unyielding, his eyes fixed on the final ruler. "I am not here to convince the people. I am here to remove the obstacle. The next King of the Pirates will teach them how to be free."
The duel has begun! Kelean has landed the first blow, but Imu's Void power is existential.