"Even death shall be overturned by a hymn of salvation—"
"The savior the world has long awaited—"
"Prayers are offered, yet still they waver—"
Standing on the beach, Uta took a deep breath.
Holding the ancient sheet of music in her hands, she began to sing in a low voice.
Not far away, Yuuki and Gordon stood watching her.
Compared to Yuuki's relaxed composure, Gordon looked visibly tense.
His hands were clenched so tightly that his palms were already slick with sweat.
Hummm—
As Uta's voice rang out, that invisible ripple appeared once more, spreading outward in every direction.
Thud!
The nervous look on Gordon's face froze.
Then, as if his consciousness had been forcibly stripped away, his body collapsed to the sand and he fell unconscious.
Clearly, his mind had already been dragged into the Uta World.
"So, it's starting."
Sensing the fluctuation produced by the Sing-Sing Fruit's power, Yuuki's face showed a trace of anticipation.
This time, unlike before, he did not allow himself to be passively drawn into the mental world.
Under his control, the magic within the Kabbalah Tree of Life inside him gave a faint tremor, effortlessly shaking off the influence of the Sing-Sing Fruit.
In reality—
Uta continued singing.
Yet little by little, her voice began to rise, as if it were no longer fully under her control.
"A heart battered by storms, lost and wandering—where does it go?"
"Unwithered amidst surging wishes and tears—"
"Release the incantation woven with curses!"
BOOM!
A violent gale suddenly formed out of nowhere, whipping Uta's clothes into a loud flutter.
The calm sea seemed to be affected by some unseen force, turning turbulent in an instant.
The sky, already nearing dusk, darkened visibly before the naked eye.
Above Uta's head—
thick, pitch-black storm clouds rapidly condensed and spread outward.
RUMBLE!
Dark blue-black energy waves burst from Uta's body.
They formed streams of astonishing power, gathering relentlessly into the sky.
Under the influence of that force, Uta herself slowly began to float upward.
"Prayer is devotion—oh, sing—!"
"Play until exhaustion takes hold—!"
"Embrace dreams, preserve reverence, and run toward the light that shines upon all—!"
"Come now—free and unrestrained, to your heart's content!"
RUMBLE—
The violent blue-violet energy condensed even further.
At this moment—
Uta's impassioned singing had become the key that fully released a hidden terror.
Purple lightning exploded into existence with thunderous crashes.
"What astonishing energy."
Yuuki raised a brow, genuine surprise appearing on his face.
At that moment, he suddenly realized—
he might have underestimated Tot Musica.
Although Uta was still singing, her own consciousness was likely no longer in control.
The one now dominating her body—
was no longer Uta.
It was the demon—
Tot Musica.
BOOM!
The surging blue-black energy completely swallowed Uta.
In the very next instant—
a gigantic, grotesque figure appeared in the sky.
At a glance, it stood nearly ten meters tall.
Its overall shape was humanoid, yet it lacked a lower body.
Its right eye was a black void.
Its left eye glowed with a crimson X.
It wore a black top hat and a cloak draped behind its neck, giving it the appearance of a twisted musician.
Yet its abstract, monstrous body radiated unmistakable malice.
"ROOOAAARRR—!"
A low, shrill roar echoed through the sky as Tot Musica fully awakened.
The sound itself instantly formed a visible shockwave.
The beach below was blasted into a massive crater.
"Kekekekeda!"
Tot Musica lowered its gaze and fixed onto Yuuki below, as though spotting prey.
Its mouth split open, revealing rows of sharp fangs.
BOOM!
Two long arms, shaped like piano keyboards, swung down from above and smashed toward Yuuki.
"Ore Magic — Sword of Victory."
Yuuki snapped his fingers lightly.
A massive ore-forged greatsword, gleaming with metallic luster, materialized in the air and swung forward.
CLANG! CLANG!
The giant keyboard-like hands collided with the greatsword, producing a shrill metallic screech.
Yuuki's expression did not change.
With two fingers, he slashed downward.
The ore greatsword began expanding at a visible speed.
In the span of a single breath, it had grown to the same size as Tot Musica itself.
SWISH!
The gigantic blade swung.
Its enormous body moved with astonishing agility as it carved out a sharp arc.
SLASH—
Tot Musica was cleaved cleanly in half.
And yet—
the severed body reconnected in the blink of an eye, as if the attack had never happened.
"As expected."
Yuuki narrowed his eyes.
Tot Musica was extremely special.
To truly damage it, one had to attack both in reality and within the Uta World simultaneously.
Even so—
it still could not be completely destroyed.
Even in the movie, all they had managed in the end was to seal it once more.
The nature of Tot Musica was unlike anything that should exist in the world of One Piece.
Before this, Yuuki had only suspected it.
But now—
he finally understood exactly what it was.
Consciousness.
A special lifeform formed from the aggregation of countless chaotic consciousnesses.
Just as he had previously guessed—
the Uta World had not been created by Uta herself.
It was an inherent ability of the Sing-Sing Fruit.
That meant every previous user of the fruit had also used the Uta World.
Over countless years, the minds of innumerable living beings had been forcibly dragged into it.
If those consciousnesses were unable to leave, then over time they would naturally generate negative emotions and energy.
Over centuries—
perhaps even longer—
those negative emotions had fused together into what became known as the demon Tot Musica.
Once he understood this—
Yuuki was even more astonished.
At the end of the day, Tot Musica should still only be a consciousness-based entity that existed within the Uta World.
And yet—
it could manifest in the real world.
That had already gone beyond common sense.
"The power to turn illusion into reality…"
"How fascinating."
Yuuki looked at the increasingly violent Tot Musica floating in the sky.
His eyes gleamed like a hunter who had discovered precious prey.
BOOM!!
The raging energy around Tot Musica intensified again.
What had once been merely blue-black energy now began bursting with crimson beams.
SWISH! SWISH!
Countless red energy rays shot forth like scarlet lightning.
Yuuki remained still.
Magic power instantly formed a barrier around him, blocking every beam.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The rebounded red beams crashed into the earth and sea, setting off enormous explosions.
"Come inside—Dream Magic!"
Yuuki thrust one hand forward.
Dream Magic activated instantly.
Tot Musica's body was engulfed in a pale white magical glow.
In the blink of an eye, it vanished from the beach.
At the same time—
Yuuki disappeared as well.
Dream World
Yuuki and Tot Musica appeared simultaneously within a vast, seemingly endless world.
Everything was bathed in pale white light.
The surroundings shimmered with faint rainbow colors.
It was a dreamlike realm.
"ROOOARRR!"
Tot Musica seemed to sense danger.
It let out a violent roar, swinging its piano-key arms wildly and lashing out at everything around it.
Terrifying shockwaves swept outward.
Not only that—
powerful red lightning bolts shot out continuously.
Yet before any of those attacks could even leave Tot Musica's vicinity—
they vanished into nothing.
"It's useless."
"In this world, I am god."
"Your power is meaningless here."
Yuuki looked calmly at the struggling demon and snapped his fingers.
Snap!
In an instant, the ethereal dream world transformed into an endless grassland.
Tot Musica's already chaotic mind could not comprehend what had happened.
Suddenly, spatial ripples appeared all around its body.
Yuuki raised an arm and made a grasping motion toward the void.
"The game ends now."
CLANK! CLANK!
Countless thick black chains shot out from the ripples in the sky.
They wrapped around Tot Musica's body and bound it firmly in place.
The demon roared and struggled furiously—
yet could not move an inch.
Even its shadowy, seemingly intangible lower half was bound solidly by chains.
This—
was the true power of Dream Magic.
Within the dream world, the user could imagine anything into existence and grant it real properties.
Even something as impossible as creating seawater and drowning an enemy within it.
That same "reality" naturally extended to those dragged into the dream world.
Which meant—
Tot Musica's mostly energy-based body had now been forced into tangible form.
And now—
Yuuki's silver magic gleamed.
A slender black chain condensed in his palm.
"Separate."
With a sharp motion, he lashed the chain toward Tot Musica.
The chain shot forward like a black serpent and pierced into its body.
Then—
it suddenly went taut, as if it had hooked onto something.
Yuuki gripped the other end.
Then yanked hard.
"ROOOAAARRR!!"
Tot Musica convulsed violently, letting out a maddened howl.
But under the restraint of the countless black chains, its struggles were meaningless.
Gurgle—gurgle—
As the chain was pulled outward, the demon's chest twisted into a black vortex.
Then—
a figure was forcibly dragged out from within.
It was—
Uta.
Success.
Yuuki's expression remained calm, but the force in his arms increased.
From the very beginning—
he had never intended to destroy Tot Musica.
Especially after understanding that it was an offshoot of the Sing-Sing Fruit.
Instead—
his true objective had always been capture.
Using Dream Magic—
he intended to completely separate Tot Musica from Uta.
Or more accurately—
to separate it from the Sing-Sing Fruit itself.
Under normal circumstances, such a thing should have been impossible.
But Dream Magic could forcibly transform them into two independent entities.
In that way—
separation became possible.
CLANG—
The chain groaned under tension.
More than half of Uta's body had already been pulled free.
But at that exact moment—
"ROOOAAARRR!"
Tot Musica's agitation suddenly intensified.
The countless chains binding it began to shake violently.
Yuuki froze for a moment.
Then narrowed his eyes.
This wasn't simple physical struggle.
The reason the chains were trembling was because Tot Musica's power had begun affecting the dream world itself.
BOOM!
Violent energy erupted from within it.
Red lightning spread across its body.
Two enormous crimson X-shaped rings formed around it.
BOOM! BOOM!
Its body began swelling.
From barely ten meters tall—
it expanded to over twenty meters in an instant.
Its yellow curled hair turned green.
The ends of its piano-like fingers transformed into claws.
Even its black top hat morphed into a crocodile-like hat.
Worst of all—
the half-extracted Uta was swallowed back inside.
Seeing this astonishing transformation—
Yuuki did not look surprised.
Instead, he smiled.
"Second form?"
"How interesting."
"This power can actually affect the dream world."
"The potential is even greater than I imagined."
"Though a lifeform born from chaotic consciousness could never develop true intelligence…"
"the instinct of a living being to survive still remains."
"That means Tot Musica has already become a true lifeform."
Yuuki tightened his grip on the chain.
For the first time, seriousness entered his expression.
Brilliant silver magic flared along his arm.
"If this continues…"
"Uta will be in real danger."
Tot Musica had always possessed three forms.
When it destroyed Elegia years ago, Uta had only been nine.
Her Devil Fruit mastery and stamina had both been severely lacking.
That was why only the first form had appeared.
Later, when she attempted to enact the New Genesis plan, her control over the fruit had greatly improved.
Combined with the effects of the wakefulness mushrooms, Tot Musica had rapidly evolved into the second form.
As for the third form—
that had required Uta's life itself.
BOOM!
"ROOO…"
Tot Musica let out a pained howl.
Yuuki's magic surged.
With brute force, he ripped Uta completely free.
At this point—
Tot Musica's power had already become something worthy of his full seriousness.
SWISH! SWISH!
Countless black-red energy arms burst from its chest, desperately reaching to reclaim Uta.
"Hmph."
Yuuki snorted coldly.
Dream Magic instantly caused those arms to collapse and dissipate.
Then—
he reached out with both arms and gently caught the unconscious Uta in his embrace.
(End of Chapter)
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