Imu could feel it clearly: if she abandoned her physical body and used her abilities as a pure spiritual entity, they would become more flexible—and likely far stronger.
The thought filled her with anticipation.
Once she reached that other world, even if Cyrus followed her, she might finally have a way to fight back.
"Lord Imu!"
A terrified shout suddenly echoed from far away, cutting through her thoughts.
Annoyance flashed in Imu's eyes.
It wasn't that she had ever particularly wanted to rely on those five fools who served as the Five Elders.
Rather, among the Celestial Dragons, they had at least been relatively competent. As long as nothing truly catastrophic happened, they could usually keep the situation under control.
At the very least, they wouldn't come running in screaming like this.
Things were already this bad. What could possibly happen now that was frightening enough to reduce someone to such a state?
And these people still harbored ambitions of their own?
At this level?
Pathetic insects.
How was she supposed to win when these were the only tools available to her?
For the first time, Imu found herself seriously reconsidering how she should choose subordinates in the future.
At the very least, she needed people with actual ability.
Unfortunately, capable people were rarely easy to control.
While those thoughts passed through her mind, the person who had been shouting finally stumbled into the room and threw himself down at the foot of the throne.
"Lord Imu! The sky—the sky is raining fire! The warriors you transformed are all being burned to death!"
The man was so terrified that saliva ran from the corner of his mouth as he spoke, though he didn't even seem to notice.
Imu looked down at the trembling wreck of a man, and her gaze turned cold.
"So?"
"Lord Imu, it must be Flame Demon Cyrus! No one else could do something like this!"
The kneeling Celestial Dragon hurriedly continued, oblivious to the danger in her voice.
"Only you can defeat that monster! Please, Lord Imu, kill him!"
Imu's tone became colder still.
"So now you're giving me orders?"
"Lord Imu, we can't let Flame Demon Cyrus keep doing this! If he continues, everything will be over!"
The man completely failed to hear the killing intent in her voice and kept voicing his opinion.
'Only you people are finished.'
Imu herself would survive.
She would live on, obtain greater and more terrifying power, and begin again elsewhere.
"Lord Imu, please take action!"
Imu stared down at the man kneeling before her. Her head tilted slightly, and when she spoke again, her voice was low and empty.
"I suppose I should never have expected anything from you."
"You have always been this useless."
Only then did the Celestial Dragon finally realize something was wrong.
He raised his head and his eyes met Imu's.
Fear erupted inside him.
It was instinctive and uncontrollable, surging from the deepest part of his heart like flames scorching both his mind and body.
Black fire suddenly burst from his flesh.
In an instant, it engulfed him completely.
Crack.
Bones struck the floor and shattered.
Within the black flames, the man's flesh vanished until only a skeleton remained. Even that collapsed into the fire and burned away to ash.
At the same moment, every surviving Celestial Dragon across Mary Geoise erupted into the same black flames.
Those who witnessed it immediately thought of Cyrus.
The moment they saw fire, they assumed Flame Demon Cyrus had attacked again.
But as the Celestial Dragons died, an invisible force began flowing toward Mary Geoise.
"Mm…"
A quiet sound escaped Imu as she sat upon the throne.
Her presence began rising rapidly.
The black robe wrapped around her body whipped violently as overwhelming Conqueror's Haki poured from her without restraint.
In an instant, the terrifying pressure burst beyond Mary Geoise and swept outward in every direction.
The clouds above the Holy Land shattered beneath the impact.
Golden sunlight poured through the opening and fell across the ruined city, bathing the devastated remains of Mary Geoise in warm light.
For a brief moment, the destruction possessed a strange, almost beautiful grandeur.
Even from the nearby Sabaody Archipelago, the spectacle could be seen clearly.
…
Despite the chaos spreading throughout the world, Sabaody itself had remained relatively stable.
Part of the reason was simple: the people who gathered there had always possessed both courage and strength.
Although Cyrus and Crocodile were no longer present and the Hunter Guild headquarters had largely emptied out, plenty of Hunters remained stationed on the archipelago, along with other powerful individuals.
Compared to many other regions, Sabaody had actually become one of the safer places in the world.
That meant quite a few capable people witnessed what was happening atop the Red Line, whether with their own eyes or through various viewing devices.
"Master, I really think we should leave."
A young man with blue hair styled into a pompadour stared toward Mary Geoise.
The mechanical lens over his left eye automatically retracted toward his ear before he turned to the Fish-Man beside him.
Tom lowered the monocular telescope in his hand and shook his head.
"I still have work to finish."
"Then we should at least go back to Water 7. That place up there is the Holy Land."
"Franky, it wouldn't make much difference."
Tom shook his head again.
"This upheaval is affecting the entire world."
The World Government was no longer hunting him.
In fact, it could barely be said to exist as a functioning authority anymore.
Besides, Tom was now one of the Hunter Guild's officially designated shipwrights, and he still had dozens of shipbuilding commissions waiting to be completed.
"Being farther away would still be safer."
Franky pointed toward the Red Line.
"If the chairman of the Hunter Guild attacks again like he did before, this place could get caught in it."
His finger indicated the enormous breach Cyrus had once carved through the Red Line.
"There's an old legend that the Red Line protects the Four Seas like a giant dike."
Tom raised his telescope again and looked toward the massive gap.
"Fish-Men have a similar legend. They say one day a great flood will engulf the world, drowning countless islands, and that the Red Line will block part of the water and preserve some of them."
"A great flood?"
Franky stared at him.
"How does that make any sense? This world is already mostly ocean. Where would that much more water even come from?"
"It's only a legend."
Tom laughed softly.
"For Fish-Men, though, maybe it wouldn't even be such a terrible thing."
Fish-Men could live freely beneath the sea, so a worldwide flood would naturally threaten them far less than humans.
Whether there was any truth behind the old story, Tom had no way of knowing.
Still, one thing was undeniable: life for Fish-Men had already improved tremendously compared with the past.
At the very least, no one dared openly hunt them down and sell them as slaves anymore.
For that reason alone, Tom hoped the changes sweeping across the world would continue.
"Master… what's that?"
Franky suddenly pointed toward the heavens.
Tom followed his finger.
Above them stretched a vast expanse of red.