"Boom!!!"
The sky above Naval Headquarters began to twist and contort as a powerful, ominous force surged through the atmosphere. The epic clash between the Five Elders, Sabo, the Entei Pirates, the Straw Hat Pirates, and the combined might of the three Admirals and the Knights of God had reached a fever pitch, causing the very air to tremble and the heavens to crack open.
Amidst the chaos, a mysterious red energy began to swirl violently in the sky. It was an unnatural force, unlike anything seen before—a terrifying blend of power that seemed to embody both thunder and flames, yet belonged to neither. This crimson energy radiated an overwhelming sense of destruction, an apocalyptic force that could annihilate everything in its path.
It was one of the three ancient weapons—Uranus. The same weapon that had obliterated the Kingdom of Lulusia in an instant, causing the sea to rise in its aftermath. Now, its devastating power was aimed at the battlefield below.
"Boom!!!"
The energy gathered above Ace, its sheer magnitude threatening to tear apart the very fabric of reality. The sky seemed to pulse with a life of its own as the crimson storm surged, ready to strike with a force capable of wiping entire islands from existence.
Ace, standing amidst the chaos, looked up at the impending doom with calm, determined eyes. The red hue of his Ultimate Observation Haki flared in his gaze, mingling with the glow of the time-bending abilities he had mastered. He could feel the immense power of Uranus bearing down on him, but he remained unfazed.
"What a boring trick, Imu," Ace muttered, his voice laced with both contempt and anticipation.
The crimson energy burst forth from the clouds, descending upon the battlefield with unstoppable force. But its target wasn't Ace—it was Pluton, the other ancient weapon that had just obliterated the pacifistas and the Seraphim in a single, devastating strike.
"Buzz!"
As the apocalyptic energy of Uranus hurtled toward Pluton, the air around it began to shimmer and distort. In an instant, the massive hull of Pluton was engulfed by a space-time rift, vanishing into the void just as the destructive energy reached its mark. The attack struck nothing but empty space, its power dissipating harmlessly into the atmosphere.
Ace's eyes glinted with a mixture of satisfaction and challenge as he watched the futile assault. He knew that Imu was watching, waiting for a moment of weakness. But Ace was ready—ready to face the greatest threat the world had ever known, and to defy the very forces of destruction that sought to tear the world apart.
"Luffy..."
Ace's gaze remained steady as he watched the aftermath of Uranus' attack, which had narrowly missed its intended target and now hurtled towards the Naval Headquarters. The destructive force threatened to engulf not only the Naval Headquarters but also the cadres of the Entei Pirates' Grand Fleet and their allies. Yet, Ace didn't flinch, his expression unchanged as he muttered under his breath.
"Hehehe!"
Luffy, standing proudly on the deck of the Sunny, couldn't contain his joy. A bright, confident smile spread across his face, his eyes gleaming with excitement. The sound of his heartbeat resonated like the liberating rhythm of a drum, echoing throughout the battlefield.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
With each beat, Luffy's body began to transform. His clothes, hair, and even his eyebrows turned a pure, radiant white. A flame-like cloud, swirling like a ribbon, wrapped itself around him. He had awakened the power of the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Beast-Nika Form.
"Swoosh!"
In an instant, Luffy vanished from the deck of the Sunny, reappearing at the heart of the Naval Headquarters. His voice rang out with a mix of laughter and determination.
"Give me, go back!"
With a gleeful grin, Luffy reached down and grabbed the ground with both hands. The Naval Headquarters trembled as the very earth beneath it began to morph. The ground, under the influence of Luffy's power, turned into a peculiar type of rubber. This wasn't just any rubber—it was imbued with the potent energies of Conqueror's Haki, Armament Haki, and the unique properties of Luffy's own rubber body.
This special rubber had a resilience that could withstand and bounce back even the most ferocious attacks from the Four Emperors.
"Hey!"
With a mighty heave, Luffy lifted the ground that had turned into rubber, forming an enormous, elastic pad. The attack from Uranus collided with this massive rubber shield, but instead of devastating the headquarters, it was playfully deflected. The tremendous force was redirected, bouncing off the rubber pad and shooting out towards the distant sea.
"Boom!!!"
The redirected energy exploded in the sea, creating a massive, gaping void in the ocean's surface. The cavity was so immense and deep that even the relentless waves of the sea struggled to fill it. The explosion sent shockwaves back to the Naval Headquarters, causing the entire structure to shudder violently.
The intensity of the explosion forced a temporary pause in the battles raging across the battlefield. Fighters on all sides turned their attention to the distant, dazzling red energy that lit up the horizon, their faces etched with seriousness and disbelief.
"Damn it! Nika! Uranus's power can't break through Nika?!"
Saint Saturn's face twisted in frustration and disbelief. The sheer absurdity of Luffy's abilities was infuriating. The power to reshape reality, to transform everything according to his will, and to even create objects from thin air—these abilities were not just ridiculous; they were terrifying.
"It's just like eight hundred years ago!"
The other Five Elders shared Saturn's sentiment, their expressions equally grim. The resurgence of Nika's power, a force that had been a nightmare for the world eight centuries ago, was now once again threatening to overturn the balance of power. The realization weighed heavily on them as they braced for the continuing battle against this seemingly unstoppable force.
With the formidable protection provided by Nika's power and the equally troublesome abilities of the Flame Emperor, Uranus proved incapable of delivering a decisive blow against Entei, the Entei Pirates, or the Straw Hat Pirates. Initially, Uranus had targeted the ancient weapon, Pluton, understanding the immense impact such a weapon could have on the outcome of the war. The sheer destructive power of the ancient weapons was a force that could sway the balance of power in an instant.
However, on the World Government's side, there was no equivalent to Nika's powers—no ability to bounce back the catastrophic force of an ancient weapon. Thus, when Uranus launched its attack, it appeared to be aimed directly at Ace, but in reality, the true target was Pluton.
Unfortunately for them, Ace's Observation Haki was so advanced that he instantly discerned the true purpose behind Uranus's strike. He "saw" the future with crystal clarity and realized the attack's true objective. With the precision and speed that only someone of his caliber could muster, Ace used the Space Fruit's power to place Pluton into a spatial gap, thwarting the World Government's plan entirely.
Left with no choice, Uranus's attack was redirected, falling upon the cadres of the Entei Pirates and the Straw Hat Pirates. This was not an ideal outcome, as many of the World Government's key combatants were also engaged in fierce battles with these same groups. Any losses on their side would be significant, further weakening their position in the conflict.
In the heat of battle, it was a desperate move. The World Government forces were already showing signs of exhaustion, their numbers dwindling as the relentless assault from Ace's allies continued. They were acutely aware that if the battle dragged on, their defeat would be inevitable. In such a dire situation, they had no choice but to take a gamble, to throw everything they had into a last-ditch effort.
But even in their desperation, Ace refused to give them any opening. His strategic brilliance, combined with his overwhelming power, ensured that the Entei Pirates and the Straw Hat Pirates remained protected. The World Government's plan had failed, and their forces were inching closer to complete defeat, their hopes of turning the tide dashed by Ace's unyielding resolve.
"Aren't you coming out yet, Imu?" Ace's voice cut through the charged atmosphere, his eyes locked onto a specific point in the sky. A sardonic smile played on his lips as he spoke, his tone carrying both a challenge and a promise. "If you don't come out, I'll drag you out myself!"
A dark, ominous light, purple-black in hue, began to flicker in Ace's eyes. It intensified, swirling with unrestrained power, and then—
"BOOM!!!"
Ace's terrifying Conqueror's Haki exploded outward with unmatched force, tearing through the sky that had already been disturbed by Uranus's earlier attack. The clouds parted as if sliced open by an invisible blade, the raw power of Ace's Haki reverberating through the air. Even the Five Elders and the elite Knights of God, seasoned warriors all, felt the weight of this overwhelming force pressing down on them, forcing them to brace themselves.
"Damn it! What kind of Conqueror's Haki is this?!" Warcury, the strongest among the Five Elders in terms of Haki, bellowed in disbelief. "How could this man's Haki be so strong?!"
The Entei Pirates and the Straw Hat Pirates had faced many formidable foes, but Ace had never unleashed his full power since the legendary battles in Wanokuni, where he had defeated not one but two of the Four Emperors—Charlotte Linlin and Kaido of the Beasts. The remnants of those battles were shrouded in mystery, as Wanokuni, already an isolated nation, had become even more impenetrable under Kaido's rule and the subsequent occupation by the Entei Pirates.
The World Government had only sparse information about that conflict, but what was certain was that Ace had utterly crushed the pirate alliance between Big Mom and Kaido. Not a single key member of the Entei Pirates had fallen in that battle, whereas the alliance had suffered devastating losses. Both Linlin and Kaido were killed, their crews decimated, and the survivors had been absorbed into the Entei Pirates' Grand Fleet. Since then, Ace, the fleet's leader, had not shown his true power, leaving the World Government to speculate on his current strength.
The Five Elders had assumed that Ace's power had reached its peak during the Sabaody Archipelago incident, where his abilities had been compared to those of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, and Whitebeard in their prime—men who had defined their era with their 'king' level powers. But now, faced with the sheer intensity of Ace's Conqueror's Haki, they were forced to reconsider.
This wasn't just power at the level of a 'king'—it was something beyond. Something that no one, not even the Pirate King or Joy Boy, had ever reached. Ace's Haki had transcended, and the Five Elders could only watch in horror as they realized they were facing an adversary whose strength eclipsed even the legends of the past.
"If you don't come out, I'll claw you out!" Ace's voice was cold and unyielding as he focused on the pentagram magic circle that had summoned the Five Elders. With a smirk, he summoned a dark, swirling orb of energy into his hand.
"Dark Star!!!"
The orb pulsed with a sinister energy, and Ace's body was enveloped in the pitch-black aura of the Dark Fruit. The power of the most evil ability in history, the Dark Fruit, was unleashed in full force. The darkness spread rapidly, devouring the light and plunging the Naval Headquarters into a black void. The sky, which had been torn apart by Ace's earlier attack, was now completely consumed by this abyssal darkness.
The black hole centered around the pentagram magic circle, and the gravitational pull from the Dark Fruit's power began to draw everything towards it with an inexorable force. The Five Elders, still reeling from the shock of Ace's Conqueror's Haki, watched in disbelief as the darkness overtook their only means of summoning their leader.
"He is Pulling out Imu!" Saturn's voice trembled with a mix of rage and fear as the figure of their leader, Imu, was wrenched from the magic circle by the relentless pull of the Dark Fruit's power.
The creature that emerged was a nightmarish amalgamation: a goat's head with a five-star pattern on its forehead, a human torso, the lower body of a deer, and a scorpion's tail tipped with a burning green flame. Broken bat wings protruded from its back, and its presence alone radiated a malevolent power.
"Lord Imu..." the Five Elders whispered in reverence and dread as they looked upon their leader in this monstrous form.
The cadres of the Entei Pirates stared at Imu in stunned silence. They had faced countless foes, but this creature was beyond anything they had encountered.
Imu regarded Ace with an expression that could almost be called surprise. But before the creature could speak, Ace, now fully in control of the battlefield, smirked, his voice dripping with defiance.
"Welcome to the battlefield, Imu," he said, his voice steady and confident. "Let's finish this."
The ultimate confrontation between the forces of the World Government and the Entei Pirates had begun, and there would be no turning back.