Kouta felt the death of the five elders of pure gold, and Im felt it too.
But neither of them cared.
Kouta had anticipated it, and Im never cared in the first place, just as he didn't care what the outside world would become.
Among the flowers.
Morning light filtered through the glass dome, refracting into the room, casting a layer of multicolored mist over the sea of flowers, making it look like a fairy tale.
In the garden, Im, shrouded in a black robe, bent down and gently placed the colorful butterfly on her hand onto a flower, then straightened up and turned her head to look at the silver-haired youth standing beside her.
"Let me out. I don't care about this world, I just want to go home."
Without any extra words, the red pupils in the cloak stared intently at Kouta. Her rounded chin, exposed to the morning light from the shadow, glowed.
"A woman..."
Looking at the perfect, white face under Im's cloak, which looked less like a human and more like something meticulously crafted by the heavens, a trace of amusement, and a sense of "as expected," appeared in Kouta's cerulean pupils.
Many people had speculated about Im's gender.
Female?
Male?
Neither male nor female?
Now, Kouta knew. It was indeed a woman.
"Can you tell me about Joy Boy?"
"Joy Boy."
Im gazed deeply at Kouta, then turned her head to look at the colorful dome above. A hint of ferocity flashed in her eyes.
"That guy was originally the person with the most hope of saving me in this world, but..."
She paused there, and Kouta could clearly feel Im's emotional shift at that moment – the despair of seeing hope only to have it cruelly shattered.
"But he didn't keep his promise and save you out."
Kouta calmly spoke the words Im was about to say.
"Yes, he didn't. He didn't keep his promise and even threw me into the earth's core."
"That powerful?"
Kouta looked at Im, surprise flickering in his eyes.
"Not powerful. He just dug a hole to the earth's core and threw my seal into it."
The ferocity came and went as quickly as it appeared.
Im instantly returned to calm, then turned, her dark red pupils staring at Kouta, reflecting an inexplicable brilliance.
"Fortunately, the heavens haven't truly abandoned me, for they made you appear here."
"You think I'll let you out?"
Looking at Im, Kouta's lips curved into a mocking smile.
"No, you will."
Im shook her head and extended her right hand, removing the crown she had always worn on her head and casually tossing it aside.
Then, she slowly lifted her cloak, and a head of red hair, like her eyes, a deep crimson resembling flowing blood, slid out from the cloak, falling to her feet.
Im shook her head, and her deep red hair, shimmering with a bloody light under the morning sun, dispelled the surrounding colors, filling the room with more red.
Beautiful, a great beauty. Just looking at her face, one might simply think she was attractive.
But when Im completely revealed her true appearance, her face, so perfect it seemed crafted by the Creator himself, made Kouta unable to resist looking a few more times.
However, it was only a few more glances.
Beautiful as she was, her perfection made her seem unreal.
Im, having revealed her full appearance, did not look at Kouta but beckoned behind her.
The glass dome and the surrounding walls of the room melted away with her gesture, then drifted around her like ions.
"Roar~"
At this moment, a colossal roar, like a dragon from the abyss, erupted from the ions, breaking the boundaries between hell and reality, conquering the present.
First, the dragon's head, then its body, claws, and tail.
Uranus, the Celestial King.
Bang—!
Uranus's massive body landed behind Im, its enormous claws crushing the ground and blocking the morning light, exuding an ultimate pressure.
Just then, Im turned her head, her gaze falling upon Kouta. Behind her, the towering dragon, following her movement, fixed its dark red eyes, just like Im's, on Kouta.
"This is the crystallization of this world's peak technology."
Kouta looked at Uranus, his expression unchanged. He said with amusement, "I'm afraid Joy Boy at the time never imagined that after they gathered the world's peak technology, you would end up controlling it!"
"It's not that they didn't imagine it; they thought I couldn't get out and were not vigilant."
"Since you couldn't get out, how did you transmit technology to them?"
Kouta lowered his head, his gaze fixed on Im, a trace of confusion appearing in his eyes.
"The backwardness of the world's knowledge made them fundamentally unable to comprehend my greatness. Although sealed, my spirit could permeate from within the seal and connect with them."
Im turned around and stroked Uranus's cold, silver-shining skin with her slender hand, sneering, "While the power of the spirit couldn't break my seal, controlling this imitation created according to my knowledge was not difficult at all."
"And you."
Im withdrew her hand, looked at Kouta, and continued, "Since you have broken through the constraints of this world, you naturally understand the greatness of spiritual power."
"I understand."
Kouta nodded.
After breaking through, his Observation Haki completely vanished. Instead, his spiritual power completely broke free from its shackles. Not only could he perceive everything around him, but he could also see images, hear sounds, feel emotions, and even, if he wished, invade others' consciousness to view their memories.
Of course, he could also predict the future based on various possibilities.
However, it wouldn't be the true future, merely one of countless possible futures.
This kind of power had completely surpassed the fixed scope of mortals and reached the realm of true gods.
"Then, on what basis do you say I will definitely let you out?"
Kouta looked at Im, returning to the previous question. Then he raised his head, looking at Uranus, "Or are you planning to force me to submit with this thing through brute force?"
"Heh heh!!"
Saying this, Kouta couldn't help but let out a mocking laugh. "This thing is indeed powerful. At least in this world, there might be no one who can defeat it one-on-one. But you must know my current strength, right?"
If Im could mention his breakthrough, she could naturally know his strength. Although she couldn't know the specifics, she should at least know that Uranus and her, a condensed spirit, could not make Kouta submit.
"I certainly didn't intend for you to let me out just like that."
Im looked at Kouta, showing no reaction to his mockery.
She tilted her head, looking at the large garden exposed by the disappearance of the room, and sneered, "I said earlier that Joy Boy threw me into the earth's core. Do you know what the earth's core means to this world?"
"Uh..."
Kouta seemed to have thought of something, and the casualness on his face gradually disappeared, replaced by solemnity.
His spiritual power could influence reality to a certain extent, and Im could too.
She hadn't influenced it before because there was no one and nothing in this world that could make her act, and she didn't want to wander endlessly in the starry sky again, which was why she had always appeared in her current form.
But evidently, now there was.