Boom!
Two figures soared into the sky from the heart of the Holy Land, Mary Geoise. They were the long-bearded Elder and the bald monk, both of whom had retreated into the city in a pathetic state just moments before.
The long-bearded Elder scanned the crowd below, a sinister smile suddenly spreading across his face. "Since you were foolish enough to come here, you can all rot right where you stand!"
His gaze eventually shifted toward the Ninja, coming to rest on the lifeless bodies of his comrades—the curly-haired Elder, the blonde-bearded Elder, and the Elder with the handlebar mustache. His expression twisted with a mix of grief and madness.
The Five Elders had served together for eight hundred years. Despite their private disagreements, their bond was forged in centuries of shared secrets. Today, three of their number had been slaughtered!
He turned his hateful eyes toward Kaguya Otsutsuki, his voice rising to a frantic scream. "Die! Die! Every last one of you, go to hell!"
As he finished his roar, an object appeared in his hand: a pitch-black scepter.
Upon seeing it, Gol D. Roger's face went pale. "That... damn it, the World Government really did have it!"
Nearby, Whitebeard and Shanks noticed the change in Roger's demeanor and looked toward him.
"Roger, what is that thing?" Whitebeard asked. He could feel a primal sense of danger radiating from the black staff.
"The Ancient Weapon... Uranus," Roger said, his voice grim.
"What!?"
Whitebeard and the others gasped. Everyone on this level had heard the legends of the Ancient Weapons. There were three: Pluton the Underworld King, Poseidon the Sea God, and Uranus the Sky God. Each was capable of catastrophic destruction.
Pluton was a warship of unparalleled power, capable of vaporizing entire islands. Poseidon could command the Sea Kings of the deep, a force that could swallow the world.
But the third, Uranus, was said to be the most dangerous of all, capable of manipulating the very forces of heaven and earth. While Pluton's location had been lost to time—with its blueprints rumored to be in Water 7—and Poseidon was known to be the Mermaid Princess, Shirahoshi, Uranus remained the most mysterious. No one expected it to be sitting in the hands of the World Government.
"So that's Uranus?" Shanks narrowed his eyes, a heavy sense of foreboding settling in his chest. "What are they planning to do with it?"
Rumble!
As the long-bearded Elder waved the scepter, the atmosphere fractured. Violent winds erupted, the ground heaved, and massive tsunamis surged from the surrounding sea.
The sudden upheaval threw the battlefield into chaos. Many fighters lost their footing, and some were swallowed whole by the massive fissures opening in the earth.
Whitebeard, however, looked confused. "Is this the extent of Uranus? If this is all it can do, it's a bit disappointing."
After all, his Tremor-Tremor Fruit could easily replicate these earthquakes and tsunamis.
"Hahaha! This is only the beginning!" the long-bearded Elder sneered.
The moment he spoke, the scepter erupted with a blinding golden light. The sky changed color instantly, turning a bruised purple as countless bolts of lightning rained down indiscriminately on the forces below.
"Get back! Move!" Roger shouted a warning.
Sensing the suffocating aura of destruction, the pirates and revolutionaries scrambled to escape. Those who were too slow were vaporized instantly, leaving nothing but charred remains.
The survivors looked on in horror.
"Are they all... dead?"
"My God, how is this possible?"
"It's like the wrath of the heavens itself!"
Whitebeard's expression shifted to one of genuine surprise. "The power of Uranus... it truly is formidable."
Roger shook his head, his face grim. "Uranus is far more powerful than this. That Elder is heavily injured; he's currently exerting less than ten percent of its true potential."
"What?"
Whitebeard and Shanks were stunned. If this wasn't even ten percent, would the full power of the weapon truly be enough to reshape the world?
High above, the long-bearded Elder clutched the scepter and glared at Kaguya Otsutsuki. "Whether it's you or Lin Xuan, you're both going to die today!"
Kaguya gave a cold snort. "This is your trump card? It is underwhelming."
"Underwhelming? Hmph. It is more than enough to kill you, and then I will deal with him!" The Elder roared as the golden light from the scepter began to flow into his own body.
With a flick of his wrist, he sent a beam of golden light into the bald monk.
In an instant, their speed reached a terrifying level. The long-bearded Elder lunged at Kaguya, while the bald monk charged toward Whitebeard and Roger. They intended to use the power of Uranus to wipe the slate clean.
Boom!
Kaguya met the Elder's charge, and the sky seemed to split from the force of their collision.
To everyone's shock, the long-bearded Elder seemed like a completely different person. His combat strength had skyrocketed, and he began to slowly push Kaguya back, suppressing the "Rabbit Goddess" with sheer, divinely-augmented force.
Meanwhile, the bald monk's wounds healed instantly. Emboldened and empowered, he swung his blade, sending out a shockwave that mowed down dozens of fighters.
Rumble!
Whitebeard and Roger joined forces to intercept him, but even their combined might struggled against his newfound strength. The two legends were actually being forced into a retreat.
In a single moment, the tide of the war had turned. With Uranus awakened, the World Government had snatched the momentum back from the jaws of defeat.
----------
T/N:
You'll also get 5 extra chapters just for being a free member!
Access 40 chapters in advance on my Patreon: [email protected]//allbluestories