"Over a thousand years ago, the Asuka Kingdom was a very prosperous and powerful nation."
"It possessed vast territory, abundant resources, and a pleasant climate. Under the wise leadership of its king, the lives of its people were peaceful and affluent."
Maya softly described the strength and prosperity of the Asuka Kingdom back then, but immediately afterward, her tone shifted and became heavy.
"But one day, right upon this paradise, a demon suddenly appeared!"
"A demon???" everyone chorused in surprise.
The Straw Hat Pirates were all taken aback, but having encountered countless bizarre tales on these wondrous seas, they quickly calmed down after their initial shock.
"It was a demon with seven eyes, its entire body shrouded in black flames. It devoured hope and unleashed despair. Beneath the burning of those pitch-black hellfire flames and under the illumination of an ominous crimson blood moon, wherever it went was consumed by fear, chaos, ruin, madness, and death—a living hell on earth!"
"My ancestors called that demon Azathoth, meaning: the flames of calamity from hell."
"Azathoth..." Robin softly repeated the name. Recalling what she could, her delicate brows furrowed slightly.
She racked her brain for a long time, yet couldn't recall a single historical document connected to the name "Azathoth."
Due to the existence of the Void Century from 900 to 800 years ago, archaeologists knew very little about history from a thousand years ago or even further back. It was only because Robin hailed from Ohara that she had even heard of the ancient nation of Asuka; otherwise, she wouldn't have known about it at all.
Nami wiped a thin bead of sweat from her forehead and asked, "So if that demon was so evil, your ancestors surely didn't just sit there and wait for death, right?"
"Yes," Maya nodded.
"At that time, the wise and valiant King of Asuka naturally wouldn't stand by and let Azathoth continue to harm his people, yet he didn't know how to defeat that demon."
"No matter how brave and battle-hardened an army was, they would lose all their courage before Azathoth. Then, amid fear and despair, they would be completely consumed by the endless black flames."
"So the King sought help from God, hoping the great deity could point a clear path forward for his nation."
"God?" Chopper suddenly looked bewildered: "Is it like that scary guy who could shoot lightning whom we met on Skypiea?"
"What silly nonsense are you talking about, Chopper? How does that long-eared-lobe guy look like a god?" Sanji lit a cigarette and gestured with his hand toward a certain foolish captain.
"If he really were a god, how could he have been beaten sky-high by Luffy?"
(God... Heh, truly no matter what era it is, there are always guys who claim to be gods.)
Thinking of those World Nobles residing in the Holy Land nowadays, Sherlock gently pushed up his glasses, a peculiar glint flashing in his eyes behind the lenses.
"God told the King of Asuka: To defeat that demon, you must forge the strongest sword in the world! Have the swordsman with the strongest will wield it, and you will defeat Azathoth."
The blue-haired girl paused before continuing, "As you know, the Asuka Kingdom was famous for sword forging."
"After heeding God's advice, the King rallied the entire nation's resources, commissioning the most skilled swordsmiths of the time to use the rarest materials. Working with painstaking dedication, they finally forged the Strongest Sword—which was also the Sword of Hope bearing all the hopes of the nation's people."
"That sacred sword was then given to the world's strongest swordsman of that era—the King of Asuka's only son, the Prince."
"Oh? The world's greatest swordsman from a thousand years ago?" A certain moss-head who had been listening on the side suddenly grew intrigued.
The combination of the strongest sword paired with the strongest swordsman made Zoro instinctively think of Mihawk and the world's finest Black Blade, Yoru, in his hand.
"Wielding the sacred sword and carrying the hopes of his entire nation, the Prince engaged in a fierce battle against the demon Azathoth, who symbolized despair! That battle shook the heavens and earth, blocking out the sun and moon. The shockwaves of the clash even tore the sky apart!"
"The two sides fought fiercely for seven days and seven nights. In the end, just as God had prophesied, the Prince holding the sacred sword defeated the demon!"
"Although that demon was extremely evil, its eyes were incomparably beautiful, mesmerizing like stars in the night sky. To display his strength and achievements, the Prince gouged out all seven of Azathoth's eyes and embedded them into the blade of the sacred sword."
"And so, this strongest sword received its name..."
"...The Seven Star Sword," everyone murmured in unison. After learning how the Seven Star Sword came to be, they were filled with curiosity about what happened next.
"But Maya," Usopp blinked and asked, "since that demon was dead, why did the Asuka Kingdom still perish?"
"Dead? No, no, no... that was merely the beginning of the great cataclysm," Maya shook her head, a complex gaze filling her lovely eyes.
"After embedding Azathoth's seven eyes into the sword, the Prince was astonished to discover that the Seven Star Sword had gained the demon's power to control black flames!"
"Relying on this terrifying ability, the Prince wielding the Seven Star Sword became even stronger. As if to show off his formidable power, the Prince personally led his army to launch foreign wars."
"Black flames surged and sword light raged. No one was a match for the Prince any longer. He and the Seven Star Sword in his hand conquered virtually the entire sea."
"The Seven Star Sacred Sword was simply too powerful. Even though the Prince's willpower was exceptionally firm, he gradually lost himself in that overwhelming power."
"And shortly after, the demon's curse descended." Maya's expression turned terrifyingly grave.
"Prolonged use of the Seven Star Sword allowed the flames of calamity to completely erode the Prince's sanity, turning him into a puppet controlled by the sword."
"The wise King of Asuka felt uneasy. He urged his son to cast away the Seven Star Sword, but the Prince refused to listen. Instead, he drove the Seven Star Sword straight through his own father's chest!"
Robin and the others shifted slightly, having already sensed what would happen next.
"As the King's blood-stained crown fell to the floor, an unprecedented cataclysm erupted completely!"
"Beneath the blood-weeping moon, calamity returned. Pitch-black evil flames rose, and despair spread like a plague, turning the entire kingdom into a sea of fire."
A look of regret flashed in Maya's eyes as she sighed emotionally, "The Asuka Kingdom—that once immensely glorious nation—perished just like that."
After listening to the blue-haired girl's account, Nami and the others looked at each other, their hearts weighed down after learning the truth behind the destruction of the Asuka Kingdom.
"Perhaps even God couldn't bear to watch any longer. Just as the Prince was about to slaughter the last group of survivors in the kingdom, a bolt of blood-red lightning struck him, restoring his sanity for a brief moment."
Maya let out a soft sigh, "Realizing what he had done, the Prince was overcome with grief and despair. He wanted to destroy the Seven Star Sword with his own hands, but the sacred sword was simply too powerful to be destroyed."
"So, to prevent tragedy from striking again, while he still retained his sanity, the Prince chose to sacrifice himself, using his own life to seal the Seven Star Sword on a deserted island."
"And those survivors of the Asuka Kingdom left their ancestral homeland, which had been turned into a hell on earth, and migrated to the land where the Seven Star Sword was sealed."
"They settled down there, guarding it generation after generation to prevent those flames of calamity from hell from rekindling!"
"Those survivors were my ancestors, and that deserted island... is the Lost Island."
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