Adam remained still outside the great door, his presence blending seamlessly with one of the pillars there.
But his shadow did not.
A thin ripple slid across the ground, subtle enough to escape even trained eyes. It stretched, distorted, and then peeled away from his feet like something alive. It slipped through the slight gap beneath the ancient door.
Gone.
Adam exhaled slowly.
"Good."
His voice was barely a breath.
Now, he waited.
Time passed differently in silence. Every second stretched, sharpened by awareness. His eyes never stopped moving, tracking the corridor, the smallest shifts in movement.
Then the door creaked.
The woman stepped out again, tray now empty.
She didn't look around, she simply walked away the same path she had come from, calm and composed.
Adam watched her disappear into the distance.
And then his eyes sharpened.
"Now it's my chance."
A single word.
"Exchange."
The world folded.
Shadows surged.
And in an instant,
He was gone.
He was now inside the Room of Flowers.
Adam appeared in the corner, exactly where his shadow had hidden itself.
He didn't move immediately, he simply… looked at the room.
And for a moment
Even he was caught off guard.
The room felt ancient, not old in the sense of decay but in the sense of something that had existed far longer than it should have. Greenery spread everywhere. Vines climbed the walls freely, flowers bloomed in quiet of the structure around them, and butterflies drifted lazily through the air as if this place existed outside the castle.
It didn't belong inside a castle.
"It's rather nice…" Adam murmured under his breath.
There was something calming about it.
Peaceful, but that feeling didn't last.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"And…It's completely empty."
His gaze shifted.
"No guards… no presence…"
A pause.
"Don't know what I was expecting to find here."
Then his expression sharpened.
"But where did that girl take that tray?"
He moved slowly, scanning every corner, every inch of the room.
Nothing.
No visible exit.
No door except one.
Just nature.
Adam stopped and his gaze locked onto a section of the wall.
"…There."
It was subtle.
Almost invisible beneath the vines and creeping green.
But there was a faint outline.
A hidden door.
Adam approached carefully, his hand reached out, brushing aside the vines before pressing against the surface.
A slight push, it opened and cold air rushed out instantly.
Sharp and unnatural.
Adam's expression changed.
"…What the hell…"
He stepped inside.
And everything changed.
The warmth vanished.
Replaced by biting cold that seeped into his bones almost immediately.
The corridor stretched long and narrow, the walls devoid of life.
This place wasn't meant for growth.
It was meant to preserve.
Or worse, erase things and beings from existence and history.
Adam exhaled slowly, his breath visible in the freezing air.
"What a weird castle…This place…"
His voice lowered instinctively.
"…feels like a grave."
He began walking.
Each step echoed faintly and the further he went, the colder it became.
Adam started to feel an oppressive presence in the distance.
"…Don't tell me…"
His eyes narrowed.
"…that's him I'm feeling."
He still kept moving and then he saw them.
Frozen objects.
Encased and preserved in ice that never melted.
Weapons, artifacts.
Things that didn't belong together, things that didn't make sense.
Some looked ancient.
Others… too advanced.
Too out of place, Adam's brows furrowed.
"What is all this…"
But then, he stopped.
His body froze.
At the end of the corridor, there was a figure.
Standing still, watching.
Covered entirely in a dark veil that hid everything but its shape.
And on its head,
A crown, beside it
A massive frozen straw hat.
Adam's eyes widened slightly.
"Shit…"
Then the figure moved.
Slowly, Its head tilted.
And then those eyes. Red and demonic.
They locked onto him.
Then it spoke.
Its voice was distorted, unnatural.
"A guard ?…"
"No."
A step forward.
"Who might thou be… intruder."
Adam didn't respond immediately.
For the first time since entering the castle, he felt it.
Real danger.
His thoughts ran quickly.
'I knew something like this would happen…'
'But I still had to come anyway..'
He straightened slightly.
Calm and controlled.
"My name is not of your concern, demon."
His hand moved.
A gun appeared in his grip.
He raised it without hesitation, aiming directly at the figure.
"And you must be… Imu."
He didn't wait, he fired.
The gunshots shattered the silence violently.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Each shot struck true.
Hitting the figure directly.
But, nothing.
No blood, no reaction, he didn't even flinch.
When the final shot echoed and faded,
Imu stood exactly as it had before.
Then
Something oppressive pressed down on Adam's shoulders, slow and suffocating from something that had existed far longer than it should have.
Imu tilted its head slightly.
Those red eyes burned brighter beneath the veil.
And then it spoke.
"Foolish… fleeting thing."
The voice was like multiple voices speaking through one.
"Thou standest before that which governeth the very order of this world… and yet thou barest thine fangs as though thou wert equal."
A slow step forward.
The sound echoed unnaturally through the frozen hall.
"Know thy place, insect."
The pressure intensified.
Adam's breath grew heavier without him realizing it.
"From dust wert thou born… and to dust shalt thou return. Such is the law that bindeth all beneath the world I have claimed."
Another step.
"Countless have risen with defiance burning in their veins… proclaiming change… proclaiming justice…"
A pause.
"And all have been unmade."
The words weren't loud.
"Thou art no different."
Imu's gaze sharpened, locking onto Adam completely.
"A fleeting spark. A nameless aberration daring to intrude upon sacred ground."
A faint shift in his voice.
Almost… disdain.
"And yet… thou speakest."
The temperature seemed to drop further.
"Thou namest me 'demon'…"
A pause, then "And what, then… doth that maketh thee?"
Then Imu raised its hand slightly.
"Thou hast seen what should not be seen."
The shadows along the walls trembled faintly.
"Touched that which lieth beyond thy comprehension."
"And for that…"
A sharp, subtle motion.
The killing intent became absolute.
"Thou shalt be erased."
Adam didn't need to understand every word.
He felt it then.
Something moved.
A sharp, sudden motion, something shot toward him.
Too fast.
Adam barely reacted in time, his body twisting instinctively.
The attack grazed his helmet,
And tore through it.
Metal split apart, half of it shattering away, revealing part of his face.
His eyes widened.
'Too fast!'
Before he could recover,
It came again.
The same attack.
Relentless, this time
It struck, a piercing impact drove straight through his abdomen.
Piercing armor and flesh, everything.
Adam's body jerked violently as the force drove him back, forcing him down onto one knee.
"…Ghk!"
Blood spilled.
His hand slammed against the ground to keep himself from collapsing completely.
The pain hit hard sharp and burning.
He looked up.
At Imu.
"…Bastard…"
His breathing was heavier now.
But he laughed.
"I didn't get what I wanted…"
Blood dripped from his lips.
"But… I know I'm too early for this.."
His eyes burned with something fierce.
"I still got to see this, and confirm it with my own eyes."
He pushed himself slightly, forcing his body upright just enough.
His gaze never left that throne-bound monster.
And then, his voice changed.
"Mark this well."
"Your throne stands not eternal, even if you deem it so."
Blood trailing down his chin.
"I will return, not as intruder, but as a calamity."
His eyes sharpened.
"And when that hour comes…"
The shadows around him stirred faintly.
"I will drag you from that false throne..."
His voice dropped.
"And cast you into the abyss you deserved for so long."
Silence followed.
Imu didn't respond.
It simply moved.
To end him.
The attack came again, faster and deadlier.
Aimed straight for his head.
Adam's eyes flickered.
"Exchange.."
The world twisted, and in the next instant, he vanished.
The attack pierced through
A shadow bird, it was obliterated instantly.
Shattered, then it reformed, the shadow twisted back together, wings spreading as it let out a silent cry before darting away into the darkness.
For the first time, Imu reacted.
A hint of surprise.
Those red eyes remained fixed on the empty space.
Watching and thinking.
"A Devil Fruit power..."
There was something new in the voice, curiosity.
"Strange.."
The word lingered, low and thoughtful, as if turning over something unexpected.
Imu's gaze shifted slightly, following the direction where the shadow bird had fled.
Then slowly, he turned.
"He will not get far."
The words were quiet, there was no doubt in them.
"I shall see to that."
/-\
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