'You saved his soul right Ciel?'
<Yes master, but...>
'But what?'
<Oh nothing master. By your will individual Antak has earned the right to exist in the highest realm. He will be reincarnated in Tempest as someone who lives directly under you>
'Good. When I get home I have a lot of things to say to him'
<Right...> said Ciel and then quieted down.
*
Veldora instantly turned into his dragon form and caught everyone, who now had no ground to stand on.
"Good job everyone. We have now overcome our greatest obstacle yet" complimented Rimuru
"Kufufufu a desirable outcome"
"Kuahahaha you can say that again"
"Indeed"
"What the hell I didn't get to do anything!" shouted Ramiris disappointed.
"Wahahaha And I was super useful right?" said Milim proudly
"Of course of course. You are our strongest member afterall. And don't worry Ramiris. Your power will be very useful to us, its just unfortunate that it isn't meant for combat" said Rimuru
"Heh"
"So when are you supposed to drink this Rimuru?" asked Luminas, holding Shiki's heart covered in Elixir in her hand, with a smile.
"........"
"Um can you maybe like crush it or something? I don't think I feel too comfortable with it like this" said Rimuru
"Oh of course" said Luminas, and crushed it with her hands, and turned it into a red liquid "Here, a serving of watermelon juice for you! Better drink it fresh"
"Uck"
"Now this is a sight to behold" said Guy, as he sat down comfortably, waiting for the show to unfold.
"Better get it done with right now" said Rimuru and got ready.
"Hoy Rimuru. I have some bad news for you" said Veldora, interrupting the good mood.
"What's the matter?"
"Looks like you messed up in setting the angle right. The Skyandr island is not here"
"WHAT!"
Everyone looked down, and sure enough it was the truth. The place where the Skyandr island and the Golden city once stood, was nowhere to be seen.
'What the hell happened Ciel?'
<Looks like the world destroying beam of Ares passed through around this area, and the resultant made the White white sea around it scatter away for a moment, leading to it falling down>
'Ah shi- Wait, do you think the white sea will be enough to hold it?'
<I seriously doubt it>
'Ah shi-'
"Hurry down below!"
With that, Veldora rushed to the edge of the sea and descended down.
"Looks like we were too late" said Guy, as they witnessed the scene below them unfold.
The sky island, no longer able to bear the high pressure of the surface, had dissipated completely. The people were left helplessly to drown in the blue sea. Even if they won't be dying by drowning alone, the massive array of sea monsters, noticing a large human population, was having the feast of their lives. Most of the people had already been devoured, with only a thousand or so left.
"Lets at least save as many of them as we can" said Rimuru, and all of them unleashed their conqueror's haki at once and fended off the beasts. Well even so, there was nothing else that could have been done for them. They were in the middle of the Grand line.
"Its kinda a loss for us" said Rimuru
"But we were going to have to deal with them anyway right? Since they were going to attack the blue sea, so doesn't this just make our work easier?" asked Guy
"Well yes, but we didn't necessarily need to kill this many of them. We could have just eliminated their forces and then made the rest of the civilian population to submit"
"I see. True that they were kinda rich and advanced civilization compared to most of this world, so they would have been a major help in advancing our nation" said Luminas
"So you wanted to do the same thing you did to Clayman's kingdom? I get it"
"Heh"
"Most importantly we don't even have a ship anymore. It got absorbed along with everything" pointed out Dino
"Yeah that sucks"
"So what do we do now?"
"Sure enough. I don't think they will be of any use to us anymore. Not to mention now they are going to hate our guts"
"That will make it even more difficult to help them"
"Whatever. Lets at least help them get to a nearby island. Ramiris, looks like we need your golems"
"Heh finally. Dino open the portal"
With that, Dino opened the portal water elemental golems started coming out of it one by one. Each one of them created a platform of ice around them and all in all were able to accommodate all the people over them. Then they got in the water and started pushing it.
"Lets lead them. The island isn't too far away"
And so, they finally managed to get them off. The survivors were too traumatized to say anything. Most of them were not even sure if whatever happened was real or not. Their entire world got destroyed in an instant, and they had just seen a horrific tragedy.
"They should be able to survive here with ease. They still have a lot of dials and weapons with them, and the island isn't exactly too dangerous anyway"
"Do you think it was a good idea? I don't think they are going to forgive us. It may lead to big trouble for us in the future when this goes out" said Guy.
"Whatever it will be I will face it. It is partially our fault and I will take full responsibility"
"You could have simply killed them you know?" said Dagruel
"I suppose so. But weather we should punish them for something they haven't done yet is a different topic I don't want to dive in here. We are here to have fun" said Rimuru
"Well that's true. Yosh lets just see how this goes"
*
"That was not good. What are supposed to do now?"
"I want revenge"
"Don't be a fool. Even Shiki sama wasn't able to kill them. There is no way the eight of us will be able to do anything"
"B-but!"
"It is what it is"
"Argh"
"Lets at least get somewhere to settle down for now"
"I hate this! We are so weak and helpless"
"Calm down Carl. We all feel the same way. None of us like being in this situation"
And so the eight apostles had managed to survive and had escaped on Rhine when Heaven disappeared, who was the Griffin fruit user, and were now roaming the blue sea. Filled with rage and sorrow at losing their Father and God figure, the only thing they wanted was revenge.
"Lets settle down on that island for now"
"Alright"
With that, they descended on a seemingly good looking island.
"No good. I won't be able to sleep at night. This burning rage in my heart won't calm down"
"Hold it. There is someone here" said Kindo and alerted the rest of them.
"Who the hell are you people?"
*
"Now then lets get back to where we were" said Luminas
"Right I am drinking it see?" said Rimuru as he finally gulped his watermelon juice in one go.
"Was it sweet" asked Guy jokingly
"You wanna die?" said Rimuru with a disgusted look.
'But woah this fruit is amazing'
<Of course master. I had designed it specifically for you. I am very happy that you have finally managed to get it>
'I had a feeling this was the case'
<You don't know how angry I had been all this time knowing that your precious fruit had been eaten by someone else, but I didn't want to ruin the fun for you so I didn't do anything>
'Good job Ciel. I am very happy you were able to do that'
<Of course>
"It lets you borrow other people's powers right? So what exactly is it for you?" asked Guy
"Right. For me it is that I can borrow anyone's power at about 90-95% of their capability. I can use each power for a certain amount of time, after which it will go on cooldown. The time differs for each one. And I can also activate multiple abilities at once, which will reduce their efficiency, but also increase the duration for which I can use them.
For example see this, If I combine milim's herculean punch with Diablo's flames and Veldora's lightning, the resultant power output is actually much stronger than Milim's punch alone" said Rimuru, and then jumped down at a tiny island nearby with his punch charged, and BOOM!
There was a loud crashing noise, with stray bolts of black lightning flying all over. The explosion was so massive that the island had completely been destroyed, and at the place where it once stood, for a couple of seconds it could be seen that the ocean had moved away, leaving a giant massive hole. The next moment, water started pouring back from all directions and formed a giant whirlpool.
"That's the result" said Rimuru, who had just now teleported back.
"Amazing"
"You really are strong Rimuru" said Milim, with pride that Rimuru had now surpassed Milim even in this world.
"Impressive right? But that's not all. This fruit also modifies and strengthens my conqueror's haki, and adds a special effect to it" said Rimuru impressed.
"That seems too good of a fruit. What is its name?"
"Mythical zoan paramecia human-human fruit, Model: Demon King Dashanan. The demon is supposed to have 10 heads, hence it can store 10 powers at once. Also it is a Demon king and an absolute ruler, so this fruit derives its strength from such qualities. In simple words, the better ruling qualities the user has, the stronger this fruit is" explained Rimuru "and it can't be categorized as a pure zoan since it doesn't actually let me transform into anything, but it still has a will like all zoans, so it is categorized a dual zoan paramecia"
"I see. So this fruit can be an absolute monster in hands of someone like Roger or Luffy, who have extremely loyal subordinates and at the same time totally useless in hands of someone like Blackbeard" summed up guy.
"Exactly" said Rimuru "and as you people are all extremely loyal towards me I can use this fruit to its full potential"
"Kuahaha Of course"
"We are besties afterall"
"Ara whatever do you mean" said Luminas with a smile
"Stop pretending Luminas, I am able to use your powers just fine, so that means you are loyal to me too" said Rimuru with a smirk
"Tch stupid fruit"
"Heh that is of course bound to be the case. After everything you have done I don't think there is anyone here who would hesitate to give up his life for you" said Ramiris
"Kufufufu that goes without saying"
"True" agreed Leon
"Now then where are we supposed to go next?" asked Guy "considering we don't even have a ship anymore"
"Don't remind me of that. It hurts" said Rimuru "but yeah it looks like our next destination is going to be Sabaody Archipelago"
"So it is finally that time huh"
"Yes. We will be saying hi to the Straw hats for the first time"
"Wahahaha I am getting excited"
*
"Sengoku-san there's big news. The famous pirate Portgas D. Ace has been captured!"
"What!"
"Yes sir. The pirate Blackbeard captured him and has brought him, but instead of taking the bounty money he demands the title of warlord in exchange for submitting Ace"
"Hmm Alright. Tell him his demand is accepted"
"But why sir? Why are we giving him the position of a warlord just for catching one measly pirate?" asked the soldier.
"All I can say is that it will become clear with time. For now just know that we need him at any cost"
"Yes sir"
And with that, the soldier left.
"So its time finally. Ace. Son of the previous pirate king. We are going to execute you publicly and put an end to that bloodline once and for all"
"You know it won't be that easy right? Sengoku-san. Whitebeard won't sit quietly" said Kizaru
"Of course. It will be war"
"I see so you have already made up your mind"
"Of course. We are going to execute every single pirate scum that comes, including that damn Whitebeard" said Akainu as he got up.
"Now that's some determination I see. Good thing you have gotten over your earlier loss"
"Hmph. Just you wait. I am going to make up for it by killing that damn Whitebeard with my own hands!" said Akainu angrily.
"Sir! We have a big news!" came in a soldier hurriedly.
"What is it this time?" asked Sengoku
"T-the red line!" said the soldier while panting heavily
"Calm down. What about the red line?"
"I-its been destroyed!"
"NANI!"
"T-there's a giant hole a few meters above the sea level, which now connects to the new world!" said the soldier.
"How the hell did that happen? The red line has been supposed to be indestructible!"
"The cause is still unknown sir, but it has been reported that there was a strange phenomenon has been seen. According to the rumors, a strange beam of some kind was seen for a few seconds, and then suddenly the weather became real messed up. According to the intel, there was a storm and multiple whirlpools around both sides of the red line, and when everything cleared up, this giant hole was seen in the red line"
"What in the heavens is even happening! Augh. And that too at this critical time! Send 2 vice admirals with a fleet to guard it. Since the hole is few meters above its still not viable to cross to other side merely by ships, so it shouldn't pose us a problem immediately"
"Yes sir"
With that, the soldier left again.
"Oh my looks like this is going to be a lot of trouble" said Kizaru
"We can deal with this later. First we need to prepare for the war" said Sengoku.
"Whatever. I will seal it up with my magma later"
*
In the giant hole in the red line-
"What in the world could have done this?" said soldier 1
"Whatever. Our job is just to check if everything is ok in here and report back"
"Of course. See the other side is visible"
"So it's true. It really does go all the way. Wow I can't believe we are seeing the new world while standing inside the grand line!" said soldier 2 excitedly.
"Alright. Lets go back and report"
With that, the two of them turned back and started returning.
"Whoa its so dark in here"
"Of course. The red line is many kilometers thick"
"I know duh. You killed the mood"
"Heh. Now look ahead or you will-"
"Hmm? What the matter?"
"Hey do you..... do you feel like we are being watched?" s
"What are you talking about? There is no one other than us here"
"I know but-"
"Dude. So you are scared of darkness afterall. Hahaha"
"Shut up! I am not. L-lets just get back"
*
"So did you see anything suspicious?" asked vice admiral Sid.
"No mam. Its just a long tunnel connecting to the other side"
"And where is the other soldier who was with you?"
"Hmm? He is right here.... Where did he go? Maybe he went to the bathroom or something"
"Alright. So if there is nothing else you can leave. Good work."
With that, the soldier left.
'Now where the heck did he go?'
Author's note: And thus, the Sky island arc has concluded. And now finally the Stardom and Straw Hats are going to meet for the very first time. Its time for Sabaody! Hope you liked this arc. Do tell your thoughts regarding this arc in the comments.
Also we have reached 3k likes so far! Thanks everyone for the support. It means a lot.