A demon wreathed in blue flames slammed its foot viciously into Joy Boy's chest, sending him flying. Before he could recover, an endless swarm of vicious beasts lunged at him, tearing at his body with relentless ferocity.
The light around Joy Boy flickered violently. With a thunderous roar, he unleashed his Conqueror's Haki, blasting back the surrounding demons. But just as he caught a breath, a barrage of elemental attacks came crashing down upon him in waves.
He summoned a radiant glow of Nika's power as a shield, forcing his way through the onslaught. Yet the Paramecia-type demons didn't let up—instead, they intensified. Rings of glowing purple energy surged toward him. The moment they enveloped his body, Joy Boy's movements began to slow drastically.
"Damn it... the Slow-Slow Fruit?"
He cursed under his breath, eyes locking onto a demon radiating purple light in the distance. With a clenched fist, he struck out through the air, attempting to eliminate the threat.
Just before his punch could land, another demon flashed into view, shielding the Slow-Slow demon.
This new demon crossed its arms, forming a strange gesture with its hands. A translucent barrier shimmered into existence before it.
Joy Boy's unstoppable punch crashed into the barrier with a deafening boom—but failed to move it even an inch.
Clearly, this was a Barrier-Barrier Fruit demon. The defensive capabilities of the Barrier-Barrier Fruit were legendary—some even classified it among rule-type abilities. Even a combatant at the level of a Yonko would find it helplessly impenetrable.
The barrier demon easily deflected Joy Boy's strike, then thrust its arms forward. The barrier launched outward. Joy Boy raised his hand to intercept it.
Just as he prepared to push it back, the demon's hand signs changed. The barrier twisted under his palm, warping into a spherical dome that wrapped around Joy Boy completely.
These demons were the Devil Fruits themselves, avatars born of pure power. Their mastery of abilities rivaled, or even surpassed, that of typical Devil Fruit users.
Within the sphere, Joy Boy fell silent. He knew brute strength alone wouldn't be enough. He calmed his breath and released the essence of Nika. The milky white light touched the barrier—and slowly began to assimilate it.
Eventually, the spherical prison dissolved. Joy Boy looked around, face dark with urgency. The horde of demons stretched endlessly across the land.
...
The situation had grown dire. Not to mention Lily and Carl watching coldly from afar—these endless demon hordes alone were enough to wear him down.
Last time, in the East Blue, he had teleported directly to Zou using a marker he'd left there 800 years ago. Such markers could be left on any companion he shared a deep bond with, allowing for space teleportation through Nika's power.
But Zou had been his only surviving companion after 800 years. And now, Carl had just killed it. That meant Joy Boy had no coordinates left to escape with.
A deep, cold despair crept over him.
The demons gave him no time to mourn. One transformed into a giant straw figure and swung down hard. Joy Boy punched back, his Haki piercing through—but the straw creature didn't vanish. Instead, it dropped a tiny version of itself from its body.
Another maddening Paramecia-type demon. Joy Boy had no strength left to deal with every bizarre power coming his way. He kicked off the air, launching upward like a cannonball.
...
More beast-shaped demons came at him from all directions, trying to stop his ascent.
Aggravated, Joy Boy roared:
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!"
Space twisted with elasticity, snapping the incoming demons together into a clump.
Still he climbed, higher and higher—until he saw them.
Suspended in the sky above were Lily and Carl, arms crossed, seemingly engaged in a casual conversation.
Joy Boy's fury exploded. Countless white fists materialized behind him, hurling themselves toward the duo.
Lily smirked coldly. Six enormous black bat wings burst open behind her, wrapping both herself and Carl in their folds. The flurry of white fists slammed into the wings but failed to penetrate.
Joy Boy surged forward. His fist, cloaked in glowing white light, raised high as he roared:
"YOU BASTARD! YOU—"
He didn't finish.
With a sudden snap, the six bat wings flared open. Lily floated at the center, arms folded beneath her heaving chest, exuding the aura of a supreme demon empress.
Beside her, Carl had already disappeared—blurring forward. In his hand, the cursed blade Muramasa pointed directly at Joy Boy.
...
Below, the demon army surged upward.
Cut off at the front by Carl, and flanked from behind by the rising tide of demons, Joy Boy's retreat had been sealed.
He clenched his fists. The power of Nika erupted from his body—and he began to dance.
Yes. Dance.
With each absurd, rhythmic movement, Nika's power boiled and pulsed. A powerful elastic field exploded outward, hurling back wave after wave of charging demons—only a few with rare abilities were spared.
Carl had seen this before. A tangible darkness engulfed his body, colliding directly with the dancing aura of Nika.
Joy Boy stopped dancing.
Carl was too close now.
His arms swelled, wrapped in red and black lightning of Armament Haki. With the momentum from the dance, Joy Boy instantly launched both fists forward aimed directly at Carl.
Carl didn't dodge.
Like a black meteor, he rocketed toward the incoming fists. At the moment of collision, a massive spectral dragon head of darkness erupted from his body.
BOOM.
The dark energy exploded outward, engulfing both of Joy Boy's giant fists. But Joy Boy didn't flinch. A towering white giant rose behind him once again, and with thunderous force, charged straight into the darkness.
...
Roars echoed across the heavens. From the ground, one could see waves of demons, like black torrents, surging skyward.
The milky white glow of Nika's light shrank under the encroaching darkness.
Lily gazed upon it all with icy eyes. Her voice was soft but final:
"Joy Boy... your end has finally come."
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+150 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg