The burst of white light shattered, and Joy Boy's figure fell from the darkness like a severed kite string.
A streak of black light followed right after, crashing hard into Joy Boy's body.
Already severely wounded, Joy Boy couldn't hold on any longer. The glow of Nika flickered erratically across his form before slowly dissolving, revealing his true appearance.
His face was pale and grim. Clenching his teeth, he threw a punch at Carl, but his entire arm recoiled from the impact. This time, his Nika body had lost its former resilience—his arm took forever to recover and still hadn't snapped back to normal.
Clutching his limp arm, Joy Boy stomped frantically in mid-air, trying to widen the gap between him and Carl. The drums of liberation echoed from his chest, pounding desperately as he tried to repair his injuries.
But Carl wasn't about to give him the chance. He pursued relentlessly, a swirling vortex of darkness forming in his palm. The gravitational pull of the Dark-Dark Fruit locked onto Joy Boy, dragging him back and making escape impossible.
With no other choice, Joy Boy fought one-handed against Carl's onslaught. But with a crippled arm, he was no match. After a few exchanges, twin sword wounds crossed over his chest.
White mist and black smoke intertwined at the slashes. Joy Boy's complexion paled even further, and the drums in his chest grew faint and uneven.
Three beast-like demons attacked. A monkey-shaped one perched on his shoulder, its legs wrapped around his neck while its claws tore wildly at his face. The other two clamped onto his arms, biting hard with razor-sharp fangs.
Even with Haki defending him, the attacks were maddening. Before he could shake them off—
Carl struck again. The cursed blade Muramasa in his hand was aimed straight for Joy Boy's heart.
If that blade landed, even Joy Boy's monstrous vitality wouldn't save him.
In that split-second of crisis, Joy Boy roared and exploded with Conqueror's Haki, blasting the three beasts over a kilometer away.
But in that narrow window of action, his body shifted just slightly—and with a sickening schlk, Muramasa plunged deep into his side.
Darkness spread instantly. Waves of black smoke poured out of Joy Boy's body. His face twisted with pain as he grabbed Carl's wrist in a death grip.
Carl only smiled. He let go without resistance, and Muramasa began to spin on its own, widening the wound at Joy Boy's waist.
Joy Boy groaned through gritted teeth. He yanked the sword out of his side, but most of his strength had already drained away.
...
Lily descended slowly beside Carl, arms folded, a faint mocking smile on her lips. The way she looked at Joy Boy was as if he were nothing more than a clown.
"Even after hiding for 800 years, you're still a failure, Joy Boy."
Head bowed, Joy Boy looked up, eyes locked on hers as he replied in a cold voice,
"You're not much better. If I'm not wrong, these past 800 years haven't been kind to you either. In fact, I bet you've longed for freedom more than anyone."
Lily flinched—just slightly—but both Carl and Joy Boy were sharp enough to notice.
Carl glanced at her but said nothing. Joy Boy suddenly burst into hoarse laughter.
"Hahaha! So I was right? Makes sense. You tried to forcefully control the world—of course there'd be a price!"
Lily's eyes grew colder. She slowly lowered her arms, and black spiral markings began to rise faintly across her pale neck.
Joy Boy seemed oblivious, still laughing as he threw his arms skyward like a madman embracing the heavens.
He shouted with fanatic fervor:
"Freedom is the true will of this world! Order was never meant to exist! What I'm doing is returning the world to what it was always meant to be! And people like you—traitors—will be rejected by the world itself!!"
Lily's silver teeth clenched. She raised her hand slightly, ready to strike. But at that moment, Carl, who had been quietly watching the whole performance, finally spoke:
"Sounds like your ideology is super popular or something. So let me ask—who's the one standing alone now?"
...
With that one line, Lily's raised hand froze at her waist. Joy Boy's laughter came to an abrupt stop, like a duck suddenly strangled.
Lily turned to glance at Carl, a beautiful arc forming at the corner of her lips, admiration flashing in her eyes.
Joy Boy's face turned red. He stared wide-eyed at Carl and finally squeezed out,
"They're just deceived by you! If they had lived through what we did 800 years ago, then—"
Carl cut him off with a smirk,
"Then they'd believe even more that your ideology is bullshit."
"You—!"
"What, you? If your whole thing was so great, then with that fruit power of yours, you should've rallied the world and crushed the Twenty Kings back then. But you lost. So I have to ask—were those kings so powerful they could take on the entire world? Or did you just not have anyone by your side? What do you think, Lily?"
Lily's smile could no longer be hidden. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she replied,
"The truth is, he barely had any 'companions' at all. In fact, more people sided with the Twenty Kings. Most folks were sick of that chaotic, crazy lifestyle he promoted."
She paused, savoring the look of utter defeat on Joy Boy's face, before continuing,
"The voices calling for order kept growing. I suggested forming a unified and organized kingdom—at the very least to fix the issue of people doing nothing productive all day."
Carl followed up,
"And he rejected that, didn't he?"
"Exactly. He insisted on his pirate 'game,' wanted to spread it across the world like a plague. That's when I realized—Joy Boy and his damned crew were a threat. They had to vanish from this world. But he was too powerful. I couldn't defeat him alone."
She looked at Carl, her voice dropping with meaning.
"So I waited—until I met your ancestor. Cassilius-sama."
Carl raised an eyebrow at that, his gaze toward Lily suddenly shifting. That phrasing... Did that mean Lily and his ancestor...
"Lily-sama, what exactly are you imagining in that head of yours?"
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+150 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg