New Era

Shanks stared at the demonic figure in front of them and regretted the actions he did back then. But he had no choice, he needed to hide the truth from Uta, or else she would've destroyed herself.

Suddenly, there was a click in his mind. He saw the demonic figure but from another person's point of view. However, the only person he knew who had that level of haki was…

"Hey, it's Imai. You can see it right? We're going to need to work together to defeat this thing, I can't do it on my own." Imai said.

"Yeah, I can see why. We have to attack a specific point of its body at the same time to truly do damage." Shanks said.

"I figured that out when I cut its eye and it just healed itself. There wasn't even a scar on his shoulder where I attacked him." Imai said, irritated.

"Well then, let's get started. Let's not waste any time."

"Alright, we'll immobilize it first. Start with the right leg and we'll work our way to the other limbs." Imai said as the connection cut off.

"You hear that everyone?!" Shanks called out to his crewmates who yelled in response. "Start with the right leg!"

Imai counted the few seconds when Shanks would tell his crewmates what they were doing. She dashed towards Tot Musica who was starting to pour out demonic aura and high pressure.

"Sovereign's Cleaving, Entanglement!"

Imai tapped into what Shanks was seeing and timed the attack perfectly with him. She slashed at the leg where haki wrapped around it and tore a chunk of its leg off.

"Left leg!"

Imai flared her Conqueror's Haki to stun the demon for a second. She dodged the numerous blocks that were thrown at her and got ready to time her attack.

"Now!"

"Two Sword Style, Susanoo!"

Behind Imai, a ghostly figure with dark blue hair, and pure black pupils appeared. It took the form of Imai. She visualized the perfect attack and imitated it according to her instincts. Her eyes barely blinked due to the amount of concentration.

She raised her arm and brought down her two katanas. The ghostly figure also seemed to have formed the same katanas and matched Imai's movement. Together, a dark aura emitted from their blades, and cleanly cut off the left leg of the devil.

Shanks timed his own attack perfectly. The moment Imai's blades made contact with the devil, Shanks' red haki had caused damage to it too. Although it didn't cut off its leg, it did its job.

Tot Music started to stumble due to its heavy injuries. Imai and Shanks saw this as their chance to take care of its other limbs.

"Go!"

Imai jumped and landed on one of the piano keys. She ran up and jumped when her instinct told her it was the best spot to attack.

"Two Sword Style, Ame-no-Uzume!"

This time, a ghostly figure with long black hair, and a red line under its eye appeared. Imai spun three times and created a small tornado from the force she used.

The tornado of haki made contact with the demon's arm and distorted its shape before fully tearing it off from its body. It let out a loud war with a weaker shockwave.

Imai and Shanks both knew they were close to defeating it.

"The last limb!"

"Let's go!"

The two perfectly synced with each other and launched their strongest attack.

Shanks' long red haki cut deeply into the demon's sword.

"Sovereign's One True Slash, Heavenly Scenery." Imai calmly muttered.

She closed her eyes and envisioned darkness around her. She created the view in front of her piece by piece and slowly created Tot Musica in her mind. The one in her mind and the one in reality were in the same position. She pictured the perfect way to end the demon.

A flashy yet enticing attack.

Imai followed the path of white cherry blossoms that reminded her of Yamato. To others, it seemed as if Imai was meditating of some sort before she finally moved. Her quick figure left mirages and a trace of white cherry blossoms that followed her.

Imai brought her blade down as white cherry blossoms flew through the sky. As if it had a mind of their own, they brought themselves to the area where the arm connected to the upper body.

She opened her eyes and saw the arm covered in hundreds of thousands of white cherry blossoms.

"Tear."

The white cherry blossoms exploded into white power and disappeared into the air. The arm that once connected onto the body of Tot Musica was no longer there anymore. Its loud scream was one filled with no emotions.

Suddenly, different colors, and music notes fluttered into Imai's eyes as she seemed to fall endlessly into an abyss.

"Huh?"

Imai blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't dreaming. The yellowish sky was above her and the hard ground was below her. She stood up and looked around.

At the center of it all, there was Shanks holding Uta who appeared insanely weak. Imai frowned and quickly made her way over to the two.

"Uta…" Shanks muttered.

"It's okay, I can finally rest now." Uta said as she pushed away Shanks' hand that held the cure made for her.

"No you don't, you're not dying." Imai said as she took the cure from Shanks' hand and poured the liquid forcefully down Uta's throat. "You still have to take responsibility for what you did to me."

Shanks stared at Imai in shock. He wanted to respect her wishes but he also felt glad that Imai had done that. A part of him…no, his entire heart wanted Uta to live. After all, she was her own daughter.

"You bastard." Uta muttered as she coughed. "What the hell?!"

"Don't what the hell me! There's still an age of pirates you have yet to start and you're thinking about dying? It's too damn early!" Imai said angrily.

"Tsk." Uta hissed as she looked away and widened her eyes. "They're all…here."

Imai glanced to where Uta was staring at and noticed the large population of marines that were on the mountain above them. The one leading the army of marines was none other than the Fleet Admiral, Akainu Sakazuki.

"Isn't this great Uta?"

"Huh?"

Imai grinned widely at Uta.

"We're going to begin the new age of pirates right now."