Truly Strangers II

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Chapter 179: Truly Strangers II

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"Are you so confident you can stop me in my domain?" Before him stands none other than Im with a saber in her hand.

"You won't know until you try," Yovan simply shrugged, unconcerned even as Im did try.

Im has the Sea Sea Devil Fruit, able to control the sea, water, basically the nemesis of Devil Fruit users.

She had it for a thousand years or even more, so one has to wonder, what level would a Devil Fruit reach after so long? The answer is naturally its absolute limits.

Limitless allowed Yovan to easily breach those limits, elevating his Devil fruit to ridiculous heights, but Im doesn't have Limitless.

So she can only master it to the absolute limits and seek other ways to improve, strange incomprehensible methods to use such power, one of which was used against the Strangers not long ago.

The Strangers were powerless against her, even those who aren't Devil Fruit users, such as Reiju... How? Yovan had a frightening guess.

That guess soon came true as Im narrowed her eyes, watching him with expectations, not too surprised that he showed no sense of pain on his face.

Yovan at that moment felt a strong sense of powerlessness as if his energy was quickly slipping away, and his connection to his Devil Fruit slowly fading away... The effect of Devil Fruit users' weakness to water.

However, he wasn't in contact with water right now. Rather, he felt the weakness coming from his body... As he expected, as the ruler of the Sea, Im can control water, and about 60% of the human body is composed of water.

That has never affected any Devil Fruit users so far, not unless Im is involved as she somehow found a way to basically overwhelm Devil fruit users without as much as lifting a finger.

However, that wasn't the most frightening thing for Yovan was certain that she had such a capability since a thousand years ago in the mythical history... A thousand years is enough for someone to improve immensely, no?

Yovan felt as if his body was crumbling, as if the very water molecules within him were trying to break out, affecting all other molecules in the process.

He felt pain, the unimaginable pain of his body crumbling from the inside out, as if his soul was being poked by thousands of needles.

If only for a moment, he felt such an immense amount of pain that it was a tiny bit difficult for him to handle, something he never thought would occur ever again.

It lasted only a moment before both the pain and the powerlessness simply flashed out of existence, and Im sensed that her control over Yovan vanished, just like that.

No, to be more accurate, Im felt like the water within Yovan simply ceased to exist, and she knew why for before her was a vastly different Yovan.

Yovan was still floating before her with his long burning golden hair, vast, and set aflame. In fact, his entire body seemed to be set aflame with golden flames being emanating from him.

Even his eyes seemed like a vortex, a passage o the core of the sun, shining brightly, and even Im felt pressure, almost overwhelming pressure from him much to her surprise.

It was especially surprising that the miles of the Sea surrounding them also evaporated almost instantly due to the heat stemming from him, but Im seemed quite fine, reeking of coldness even.

Only Im knew just how difficult it was for her to resist the overwhelming heat, as if she was standing right in the core of the sun, yet she still prevailed.

She truly reached the limits of her Devil Fruit, even preying on what's beyond, seemingly able to change the temperature of her body, or the water within her to extremely cold degrees while still surviving.

"You... What have you done?" Im thought of a possibility but she still asked.

"I eliminated all the water from my body," Yovan responded with a smile, but he didn't attack. It just wasn't time yet.

"Yet you still live?" Im narrowed her eyes, eyeing him with fascination. To her, he was the puzzle that can not be solved, and it was fascinating, something she didn't feel even when she took control of the World.

"I have long left the realm of humanity," Yovan shook his head but didn't expand on his words. Im, however, understood. Eliminating all water from one's body sounds like suicide, just not to him.

"Quite unfortunate, in another timeline, I would've liked to study you thoroughly and at length... But we're enemies," Even against an incomprehensible monster like Yovan, Im smiled as she gently said.

Im noticed something no one else did. She noticed with her acute perception that Yovan doesn't breathe nor does he seem to need to. That alone told her enough, told her that he truly left the realm of humanity.

"You have my admiration," Im couldn't help but say as she turned around, wanting to leave. At that moment, she had spoken more words today than she did in the previous hundreds of years of her life combined.

"And you now have my attention, so stay," Yovan murmured as he waved his hand, giving life to flames as miles around them turned golden, an unpassable barrier.

"Have you not asked me to leave? So why try and stop me as I seek to leave?" Im asked, her tone speaking of a frown on her veiled face.

"For I admire you, and as I try my best to overestimate you, I come to the conclusion that you know more than I think you do... You know that I still rule the Pantheon." Yovan said as if muttering to himself.

"You know that we move in another dimension, a realm that is supposedly unreachable by anyone other than who I allow, yet I sense confidence in you, as if you can reach or affect that realm?" Yovan narrowed his eyes.

The Door Door Fruit taken by one of his Everless Crows, Gloom, allows one to enter the Green Dimension, allowing secure transportation in the literal sense, or so Yovan thought until now.

Im certainly knows about the Green Realm, so where does her confidence come from? For she is here to intercept the Ancient treasures, and if Yovan allowed her to leave, she may await them elsewhere.

"I didn't overestimate you enough, I see," Im stated coldly before obediently staying there, no longer uttering a single word.

Yovan also closed his eyes, and waited for days, days in which he moved not a single muscle, his Everless Crows doing the work for him, arranging for the Treasures to reach the Pantheon.

He was also waiting for the Strangers to leave. Whether they continue to be Strangers or not is up to them for the letter that soon reached them told them... Yovan is no longer a Stranger.

Surprised? No, they weren't. They kind of saw it coming, the disbandment of the Strangers, and now it was up to them to choose their own future, to seek new ambitions.

The Strangers were built to help Yovan survive, to make sure they all survive against all odds. Yovan felt such a purpose to be flawed, or it became flawed after some point.

So even if they didn't want to, he simply took himself out of the equation. Whether the crew called the Strangers would exist after today wasn't of much concern to him... As long as they live well.

"I've always been curious," Im suddenly murmured, "What is your purpose in going against the World? I don't understand it, nor do I believe it to be a play, for you to be the Devil King, a common enemy of the entire World. I don't believe you to be so kind as to unite the World in such a way."

"Have I not told you before?" Yovan asked with a smile as the golden flames vanished, the sea starting to engulf the massive vacant emptiness in its center, "I only seek to evolve."

"Evolve? Such a complex word," Im shook her head, "Who knows, if you entertain me, I may allow you to win... I may even help you, my dear."

"Don't," Yovan shook his head with a gentle smile, "Do your absolute best, and hope... Just hope that it can tickle me to laughter."

That was a challenge for he truly wanted her to do her best, yet against Im, arguably the most frightening individual in this World, he remained undisturbed.