"I must protect the Holy Land... protect Im-sama."
"You really are hopelessly stubborn." Yamato cast a cold glance at Junzi on the ground.
Even after being enhanced by Lily, these three mbers of the Knights of God stood no chance against her and Kozuki Toki.
"You don't have a Celestial Dragon surna, and your na doesn't contain 'Saint.' This ans you aren't even a descendant of the Twenty Kings—you're a new Celestial Dragon accepted into their ranks... Have you never considered that you might have been selected through the Celestial Dragons' cruel screening thods?"
"That has nothing to do with ..."
"But it has everything to do with ." Yamato crouched down, a mocking smile on her face.
"Though I'd love to wipe you all out... Father would surely show rcy to soone like you, brainwashed and controlled. Can't be helped—Father is just that kind-hearted."
"...I don't need it."
"But I do..." Yamato straightened up. "And my subordinate once told that if I ever encountered you on the battlefield, I should show rcy and spare your life."
With that, Yamato pulled a photo of Brook from her pocket and tossed it in front of Junzi.
Then, she rushed toward Kozuki Toki, who was wielding twin flaming swords and single-handedly overwhelming two opponents.
"Hey! Don't push yourself so hard at your age!"
"...You disrespectful brat! Watch it, or I might really take you down!"
Yamato joined forces with Kozuki Toki, launching a relentless assault on Killingham and Somrs.
But all of this was no longer within Gunko's considerations.
Now, she stared blankly at the photo placed before her.
It was an old, weathered photograph. In it, Brook still appeared human, not a skeleton.
Wearing sunglasses, with an exaggerated smile, he played a sowhat worn violin.
This...
Who was this?
Why did it feel... so familiar?
Who exactly was this man?
Instantly, Gunko began to feel an intense pain in her head, as if sothing was struggling to break free from her mind.
...
Garden of Flowers.
The battle between Michael and Lily, though punctuated by several fierce clashes, remained largely restrained.
Michael simply didn't want to harm Vivi nearby.
He didn't know if Lily had already drained her life, but even if she were already a corpse, Michael would do his utmost to preserve her body intact—for Cobra's sake.
But restraint...
Did not an it wasn't intense.
Michael controlled every strike with precise finesse.
And Lily, surprisingly, handled each of his attacks with ease.
This couldn't help but bring a gleam to Michael's eyes...
"It seems... in over eight hundred years, you haven't just been throwing your weight around..." Michael's lips twitched slightly.
Though his tone still carried a hint of sarcasm, the praise was genuine.
"Truly worthy... of being my daughter."
"What does that have to do with you? Isn't it just the accumulation of ti?" Lily sneered while continuously attacking Michael from various angles with those pitch-black spikes.
"You also know how dull events spanning over eight hundred years can be. If I didn't find so amusent... I'd truly drive myself insane."
"...So you made the entire world, all races, your amusent?" Michael's smile vanished instantly, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"You've really given a huge 'surprise.'"
"Amusent? If you insist on putting it that way, then yes."
Lily curled her lip, then, as if recalling sothing, pressed a finger to her lips before blooming into an innocent, beautiful smile like a lily.
"Let think... For example, I ordered criminals from various countries and nations that refused to join the World Governnt to build the Bridge in tequila wolf..."
"Secretly supported the Vinsmoke Family, enabling them to establish the Germa Kingdom, bringing violence and chaos to the North Sea."
"Made the Ryugu Kingdom a mber nation of the World Governnt, allowing it to participate in the Reverie... but at the sa ti, classified the rmaids and fish-n as fish rather than humans, deliberately stirring conflict between the Ryugu Kingdom and other nations."
"Oh, right, right. It was also who had Carl open an orphanage in Elbaf and traffic children of the Giant Race."
"And then there's the God Valley incident... Guess why all parties obtained the information they wanted so quickly, gathering at God Valley? Hahaha!"
Lily excitedly recounted these things to Michael.
But for her over eight hundred years of life, these were rely a drop in the ocean.
Too nurous to record.
And Michael, looking at his deranged daughter, said nothing.
He only gripped the Morning Star a little tighter.
This bizarre scene bore no resemblance to a final battle between justice and evil.
Instead, it seed like a long-separated daughter chattering to her father about all the interesting things she had experienced over the years.
Just sharing.
But the more it was like this, the more Michael felt his heart...
Trembling.
For him, combat had long since beco almost instinctive.
Killing was also not sothing he couldn't accept.
But when these two things were to be inflicted upon his own daughter, even though he had verbally resolved to "kill her"...
It was incredibly difficult.
"Lily, you're forcing my hand."
"Exactly, I am forcing you." Lily's eyes overflowed with endless anticipation and excitent. "You clearly said you would kill , but up until now, you haven't used a single lethal move. It's as if you're deliberately stalling... Could it be you think if soone else joins this fight and they kill , it would lessen your sense of guilt?"
Michael smiled bitterly.
Truly...
Hitting the nail on the head.
"Ah, Michael, don't be such a killjoy... At the very least, you should strengthen your resolve to avenge Joy Boy... Otherwise, wouldn't his death be in vain?"
"If Joy Boy were here, he would absolutely let hug you..."
Michael let out a long sigh, rembering that forr friend, that Sun God Nika who always wore a smile.
"Lily... you betrayed him." Michael spoke, his light wings trembling slightly, leaving trails of fla in the air.
Facing Lily's sick and excited eyes, the long-suppressed anger in Michael's chest erupted alongside his Conqueror's Haki.
The world's strongest Conqueror's Haki shook the heavens.
But from Lily's body erupted a Conqueror's Haki no less powerful than Michael's.
Only, it carried with it a dense… malice.
"You're finally serious, Michael."
"Yes…"
"This is the grace I've longed for over eight hundred years…"
"The Archangel of the End."
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