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OPI Chapter 445: The Devil War Escalates
🕑 Added 2025-06-27 19:21:33 +0000 UTC[Bzzzzzzzz—] The moment after Truth disappeared, a burning sensation suddenly surged from the back of Imu’s left hand, as a crimson light sh
[Bzzzzzzzz—]
The moment after Truth disappeared, a burning sensation suddenly surged from the back of Imu’s left hand, as a crimson light shone upward into his eyes.
Imu looked down.
Red markings had begun to appear across the back of his hand, and within seconds, they formed the outline of a tree.
This tree closely resembled the symbol he had seen the first time he encountered Truth — the one carved into the 'Gate of Truth' behind him. This one, however, appeared slightly more simplified.
“The Kabbalistic Tree of Life.”
As a transmigrator — and a seasoned fan of Japanese anime — he recognized it instantly.
And the moment the pattern was fully formed—
Imu just knew what he could do.
He lightly tapped the sofa beneath him with a fingertip.
The plush, gold-on-red fabric instantly transformed into a hard, gleaming throne of pure gold. Another tap — and it turned into a cold, pitch-black stone seat.
This was the so-called Stigmata Alchemy — the ability to freely transmute matter, regardless of its element or mass, as long as it lay within the bounds of knowledge.
And if the target was a living being?
The result would be the same.
For most, this ability alone would be considered a deadly force — a power that meant certain death on contact.
Still, Imu understood: if someone possessed a power akin to Armament Haki, they could completely resist the effects of alchemy, provided their strength was high enough.
Even so, this ability was far from harmless.
After all, the first step of alchemy... was decomposition.
That step alone could unleash horrifying destruction.
“Could I combine this Stigmata Alchemy with my spatial abilities?”
Imu sat back in the black stone chair, lost in thought.
He didn’t yet know exactly how it would work.
But one thing was clear: he now possessed the power to create a Philosopher’s Stone on his own.
Looking back, those Philosopher’s Stones from the Alchemy Kingdom in the Teigu World were likely all created by that kindly old man — Director Isaac.
[Polu-purupuru... Polu-purupuru...]
The golden Den-Den Mushi began to ring.
Imu sighed inwardly. So many things happening today...
“Lord Imu! Two powerful demons have appeared in the Shinobi World! Crocodile is no match for them!”
Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro spoke in a grave tone.
“What about Sakazuki and Kuzan?”
“They’ve been ordered to disengage and head at full speed to support Crocodile. But they’re not Borsalino — according to our estimates, even Sakazuki, who’s relatively closer, would need at least a full day to get there by ship.”
The sheer size of the Land of Wind was obvious — even just looking at a map made it clear.
Combining the Land of Fire and its surrounding minor nations still wouldn’t match the Land of Wind’s vastness.
To make things worse, Rōran was located at the southernmost tip of the country, practically clinging to the coastline.
As for Kuzan, he was departing from the Land of Water — even farther.
All of this made one thing clear: Crocodile’s situation was dire.
And that was precisely why Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro had chosen to contact Imu directly.
“I understand.”
Imu replied calmly, then ended the call.
In the blink of an eye, he reappeared in his study. At some unknown point, the black stone chair in the living room had already reverted to its original form — a plush sofa.
...
“That’s as far as I can go, Crocodile.”
Back in his office, Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro muttered softly to himself.
Truthfully, he had already prepared for the worst — the possibility that Crocodile wouldn’t survive.
The sheer power those two demons had just displayed was already equivalent to general-level combat strength.
That meant Crocodile was effectively up against two generals.
Even worse, it didn’t look like the demons were going all out yet.
...
At that moment, through the Star Den-Den Mushi’s holographic projection, Imu was watching the battlefield — and the two demons facing off against Crocodile.
“So it’s them.”
Realization dawned on Imu. He instantly recognized the two figures.
They were the top-ranked devils from the first layer of the Underworld in Black Clover:
Lilith of Ice Magic and Nahamah of Flame Magic — the infamous Twin Devils.
“This is bad,” Imu murmured. “If I remember correctly, their ice and flame magic can shatter or burn through even rule-based abilities. Crocodile doesn’t stand a chance against either of them — let alone both working together…”
Imu now had to consider whether to intervene personally.
He thought for a moment before coming up with a plan. Risky, yes, but there was no time to worry about that now.
He began by encoding detailed intel on Lilith and Nahamah into the Star Den-Den Mushi Network.
After all, in the manga, these two kept fighting until they were completely destroyed — meaning their trump cards and weaknesses were already well known.
Once the intel was compiled, Imu forwarded it to Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro, instructing him to pass it immediately to Sakazuki and Kuzan.
Then, Imu picked up his golden Den-Den Mushi and made a direct call himself.
Right now, there was only one person who could provide timely support to Crocodile.
Moments later, the golden, radiant Den-Den Mushi slowly lowered its eyes — the call had ended.
“The Underworld… What a formidable enemy. Excluding the so-called Ōtsutsuki God, they might already rival the Ōtsutsuki Clan in sheer threat.”
Imu gazed at the holographic projection of Lilith and Nahamah, his heart heavy with unease.
In Black Clover, the Underworld was divided into seven layers, each ruled by a high-ranking devil.
And above them all stood three or four ultimate beings known as the Supreme Devils of the Underworld.
“If Lilith and Nahamah are already showing up in the Shinobi World, that means the timeline in the ‘Black Clover World’ hasn’t reached the Spade Kingdom arc yet.”
Imu could sense it now — it was only a matter of time before his Dimensional Gate opened to that world.
And when that happened, he would almost certainly be forced to confront the entire Underworld, along with those four Supreme Devils.
Before that day came, he and the World Government would have to grow significantly stronger — otherwise, their only option would be to close the gates and avoid battle altogether.
...
The Shinobi World.
The Land of Swamps had now become the focal point of this world.
After Demon Ice Lilith shattered the volcano that had once sealed Mōryō’s body under layers of ice...
The demons pouring out from the entrance to the First Level of the Underworld no longer had to crowd through a single exit.
This allowed their 'troop-spawning rate' to reach its maximum.
Countless low- and mid-level demons surged forth like a dark, oppressive tide,
Launching wave after wave of assaults on the allied forces of Sunagakure and Konohagakure.
Fortunately, during the night, the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, arrived on the battlefield with several thousand Iwagakure troops—greatly boosting the morale across the front.
Especially when he unleashed Dust Release, erasing over a thousand demons in a single blast of blinding white light—
It had to be said: Dust Release was indeed formidable.
These low- and mid-level demons couldn’t withstand it at all—
However, Ōnoki only assisted with that one wave before flying off into the distance as well,
To join Uchiha Fugaku, Rasa, and Jiraiya in their siege on Akertos, the one controlling the dark underworld waters.
As expected, once Dust Release was unleashed—even Akertos, a high-ranking demon, was forced to retreat in shock.
The truth was, within the radiance of the Dust Release, Akertos had felt an overwhelming sense of death!
But no matter how fiercely these shinobi fought, it was still not enough to determine the outcome of the Demon War.
Because the key to victory lay in defeating those two supreme demons—
Lilith and Nahamah!
The southern region of the Land of Swamps—and even extending into neighboring small countries—had become their battlefield against Crocodile.
From afar, the scene looked like a black sea of fire and a black field of frost, both wildly crashing against a raging sandstorm at the center.
At this moment, Crocodile looked rather battered.
His luxurious sandy-yellow suit was tattered and scorched, with signs of both burning and freezing all over; the pitch-black coat of justice trailing behind him was more than half destroyed.
And yet, Crocodile seemed utterly indifferent to any of it.
While narrowly dodging the countless waves of black ice and black flames, he kept swinging his buzzing, sand-transmuted arms—
Chasing after Lilith, forcing her to shriek in fury again and again.
"Why are you only attacking me? Do you think I'm weaker than Nahamah?!"
Crocodile sneered coldly. “Isn’t that obvious?”
“Arghhhh! You’re asking to die, you insect!”
Lilith roared in fury. “Nahamah, I don’t want this collectible anymore!”
“As you wish, Lilith,” Nahamah replied indifferently.
The moment those words left its mouth, both the black ice and black flames on their bodies visibly intensified. In Crocodile’s perception, the demonic auras of the two surged higher and higher!
“Damn it... So they haven’t been fighting seriously yet.” Crocodile cursed inwardly.
Fortunately, their sensory capabilities weren’t particularly sharp—not enough to suppress his Kenbunshoku Haki. That at least allowed him to dodge the majority of their attacks.
