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OPI Chapter 443: One Man, Two Demons
🕑 Added 2025-06-25 18:50:56 +0000 UTCAs Crocodile launched a strike with his Desert Saber, crackling with purple lightning and splitting the frozen and sand-swept earth— Lilith
As Crocodile launched a strike with his Desert Saber, crackling with purple lightning and splitting the frozen and sand-swept earth— Lilith
As Crocodile launched a strike with his Desert Saber, crackling with purple lightning and splitting the frozen and sand-swept earth— Lilith
As Crocodile launched a strike with his Desert Saber, crackling with purple lightning and splitting the frozen and sand-swept earth— Lilith
As Crocodile launched a strike with his Desert Saber, crackling with purple lightning and splitting the frozen and sand-swept earth—
Lilith and Nahamah raised their arms in perfect sync, unleashing a torrent of ice spikes and flames in return.
Countless pitch-black ice spikes spiraled through the air, forming a horizontal vortex. As they whirled, they swept the black flames into their core.
[BOOM!!!]
A massive cyclone of black ice, engulfed in roaring black fire, erupted with a deafening roar—shattering Crocodile’s giant, high-frequency sand blade in an instant.
Purple lightning burst outward along with sand and gravel, but under the intense heat of the black fire, they either vaporized into smoke or melted into searing crimson liquid.
“So strong!”
Crocodile’s pupils contracted.
He instantly turned into sand to evade the oncoming black cyclone, narrowly avoiding the brunt of its force. The ground beneath him went through rapid, repeated cycles—freezing, melting, freezing again—within seconds.
In the end, what remained was a strange, liquefied terrain, its surface covered in patches of hardened black ice.
Up in the air—
Crocodile, his body still partially turned to sand, didn’t wait to fully reform. He struck back immediately at Lilith and Nahamah.
With a violent twist of his body, his sand-formed arms swung out like twin scimitars, slashing across the field in unison.
The arc caught Lilith and Nahamah just as they emerged from their cloak of black flame and ice, sending both demons flying with a powerful impact.
“Rule-based power, Lilith.”
“I felt part of the magic ice break away, Nahamah.”
As they chatted calmly, the two demons raised their hands once more—unleashing a barrage of black fire–infused ice spikes.
At the same time—
Crocodile didn’t back down.
He gathered a dense storm of gravel and wind in his palm and hurled it forward.
The violent gusts surged and grew, forming a towering sand tornado in moments.
But even this colossal vortex—strong enough to obliterate an entire city—was instantly crushed by the onslaught of burning black ice.
“Damn it. So I can’t match them in raw ability?”
Crocodile cursed under his breath, darting around to dodge the oncoming hail of black ice that came at him like a bullet storm.
Whether it was the chill from the black ice or the searing heat of the black fire, even in his sand form, he would still feel pain unless he shielded himself with armament haki.
To be honest, Crocodile was puzzled—
Why didn’t the black fire and black ice cancel each other out? Why did they instead enhance one another, allowing both freezing and scorching temperatures to coexist in the air?
Was this what they called... magic?
Meanwhile, Nahamah remarked in surprise, “He dodged everything, Lilith.”
Lilith’s crimson lips curled wide, revealing a maw full of razor-sharp teeth. Ecstatic, she gave an almost gleeful praise.
"Fantastic, fantastic! His movements are amazing!"
"I can't help it—I want to turn him into a demon! He'd definitely become a high-ranking one!"
Nahamah said, “A Sand Magic Demon, Lilith?”
“Yes! A Sand Magic Demon!”
As soon as the words left her lips, Lilith shot forward, transforming into a mass of pitch-black frost.
Nahamah didn’t stop her—he simply grinned and waited patiently to see what she would do next.
“Freeze everything—Dark Ice Magic!”
Suddenly, the black ice around Lilith’s body began to surge wildly.
At the same time—
Crocodile felt the temperature plummet sharply.
All around him, black frost began crystallizing at high speed, encasing the battlefield.
In the next instant, he was completely sealed inside a sphere of black ice!
“Ah! Ahaha! Yes! Perfect! Another specimen for my collection!”
Lilith threw her head back and laughed maniacally in front of the frozen orb.
But her laughter had barely lasted a few seconds when—
[CRACK.]
“Hm?”
The moment Lilith paused, puzzled, the black ice sphere shattered with explosive force. A surge of violet lightning and golden sand burst outward.
“Who do you think I am?!”
A raspy voice echoed out—followed by a jet-black fist wrapped in arcs of crackling purple lightning, slamming squarely into Lilith’s stunned face.
From her perspective, the fist seemed tethered to a long stream of golden sand.
And at the other end of that stream—
Surrounded by shattered shards of black ice, emanating murderous intent—stood Crocodile.
[BOOM!!!]
The air exploded between his fist and Lilith’s face, forming a shockwave on impact.
Lilith was launched like a dark blur, hurtling backward at supersonic speed amidst thunderous sonic booms.
She flew over a kilometer—tearing through the mountainous terrain of the Land of Swamps—before slamming into the earth, carving out a massive crater over 100 meters wide.
“LILITH!!!”
When Nahamah snapped out of his shock, he instantly descended into a state of uncontrollable fury, unleashing a tower of black flame that surged into the sky.
Even those locked in combat far away—Akertos, the Demon of the Underworld River, Uchiha Fugaku, Rasa, and even Jiraiya, now in Sage Mode—all instinctively turned to glance in that direction.
“Oh dear... Lord Nahamah is truly enraged. Haven’t seen that in centuries. Seems the fate of your world is sealed—everything will be reduced to ash in the blaze of demonic fire.”
Surrounded by swirling black currents, Akertos covered his mouth and laughed mockingly, clearly relishing the chaos.
“You humans probably can’t even comprehend it... but Lord Nahamah’s demon fire can burn anything—shadow, light, even conceptual laws beyond what the eye can see. And of course, the same goes for Lady Lilith’s demon ice. Scared yet, little humans? Yahahaha~”
His words instantly enraged everyone present.
Standing atop a platform of golden sand provided by Rasa, Uchiha Fugaku snorted coldly and snapped back: “We don’t know what fate awaits our world—but yours is clear: you'll die by black flames!”
As he spoke, his three-tomoe Sharingan swirled violently, morphing into a pair of sinister Mangekyō Sharingan.
“Amaterasu!”
In an instant, a terrifying blaze of black fire erupted upon Akertos’s body—summoned from nothingness.
“Well done! Now watch this—Giant Rasengan!”
Shouting excitedly, Jiraiya launched himself off the sand platform. As he soared through the air, a massive ball of azure energy formed rapidly in his outstretched palm.
...
On the other side—
Crocodile, staring down Nahamah’s blazing fury, muttered to himself as he glanced at his own fist: “So that’s it... these two aren’t much when it comes to close combat.”
Even so, a heavy weight pressed down on Crocodile’s heart.
Because he knew—pure hand-to-hand wouldn’t be enough to inflict serious harm on either of these demons.
He had only landed that earlier punch because he’d caught them off guard. That kind of opening wouldn’t come again so easily.
And now came the real problem—
Each of them—individually—was already slightly stronger than him.
But now, he had to face both at once.
Crocodile realized just how deep in trouble he really was.
He was truly up against monsters from another world—two of them, no less.
...
In the Teigu World, Noah’s Ark.
“You’re saying that the King of the Dead might have been injured in the Pure Land of the Shinobi World?”
Imu, having just returned to the living room couch, looked quite surprised after hearing the delightful news from Enma.
“Yes, yes! Because I carry a fragment of the King of the Dead’s power within me, I can faintly sense these things as long as I’m in the Underworld.”
Enma nodded repeatedly.
“If that’s true, then doesn’t it mean the King of the Dead lost to Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo?”
Imu wasn’t sure whether this should be considered good news or bad.
“Lord Imu, does this mean we can start preparing the plan we agreed on earlier?”
Enma fixed her gaze on Imu with eager anticipation.
Imu remained silent for a long moment, deep in thought, before finally replying, “According to your words, a ruler of the Underworld like the King of the Dead wouldn’t truly die even if slain outside.”
“Only if his pursuer follows him into the Underworld of Starfish and strikes him down again while he’s gravely injured will he truly be annihilated—body and soul.”
“Then what if that Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo from the Shinobi World comes after him?”
Enma tilted her head and said, “That is indeed possible. But judging by how long the King of the Dead was able to hold his ground, it seems their strength isn’t vastly different. That Sage of Six Paths from the Shinobi World is likely injured too, so he might not come after him right away.”
Imu asked in a calm tone, “Even so, how do you plan to deal with Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo if he shows up at any moment?”
“That…”
Enma was momentarily at a loss for words.
Indeed.
Even if the King of the Dead is dealt with successfully…
The one who will have to face the Sage of Six Paths head-on next—would be her.
“So if we want to take over the King of the Dead’s control over the Underworld, we’ll need a way to restrain Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo as well.”
Imu seemed deep in thought, then looked up at Enma. “Return to the Underworld of Starfish immediately and keep a close eye on the King of the Dead’s condition. If he’s truly seriously wounded, notify me at once!”
“Lord Imu, have you come up with a way to deal with the Sage of Six Paths?” Enma asked with a delighted smile.
Imu replied, “Hmm. No matter what, we must secure control of the Underworld of Starfish. That goal cannot be abandoned just because of one Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo.”
“Understood! I’ll head there right away!”
Enma stood up, but just as she was about to leave, she heard Imu speak again—
“After you return, tell Senju Hashirama that the recent invasion of the Shinobi World's Pure Land was entirely orchestrated by the King of the Dead. If he’s willing to help you deal with the severely injured King of the Dead, then you may promise him this: grant the Pure Land of the Shinobi World full autonomy, and assure him that from now on, no Underworld forces under the World Government will ever invade them again.”
This was the strategy Imu had devised after careful thought.
The goal was simple: to have Senju Hashirama probe the King of the Dead’s current state.
After all, even in a severely wounded state, the King of the Dead might still be capable of counterattacking—or might possess some hidden ace.
This way, most of the risk would fall on Hashirama.
Imu would simply wait for the right moment to strike the final blow.
And if Hashirama died in the process? Too bad.
Sure, Senju Hashirama was a rare talent and a powerful force, but not so invaluable that Imu would hesitate to sacrifice him when needed.
“As expected of Lord Imu—!”
Enma clapped with excitement.
Her nature wasn’t exactly kind to begin with. Compassion wasn’t really in her character.
“Oh, right! Lord Imu, what about Shimotsuki Ryoma? With his personality, he definitely won’t stand by and let us attack the King of the Dead. After all, that man is someone Ryoma owes a great debt to!”
“Shimotsuki Ryoma…”
Imu had indeed overlooked him.
Centuries ago, he was Wano Island’s peerless swordmaster.
By now, his swordsmanship had undoubtedly reached the realm of a Sword Saint. As for the specifics… it was hard to say.
Perhaps they were evenly matched… or perhaps he had already surpassed Imu.
Imu then thought of a solution: “Send Byrnndi World to test him. I need to get a direct feel of Shimotsuki Ryoma’s sword aura.”
“Huh? But Lord Imu, World is the strongest death general under my command!”
Enma pouted, clearly reluctant to part with such a powerful subordinate.
“Once we’ve dealt with the King of the Dead, there will be stronger forces at our disposal. One Byrnndi World—what does that matter?” Imu sneered coldly.
“Ugh… well, I guess you’re right. Fine, I’ll make the arrangements!”
Without delay, Enma opened a dark purple rift in midair and vanished into the Underworld.
