One Piece: Creating Avatars Start With Ryomen Sukuna

Chapter 361: They Want to Hear What the Five Elders Say

Holy Land Marijoa, the conference room hosting the Reverie.

In this room, where one wall and part of the ceiling had been shattered, with cracks spider webbing elsewhere, every leader eligible to attend sweated profusely, staring at the abruptly appearing Seven Apostles of the Demon God.

Especially at the figure stepping forward from among them, greeting them casually.

This must be the final member of the Seven Apostles, right? No mistake about it. What a terrifying appearance!

That's what they thought.

In past incidents involving the Apostles, only six had ever appeared.

The seventh had remained unseen, sparking widespread curiosity about their appearance.

Now they saw it.

As expected, another inhuman form.

Dressed like a typical Celestial Dragon, with a glass dome atop their head containing an unknown liquid and an exposed brain, it was a chilling sight.

Just looking at it instilled fear. If this figure appeared at your bedside in the dead of night, it might scare you to death.

Normally, witnessing the final Apostle's form might have sparked intrigued discussion.

But now, they wished they'd never seen it, because this being was right in their faces.

This was a matter of life and death.

No matter how powerful the Apostles seemed in the newspapers, where people could critique or mock them, seeing them in person was entirely different.

Under their terrifying aura, no one dared breathe too loudly. They were on edge, with no mood for jests.

Only one thought consumed them: Were the guards of Marijoa all useless? How could they let the Demon God's Apostles barge into the Reverie at such a pivotal moment?

This was precisely what the Five Elders were thinking too.

Through the gaping hole in the domed ceiling behind the Apostles, they glimpsed the outside, a foggy, white expanse.

At the same time, they could faintly sense the chaos beyond.

It wasn't just these Apostles, others had invaded too, and in significant numbers.

Were they all demons from that mysterious demon clan?

"Apostles of the demon clan, you've all come out in full force. What business do you have here?"

The Five Elders stood, braving the immense pressure around them to confront the Apostles head-on.

They'd just heard the introduction from "Celestial Dragon."

Celestial Dragon, that was this Apostle's name. Paired with attire mimicking a Celestial Dragon, it made their expressions darken. They sensed this Apostle's existence might tarnish the Celestial Dragons' image.

As an Apostle of the Demon God with fearsome power, its appearance was indeed horrifying.

And that was the problem.

Once Celestial Dragon entered the public eye, he would likely gain massive attention.

The reason?

Its image and name offered endless fodder for speculation.

The newspapers might demonize the Celestial Dragons into something akin to this, and their public image could plummet to monstrous levels!

But that wasn't the Five Elders' concern right now.

With the Apostles in their faces, they had little bandwidth for future fallout.

What worried them most was whether the Demon God behind these Apostles had come to the Holy Land too.

If that terrifying entity was here, things would get dire.

Deep within Pangea Castle, Imu-sama resided, a figure who couldn't be casually exposed, especially in this increasingly perilous era.

The Five Elders were starting to regret their handling of Admiral King.

For this Reverie, to minimize King's influence, they'd kept him off Marijoa.

It was meant to curb kings hoping to reduce Heavenly Gold from getting ideas.

But now, the Apostles had stormed in, right into Pangea Castle, the heart of the Holy Land.

This made them realize the Holy Land's defenses needed bolstering. The slave liberation and Celestial Dragon abductions weren't that long ago.

Now, an even worse crisis had struck.

With nearly all the allied nations' leaders present, they couldn't afford reckless moves.

One misstep, and if these kings were wiped out here, the seas would erupt into chaos.

"Our purpose is simple: we want you, the Five Elders, and the kings of the allied nations to represent the World Government in submitting to His Majesty the Demon God and collectively worshiping him."

"It's a straightforward matter for you all, just nod your heads and live."

Celestial Dragon pulled a black-patterned Den Den Mushi from his collar.

"Of course, you'll also need to offer tribute regularly."

It added this with a playful tone, bubbles gurgling in its headpiece, betraying its amusement.

After Celestial Dragon's words, the room fell silent.

The allied leaders exchanged glances, feeling like they were in a dream. Neither they nor the World Government could possibly agree to this.

But they weren't about to step up. For now, they wanted to hear the Five Elders' response.

"We refuse. How could we agree to something so absurd?"

The Five Elders exchanged a look and rejected the demand as a matter of course.

"As long as you have any sense, you'd know this is impossible."

"And don't forget, even if you have the Demon God behind you, our Marine has Admiral King, who can defeat him."

"You dare invade here, are you tired of living?"

The mustache Elder, Saint Warcury, invoked King's name.

In this moment, facing these audacious Apostles, pulling out King was their only way to intimidate them.

At the same time, they were stalling for reinforcements.

Marijoa itself had considerable strength. Beyond the Five Elders' own formidable power, there was the God's Knights, an elite guard with authority to punish Celestial Dragons, and CP0, the Shield of the Celestial Dragons.

Additionally, some Celestial Dragon families living here possessed strength.

After all, there were elites among them, the God's Knights were drawn from such ranks, though not all elites joined.

By that measure, the Holy Land's inherent power was significant.

Excluding King and Esdeath, the World Government outmatched the Marine in raw strength.

And that was without counting Imu-sama and the national treasure's hidden might.

But however strong they were, the Five Elders, rulers at the top, preferred not to fight unless absolutely necessary.

They hoped the Marine would soon send top-tier forces. Surely, with that massive light-stone pillar piercing Pangea Castle, the Marine had noticed the anomaly by now.

Unfortunately, while they aimed to stall for help, the situation didn't seem to favor them.

"The Sun God King, huh?"

Celestial Dragon's hollow voice echoed through the room.

"I recall he stood by and let your Celestial Dragons die during the Death Island War, didn't he?"

His words shifted the allied leaders' expressions and the Five Elders' faces darkened further.

"Is he truly loyal to your World Government, or to you Celestial Dragons?"

Ignoring the changing faces, Celestial Dragon pressed on.

"But that aside, you have no choice now. Even if you're waiting for his rescue, I'm afraid he won't come."

Everyone's faces twisted in shock at his words.

What did that mean? Could it be…

Gulp! Someone swallowed hard.

Could it be the Demon God behind the Apostles, Ryomen Sukuna, had made a move?!

( End of this chapter )