"World Government. Summoning Magic: Void Familiar."
"So I've come to another world?"
"B-But I… but I still have a challenge to fight… Forget it, forget it. My swordsmanship is trash anyway. I thought I was so great, but I'm just garbage—trash."
After listening to Joseph's explanation, Brian collapsed to the ground at once, muttering in a depressed daze like a stray dog that had lost its home, all will to fight gone.
Just then, a pair of soft, fair hands gently cupped his vacant face.
Brian looked up and saw an elf girl of unbelievable beauty, her eyes brimming with gentleness and pity.
Her flawless golden hair, under the sunlight, actually shimmered.
"Mr. Brian, I'm very sorry for summoning you here without asking," she said. "But whether it's me or everyone else, we all need your help."
"If it's alright, I would very much like to hear your story. Could you tell me why you're so dejected?"
Tiffania's soft voice was so pleasant, so melodious, so alluring—above all, the considerate, empathetic air about her made one unconsciously feel fondness and trust.
Behind them, Joseph, Louise, and the others were anxious to revive Brimir, yet they also understood they should first help this newly summoned Void Familiar regain a normal state of mind.
And in their hearts, they too were curious: what exactly had frightened him so badly?
"Since long ago, people have called me a genius of the sword. In the kingdom, only the Warrior Captain Gazef was slightly stronger than I was."
"That made me think that even across the whole continent, I could count as a strong man."
"But tonight I ran into a monster who, after just a few clashes of the blade, drove me into crushing despair."
"In that moment I realized I was actually weak—very weak. Thinking about it now, humans really are an inferior species. So-called talent, before those monsters, is nothing but a joke."
Under Tiffania's gentle reassurance, Brian calmly poured out what lay in his heart.
But that one line—'humans really are an inferior species'—
—made everyone present knit their brows, their faces darkening as they looked at him.
"So what exactly was the monster that beat you? What abilities does it have?" Joseph, too, was growing impatient.
"Uh… she called herself Shalltear Bloodfallen. She should be a vampire—she can manipulate blood!"
"But when she fought me, she didn't use any abilities at all. Sh—She blocked all my swordplay with the fingernail of her little finger!"
Brian clenched his fists, his face ashen; even now he still found it unbelievable.
"Vampires… so they really are monsters out of legend," Louise whispered to the young man standing before her, Hiraga Saito.
"Mm. Every world seems to have vampire legends, but we've never actually seen one—who'd have thought…" Saito nodded.
In the distance, Captain Laskey raised an eyebrow at what he heard over his earpiece. He was very interested in the vampire race. Unfortunately, Brian's presence was so faint that Laski couldn't gauge the opponent's true power from it.
After a short while, both sides had a basic understanding of one another. Brian steadied himself, lifted his longsword, and stood, ready to cooperate with their operation. After all, the girl named Louise had said there was a chance he could return to his own world—he just needed the World Government's permission first.
It seemed Louise had really learned her lesson. She now understood that even her Void Magic fell under the World Government's jurisdiction.
Soon, the four Void mages took their places at the four corners, while the four Void Familiars stood by their masters. Set out in the center were the "Founder's Prayer Book," "Founder's Round Mirror," "Founder's Music Box," and "Founder's Censer," as well as a solid, entirely crimson "Philosopher's Stone" about 22 cm across.
This was because Brimir had revealed that the ultimate Void spell, "Life," requires exhausting vast reserves of a Void mage's spirit, life force, and soul. Ordinarily, a single Void mage had to be sacrificed—or a Void Familiar willing to take their place.
Fortunately, the World Government was no longer what it used to be—or rather, the high and mighty Imu had changed. In Imu's view, a Void Familiar summoned from another world, combined with Brimir and Louise's "World Gate" magic, likely pointed to yet another new world, and thus was not to be wasted lightly.
As it happened, Imu had several "Philosopher's Stones" on hand with no pressing use; he simply produced one to help with Brimir's revival. This, however, did not come without a price. Imu had already inscribed a "Covenant of Truth" upon the stone. If Brimir revived by absorbing it, he would automatically become Imu's vassal god.
This had already been made clear to him by the Five Elders.
Brimir did not hesitate; he agreed in one breath. Right now, he wanted nothing more than for himself and Sasha to be brought back to life and to live a normal, good life.
He was only a little surprised that above the Five Elders there still existed a true boss. But it did not matter. Since he had decided to submit, what difference did it make whom he knelt to?
Louise raised her wand and solemnly recited the long incantation.
Brimir could not assist with this process. When the magic was invoked, the mage herself had to call with fierce intent, from the depths of her heart, for his rebirth.
Conveniently, Louise knew that if they wanted leniency from the World Government—and wanted to get everyone out of Impel Down—they had to revive Brimir. Only then would this group of Void mages carry greater weight. Her urgency fit the spell's conditions perfectly.
[Vmmm————]
All at once, pillars of light soared from the bodies of Louise, Joseph, Tiffania, and Pope Vittorio. The marks on Hiraga Saito's left hand, on Julio's right hand, on Sheffield's forehead, and over Brian's chest also began to gleam.
At the same time, the four Founder's Secret Treasures set in the center together with that massive Philosopher's Stone, burst into a brilliant white radiance.
Under the distant gaze of Laskey, Amatori Biba, and the others, the entire floating island was swallowed by light. Not only was it hard to look at with the naked eye, even Observation Haki could not sense a single presence within.
Four minutes.
At that moment, in midair within the island, there suddenly appeared a handsome youth in a plain gray robe, short golden hair framing his features.
He looked to be about the same age as Hiraga Saito.
Yet just as everyone thought he would descend, Brimir turned into a streak of white light and vanished without a trace.
"Captain, he ran!" A CP agent shouted into his earpiece, startled by the sight.
"No," Laskey replied, his voice calm as he addressed the whole team. "Our mission is complete. Withdraw."
There were some things that only he, here on the scene, knew.
A clear, faintly rippling emerald hue.
Though there was nothing beneath him, he felt the sure touch of solid ground.
A pale green glow suffused every direction, yet the wonders of the outside world remained plainly visible.
These were the sights that flooded in after Brimir's vision flashed.
He first glanced down, almost by reflex, at the glowing diagram of the "Kabbalistic Tree of Life" on the back of his right hand.
Then he lifted his gaze to the figures ahead.
Two giants, each by eye well over 20 m tall, wore golden armor laced with blood-red tracery and white capes at their shoulders.
With their visors lowered, their expressions could not be seen; if anything, it lent them a heavier, more awe-inspiring air.
Yet despite their vast size, Brimir let his eyes pass over them.
He could tell the true focus lay on the burly man ahead—at the same height as himself—draped in a white coat over a black suit, and on the black-haired man standing aloft in midair, clad in a white robe patterned with gold, his eyes sharp as a hawk's.
"Hey, Brimir, right? Name's Monkey D. Garp. I'm a member of the War God Hall—title, the 'Four Seas Iron Fist' Warrior God."
"By Lord Imu's special order, I'm here to test your strength. If you pass, then congratulations—you'll become a member of the Star God Hall."
Across from Garp—
Brimir, eyes intent, looked toward the silent figure in the air.
Though the man merely stood there, he exuded a domineering force that seemed to tower over all things, sweeping over Brimir as a pressure that made his nerves taut.
"Are you Lord Imu?"
"If I fail this test, what happens?"
"Die."
That single word from Imu froze the atmosphere of the extradimensional space.
"Then it seems I have no choice. Where do we fight, and when?"
Brimir looked at the "Covenant of 'Truth'" on the back of his hand, knowing the other side could have him at their mercy through it.
"Right here, right now!"
Garp barked the words, baring a broad grin that showed two rows of snow-white teeth.
Even as the last syllable fell, a silver-gray sheen blossomed across his body.
Alarms blared in Brimir's mind. With no time to think, he unleashed void mana, forming a white light-shield around himself and catching the incoming fist—streaking at him like a meteor—just in time.
[BOOM!!!]
Silver-gray brilliance smashed into the white shield.
The air itself seemed to detonate.
In an instant, the space around the two became a vacuum.
Garp's booming laughter rang out ahead.
"Bwahaha!"
"Not bad—you actually blocked this old man's punch!"
But for all the praise, Brimir could not bring himself to smile.
He could not bring himself to smile—because across the surface of the light-shield before him, cracks were visibly spreading out from the point of the fist.
This was the first time he had ever seen such a thing.
A barrier wrought from void mana… actually struggling to withstand the other man's punches?!
Garp, however, took a different view: if Brimir could block an attack imbued with his Colorless Haki, that alone proved Brimir's strength at least surpassed that of the current Generals.
"Show me everything you've got, Brimir!!"
Garp's aura thundered forth, and his figure became a silver-gray meteor.
At an unbelievable speed, he hammered the void shield from every direction.
With each impact, ring after ring of spiderweb cracks blasted across its surface.
Brimir knew he could not keep taking blows.
He spread his arms, condensing before him a white orb the size of a basketball.
"Explosion!"
It was the most basic—and most brutal—attack in void magic.
Because Garp was too fast, he did not hurl the orb; he detonated it on the spot.
[BOOM—]
In an instant, the orb burst, and dazzling white light surged outward.
Yet at the split second before the orb exploded, Garp pulled back, trailing afterimages.
The residual glare washing over him could not penetrate the layer of Colorless Haki sheathing his body.
Brimir was stunned. "Is his reaction speed simply beyond belief, or did he foresee my attack?"
Garp gave him no time to think. Once more he became a silver-gray meteor and drove straight in.
Brimir dismissed the shattered shield.
At the critical instant when Garp flashed before his eyes, Brimir turned into white light and vanished without a trace—reappearing in the next heartbeat about 100 m away.
"Teleportation?!"
Surprise touched Garp's face.
But he did not dwell on it; he lunged on in high-speed pursuit.
For a time, Brimir and Garp fought without respite.
The former flickered back and forth between teleportation and Explosion, constantly widening the gap while firing orb after orb and detonating them in succession along Garp's path, each blast carving a new sphere of blinding white into the void.
During this stretch, Brimir also tried void spells like "Dispel," "Phantom," "Oblivion," and "Imprisonment," but without exception, none had any effect.
He realized that the silver-gray radiance sheathing Garp seemed to possess unbelievable resistance to magic.
What was more, every punch carried terrifying force.
Even a miss would churn up a howling gale through the void, and the very fabric of space would tremble, disrupting the casting of teleportation.
To think that pure martial skill alone could suppress him—the "Founder of Magic"—to this extent…
"In that case, I won't hold back!"
Brimir flickered again and again as white light through the green expanse.
Cold light flashed in his eyes as he watched Garp press in relentlessly.
"Don't blame me if you die!"
In the next second he halted, leveled the forefinger of his right hand at the onrushing silver-gray streak.
"Disintegration!!!"
In an instant, a lance of white lightning shot from between his fingers.
It was a Void esoteric capable of reducing any substance to its elementary particles—
"So you're finally serious? Good—bring it!!!"
Garp was not alarmed but delighted; he had long heard that Brimir wielded a spell akin to the shinobi world's [Dust Release].
He wanted to see whether his Colorless Haki could take it.
As for the risk of losing an arm if he failed—he paid it no mind.
By now, Garp had long since mastered Life Return, to the point of limb regeneration.
Garp's knotted muscles swelled; force roared through him in a rushing torrent of radiance as he hurled himself straight into the incoming white bolt.
[CRACK—]
His right fist, sheathed in a silver-gray glow, collided with the crackling white lightning.
The surrounding, wave-clear emerald space tore open with hideous fissures as the explosive energy shuddered through it.
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