As Imai pulled down her hood, a strong breeze came causing her dark blue hair to flutter in the wind.
The audience may not know who she was, but the people that happened to be pirates three years ago could recognize the familiar figure in front of them. After all, how could anyone forget such a merciless killer.
"I-it's you!" Brulee said. Her tone showed hints of fear and she, including Oven, had started backing up.
The other pirates started to move away from her too, their heart was beating faster than ever at the sight of Imai. The pirate who was almost killed by her already ran away, he was sweating profusely the moment he saw her.
As for Uta, she stepped back a few steps. She wasn't that nervous since Imai had protected her, meaning she wasn't her enemy. But she was lying if she wasn't scared.
Shanks had told her a few stories about Imai, who was unknown at the time of battle, was on par with him. That to her was insane since Shanks was incredibly strong and he was also an emperor.
But there was a story that he told Uta that she would never forget. Nobody except the world government and the emperors knew about the war that had happened.
The battle on Centaurea, an island in South Blue. Another name for the battle was "Loss of a Million." The reason for the name was because both marines and pirates had a total death count of exactly a million.
And the reason why the world government never leaked any information about the war was because there were only ten figures left standing. The five former admirals and the current four emperors. Big Mom, Kaido, Whitebear, and Shanks. The five former admirals were Fermi, Shishio, Heiwa, Chiyoko, and Daisuke. These ten figures were considered the strongest at the time.
Uta remembered the slight fear in Shanks's eyes when he recalled the incident. The five admirals were incredibly strong, they were on par with each other back then. However, Imai was different. She already had a kill count of two hundred fifty thousand yet she wasn't tired at all.
In fact, she was just getting started. The battle lasted from weeks to even a few months. Imai was young and had plenty of stamina to burn and with the adrenaline boosting her, it was impossible for her to become tired. They all wanted to survive, that was what pushed them to their limits.
Imai's hair was light blue back then, she kept a maniac-like expression during the entire battle. And after the second month of fighting, Imai had changed the tide of the war.
*SHING*
"Two Sword Style, Limb Severing!"
Daisuke, who was said to be the strongest admiral back then, had both his arms, and legs severed off. As if that wasn't enough, Imai picked out his heart using her sword like using a skewer and stabbing meat on it.
Next was Shinsio, his swordsmanship was at the peak of the world. It was said that no one rivaled him in this aspect. But an abnormal existence denied that fact, it was Imai. His life was over the moment his right arm was cut off. He couldn't use his sword any longer.
Imai did the same thing to Shinsio's heart. Two hearts with holes were now lying on the ground next to each other. Shanks and the other emperors were keeping the other admirals busy.
With a crazed smile, Imai went looking for her next victim. And that was Fermi, he made a mistake of letting his emotions take over him, and had his head cut off before realizing it.
His body slumped forward and there were now three hearts lying next to each other. The rest of the emperors had stopped fighting to watch Imai, they couldn't help but feel slightly scared too.
Imai was tired, her hands were numbed, and she couldn't feel a thing in her body. Yet she wanted more, she wanted to kill more, and feast on the sight of the dead bodies that covered the entire island. She didn't have any remorse for them, not even her own allies.
With her two cursed katanas, Shodai Kitesu, and Murasama. She had killed hundreds of thousands and the strongest individuals alive.
Chiyoko, who was begging for mercy, even kneeled to beg Imai to spare her. Imai showed no signs of mercy and only indifference. She cleanly decapitated the female admiral's head.
The last one was Heiwa, she had blonde hair, and green eyes that seemed to have lost the will to fight. She was on her knees staring at the ground in disbelief. Her best friends had been killed by a single person.
"I won't kill you." Imai's cold voice caused Heiwa to look up at her.
"Huh?"
"You will live and report everything that happened to the higher ups, the ones that control this world." Imai said as she held Heiwa's chin.
Heiwa couldn't do anything, if she tried to rebel, her head would definitely be cut off.
*BEEP* *BEEP*
Marine backups had started to arrive, but the battle was long over. The battle on Centaurea had ended, there was no point fighting anymore.
"Now then, it's time for us to go." Imai said, glancing at the four emperors. "Unless the four of you want to fight too."
They all didn't say anything, they were tired after fighting fiercely for months straight. They separated before the marines arrived on the island. Heiwa had told the government everything she witnessed.
And the Battle on Centaurea also known as Loss of a Million had officially ended.
The government, the admirals, and the current emperors would never forget this day. The day when a monster had entered the world.
The battle would be Imai's debut. She was starting to make her name known when several pirates that were strong tried to defeat her.
Hence, the Empress of the Blade officially joined the world of pirates.
And as for when she was declared the Fifth Emperor, that was a story for another day.