The alchemy of the Western Kingdom forms the foundation of imperial weapons, making Dotya incredibly important. If Shira didn't possess the Shangri-La imperial weapon, Daniel Davis wouldn't have even bothered with him. Dotya, on the other hand, was different.
Her alchemy skills were top-tier, even in the Western Kingdom, comparable to the previously prominent Dr. Fashion. She could even modify supreme imperial weapons.
"Room, Slaughterhouse." While Champ's imperial weapon was frozen and immobilized, Daniel Davis swiftly created a spatial field with his Op-Op Fruit powers. Using a table within the theater, he swapped Dotya and Cosmia—who had just broken through a window and tried to escape—back into the room.
The sudden change in space caught Dotya and Cosmia off guard for a brief moment. In that instant, Daniel kicked Cosmia's right arm, breaking it, causing the microphone she was holding to fall from her grasp.
The microphone, called Earth's Roar, was Cosmia's imperial weapon. Its shape resembled a microphone, functioning as a sonic weapon, perfectly suited for her career as a singer. Earth's Roar could convert sound into ultrasonic waves, destroying anything within its range, akin to a lion's roar. Of course, that wasn't its only ability. If used properly, it could act as a sound modulator, enhancing Cosmia's beautiful voice—something she had long relied on.
As her right arm broke, Cosmia let out a piercing scream. As a renowned songstress, she had never experienced such pain before.
Bang.
Cosmia's scream abruptly ended when Daniel kicked her in the chest, sending her flying over ten meters. She crashed into several tables and chairs in the theater, finally passing out when she came to a halt.
Neither Flameheart nor Cosmia were killed by Daniel; he only severely injured them. This wasn't because he wanted to recruit them as subordinates—he was selective about who he took in, much like with the Four Rakshasa Demons, where he had only kept three. The reason for sparing them was to publicly try them as part of the Wild Hound faction. His goal was to expose the empire's corruption, so he needed individuals for the public to vent their anger on. Public executions send a very different message than private assassinations.
It's similar to the Navy's insistence on publicly executing Ace in One Piece. If they had simply killed Ace quietly in Impel Down, the subsequent war would have never happened, and even Whitebeard wouldn't have launched an attack on Marineford.
Figures like Prime Minister Onest, along with his four trusted aides who controlled the empire's military, political, financial, and espionage sectors, needed to be publicly judged and executed after their crimes were laid bare.
After sending Cosmia flying, Daniel moved swiftly. He grabbed Dotya by the mouth and yanked out her two sharp fangs.
The Blood Collection imperial weapon, resembling vampire fangs, allowed Dotya to strengthen herself and rapidly heal by absorbing the blood of others. It was an incredibly powerful tool, and Dotya had long used it to terrorize the Western Kingdom. As a beautiful woman, she used this imperial weapon in ways that were hard to guard against.
Blood Collection could be compared to a weaker version of the Bat-Bat Fruit.
Dotya, despite looking around the same age as Cosmia, was actually much older. She maintained her youthful appearance through both her alchemical skills and the power of Blood Collection, which had earned her the title of "Western Witch."
"Give it back to me." Losing her imperial weapon drove Dotya into a frenzy. It was essential for maintaining her youthful looks, and eternal youth was something no woman could resist.
Even cosmetic products that offered only a slight semblance of youthful effects made immense profits annually. These were false promises of eternal youth, so one could only imagine how valuable true eternal youth would be.
A large portion of Daniel's revenue in the Marvel Universe came from products that capitalized on this very desire.
"Quiet." Daniel knocked Dotya out as she raged.
"Get lost." At that moment, a cold snort came from Esdeath, and Izo was sent flying like a ragdoll, rolling several times before finally stopping.
Izo had been relied upon by Shira to challenge Esdeath, and he was certainly no weakling. In the original story, Akame had to put in considerable effort to defeat him. He was supposed to be able to give Esdeath a tough fight.
However, Esdeath was no longer the same. After mastering the Breath of Water, her strength had doubled. Against such a formidable opponent, Izo stood no chance and was completely crushed.
A single slash left Izo gravely wounded, and his beloved sword now bore several long cracks. One more hit and it would likely be destroyed.
"So this is the empire's strongest warrior?" Izo's eyes filled with confusion as the strike he had been preparing for so long was easily countered by Esdeath's casual blow.
Before this moment, Izo had believed that even if he wasn't Esdeath's equal, the gap between them wasn't too large. However, reality hit him hard, just like how Kaido had shattered the confidence of Gecko Moria in One Piece. Izo now felt like those pirates who, after cruising through Paradise, found themselves utterly outmatched upon entering the New World.
"You should lie down too." Daniel suddenly appeared behind Champ, who was still dazed, and broke both of his arms before confiscating his imperial weapon.
Champ screamed in agony as his arms snapped.
"Be quiet."
"Vice-captain, may I handle him?" Just as Daniel was about to knock Champ out, Lan approached with an unusually calm expression as he looked at Champ.
"You've got a personal grudge against him? Alright, he's yours." Understanding the look in Lan's eyes, Daniel kicked the screaming Champ over to him.
"Thank you." Lan grabbed Champ and, with his imperial weapon Thousand Mile Flight, flew off.
"Esdeath, my father and General Bude won't let you get away with this." Finally, unable to bear the torment any longer, Shira resorted to his biggest card: his connections.
"They won't? With just them?" Esdeath sneered at Shira's desperate claim.
"You..." Shira seemed to realize something, but it was already too late.
"I'll head to the palace shortly," Daniel said as he stored Flameheart and the others using the Benevolent Bandages. He nodded at Esdeath, then vanished using Apparition.
"It's time for us to start too." Esdeath conjured an ice spear, pierced Shira's shoulder, and hoisted him up as she made her way toward the imperial palace.
Onlookers who saw this turned pale and hurriedly fled, while the guards' faces grew increasingly grim. General Esdeath had just attacked Prime Minister Onest's son, an action that hinted at something ominous: the empire was crumbling.
When Daniel reappeared, he was in the training ground at the imperial capital's eastern barracks. Despite the revolutionaries approaching the capital, the soldiers here were still undisciplined, thanks to High Commander Gao Qi, one of Onest's trusted aides.
As the saying goes, "There are policies from above, but countermeasures below." Even with General Bude overseeing the military, the soldiers had grown complacent under his leadership. Aside from those directly commanded by General Bude, the rest of the imperial troops were virtually useless. Most officers and captains had bought their positions through bribes.
"It's time." Daniel surveyed the area and opened a massive portal of mystical energy. On the other side, the Northern Army stood ready and waiting.
"Sir." As the portal opened, Esdeath's elite forces, led by the Three Beasts, began marching through in an orderly fashion.
"Esdeath has already begun her mission. Follow the plan and secure the three city gates. No one is allowed to leave."
"Yes, sir."
The Three Beasts split up, and the Northern Army was divided into three groups, each following one of the Beasts.
The imperial capital had only three gates since the fourth side faced the palace.
"Who goes there?" The commotion quickly attracted the attention of the guards, and soon the two sides clashed.
On one side were unprepared soldiers, never imagining anyone could directly attack the capital. On the other side, the well-drilled and highly capable Northern Army swiftly overwhelmed them. The battle was brief, and the capital's soldiers didn't even have time to send out a warning.
"It's a shame Shangri-La has only just fallen into my hands. Otherwise, it could've been useful here." The Shangri-La imperial weapon allowed for near-instantaneous transportation, which was faster than the mystical portal, as it directly teleported people rather than requiring them to pass through a gate.
This imperial weapon was one of the reasons the empire's upper echelons were confident. The Wild Hounds had been swiftly recognized, and even General Bude had favored Shira largely because of Shangri-La.
General Bude hadn't launched an offensive against the revolutionaries, believing that once they reached the capital's gates, he could use Shangri-La to transport troops and crush them. His plan mirrored Daniel's strategy.
Though the revolutionaries had superior numbers, Shangri-La could teleport the empire's troops behind enemy lines, or disperse the revolutionaries' forces.
Of course, teleporting the revolutionaries directly to the borders was impossible. Shangri-La's teleportation consumed more energy the farther it moved people and the more targets it had. In that regard, it was inferior to Daniel's mystical portal.
Daniel had similar plans in mind. No matter how many revolutionary soldiers there were, he could use the mystical portal to open a gateway beneath their feet and transport them away. The versatility of the mystical portal in battle was nearly invincible, which was why even Odin had been irritated by the Ancient One's tactics. The ability to manipulate space so easily was borderline cheating, even Daniel himself admitted that.
Shangri-La's teleportation consumed too much energy for long distances or large groups, making it impossible to teleport people to distant planets, even for Daniel. However, the mystical portal had no such limitations. If Daniel wanted, he could set a marker on the moon and use the portal to send the Navy Admirals, or even Garp and Sengoku, to the moon with a single move. It would be as simple as that.
It's like that video where someone used a mystical portal to decapitate the head of the universe's family planning official. Though it wasn't realistic, it still demonstrated the potential of the mystical portal. After all, didn't Thanos' subordinate have his arm severed by the same trick?
Daniel had never used these strategies in combat before because he was saving them as trump cards, to be played at the most critical moments.
Even someone as powerful as Thanos had been caught off guard and confused when facing the combination of mystical portal tactics during battle.
"Is the Northern Army rebelling? Where's Esdeath?" As Daniel maintained the portal, a group of Northern Army soldiers escorted a prisoner toward him. Among the 400,000 soldiers in the Northern Army, it took time for all of them to cross the portal.
"Well, if it isn't General Gao Qi." Despite maintaining the portal, Daniel was surprised to see that the prisoner being brought to him was none other than Gao Qi.
"It's you! Esdeath is leading a rebellion!" Gao Qi immediately grasped the situation as soon as he saw Daniel, not to mention the giant mystical portal in front of him.
"Rebellion? No, we're here to rid the empire of pests like you." Daniel smiled at Gao Qi.
"General Bude will never let you get away with this." Gao Qi, after a moment of silence, began shouting defiantly.
"How amusing that you're relying on General Bude. Break his limbs and hang him up. We'll deal with him later."
"Yes, sir."
"You can't do this to me! I surrender! I can help you!" Gao Qi yelled desperately as he was dragged away. But neither Daniel nor the soldiers paid any attention. With a scream of agony, Gao Qi's limbs were shattered.
The four trusted aides of Prime Minister Onest had committed countless atrocities. Each of them deserved to die a hundred times over. Letting them die a quick death would be far too lenient.
In this regard, Akame was the most merciful. Her style was always to kill with a single blow, never torturing her victims.
"What are you trying to do, Esdeath?" At the gates of the imperial palace, General Bude was already waiting when Esdeath arrived, hoisting Shira like a trophy. The palace walls were lined with Imperial Guards.
Behind the Imperial Guards stood Prime Minister Onest, along with several other civil and military officials, watching the scene unfold from the palace walls. Esdeath's high-profile actions had quickly reached the palace.
Daniel hadn't kept the Prime Minister under control for long. After extracting the necessary information, he had released him.
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