One Piece: I'm not Roger Chapter 97 97: 97: Ubik

Void's voice continued to echo through the space. His lips never moved, yet every word rang clearly in the ears of all present.

Over the course of a thousand years, the mbers of the God Hand, once human, had long abandoned any sense of kinship with mankind. To them, humans were nothing more than insignificant insects.

"All arrangents have been revealed within the Flow of Causality. The ascension ceremony shall now begin."

His declaration sent countless Apostles into a frenzy. Their distorted forms trembled with excitent as they roared about the feast that was to co.

"Ascension ceremony... X999."

"The Hawk..."

Conrad suddenly shouted, his voice heavy and diseased, causing the entire space to tremble.

"Send the Prince to the altar."

At his command, the countless human faces embedded across the ground and surroundings let out piercing wails. The shrill noise scraped against the ears, enough to make anyone uneasy.

Aether frowned slightly.

The ground rumbled violently as a towering pillar of writhing human flesh rose into the air, lifting Griffith along with it. The pillar resembled a massive gray-black hand, its five fingers representing the positions of the God Hand.

Void stood upon the thumb, symbolizing his authority as their leader. Slan occupied the middle finger, Ubik hovered over the ring finger, and Conrad remained on the pinky.

The index finger was empty.

That position was reserved for Griffith, a clear indication of his importance. His ascension marked the dawn of a new Dark Age.

The constant noise grated on Aether's nerves. He had seen enough.

Without hesitation, he released a surge of Conqueror's Haki.

The air itself twisted under the pressure. The entire space seed to dim as if the world had lost its color.

"Have you been noisy enough, you pieces of trash?"

His voice thundered across the battlefield.

Under the overwhelming force of his Conqueror's Haki, weaker Apostles collapsed instantly. Many fell before they could even transform, their bodies hitting the ground one after another.

The remaining Apostles froze.

They had finally noticed him.

A lone human stood atop a hill in the distance. Even from afar, they could sense it, the scent of his flesh was irresistibly rich, far more tempting than any ordinary human.

Yet none dared to move.

This human, who should have been prey, had released an aura that made even monsters hesitate.

[B and C ranks have generated negative emotions toward the Host, low to mid-level fear and hostility. Reward, 27,989 EXP.]

Aether ignored the notification completely. The Apostles were beneath his attention.

His gaze remained fixed on the four figures above.

The mbers of the God Hand reacted differently. Curiosity, irritation, hostility, each emotion flickered across their unnatural forms. Even they had felt the impact of that Conqueror's Haki.

Slan's lips curled with interest, her eyes lingering on Aether as if she had discovered a new toy. Conrad stared with cold hostility, his earlier excitent disrupted.

[SS rank Void has generated a normal emotion toward the Host, low-level surprise. Reward, 10,000 EXP.]

Void remained silent for a mont before finally speaking.

"Who are you? Why are you absent from the flow of destiny? What purpose brings you here?"

Aether drew Ace, the blade gleaming faintly in the distorted light. Standing alone atop the hill, he faced the towering God Hand as if he were a mortal confronting gods.

"My na is Aether. I am human. I ca here because that trash Griffith drew my interest. I wanted to see whether you are stronger, or if my blade is sharper."

Silence followed.

The Apostles were stunned. A human, openly challenging the God Hand, was sothing they had never imagined.

Even the mbers of the Band of the Hawk were shaken. Monts ago, despair had consud them when they learned they were sacrifices. Now, a human had appeared, standing against the monsters.

Griffith, kneeling within the fleshy palm, felt a flicker of confusion.

He had never invited this man.

"Hehe, how amusing. A re human dares to challenge us."

Slan laughed, her body trembling slightly as excitent flickered in her eyes.

Ubik floated forward, his grotesque form twisting as he approached Aether with a mocking smile.

"Mortal, whatever gave you the courage to co here, it will not save you. Your fate is to beco a sacrifice."

Aether glanced at him briefly, then spoke in a flat tone.

"And what gave you the courage to co so close to ?"

In the next instant, his aura erupted again.

The sky darkened. His pupils turned a deep red, and black lightning-like energy wrapped around his blade.

Advanced Conqueror's Haki coated Ace, distorting the space around it.

"God's Evasion."

A massive dark red slash tore through the air.

Ubik's expression changed the mont Aether moved, but it was too late. The attack struck him directly, sending his body flying across the landscape. The force of the blow shattered multiple behelit hills in its path.

Before Ubik could be completely destroyed, Void intervened, warping space and dragging him back onto the giant hand.

Even so, Ubik's condition was terrible.

His body had nearly been split in half. Though he began to regenerate, the process was slow and unstable. Without Void's intervention, he would have been erased entirely.

The God Hand were shaken.

A human had nearly killed one of them.

[SS rank Void has generated negative emotion toward the Host, mid-level hostility. Reward, 20,000 EXP.]

[SS rank Slan has generated negative emotion toward the Host, mid-level hostility. Reward, 20,000 EXP.]

[SS rank Conrad has generated negative emotion toward the Host, high-level hostility. Reward, 50,000 EXP.]

[SS rank Ubik has generated negative emotion toward the Host, high-level fear. Reward, 50,000 EXP.]

Aether smiled faintly.

So even they could feel fear.

He raised Ace and pointed it directly at them.

"Why don't you all co at together, you pieces of trash?"

The entire space fell into an unnatural silence.

The Apostles stared in disbelief. A mber of the God Hand had been severely wounded, sothing they could not process.

anwhile, hope flickered within the Band of the Hawk.

In the depths of despair, soone had stepped forward against the darkness.

Casca moved closer to Guts, gripping his hand tightly.

"Guts, we might survive this. That man can hurt them."

"I know," Guts replied, his gaze locked onto Aether, "but they said he's human. Can a human really possess power like that?"

Slan watched Aether closely, her expression shifting into sothing darker, more dangerous.

"Hehe… what an interesting man. I wonder how he would feel…"