Mouad_ML

Five years before Monkey D. Luffy sets sail to become the King of the Pirates, another name stirs the seas with fear and ambition.

Born on the brutal Noctis Island, Raizen D. Crow witnessed firsthand the cruelty of a lawless world. While others dreamed of freedom, Raizen dreamed of domination. Armed with the forbidden Kuro Kuro no Mi — granting him the power to control living darkness — he vowed to unite the seas under a single iron rule.

Gathering a fleet of the most dangerous outcasts, assassins, and fallen marines, Raizen wages a silent war against the corrupt forces of the world. His mission is clear: seize the ancient weapons, crush the chaotic pirate era, and forge an empire where peace is enforced by absolute power.

As he clashes with rising heroes, secret government agents, and even future legends like a young Crocodile, Raizen’s ambition casts a long shadow across the seas — one that even the World Government cannot ignore.

But far away, a boy with a straw hat is preparing to set sail… and the age of dreams is about to challenge the age of control.

Before the dawn of a new era... there was a storm.

One Piece: Shadows Before Dawn

The end is not always a fall — sometimes, it is a choice. A requiem. A rebirth.

The sky wept stardust.Reality, still trembling from Raizen's final confrontation with the Endbringer, began to settle into silence. The vast black void that once hung over existence like a curse was now threaded with trembling light.

And at the center of it all stood Raizen, the Crown of Shadows hovering just above his open palm. No longer fractured. No longer chaotic.

Whole. Silent. Waiting.

It pulsed with infinite promise. With terror. With truth.He had fought for it, bled for it, watched comrades fall in its shadow. Now the choice was his.

Around him, his allies gathered — the wounded, the weary, the survivors of a war against gods and time. Kael, limping. Elya, barely able to stand. Sorai, eyes hollow with grief yet still burning with hope.

They had all followed Raizen here.But none of them could make this choice for him.

"We were never meant to carry this," Kael said quietly. "It was meant to end us. Or remake us."

"And yet," murmured Elya, "It never broke you, Raizen. Not really."

He didn't answer.Because in truth, he was already breaking.

The Crown, now bound to him by blood and soul, whispered in voices older than the stars. It offered peace. Power. Immortality. With it, he could restore everything. Every city lost. Every life extinguished. Every ruin could rise again, bathed in the perfection of his will.

"This is your reward," the Crown whispered."You earned this. You are this."

The Crown showed him a future.Not in words, but in flashes.

A world where Raizen ruled as protector. As god.

But power demands balance. And in every vision, the peace he created became suffocating. Order without freedom. Prosperity without purpose. A throne without challengers. A king without peers.

He saw himself atop a perfect empire — alone, unloved, untouched. A god in a golden cage.

Was that salvation?Or a curse dressed as mercy?

The Crown, shattered. Its power scattered across the cosmos. The world reborn, not by force, but by will. A world that must learn to live — and fall — and rise — without him. Without gods. Without crutches.

That world would suffer. It would stumble.

But it would be free.

And Raizen? Just a man again. Scarred. Weary. Mortal.

Could he live with that?Could he step away?

"This is your final act," Sorai said, watching him."Not as a weapon. Not as a king. As you."

Raizen looked at the Crown. It shimmered with infinite potential.

Then he looked at his crew. His family. His world.

He lifted the Crown —Held it high —And…

With a wordless cry, Raizen summoned all the strength left in his soul. The Crown of Shadows exploded in a blinding burst of starlight and shadow, shards of ancient magic dissolving into dust.

Reality convulsed.The heavens screamed.The cosmos wept.

The pressure lifted. The skies cleared. The world took its first breath — on its own — in millennia.

There was no applause.No celebration.Only stillness. And peace.

The gods were gone.The Court dismantled.The Crown no more.

"You could have ruled it all," Kael whispered.

"I'd rather live in a flawed world… than rule over a perfect lie."

Chapter 15: Requiem for a Crown