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

To save the world, something — or someone — must be lost.

The wind at the edge of the world howled like a mourning god.Raizen stood with what remained of his crew atop the shattered plateau of Ryn'Vael, the last place untouched by the Endbringer's corruption. Beyond the horizon, the sky churned with black fire and violet stormlight. The Void was consuming the world — not with flame, but with silence. With forgetting.

And the Endbringer was almost fully awake.

"This is it," said Sorai, his voice barely audible. "No more thrones. No more crowns. Just us."

Raizen didn't answer. He couldn't. Not yet.

He had already made the decision. He just hadn't told them.

The fallen god Auron, once the Crown's most ardent enemy and now its final witness, explained the truth:The Crown's shattering had set reality free — but also untethered the only seal strong enough to bind the Endbringer.

Now only one thing could stop it: Raizen himself.

Not his sword. Not his strength. His soul.His essence, forged by struggle and sacrifice, was the last vessel strong enough to trap the Endbringer for eternity — at the cost of himself.

"Your journey was never to become a king," Auron said. "It was to become the key."

Raizen listened. Quiet. Resigned.He'd known this ever since the Crown fell apart in his hands.

Kael, bloodied and breathing smoke, demanded they find another way.Elya wept and begged for time they no longer had.Even Sorai — ever the realist — turned his eyes from the truth.

"We didn't come this far for you to be the sacrifice," Kael shouted."No," Raizen said. "You came this far… so the world wouldn't have to be."

One by one, they stopped resisting. Not because they agreed — but because they understood.

Raizen's life had never belonged to him.Not truly. Not since he first touched the Crown.

With heavy steps and heavier hearts, the crew ascended the last peak. Below them, the Endbringer — a colossus of void and memory, swirling in divine decay — loomed. Its mouth opened not to roar, but to erase.

Raizen stepped forward alone.Each footstep echoed with every life he had touched. Every friend. Every foe. Every sacrifice.

"Live well," he said."Don't make me your legend. Make me your beginning."

What happened next, no one could explain.

The sky cracked.The stars dimmed.And then — light.

Brighter than anything before it.A soundless crescendo of hope and grief and endings.

And just like that… the Endbringer was gone.Sealed in a prison made not of chains, but of Raizen's will.

He was nowhere.He was everywhere.He had become the barrier — the ward — the silent sentinel between the world and its end.

The world began to heal.Slowly. Painfully. Beautifully.

Raizen's name became more than history. It became purpose.Not a god. Not a king.

Chapter 1: The Price of Salvation