Yay, I knew Loki won't be just some punching bag to show how powerful Imu is. Zoro and Sanji did that job just fine, unfortunately.
it's narrative slingshotting.
he was a punching bag in the beginning of the arc (with Shamrock/Gunko while bound) to show how much punishment he can take so that at the other bookend of the arc we can see how much punishment he can dish out (to their boss while not bound).
i dont think Imu is going to win this with pure brute force/ability. he needs nidhogg, and specifically needs nidhogg and nika to NOT BE ALLIED. like that is priority #1 that he has to quickly figure out before leaving in time for his curse to not kill (?) him (?)
elbaf has two paths forward in the story: become luffy's territory and somehow be protected by that (unlikely) or be conquered by Imu (likely). I do think it'll be a bittersweet mix of the two with the land and most of the population being conquered but the surviving giants that make it out under Luffy's flag who will vow to free their land and people.
anyways... the adam tree is going to be demonified
it is suspicious we haven't seen the third, topmost level of that adam tree btw.
a demon in heaven?