"Charlotte!"
Seeing the ice and freezing air covering the mountains and fields, seeing Hachinosu transformed into a snowy wonderland, and seeing Charlotte Gore turned into an ice sculpture, Selra Vayne and Raizen Kael's expressions changed drastically.
Although Charlotte Gore had recently betrayed them in battle, attempting to abandon them and run away alone, they were, after all, pirates from the same era.
From mutual hostility before the Great Pirate Era to the beginning of the Great Pirate Era when Ochoku became one of the Four Emperors, the two sides were on the same side.
After decades of living together day and night, there must have been some feelings involved.
Having witnessed Charlotte Gore being completely frozen, Selra Vayne and Raizen Kael were naturally not happy.
Moreover, they are currently fighting against Rosen.
With one of the three leaders gone, their pressure is greater and their chances of winning are even lower.
hold head high
Just as Selra Vayne and Raizen Kael felt as if a mountain was pressing down on their hearts, and they were suffocating with overwhelming force, a loud sound like a dragon's roar suddenly rang out. Then, behind the pair of ice claws that had frozen Hachinosu and Charlotte Gore in an instant, a colossal figure slowly emerged.
From a distance, it looks like a serpentine sea monster capable of swallowing an island whole.
Even the giants, renowned for their immense size, were but objects in the palm of this figure's hand.
The moment the figure fully materialized and became tangible, the sky above Hachinosu immediately turned dark.
It wasn't that it was getting late, but rather that the sun, which hung overhead over Hachinosu, was being obscured.
"A dragon?"
Selra Vayne and Raizen Kael looked up at the giant ice dragon that hovered in the sky above Hachinosu. With just a pair of icy wings spread, it could cover the sky and darken the heavens. The two of them couldn't help but shrink their pupils and show their horror.
"Rosen, you!"
Ochoku glanced at Rosen, who stood atop the ice rock, and then at the enormous ice dragon hovering behind him. His face, already pale from the hole in his chest inflicted by the Kamishini no Yari, now showed not only shock and bewilderment but also a deep sense of astonishment.
"You mean to ask why I can use Hyōrinmaru's ability even though I didn't call out the name of my Zanpakutō, right?"
Rosen, holding the Hyōrinmaru in his hand, looked down at Ochoku and the others from his high position.
"..."
Ochoku didn't speak, but stared intently at the Hyōrinmaru, whose left hand was gripped by Rosen and exuded a chilling aura.
Obviously.
That's what he meant.
"Then I'll ask you again."
"Ochoku".
"When did you start having the misconception that I have to call out a name in order to unleash my Zanpakutō?"
Rosen looked at Ochoku with a half-smile.
"You, you did this on purpose!"
Upon hearing this, Ochoku's expression changed repeatedly.
This moment.
A surge of turmoil welled up inside him.
Always.
Among the Four Emperors, he is not the strongest, but he is definitely the most cunning and ruthless.
But now.
Compared to Rosen, Ochoku felt he was far from cunning enough!
When it comes to deep cunning, no one can match the man before me.
"Yes."
"From the first time I used my Zanpakutō's ability, I deliberately called out the name of my Zanpakutō in front of others, and I have kept this habit to this day."
"Even when I used the Kamishini no Yari to snipe you, one of the Four Emperors, I deliberately called out the name of the Kamishini no Yari in front of you first, just to create the illusion that I had to call out the name of the sword before I could unleash the Zanpakutō."
As Rosen watched Ochoku's increasingly gloomy and unpleasant expression, the smile in his eyes deepened:
"You must have thought you had found my weakness."
"That's right."
"Pay the price for your arrogance!"
He glanced at Charlotte Gore, who had been frozen into an ice sculpture along with the frozen Hachinosu.
Island-Island Fruit.
If you're strong, then you're strong; but if you want to target someone, it's really too easy.
This is especially true for powerful individuals who possess the ability to alter terrain.
"hateful!"
Ochoku gritted his teeth, gripping the knife even tighter until his palms turned a bit bluish.
He hadn't expected that the four of them working together, plus his own seizing of Rosen's weakness, would be able to finish off the man in one fell swoop, or at the very least severely injure him on the spot.
Never thought.
The so-called flaw was nothing more than a trap that Rosen had already set a year ago when he ate the Arms-Arms Fruit and created his first Zanpakutō.
Normally, he would be overjoyed to see Charlotte Gore, who betrayed him, get killed, but now, he really couldn't feel happy.
At such a critical moment, even a damned traitor like Charlotte Gore is a valuable asset in the fight against Rosen.
But what about now?
The four men surrounded and attacked Rosen, but instead of achieving any results, they lost a pirate of officer rank in a single encounter. Instead of being happy, Ochoku felt an unprecedented sense of defeat and frustration.
It seems that ever since Rosen landed on Hachinosu and declared war on him, he, as one of the Four Emperors, has been constantly suffering setbacks and frustrations.
The Ochoku Pirates, with a force of ten thousand, attempted to ambush and kill Rosen, but Rosen used a Sakanade to cause the pirates to turn on each other, resulting in heavy casualties and very few survivors.
He was ambushed by the Four Emperors and three of their subordinates, but he was tragically killed by the Kamishini no Yari, which pierced his chest and dissolved his body. Although he survived for the time being, he was now on the countdown to death.
After finally persuading the traitorous Charlotte Gore, and launching a decisive attack targeting Rosen's weaknesses, they not only failed to achieve anything but also lost one of the three leaders, further reducing the fighting force against Rosen.
"No need for that ugly expression."
"If you want to see me shout out the name of my Zanpakutō, then I can grant your wish."
Rosen raised the Hyōrinmaru:
"Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyōrinmaru."
Even after calling out the name, nothing changed.
After all, Hyōrinmaru had already released its Shikai, so it was impossible for it to release it a second time.
At the very least, Hyōrinmaru does not have the ability to undergo a second Shikai.
However, it wasn't without reason that Rosen called out the names of Shikai and Hyōrinmaru this time.
For Ochoku, every word he uttered was like a sharp knife, piercing his abdomen and heart again and again, dismembering his dignity completely.
"Rosen!"
Seeing Rosen shout out meaningless Zanpakutō release phrases and true names in front of him, Ochoku nearly went berserk under the pressure of death, the frustration of repeated setbacks, and the anger of being mocked.
His eyes were bloodshot, not from using Observation Haki, but from extreme anger that caused them to become bloodshot.
"Go to hell!"
Ochoku's face was contorted with rage, like a maddened beast. He wielded a longsword crackling with Haki black lightning and flashed in front of Rosen. With a ferocious slash powerful enough to tear a mountain apart, he slashed down at Rosen's head.
Of course.
Although he appeared hysterical, he wasn't completely out of his mind.
While launching the attack, he did not forget to use the Warp-Warp Fruit to move Selra Vayne and Raizen Kael to Rosen's vicinity.
"Comet Falls!"
Raizen Kael unleashed his inner power and Haki, unleashing a shockwave as massive as a comet.
"One-Sword Style: Piercing the Clouds".
Selra Vayne unleashed a sword strike, a sharp and powerful slash that could pierce the clouds and break through the air, hurtling towards Rosen like a laser beam.
The Four Emperors.
The emperor's right and left arms.
The three launched another earth-shattering attack.
Whether it was the furious Ochoku, or Selra Vayne and Raizen Kael, they all thought that this attack would be difficult to achieve and would definitely be blocked by Rosen.
Unexpected
Click
Ochoku's Haki, a divine sword, could tear mountains apart.
Selra Vayne's Haki slash that pierced through the clouds and broke through the sky.
And a powerful punch as heavy as a falling comet.
With the incredible speed of the Warp-Warp Fruit, plus the combined attack of the three, it seemed that Rosen was too fast to resist, and all the attacks hit him.
...
Advance chapters (30+ stockpiled) are waiting on P@treon/Ren_Saga
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