Sanji's thigh muscles tightened in an instant, solid and dense, like forged steel.
The two stood locked in a tense standoff.
From deep within Brook's hollow eye sockets, two ghostly blue flames danced merrily, flickering with life as if the soul of the skeleton itself had been reignited, burning with full vitality.
From the flicker of those flames, twin eerie beams of light twisted together in midair, merging into a single spectral column, and it shot straight into Sanji's eyes.
Sanji immediately understood.
The battle… has begun!!!
BOOM!
A massive surge of power erupted from Sanji's rear leg.
His foot pressed against the training room floor, producing a deep, thunderous thud, yet without leaving the slightest damage on the surface.
The next instant, Sanji's whole body launched upward like a rocket.
In a blink, he was already airborne, looking down on Brook from above.
In his eyes burned the same fierce flame of battle, the fire born from the overwhelming energy coursing through his body.
His leg sliced through the air like a blazing comet, a Gale Kick, cutting through the sky!
It shot straight toward Brook, carrying unrestrained aggression and raw power.
The fragile air split apart before the force of flesh and will, completely unable to resist.
The divided air streams condensed into two violent shockwaves, leaving a piercing whistle in Sanji's wake.
Sanji appeared before Brook in an instant, body horizontal, his long leg clad in tailored slacks smashing against Brook's hastily raised bone sword.
BOOM!
The collision resounded like an ancient temple bell, echoing through every corner of the training room.
Brook held his sword firm with one arm, resisting the terrifying strike. His bony feet pressed hard against the floor through an ordinary pair of worn canvas shoes.
But the hardened floor of the training room gave him no chance to steady himself.
His soles scraped violently against the ground, sparks flying as his feet slid back dozens of meters before finally stopping.
"Yohohohoho~"
Brook tilted his pale skull, smiling as he addressed Sanji, who had just pulled back after the failed strike.
"What impressive strength you have, Mr. Sanji."
"Is that so?"
Sanji, supporting himself on his hands in a handstand, looked up at Brook from below.
Then, with a powerful flip, he returned to a standing position and smirked.
"Then try this on for size!!!"
His body twisted sharply, and in the next instant, Sanji began spinning across the floor.
FWOOOSH!
He leaped into the air again, bursting through the air with thunderous pops.
His long legs swept like twin iron staves, slicing through the air with lethal precision.
"Multi-Level!!! Meat Grinder!!!"
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! …
The black leather of his shoes struck Brook's bone sword again and again.
Brook's skeletal body retreated rapidly, deflecting each kick with his sword, its blade imbued with the hardening of Armament Haki.
Yet Sanji, relentless in his offensive, failed to notice…
At some point, a faint frost had begun spreading across the ground, a shimmering layer of ice encircling their battlefield.
========
BOOM!!!
Another violent shockwave blasted outward.
Brook blocked Sanji's advance once more, his expression suddenly growing serious. His bony jaw clacked as he spoke:
"Mr. Sanji, tell me… have you heard of Devil Fruits?"
Sanji lifted his leg, preparing another strike. "I've heard of them."
"Oh? Then… you should be careful."
Brook's voice dropped into a low, eerie tone. A dark shadow crept across his face. Even the ghostly fire within his skull dimmed, becoming eerily still.
"What are you talking about!?"
Sanji shouted, not halting his movement for a second.
His gathered strength exploded as his leg cleaved the air, igniting into a blazing arc of fire.
A sharp shriek split the air as the burning kick crashed down toward Brook's skull.
Yet Brook didn't dodge. He stood calmly in place and said softly,
"On the Grand Line, there are many Devil Fruit users… each with their own strange and deadly powers."
He stood tall and unflinching, like a lecturer delivering a lesson, even lowering his sword.
"Hm!?"
Sanji frowned in confusion, but his attack didn't stop.
The terrifying force swept outward like a comet tearing across the night sky, surging gales roaring like enraged sea dragons.
Then came a faint, almost imperceptible sound.
Sanji's eyes widened. In midair, he stepped rapidly, BAM! BAM! BAM!, bursting the air beneath his feet as he pulled back in alarm.
Beneath him, a thin layer of eerie ice had appeared, its surface reflecting his retreating figure.
Brook slowly raised his bone sword, pointing to the spot where Sanji was about to land.
"Among veteran Devil Fruit users," he said calmly, "each one has long since developed their own fighting style…"
"Like this…"
"Ice Waltz: Bone Dance!"
CRRRRK!
A trail of ice spread instantly from where Brook pointed, forming a raised, gleaming frost path on the ground.
The ice road raced forward, and in the blink of an eye, it reached the space beneath Sanji.
Before he could land, countless razor-sharp ice spikes erupted upward.
SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING!
The first spike shot up like a leader, followed by an army of identical ice blades bursting from the frozen ground!
The chilling, razor-tipped spears gave Sanji no time to react.
In Brook's hollow sockets, a cruel green light flared once more.
The instant his gaze flickered, a biting cold invaded Sanji's very bones.
THUD THUD THUD THUD!!!!
Tens of thousands of icy spikes erupted around him, striking with impossible speed.
Sanji crossed his arms, shielding his head as the spikes tore into him, slicing through skin, piercing deep into flesh.
The cold spread like a curse, seizing even his soul.
In moments, a glittering mountain of ice stood before Luffy and the others, and within it, Sanji was completely entombed.
Blood, bright red and alive, trickled along the transparent ice, spreading through the crystalline surface like ink in water.
Half the frozen mountain glowed crimson.
His once-pristine suit hung in tatters.
Inside the icy prison, Sanji's body was riddled with wounds, each bleeding freely, staining the ice around him.
THUMP.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP…
Sanji's pierced arm twitched suddenly, muscles tightening, shattering several embedded ice spikes into shards.
A deep, pounding rhythm like a war drum began to emanate from within him.
And then, a dark, demonic gold gleam flooded his calm blue eyes.
The slumbering demon within… had awakened.