Just as Kong and the rest of the Marines were thrown into panic, at a total loss—
"Aisu Eiji (Ice Age)!"
A cold snort came from afar. Everyone saw two white lines of freezing air streak across the sky and fall onto the distant sea!
"Gara gara gara!"
Where the white lines landed, the sea began to freeze at incredible speed. In just a few seconds, dozens of miles—nearly a hundred miles—of ocean surface turned into solid, pitch-black ice!
With such a vast stretch of sea frozen over, the violent shaking of the waves was finally suppressed. Though they could still feel the tremors, at least the warships were safe now; they wouldn't be capsized and sunk.
The Marines' hearts finally settled, and waves of cheers erupted:
"Awesome, Admiral Aokiji!"
"Admiral Aokiji, I love you!"
"Aisu Eiji (Ice Age) is too badass! Forget Creed—even if Whitebeard himself came here, he'd be suppressed!"
"Aokiji! Aokiji!"
"Alright, it's our turn to strike back! Wipe out those damned pirates!"
"Follow me, pursue them! Don't save the shells!"
The Marines who had just escaped death were shouting with joy… but the wrinkles between Kong's brows only deepened into a clear.
The warships were safe—but they also couldn't move an inch now, unless they abandoned the ships entirely. And even if they did, how could they possibly catch up to Creed's fleeing vessels?
In other words, although Kuzan had saved the Marine fleet, he had also completely cut off their pursuit.
For a moment, even Kong didn't know whether he should praise Aokiji or scold him.
"Commander-in-Chief?"
The vice admiral at his side fully understood the current situation and hurriedly asked for instructions.
At that moment, from an extremely distant point on the horizon, a sword cry that shook the heavens rang out!
"Chiiing!"
Right after that, the sky in that direction turned strangely half scarlet, half pitch-black, dyed entirely by a terrifying sword aura.
"Break the ice and keep pursuing!"
Seeing the soaring sword-intent phenomenon, Kong immediately barked his order.
Even Blood Shadow had been blocked. If he didn't personally join the battle, this decisive war would be lost for sure!
"From here on, you will take over command."
A moment later, Kong spoke in a voice that carried for miles. He shrugged off his Justice coat, stamped his foot, and shot into the air with a single Geppo (Moonwalk). In the blink of an eye, he turned into a dark speck rushing toward the distant battlefield.
"Th-this…?!"
The vice admiral was completely dumbfounded, feeling an enormous weight crash down on his shoulders.
This was a war that would determine the fate of the Marines. As the Commander-in-Chief's adjutant, he had indeed been mentally prepared to take over if necessary—but to have the entire command structure dumped on him in a single sentence?!
If they won, it would be fine.
If they lost, his name would go down in history as a sinner for the ages.
After a short moment, he forced himself to steady his breathing, stepped to the bow of the flagship, and prepared to issue his first order.
"For justice!"
He raised his right hand high.
…
Having been played by Creed, Aegis was furious.
He first let out a thunderous roar. A strange, invisible pressure surged into the sky, shaking the air in all directions.
That aura was like the roar of a dragon, rolling and surging outward. For hundreds of miles, every sea beast and fish in the surrounding ocean trembled. Many simply couldn't withstand it; they flipped belly-up, turning the sea surface into a vast field of white.
And it wasn't just ordinary sea creatures. Even some of the smaller Sea Kings hiding in the depths were forced to the surface. They gasped for breath, staring in terror toward where Aegis stood.
Some of them even lowered their heads, thudding their massive jaws against the waves in a gesture like kowtowing, as if worshipping a king.
"So this is Ryuu no I (Dragon's Might)? Compared to Falkor's, it's a bit more forceful… but if Falkor enters Ryuujin Modo (Dragon God Mode), he wouldn't even be qualified to eat her dust."
Creed watched him calmly, thinking this to himself.
At that moment, behind Aegis, the swordsman Shi had already stepped forward and made the first move.
A dull, gray sword intent exploded out, like a thousand venomous snakes lashing toward Creed. It coiled from every angle, sealing off all paths of retreat.
"You're too weak. Step back."
Creed didn't even look at him. He simply swung his sword with a casual motion.
The same Shokumetsu Ken'i (Eroding Sword Intent)—
But its force was a whole level above Shi's!
The killing intent within it was so dense that the very space along its path seemed to freeze completely.
"What?!"
Shi had originally thought Creed would once again use that combined sword intent formed from four different sword auras to force him back. He never expected that Creed would casually use his own signature technique—
And that the power and offensive pressure would surpass his by an entire tier.
It was unmistakably his own Shokumetsu Ken'i (Eroding Sword Intent), without the slightest flaw or imitation.
Heaven help him—
What kind of swordsmanship monster was this!?
They had only crossed blades a few times, and yet the man had already "stolen" his proudest ultimate technique… and even refined it beyond the original.
In that instant, Shi began to seriously doubt his life choices.
"Buzzz!"
A strange, muffled collision rang out, like two massive, rusted metal plates grinding against each other. Just hearing it made one's heart feel stifled.
Two gray sword lights—two masses of gray sword intent—smashed into each other head-on and instantly shattered into countless gray motes that rained down.
But every single gray mote carried the power to tear space, flickering on and off, each one containing terrifying lethality.
Even Aegis, down below, couldn't help but raise his brows.
Originally, he had planned to let Shi attack first, then use the flaws revealed in Creed's defense to launch his own fierce assault and crush him in one blow.
He hadn't expected that Creed still had such frightening power hidden away. Shi hadn't even been able to touch Creed's body once.
Bottomless. That was the only word he could think of to describe it.
"Gura…"
Right then, behind Shi, a door of air suddenly opened.
He was swallowed up by it and disappeared without a trace.
Bruno, wielder of the Doa Doa no Mi (Door-Door Fruit), had made his move!
"Heh!"
"Boom!"
Aegis charged forward. The sheer raw power he released made the air around him ripple like storm-tossed waves.
SSSS-rank Strength, combined with SSSS-rank Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki)!
Just those two alone were enough to give Creed a headache.
No wonder Aegis possessed such terrifying might. The amplification from combining those two was insanely strong.
And that was without counting his mysterious, unfathomable Devour-Devour Fruit.
The Devour-Devour Fruit should be an upgraded version of Wapol's Baku Baku no Mi (Munch-Munch Fruit), possessing an even more horrifying devouring power. Otherwise, Aegis would never have qualified to become the strongest shield of the Celestial Dragons.
But there was one thing Creed couldn't understand:
Aegis didn't have an extraction system like his own, so how did he obtain non-human abilities like Ryuu no I (Dragon's Might) and Ryuu Ki Kasen (Dragon Aura Scale Transformation)…?
"In that case, I'll open the distance with you first."
With Shi still lurking somewhere in the dark, Creed naturally wouldn't choose to clash head-on with Aegis from the very start.
Still, the fact that Aegis and Shi had decided to team up and fight him two-on-one really made him look down on them.
Even a leader of one of the highest branches behaved like this…
CPO truly was a shadowy organization that cared only about results and never about means—
A perfect, seamless inheritance of darkness from top to bottom.
(End of Chapter)
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