Next Bonus, 100!!
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"Someone is fighting over there!"
The Brownbeard Pirates, newcomers to the New World, watched in awe. Brownbeard, with a bounty of over 60 million, was no rookie, but this... this was different.
From the horizon of the ice plains, blurred flashes of light were followed by the delayed roar of explosions. Shockwaves rolled over them like physical blows, birthing storms in their wake.
The sea around Dressrosa had been sealed under twenty to thirty meters of solid ice.
Green Bit.
Leo, Mansherry, and the Tontattas stood atop the giant trees, shivering in the freezing wind.
"Leo, who do you think will win?" Mansherry asked, her voice trembling. The cold had turned her face pale.
"Before... I would have hoped for the Marines," Leo said, looking toward the burning shores of Dressrosa. "But now... we have to pray for Shiki's victory."
"Eh? But those are the Marines... two Admirals..." Kabu from the Yellow Beetle squad buzzed worriedly.
"You saw it, didn't you?" Leo said quietly. "He froze the entire ocean... effortlessly."
When they had witnessed Admiral Kuzan use his Devil Fruit to create a battlefield of ice, their jaws had dropped.
"It's too strong," Leo whispered. "To change the very geography... to rival the power of nature itself. And Sakazuki... his power feels like a volcanic eruption. They're monsters."
On the ice, the slaughter had begun.
Aokiji hadn't just frozen the sea to provide a battlefield; he had done it to trap Shiki and Loki. There would be no escape by ship.
Loki vs. Sakazuki.
Shiki vs. Kuzan.
Law vs. The Vice Admirals.
The clash between Loki and Sakazuki was the most violent.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Magma rained down like a meteor shower. Loki, channeling the power of thunder, swung his hammer in sweeping arcs, each strike coated in potent Conqueror's Haki.
CLANG!
Sakazuki's Haki merged with his magma and his physical body, forming a crimson armor.
An Admiral's combat power was the pinnacle of physique, Haki, and Devil Fruit mastery. Loki's strike, powerful enough to shatter a mountain, only left a smudge of dirt on Sakazuki's coat. The battle had only just begun.
Sakazuki lunged.
Magma flowed from his shoulders, radiating an intense, shimmering heat. He threw a punch, the pressure alone cracking the air.
Loki moved his massive frame with surprising speed, the ice plain trembling under his weight.
THUD!
A dull, heavy sound.
They clashed head-on. Sakazuki was slightly overpowered in raw strength, but his magma heated Loki's hammer until it glowed red.
The fight was intense, the destructive power so vast that no one dared approach.
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Meanwhile, beneath the ruins of the King's Plateau in Dressrosa, a magic circle began to glow.
Shamrock, the God's Knights, and Doflamingo appeared.
They were here to coordinate with the Buster Call and eliminate all witnesses.
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"Lion's Threat: Imperial Halberd!"
SLASH!
Shiki swung the weapon he had seized from Saint Killingham.
A crimson wave of Haki slashed through the sky.
BOOM!
A massive sphere of ice in the air shattered into diamond dust.
"Ice Block: Pheasant Beak!"
Kuzan emerged from the shards of ice. Cold air gathered at his right arm, forming a massive bird of ice that shrieked as it flew toward Shiki.
"Ice Lion!"
Shiki touched the ice beneath him. The ground rose up, twisting into the shape of a giant lion that roared and intercepted the pheasant.
CRASH!
The attacks collided, whipping up a blizzard of razor-sharp wind.
Shiki burst through the snow, delivering a sweeping strike.
BOOM!
The crimson slash shattered the ice surface, creating a fissure hundreds of meters long. Kuzan leaped high into the air to avoid it.
"Ice Glove!"
Shiki hovered in mid-air, gripping the trident. He dodged Kuzan's Haki-coated ice punch and spun the trident around his body like a gyroscope.
"Lion: Gyro Slash!"
SWISH-SWISH-SWISH...
A dazzling flurry of slashes blossomed like a flower of death. Each petal was a lethal shockwave.
In an instant, hundreds of crimson, Haki-infused blades tore through the air, beautiful and deadly, spiraling toward Kuzan.
Kuzan frowned. Shiki's strength was exceeding his expectations.
Wasn't he old?
Wasn't he injured?
Didn't he lose his legs?
How was he fighting like he was in his prime?
Kuzan's expression turned grave. He raised both hands.
"Ice Wall!"
From the ice below, wall after wall—each a meter thick—shot up into the sky, layering between him and the onslaught.
SMASH! SMASH! SMASH!
The ice walls exploded under the barrage of slashes.
As the walls and the attacks canceled each other out, Kuzan vanished.
In the next second—
Shiki's Conqueror's Haki shockwave flashed like lightning.
CRACK!
The strike flew for miles, cleaving the thick ice sheet below in two. The power was horrifying.
But the moment he attacked, Kuzan had already moved.
Kuzan's Observation Haki was not to be underestimated.
He materialized from his semi-elemental state, drawing an ice saber and slashing at Shiki.
WHOOSH!
The ice-blue blade didn't create a shockwave.
Instead, it unleashed a torrent of frost.
It carried a massive amount of cold air, spreading rapidly toward Shiki.
Caught in the wide-range cold front, Shiki was enveloped by the chill.
The cold seeped into his bones, freezing his movements.
In mid-air, he was encased in a block of ice.
Seeing Shiki trapped, Kuzan kicked off the air, his fist turning black with Haki and white with cold.
He swung.
DOOM!
The punch, a combination of supreme Haki and the chilling power of the Ice Ice Fruit, slammed home.
CRACK...
Shiki's Haki flared outward, expanding from within. The hard shell of ice began to crack.
BANG!
The ice shattered.
Shiki swung the trident, taking Kuzan's punch on his body while simultaneously delivering a slash to the Admiral.
BOOM!
A muffled sound, like muffled thunder.
The punch that could send Garp flying sent Shiki hurtling backward.
CRASH!
He slammed into the ice.
The ice sheet couldn't withstand the impact and shattered, a spiderweb of cracks spreading for hundreds of meters. A massive section of the frozen sea collapsed.
"Hah..."
Kuzan landed on the ice, sweat dripping from his forehead. A jagged wound had appeared on his chest.
It was frozen over, cauterized by ice.
But the "true damage" caused by Conqueror's Haki meant his Armament Haki hadn't been able to fully block it.
Opposite him, Shiki floated back up. He bore the mark of a fist and traces of frostbite, but he looked as if he felt no pain.
Kuzan felt something was wrong. That punch should have frozen Shiki's blood, hampered his movements.
"A real monster," Kuzan muttered.
Just as he was about to attack again—
A thunderous roar shook the sky.
Through the rolling clouds, a divine dragon poked its head out.
"WORORORO..."
"Starting a war this fun without inviting me? Shiki!!!"
The dragon circled, descending from the heavens. Halfway down, it shifted back into human form and crashed onto the ice.
THUD!
Ice shards sprayed like shrapnel.
A towering, majestic figure emerged from the mist, his presence shaking every Marine to their core.
"KAIDO!!!"
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