"How about you surrender?" Kizaru slowly stretched out his words, his tone devoid of any emotion.
"Come back with me, and there might still be room for negotiation. Although the possibility is very small. After all, you've done something very~ very~ terrible~"
His response was a sudden, bone-chilling cold that swept across the world.
Cold Domain!
Ryoma unhesitatingly unleashed his domain magic.
Centered on his small boat, the air temperature within several hundred meters plummeted, and the water vapor in the air instantly condensed into countless tiny ice crystals, making the entire space viscous.
"Oh?" Kizaru let out an exaggerated gasp.
"Is this the freezing ability mentioned in the report? What a terrifying temperature."
Kizaru slightly raised one foot, and a dazzling ball of light instantly condensed beneath it. That ball of light transformed into a sharp kick, heading straight for Ryoma's face with a piercing whoosh, moving so fast that it was impossible to track with the naked eye.
Ryoma's magical perception could only capture a blurry trajectory. This was only possible because the beam's speed, upon entering the Cold Domain, was affected by the extremely low-temperature medium, causing a subtle, almost imperceptible delay and refraction.
But it was this slight delay that gave Ryoma time to react. An ice flower bloomed beneath his feet, and his figure instantly teleported dozens of meters backward.
Boom!
The light kick missed, blasting a molten hole in the deck where he had stood. The scorching heat clashed violently with the surrounding severe cold, producing sizzling sounds.
"He dodged it. What quick reflexes."
Kizaru retracted his foot but didn't pursue. He just stood there lazily, as if that previous attack was merely an afterthought.
"However, it seems you still haven't learned Armament Haki or Observation Haki, have you?" His words seemed to carry a hint of regret.
Ryoma's expression was solemn. He knew that mere evasion was meaningless, and while Conquerors Haki was powerful, it was difficult for attacks to be effective against a Logia-type ability user who could elementalize without Armament Haki.
Ice Soul Divine Sword!
He extended his right hand, and moisture and magic in the air rapidly converged, forming a translucent ice longsword radiating absolute zero cold in his hand.
"A sword made of ice? I can do that too."
Kizaru watched with interest, while also condensing photons into a shining Ama-no-Murakumo Sword in his hand.
Clang!
Ice and light collided fiercely.
Ryoma felt a tremendous force transmit from the sword, and the Ice Soul Divine Sword instantly became covered in cracks.
Crack!
After only three clashes, the Ice Soul Divine Sword couldn't bear the load and completely shattered into countless ice shards.
Kizaru's light sword, however, was completely unharmed.
"It's no good. These toys can't hurt me." Kizaru's voice carried a hint of mockery.
Ryoma quickly retreated, his hands once again condensing ice swords, but his mind was racing with calculations.
No, physical attacks are ineffective against him. He's a Logia-type, this battle was unequal from the start.
"Now, just surrender obediently."
Kizaru instantly gathered countless points of light around himself, and beams of light shot from all directions towards Ryoma, blocking all his escape routes.
Yasakani Sacred Jewel!
The next second, the sky was dyed gold. Thousands of deadly light bullets rained down.
Ryoma's pupils constricted.
He couldn't dodge! He could only endure it!
Eternal Permafrost!
He slammed his hands onto the sea surface, and a massive surge of magic power erupted without reservation. Centered on him, the entire sea instantly froze, and thick ice layers rapidly spread outwards, forming a vast, boundless frozen continent.
Immediately after, countless incredibly thick ice thorns shot up from the ice surface, intertwining to form an impenetrable ice dome to resist the rain of light.
Boom... Boom...
The light bullets and ice thorns violently collided, producing deafening explosions. Ice shards and scorching light intertwined, instantly making the entire sea boil.
The ice thorn dome Ryoma created continuously shattered under the bombardment of the light rain, but it regenerated frantically with the support of his massive magic power.
Still, golden beams penetrated the gaps in the defense and struck Ryoma, but countless ice thorns also attacked Kizaru from various directions.
"Ugh!"
Ryoma grunted, a charred bloody hole appearing on his shoulder where a light beam had pierced through.
There was no point in continuing the fight, he couldn't injure the opponent at all.
If he kept dragging this out, and Akainu showed up, he might really be finished here.
Ryoma looked at Kizaru, who was floating in mid-air, and made a decision in his heart.
If he couldn't win... then he'd run.
While the Yasakani Sacred Jewel's attack was still ongoing and the chaos hadn't subsided, Ryoma took a deep breath and then detonated the entire frozen sea.
Ice Blossom Storm!
An unprecedented blizzard instantly erupted, countless ice fragments mixed with fierce winds obscuring all vision.
Kizaru's attack was interrupted by this sudden massive explosion. He instinctively shielded himself with his arm to block the oncoming cold current.
"Really... such a troublesome kid."
When the wind and snow subsided and Kizaru lowered his arm, only a mess of floating ice remained on the sea. The small boat had long been shattered, and Ryoma's figure had vanished.
Kizaru's Observation Haki swept across the sea but found nothing.
He scratched his head, then suddenly thought of something and looked down at the bottomless black sea.
"No way?"
A devil fruit user, voluntarily jumping into the sea?
After a moment of stunned silence, Kizaru seemed to sense something else. He raised his hand and unleashed a volley of light bullets into the sea below.
Boom! Boom! Boom...
The seawater was blasted open into huge cavities, but no one was forced out.
Ryoma had already concealed all his aura and dived into the deep sea, using the countless biological auras in the ocean as cover to escape into the distance.
"Tsk... this is really a complete hassle."
Kizaru stood on the floating ice, shrugging his hands with a helpless expression on his face.
"Now, it's going to be hard to explain when I get back."
"These newcomers are really terrifying."
...
New World, an unknown small island.
The bonfire was burning brightly, and the aroma of roasted meat filled the beach.
The Red Hair Pirates were holding their daily banquet, eating large chunks of meat, drinking heavily, their laughter and noise carrying far.
A sea breeze blew, and a piece of paper drifted from afar, swirling past the drunken men lying haphazardly and over the mountains of sake barrels. Finally, it gently and precisely landed on a large chicken leg that a man was about to put into his mouth.
"Hmm?" The man paused and picked up the damp paper curiously.
It was a wanted poster issued by the Marines, with a photo of a stern young man occupying most of the space.
A line of striking text below the photo was clearly visible.
'DEAD OR ALIVE'
'Frost Fairy Ryoma'
'Bounty: 250,000,000 Berries'
(End of Chapter)
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