Kuzan leaped into midair and unleashed his Devil Fruit ability, "Partisan." Two ice spears suddenly materialized beside him in midair and shot toward Shirakawa.
Shirakawa swung his blade, instantly unleashing a streak of sword aura. The two ice spears shattered upon impact, but the sword aura's momentum did not diminish in the slightest, instantly cleaving Kuzan in half at the waist.
"Vice Admiral Kuzan!" The few Marines who were still conscious cried out in panic. Having executed so many missions alongside Vice Admiral Kuzan, this was the very first time they had ever seen him injured.
However, the bisected Kuzan simply turned into a pile of ice, fell onto the surface of the sea, and reformed his body. Reaching out to touch the ocean water, he spoke, "Ice Age."
A massive amount of freezing air instantly billowed out from Kuzan's body. The surface of the water, which still had a few splashing waves just moments ago, was instantly frozen solid. Even the warship and Shirakawa's ship were frozen into the ice, completely unable to sail.
"What is this?" As far as Riddle's eyes could see, the entire ocean had completely frozen over. Even standing on the ship, he could feel waves of freezing air seeping up from beneath his feet.
"That man is actually this terrifying."
Riddle deeply etched the impression of Kuzan into his mind. If he ever encountered this man again in the future, he would not hesitate in the slightest. Just one word: run.
"Vice Admiral Kuzan will hold off Shirakawa. We will go capture that other crew member," Rear Admiral Momonga ordered the Marines who were still conscious.
"Yes, sir!"
"The battle has already begun."
At this time, Orr, who was lying in his courtyard, suddenly opened his eyes and spoke.
"What battle?"
"The battle between the Marines and Shirakawa."
"What? Shirakawa has returned?" Jora said in surprise.
"Hmm."
"No, I have to go help him." Since he had already become a crew member of the Silver Pirates, knowing his captain was in danger, he naturally could not just sit still and wait.
Immediately after, without waiting for Orr to say another word, he hurriedly made his way toward the port. However, upon arriving at the port, he found a crowd of villagers gathered there.
"What happened?" Jora asked one of the villagers.
"Oh, it's Jora. I don't know what happened, but the sea suddenly froze over. We cannot even set out to sea anymore."
"The sea froze over?"
Jora squeezed his way to the front to see for himself. Sure enough, a thick layer of solid ice had formed over the ocean. A few strong young villagers were shoveling the ice, while several children were sliding around and playing on it.
"Just what in the world is going on?"
Jora thought to himself. The ocean would absolutely not freeze over for no reason; something must have happened.
Suddenly, the figure of a certain person surfaced in Jora's mind. It was Kuzan. He had once felt bone-piercing coldness radiating from Kuzan's body.
"Could it be him?"
"Hey, where is that Marine warship located right now?" Jora asked the villagers beside him. The Marine warship had been lingering around their island every day recently, and its patrol routes were pre-planned. Therefore, the observant villagers who frequently visited the seaside had already memorized when and where the Marines would be.
"In that direction." A villager pointed toward the front right.
"Thank you." After offering a word of thanks, Jora immediately sprinted off in the direction the villager had pointed. Fortunately, the surface of the sea had frozen over; otherwise, who knew how long it would take to reach the warship's location.
While Jora was rushing toward the battlefield, the fight had already become incredibly intense. Shirakawa and Kuzan traded blows back and forth. Because Shirakawa had already mastered Armament Haki, Kuzan was extremely cautious during the fight. Every time Shirakawa's attack was about to land on him, he would transform into his element ahead of time.
Therefore, even though the battle had progressed this far, neither of them bore any obvious wounds on their bodies.
As for Riddle, he was having a very hard time. Momonga alone was enough for him to handle, not to mention there were several other Marine officers present.
Even after utilizing his Devil Fruit ability, it was simply not enough in front of them. Who knew how many times his lizard tail had been severed by now.
Although he would not be subdued immediately, if this dragged on, he was definitely done for.
Thus, he desperately hoped that Shirakawa could finish his battle quickly and come help him. However, this hope was destined to fall flat. If Kuzan were that easy to defeat, he would not have the potential to become an Admiral in the future.
Kuzan could dodge Shirakawa's sword aura or phase through it by transforming into his element, while Shirakawa could simply cleave apart Kuzan's attacks with a single slash of sword aura.
But maintaining this stalemate forever was not a good idea either. He had to think of a way to finish him off as quickly as possible, because Shirakawa had also noticed the perilous situation Riddle was in.
"Ice Saber."
Kuzan blew out a breath of freezing air, which gradually formed into a saber in his hand.
Long-range attacks had practically no effect on Shirakawa, so to end the battle as quickly as possible, Kuzan also initiated close-quarters combat.
However, Kuzan was not particularly skilled in swordsmanship. Furthermore, during close-quarters combat, Kuzan could not constantly transform into his element ahead of time. Therefore, in this exchange of blows, Kuzan found himself at a disadvantage.
He had already been slashed by Shirakawa once on his arm and once on his chest.
"Vice Admiral Kuzan!" An officer fighting against Riddle noticed the situation on Kuzan's side and called out anxiously.
"Do not come over. Just focus on capturing that lizard."
Seeing that those officers had the inclination to come over, Kuzan stopped them. If they came, they would just be delivering free kills. Not only would they fail to lighten his burden, but they would also become a burden themselves.
"I can handle him."
"Yes, Vice Admiral."
"You can handle me? Kuzan, could it be that you have learned how to talk big as well?" The two of them were currently in a relatively evenly matched state, but if they really had to speak on it, Shirakawa was still the one holding the upper hand right now.
"I am going to get serious."
Kuzan exhaled a breath of freezing air, and then instantly vanished from right in front of Shirakawa. Immediately after, Shirakawa felt a hand land on his shoulder, accompanied by a fierce wave of freezing air.
However, Shirakawa's speed was not slow either. He had already used Armament Haki to defend himself, instantly breaking free from Kuzan's grasp.
Shirakawa spun around and delivered a backhand slash. Kuzan similarly used Armament Haki to defend himself.
Shirakawa watched as his shoulder, which was radiating cold air, slowly returned to normal. He gave it a shake, then turned his gaze back to Kuzan.
"As expected. Is this truly the strength of a future Marine Admiral?"
Shirakawa muttered silently in his heart. Then, the Sword of Damocles materialized in the sky above.
"Are you going to get serious now?" Although this was no longer Kuzan's first time seeing that sword, every single time he saw it, he felt incredibly shocked.
"What is that?" Seeing this sword for the first time, Riddle obviously had no idea what was going on.
"This is your captain's ability. Could it be you don't even know what your own captain's ability is?"
"I just joined the crew, so I really don't know. Do you know?"
The Marine, having the question turned back on him by Riddle, was instantly choked on his words. Because he had no idea what Shirakawa's ability was either, and there was absolutely no description of this kind of fruit in the Marine's Devil Fruit encyclopedia.
/-\
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