Chapter 263: Riddlers, Get Out of My Head!
"Everyone, step back."
Lufia commanded them as the captain, "I'm going to fight him one-on-one!"
Ralph knew what she was thinking.
Lufia wanted to shoulder the toughest battle as the captain.
But it was already too late.
Kuzan raised his hand.
"Ice Age."
With this move, Ralph instantly realized the gap between them and an admiral.
A frigid aura erupted from Kuzan.
Unlike the previous small-scale cold attacks.
The moisture in the air instantly condensed, the grass and trees on the ground froze into ice sculptures, the ice layer on the sea thickened again, and cracks spread in all directions.
This was simply not a force humans could contend with.
Skill, strategy, information disparity...
All were useless in the face of such a level of power difference.
To fight Aokiji, only one thing was needed:
You were strong enough to withstand his cold.
Whether it was a Devil Fruit Ability, overwhelming Haki, or monstrous physical prowess.
It all came down to pure, raw power.
Lufia, Ralph, Sanji, and Zoro, who had mastered Haki, had defeated many enemies.
They thought their strength was enough to reach the threshold of an admiral, only to find that when the opponent got serious, they couldn't even get close.
Zoro charged forward.
Before his slash could reach Kuzan, the cold arrived first.
Ice spread from the tip of his blade, climbing up the sword and onto his arm.
In an instant, he turned into an ice sculpture, still in the posture of swinging his sword.
Sanji's Diable Jambe had just ignited, but the flames on his feet were extinguished by the cold.
Ice climbed from his ankles upward, covering his entire body in the blink of an eye.
He stood on one leg, frozen in place.
Nami, who had been hesitant to step forward, now had no choice.
She swung her Clima-Tact, summoning lightning.
A bolt of lightning from the thundercloud struck toward Kuzan.
Kuzan raised his hand, forming an ice shield around himself.
The lightning struck the thick ice layer, leaving Kuzan completely unharmed.
Lufia charged forward.
She bit her thumb and blew, her arm swelling violently, stretching before unleashing a full-force strike.
"Gomu Gomu no Giant Bazooka!!"
She had used this move to defeat one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea Crocodile and send the god of Skypiea, Enel, flying.
Now, her fist swelled to the size of a millstone, wrapped in thick Armament Haki, like a black meteor crashing toward Kuzan.
Kuzan did not dodge.
He pushed his hands forward, ice forming in front of him, instantly creating an iceberg.
The fist struck the iceberg.
Boom!
The iceberg shattered, ice fragments flying everywhere.
The fist smashed through the iceberg, hurtling toward Kuzan.
Kuzan took a step back, releasing cold from his hands once more.
New layers of ice formed in front of him, one after another.
Lufia's punch had exhausted its force.
She retracted her fist, preparing to strike again.
But the cold had already wrapped around her.
Her movements slowed.
White frost rapidly spread across her entire body.
She glanced at Ralph with unwillingness.
Then, she was sealed within a new iceberg.
At the same time, Ralph's attack was also underway.
Taotie Treasure Blade, flames rising!
Ralph unleashed the third form of Tyrant Blade—
Conquer the World!
A cross-shaped blade aura shot out with his slash, expanding in the air, turning into a flaming cross-shaped slash.
The flames trailed two crimson-red streaks in the air, slashing toward Kuzan.
Kuzan still used ice for defense.
Hiss!
A massive plume of white steam erupted as an iceberg in front of Kuzan was shattered and melted by the flaming cross slash!
This time, Kuzan's attention turned to Ralph's blade, "That blade is quite interesting!"
"It's not that the blade ate a Devil Fruit, but an animal ate a Devil Fruit and then became a blade."
He still had the energy to study Ralph's weapon.
Meanwhile, Ralph was mobilizing all his physical strength to resist the icy wind.
Even while holding the Taotie Treasure Blade, which was ablaze with flames, he was barely holding on.
He was slightly better off than the others—he still had a chance to strike a second time.
His blade's momentum shifted direction mid-air, flames dancing along the blade, light and shadows flickering, leaving a shimmering afterimage in Kuzan's pupils.
A momentary confusion flashed in Kuzan's eyes.
Success—
Ralph did not hesitate.
He unleashed the third strike.
Tyrant Blade Fourth Form: Devouring Heaven and Earth.
A black blade aura surged from the Taotie blade, like a giant maw devouring everything in its path.
Resembling a spatial rift or an abyssal maw from another world, the crescent-shaped slash lunged toward Kuzan.
At that moment, the confusion in Kuzan's eyes vanished instantly.
"Hypnosis?"
He swung his fist toward the black blade aura.
"It's rare to see Hypnosis used in battle. It has no effect on those with strong willpower."
His fist was encased in ice, with Haki covering the ice layer.
"Ice Glove!"
The fist collided with the black blade aura.
The blade aura was shattered by a single punch.
But it didn't end there—the force of the punch carried a bone-chilling gust of wind straight toward him.
The flames on the Taotie Treasure Blade were instantly extinguished.
Immediately after, frost spread, blood froze, muscles stiffened, and consciousness blurred.
The last thing Ralph saw was Kuzan's back as he turned to leave.
Then everything went dark.
His consciousness sank into darkness.
Ralph found himself standing in a pitch-black space.
Faced with such emptiness all around, others might feel lost and confused.
But Ralph understood.
This was the depths of his heart.
His body was likely frozen stiff, with his consciousness immersed here.
Now, all he could do was wait.
Wait for Kuzan to leave, wait for Usopp and Chopper to rescue him.
Kuzan should let them go, just like in the original plot... right?
But with his own presence as a variable, who knew if things would change?
Ralph sighed.
Although he knew Kuzan probably wouldn't kill him, entrusting his life to someone else's whims was an unsettling feeling.
Since arriving in this world, he had gambled with his life several times.
His past self would never have done such a thing.
"I've really changed a lot in this world, and grown a lot too!"
Ralph muttered to himself, giving himself a little praise.
But a voice echoed from the darkness.
"You haven't grown at all."
Ralph turned around.
A person stood in the darkness.
He had a face identical to his own.
But he wore a red robe, had long red hair, and his eyes glowed with a crimson light.
Red-Eyed Ralph.
"You'll only have grown when you're like me, with only grand ambitions in your heart, not women!!"
Seeing Red-Eyed Ralph's appearance, Ralph widened his eyes.
"Let's not talk about ambitions first," he said, looking him up and down.
"Why are you dressed like some chuunibyou?"
Red-Eyed Ralph's expression stiffened for a moment before he retorted, "I am you! If I'm chuunibyou, then so are you!"
Ralph was also taken aback, unable to refute, so he changed the subject.
"Why didn't you request to fight this time?"
"Would you have let me out if I did?"
"No! As long as you still want to kill Lufia, I won't take that risk lightly."
Red-Eyed Ralph shook his head with a smile, his crimson eyes fixed on him.
"Killing her was never the goal. Making you give up on her and find yourself again—that's the goal."
Ralph shook his head as well.
"Impossible. Whether it's due to the system or my feelings, I cannot give up."
Red-Eye looked at him, remaining silent for a long time.
"You'll understand eventually."
Ralph was left speechless. Get out of my head, you cryptic bastard!
Then the darkness shattered.
Ralph opened his eyes.
Before him lay the deck of the Going Merry.