Following that declaration of destruction, Kaido's enormous Azure Dragon body slowly uncoiled across the sky like a mountain range coming to life.
Then he opened his jaws.
Deep within his throat, a terrifying mass of heat and destructive energy began gathering at an astonishing rate. The growing light soon blazed like a miniature sun, scorching the surrounding air until it visibly distorted.
"Bolo Breath!!!"
Kaido's roar thundered across Marineford.
Without another moment of warning, a blazing beam dozens of meters across erupted from his mouth.
Like a sword of divine punishment descending from the heavens, the incandescent blast tore downward toward the gateway guarding Marine Headquarters—
the Gate of Justice.
The air ignited along its path.
Seawater below evaporated into thick clouds of steam.
And just like that, the next battle arrived ahead of schedule in the most direct and violent way imaginable.
The sea trembled beneath the attack.
Marine soldiers stared upward, fear mixing with grim determination in their eyes as they prepared themselves for the impact.
High above them, Kaido watched with a vicious grin.
But just as the destructive Bolo Breath was about to engulf the Gate of Justice—
a figure suddenly appeared directly in front of the blazing column.
Cold air erupted around him.
It was Admiral Aokiji—Kuzan.
He was still badly wounded.
His face remained pale, his body not yet recovered from the battle against the Eternal Divine Kingdom, but his eyes were as cold and unwavering as ancient ice.
The heat raging toward him was powerful enough to vaporize steel in an instant.
Kuzan did not retreat.
He knew exactly what would happen if Kaido's attack struck Marineford's core defenses directly.
The Marines had only just suffered a catastrophic defeat. Their forces had been gutted, morale had barely begun recovering, and much of Headquarters was still damaged.
They could not afford another devastating blow.
Kuzan lowered his voice.
"Ice Age…"
Ignoring the pain from his unhealed wounds, he forced the Ice-Ice Fruit to its limit.
Both arms thrust forward.
An overwhelming torrent of freezing air exploded from his palms.
Rather than simply trying to overpower Kaido's Bolo Breath head-on, Kuzan shaped the cold with extraordinary precision.
Ice rapidly condensed in front of the incoming beam.
Layer after layer formed in an instant until a colossal crystalline barrier rose before Marineford, dozens of meters thick.
But the ice wall was not positioned vertically.
The moment it formed, Kuzan angled the entire structure downward.
Its surface was smooth and sharply inclined, almost like an enormous frozen ramp.
Then—
BOOOOOOM!!!
Kaido's Bolo Breath slammed into the ice barrier.
Fire and ice collided with enough force to shake the entire fortress.
Yet the catastrophic explosion everyone expected never came.
Instead, Kuzan's angled wall redirected the attack.
The Bolo Breath scraped across the smooth crystalline surface, its trajectory twisting away from the heart of Marineford.
The blazing beam tore past the fortress buildings and shot diagonally outward toward the surrounding sea.
HSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!
The instant it struck the ocean, the water erupted.
An enormous stretch of sea boiled violently as countless tons of water flashed into steam.
A massive white cloud rose into the sky and swallowed the surrounding waters.
Then came the waves.
The impact blasted seawater upward into towering walls nearly a thousand meters high, mountain-like swells crashing against one another amid the thick steam.
Marineford shook violently from the residual force.
Fragments of ice broke away from Kuzan's barrier and scattered across the ground.
But beyond that—
the fortress remained standing.
The Gate of Justice had survived.
Marine Headquarters had survived.
Kaido's first attack had been diverted.
...
The massive structures of Marineford were still standing.
Despite the tremendous shock that had just torn through the fortress, its defenses had held.
"We… we stopped it!"
Someone finally shouted.
That single cry shattered the stunned silence.
Cheers erupted from the Marines below.
Relief flooded their faces as countless soldiers looked toward the cold figure suspended above the battlefield.
Admiral Aokiji.
To them, Kuzan had just saved Marineford from disaster.
Gratitude and admiration filled their eyes as they stared upward at him.
Kuzan stood in the air like an unyielding monument.
He had successfully diverted Kaido's devastating Bolo Breath.
But then—
his body swayed.
"Guh…"
A muffled groan escaped him.
A thin stream of blood slipped from the corner of his mouth.
The crimson trail ran down his pale face before falling toward the churning steam below, where it vanished instantly.
Forcing the Ice-Ice Fruit to such an extreme had aggravated the injuries Bullet had left him with during their previous battle.
Pain tore through his body.
His muscles spasmed.
Every nerve seemed to scream as though blades were cutting through him from the inside.
Kuzan slowly raised his head.
The calmness in his eyes had disappeared, replaced by a cold, razor-sharp intensity.
Through the enormous clouds of steam rising from the sea, he stared at the Azure Dragon circling high above Marineford—
and at Douglas Bullet standing firmly on Kaido's back.
His expression became grave.
He knew perfectly well that what had just happened was only the beginning.
Kaido and Bullet.
Two monsters of the highest order had come together.
The destructive power those two could unleash was enough to make even Marineford tremble.
And Kuzan himself was already badly injured.
Behind him stood Marines who had only recently survived a catastrophic defeat. Many were still wounded, exhausted, and nowhere near their peak condition.
Could they really stop these two monsters from rampaging through Marine Headquarters?
Kuzan had no answer.
Then Kaido's laughter thundered across the sky.
"WORORORORORO!"
The enormous dragon grinned down at them.
"You think that was all, Marines?!"
His voice carried the cruel amusement of a predator playing with trapped prey.
Kaido suddenly twisted his colossal body.
With a violent sweep, he whipped the surrounding air into a frenzy.
But he was not trying to move.
He was attacking.
Two enormous vacuum blades formed beside him.
The crescent-shaped slashes were dark blue-black, their edges gleaming with terrifying sharpness as they screamed through the air like enormous scythes.
One swept toward the defenses on Marineford's left.
The other tore toward the right.
If either attack landed cleanly, entire sections of the fortress would be carved apart.
Defensive walls would collapse.
Buildings behind them would be reduced to rubble.
And countless Marines would be caught in the destruction.
"Bastard!"
A furious roar erupted from below.
"We can't let him do whatever he wants!"
Several Vice Admirals had already moved.
Among them were Onigumo and Doberman, both glaring upward with bloodshot eyes.
A group of senior officers joined them as well, including Captain T-Bone.
All of them stared at the incoming wind blades.
Then their eyes shifted toward Kuzan.
The Admiral was already seriously wounded.
His breathing had become unstable after forcibly stopping Kaido's first attack, yet he was still standing between Marineford and the enemy.
That sight erased the last of their hesitation.
Whatever fear they had felt toward the serum's side effects disappeared beneath anger and resolve.
There was only one thought left.
Protect Marine Headquarters.
"For the Marines!"
The roar erupted from the officers almost simultaneously.
"Let's take these monsters down with us if we have to!"
Hands moved toward their coats.
One after another, they pulled out vials containing a thick, dark liquid.
Super Green Blood serum.
The mysterious drug radiated an ominous presence.
It represented power.
And danger.
But no one hesitated anymore.
Caps were torn free.
Heads tilted back.
And the viscous, freezing liquid was swallowed in a single motion.
Gulp!
The instant the serum entered their bodies—an enormous surge of energy exploded within them.
Like dormant volcanoes erupting all at once, terrifying power began raging through their veins.
---------
Read 50 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator