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On the frozen surface, a severed right hand lay quietly in the snow, blood staining the ice beneath it.
The dark crimson was almost shocking against the white, enough to make anyone's heart skip.
No one had expected this.
To avoid being captured, Kyle had cut off his own right hand without hesitation.
What kind of resolve did that take? What kind of cold, ruthless madness?
"Surprised?" Kyle asked lightly, a faint smile on his face.
"There's something you two should know."
His left wrist turned, and he calmly slid the long blade back into its sheath.
Then he slowly raised that hand.
Boom.
Thunder exploded across the sky.
A dazzling arc of lightning split the heavens, tearing down from the clouds. In an instant, it branched and multiplied, transforming into countless crackling veins of electricity.
It looked like a colossal tree bursting into bloom, Kyle at its root, its trunk spearing into the sky. Branches spread outward, filling the world above them.
"That is…"
Lightning flickered, turning the sky bright, then dark, then bright again.
The tree grew larger and larger. Its branches thickened. The main pillar of lightning swelled to a width that would take over a dozen men to encircle. Countless smaller tendrils formed a vast, intricate network of electric veins.
"I can't be killed."
His voice was almost a sigh as his gaze dropped onto the two men before him.
A suffocating hint of dread crept over Sengoku and Zephyr.
They could feel it. The thunderous tree towering before them, nearly a thousand meters tall and heavy with branches, was different from anything they had faced before.
The energy packed inside it was enough to erase an island.
"When you're up against monsters like you…"
"I can only go all out."
He let out another quiet breath. His raised left hand clenched abruptly, fingers snapping shut.
"1.5 billion volts."
"Zeus Divine Tree."
His cold voice rolled through heaven and earth.
In the next second, Sengoku and Zephyr saw the massive lightning tree shudder.
Crackle. Snap. Boom.
The air filled with the chaotic roar of electricity. Then, in a single heartbeat, thousands upon thousands of branches lit up with a violet glow.
They swayed.
Just once.
That single motion made both men's faces change.
"Run!"
They shouted at the same time, bodies already moving.
The countless branches transformed into countless blazing thunder whips, lashing outward in every direction, especially toward where the two Admirals stood.
A casual flick of a branch, and the ice beneath it vaporized into vast clouds of white mist.
The blooming thunder tree possessed destruction beyond reason. Each branch didn't just carry terrifying voltage, it was also coated in Kyle's Armament Haki.
In an instant, a radius of ten thousand meters, then fifty thousand, then a hundred thousand meters became the domain of this divine tree.
It seemed almost alive. Breathing.
With every breath, thousands of branches swept through the air, annihilating anything that came close.
"He's pushed the Rumble-Rumble Fruit to this level?"
"That kid's a monster!"
The two Admirals dodged desperately, shock written across their scorched faces.
A Logia fruit… developed like this?
The range was absurd. The destructive force incomprehensible.
Even they didn't dare take it head-on.
For nearly three minutes, the divine tree filled the sky and sea. Lightning rose and fell with its breath, branches swaying in waves of catastrophic power.
Sengoku and Zephyr were struck more than a dozen times. Their clothes were charred black, their bodies covered in burns and wounds. They looked battered, barely holding on.
And then, at last, the vast tree of lightning began to shrink.
Its branches drew inward. The blinding glow dimmed.
Finally, it vanished into nothing.
Kyle stood at the center of the battlefield, breathing hard, his face pale.
The more destructive and wide-ranging the attack, the more it drained him. After one brutal clash after another, his stamina and focus were finally beginning to fray.
"It's stopped!"
"That kid's about at his limit, isn't he?"
The two admirals exchanged a glance and spoke in low voices.
They waited. When no more lightning fell from the sky, they dragged their scorched, aching bodies toward the center.
The sight that greeted them made both men inhale sharply.
The ice field had sunk dozens of meters, cloaked in rolling white mist.
"What terrifying destructive power."
"If either of us had fought him alone…"
They looked at each other. Sengoku and Zephyr both wore grim expressions.
Moments later, they arrived before Kyle, who was still catching his breath.
"This ends here, Kyle," Zephyr said heavily.
Kyle lifted his head and suddenly laughed.
"Ends here?"
"No."
"That's where you're wrong, Teacher."
He straightened, clenched his left fist, and his body trembled again.
"This is only just beginning."
His gaze sharpened. Flames seemed to burn in his eyes.
This battle was exactly what he needed—a chance to see the true limit of his strength.
His stamina, his focus, the pressure bearing down on him—everything had been pushed to heights he'd never reached before.
And yet, inside him, something new stirred.
Not fear.
Excitement.
Wild, near-manic excitement. His heart thundered. Adrenaline surged.
The cold wind howled, stirring the mist over the shattered ice.
"KYLE!"
A low roar echoed across the battlefield.
Kyle turned.
In the distance, a figure staggered upright, drenched in blood and covered in wounds. His face was so mangled he was nearly unrecognizable.
"Sakazuki!" Sengoku called out.
Sakazuki looked horrific. And yet he was still standing.
Even Kyle couldn't help but be impressed by that monstrous vitality. No wonder he could clash head-on with Whitebeard in the Summit War. Even twenty-two years ago, he was already a cockroach that just wouldn't die.
A golden light gathered nearby, forming another figure.
"Borsalino," Kyle muttered.
The speedster was the opponent he hated most. Not because he was overwhelmingly powerful, but because his Devil Fruit ability was endlessly annoying.
"I'll kill you," Sakazuki snarled.
Dragging his battered body forward step by step, magma churned over his skin, driving the surrounding temperature sharply upward.
"Four against one?" Kyle murmured, glancing around.
Everywhere he looked, there were enemies.
"You pathetic fool," Sakazuki sneered. "A traitor to the Marines. Just a lonely stray."
"Do you even understand what kind of enemy you're facing?"
"The entire Navy stands against you."
"And you?"
"You're alone."
Sengoku and Zephyr frowned slightly at that.
Kyle remained calm. After a few breaths, a faint smile tugged at his lips.
"Alone?"
A gust of wind swept across the battlefield. Fine grains of sand appeared in the air. Then more. Within moments, a raging sandstorm took shape.
"Hey, magma brat."
A low voice rumbled.
"Talking about our boss like that really pisses me off."
From within the swirling sand, a figure emerged, planting himself squarely in front of Sakazuki.
At the same time, another silhouette flashed into existence before Borsalino.
"I'd rather beat the crap out of that loudmouth myself, Crocodile," Douglas Bullet said coldly, locking eyes with Sakazuki.
"Oh?" Crocodile smirked. "Then let's switch."
The two newcomers instantly intercepted Sakazuki and Borsalino.
"Your subordinates have guts, Kyle," Zephyr said with a hint of admiration.
He cracked his fists together, ready to strike again.
"But how long can you hold out?"
"After us," Sengoku sighed, "there's still more."
Kyle chuckled and withdrew his gaze from the others.
"I only need to defeat the two of you right now."
"As for what comes after…"
"That's for later."
Zephyr laughed. "You've got a talent for stating the obvious."
Then he vanished, reappearing before Kyle in a blink and launching an attack. Sengoku leapt high and dove down from above.
The battle resumed.
With one arm and one fist, Kyle clashed head-on against both admirals. Lightning crackled across his body, yet he did not fall behind in the slightest.
Elsewhere, Bullet collided violently with Sakazuki, while Crocodile tangled with Borsalino.
Far from the center, on a broken chunk of ice, a battered figure slowly opened his eyes.
"You really don't hold back, Kyle…"
"Too bad I can't move anymore."
"My injuries are too severe."
This was a battle that, if word got out, would shake the entire world.
Kyle fighting two admirals alone.
His two subordinates holding back two vice admirals.
Every clash was fierce enough to make the Marines watching from distant warships tremble.
Time passed.
Before anyone realized it, a second day had arrived.
Kyle's spirit and will still burned hot as he continued battling the two admirals before him. From the moment he had encountered the future three admirals until now, he hadn't died even once, displaying strength beyond measure.
Sengoku and Zephyr bore their own wounds, but their stamina remained formidable.
"They're all monsters!"
"How long is this war going to last?"
The Marines whispered in shock.
"Vice Admiral Kyle is terrifying. Even after losing an arm, he recreated it with lightning. His combat power hasn't dropped at all!"
"One man against two admirals…"
The battle raged on.
At dusk on the second day, Sengoku finally slammed Kyle into the ice with a crushing palm strike. Blood poured from Kyle's mouth.
But in the next instant, Kyle flipped up and returned a punch that sent Sengoku flying.
Zephyr stepped in and hammered him back down. They clashed again and again. A few breaths later, Sengoku rejoined the fray.
Half an hour passed.
Kyle had reached his absolute limit.
He looked at the two men before him, both breathing heavily now, equally exhausted.
And then he burst into laughter.
"HAHAHAHA!"
"That felt good!"
His body trembled. He tried to clench his right fist again.
It wouldn't move.
That was it.
He was finished.
"It's over."
"He's about to be erased."
Far away, inside a distant palace, five figures watching the battle murmured among themselves.
"It's over, Kyle," Zephyr sighed.
But at that very moment, Kyle's trembling left hand suddenly moved.
He grabbed the long blade at his waist.
"What is he doing?"
Confusion spread.
In the next second, a flash of steel.
The blade sliced cleanly across his own neck.
His head flew into the air.
"It is over."
"But the ones finished… are you."
His voice echoed calmly.
Sengoku and Zephyr's pupils shrank. A chill ran down their spines.
Inside the palace at Mary Geoise, five elderly figures rose to their feet in unison.
"I told you."
"I can't be killed."
Lightning arced through the air.
Within the crackling storm, a figure stepped forward once more.
Cold as a prison.
Vast and overwhelming in his majesty.
"..."
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