A/N: Don't forget to check out my original novel: Can I Magic Please. It's like really good. š
ANYWHOOO. ENJOY THE CHAPTER
---
Kuzan stood atop the frozen sea, his hands tucked lazily into his pockets as cold mist drifted from his body.
His half-lidded eyes remained fixed on Whitebeard.
"So troublesomeā¦"
Then he vanished.
A burst of frost exploded beneath his feet as he launched himself forward at incredible speed. The Admiral shot across the battlefield and into the sky, ice forming around his right arm.
The freezing aura condensed.
Sharpened.
Dozens of slender icicles formed above him, gleaming like crystalline lances.
"KokutÅā¦"
His arm swept downward.
"Partisan."
The ice spears screamed through the air like arrows from the heavens, descending toward Edward Newgate.
The Emperor didn't move.
He simply raised one fist.
And struck the air.
CRACK.
The atmosphere shattered again.
The invisible shockwave surged upward.
The Partisan spears disintegrated instantly.
Then the tremor continued.
Aokiji's eyes widened.
The shockwave struck him squarely.
BOOM!
The Admiral was blasted backward, his body twisting through the air before he crashed into the waters of the inner bay.
SPLASH!
The Marines gasped.
"AOIKIJI-SAN!"
But before he could sinkā
The sea beneath him froze solid.
In an instant, the ocean floor transformed into an immense frozen battlefield stretching from the Whitebeard fleet all the way to Marineford itself.
A glittering plain of ice connected the two armies.
For a moment, both sides stared.
Then the Whitebeard Pirates erupted.
"He froze the sea!"
"We've got a path!"
"CHARGE!"
The allied pirate captains roared as thousands of pirates leapt from their ships onto the frozen battlefield.
Weapons were drawn.
Cannons thundered.
The Whitebeard Pirates surged forward like an unstoppable tide.
The Marines answered with equal fury.
"ADVANCE!"
"FOR JUSTICE!"
"PROTECT ACE'S EXECUTION!"
Rows of soldiers stormed onto the ice, rifles firing as they met the charging pirates head-on.
Steel clashed.
Gunfire echoed.
Explosions lit the frozen sea.
The War of the Best had begun.
Among the elite trainees, Hibari stared at the unfolding chaos with wide eyes.
"This is really happeningā¦"
Her voice trembled slightly.
"This is war."
Koby swallowed hard.
"There are so manyā¦"
Helmeppo adjusted his glasses nervously.
"I can't even tell where one battle ends and another begins."
Prince Grus folded his arms, his expression serious.
"This is what it means to stand at the center of the world."
Kujaku twirled her whip, a faint smile playing on her lips.
"Now things are getting interesting."
Thenā
A blur of green shot past them.
Tenjin.
Without a word, he sprinted straight toward the battlefield.
"Tenjin-san!" Koby shouted.
"Wait!" Hibari called.
But Tenjin never looked back.
He tore across the ice, Marine coat billowing wildly behind him.
Kujaku laughed softly.
"There he goes."
The others instinctively prepared to follow.
"Shouldn't we help him?" Koby asked.
Before anyone could move, Vice Admiral Gion stepped beside them.
Her eyes followed Tenjin's rapidly shrinking figure.
"He can take care of himself."
The trainees turned toward her.
Gion folded her arms.
"Tenjin is already as strong as a Vice Admiral."
The statement stunned them.
Even Prince Grus raised an eyebrow.
Gion's tone sharpened.
"He'll be fine."
Her eyes swept over the trainees.
"The rest of you are support."
"Do not try to be heroes."
Koby straightened immediately.
"Yes, Vice Admiral!"
Back on the battlefield, Tenjin crashed into the pirate lines like a living hurricane.
"MOVE!"
Plant life exploded from the frozen ground.
Roots erupted upward.
Branches lashed outward.
Towering wooden pillars smashed through entire groups of pirates.
Men screamed as they were sent flying across the ice.
Some were pinned beneath roots.
Others were swatted aside like insects.
Tenjin charged forward through the chaos, his eyes blazing with excitement.
"Get out of my way!"
A massive wooden arm burst from the ground and swept dozens of pirates off their feet.
"I'm looking for a commander!"
Pirates gaped in horror.
"It's Captain Tenjin!"
"The Marine from the newspapers!"
"He's a monster!"
Tenjin bulldozed onward without slowing.
A pirate swung an axe at his neck.
The blade passed harmlessly through his wooden Logia body.
Tenjin didn't even look at him.
A thick root exploded from his shoulder and hurled the pirate a hundred feet away.
Marine soldiers nearby stared in awe.
"That's Captain Tenjin!"
"He's carving a path through them!"
"Follow him!"
Morale surged instantly.
"For Justice!"
The Marines advanced with renewed vigor behind the trail of devastation Tenjin left in his wake.
Back aboard the Moby Dick, Whitebeard watched the green-haired Marine tearing through his allied forces.
The old Emperor let out a deep laugh.
"Gurararara!"
"That Marine boy is a lively one."
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Does he have no fear?"
Beside him, Marco frowned.
Blue flames flickered faintly around his shoulders.
"This is bad."
His eyes tracked Tenjin's progress.
"He's too strong for the fodder."
Whitebeard stroked his crescent mustache.
"Then someone should stop him."
Elsewhere across the battlefield, atop a sleek icebreaker ship cutting through the frozen sea, Whitey Bay watched Tenjin with narrowed eyes.
The famed "Ice Witch" rested one hand on her sword hilt.
"That brat is making quite a mess."
She turned toward her crew.
"Keep the ship secure."
Her expression hardened.
"I'll deal with him myself."
With that, Whitey Bay leapt from her vessel, landing gracefully on the frozen battlefield.
Her coat billowed behind her as she began walking toward the advancing Marine captain.
And far ahead, Tenjin grinned as he sent another wave of pirates flying.
At last.
A stronger opponent was coming.
---
The frozen battlefield descended into complete chaos.
Cannons thundered.
Gunfire crackled.
Steel clashed against steel.
The once-pristine bay of Marineford had become a war-torn field of blood and ice, where thousands of Marines and pirates collided in a frenzy of violence.
And then the real monsters began to move.
From the deck of the Moby Dick, the commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates stepped forward.
Diamond Jozu rolled his shoulders, his body gleaming with the hardness of diamond.
Vista adjusted the roses resting on his chest, both swords already in hand.
Izo drew his twin pistols.
Behind them, the remaining division commanders prepared themselves one by one.
The pirates noticed immediately.
"The commanders are moving!"
"Marco-san! Jozu-san! Vista-san!"
"We can win this!"
A roar of renewed morale spread through the Whitebeard forces.
Then the commanders launched themselves into battle.
Jozu crashed into the Marine ranks like a falling meteor.
BOOM!
Dozens of Marines were hurled skyward as his diamond-coated shoulder plowed through them effortlessly.
Izo's pistols barked in rapid succession.
Each shot struck with deadly precision, dropping Marine soldiers one after another.
Vista moved like a dancer.
His twin swords flashed in elegant arcs, rose petals swirling around him as Marines fell before they even understood they had been cut.
The momentum of the battlefield shifted instantly.
The pirates surged forward with renewed confidence.
But the Marines had not yet shown all of their strength.
At the rear lines, the assembled Vice Admirals stood like an immovable wall.
Gion's eyes followed the commanders advancing across the ice.
Then she turned briefly to the elite trainees.
"Remember what I said."
Her tone was calm but firm.
"Do not act like heroes."
Her gaze drifted toward the distant green-haired figure bulldozing pirates.
"Or battle maniacs like Tenjin."
Koby swallowed.
Helmeppo adjusted his glasses nervously.
Gion's expression softened slightly.
"Provide support."
"Protect your comrades."
"And try not to die."
Before anyone could respond, she vanished with a burst of Soru, disappearing onto the battlefield in a blur.
Kujaku smiled faintly.
"She says that like she's going for a pleasant stroll."
Elsewhere, several allied pirates hurriedly rolled cannons into position.
Their sights settled on the elderly Vice Admiral Tsuru, who stood calmly near the rear lines.
One pirate grinned.
"Now that the commanders are moving, victory is guaranteed!"
"Fire!"
But before the cannons could discharge, several figures appeared in front of Tsuru.
Vice Admiral Momonga unsheathed his blade.
Vice Admiral Strawberry cracked his knuckles.
Vice Admiral Yamakaji exhaled smoke.
Vice Admiral Onigumo narrowed his many-eyed stare.
Momonga did not look back.
"Vice Admiral Tsuru."
His voice carried quiet respect.
"Leave this to us."
Strawberry nodded.
"You should go somewhere else and relax."
Tsuru lifted an eyebrow.
"Relax?"
A faint smile touched her lips.
She shook her head.
"You boys are still fledglings."
Her gaze turned toward Whitebeard.
"There is nowhere in this world I could run toā¦"
Her voice grew quieter.
"ā¦where Edward Newgate's power cannot reach."
The Vice Admirals stiffened, but their resolve only hardened.
Meanwhile, Vista danced through the battlefield.
Marine after Marine fell before his elegant swordsmanship.
Rose petals drifted through the air.
A nearby Marine pointed in terror.
"It's Vista!"
"Flower Sword Vista!"
The famed swordsman smiled pleasantly as he cut down another wave of soldiers.
Thenā
A razor-sharp slash descended from above.
Vista's eyes widened.
CLANG!
He crossed both blades overhead, intercepting Gion's attack in a shower of sparks.
The impact cracked the frozen ground beneath them.
Rose petals scattered.
Gion landed lightly before him, sword held in a flawless stance.
Her eyes were calm and deadly.
Vista smiled, visibly intrigued.
"My, my."
He inclined his head politely.
"And who might you be, lady?"
Gion smiled back.
A beautiful smile.
One that held absolutely no warmth.
"Vice Admiral Gion."
Her blade rose.
"And your opponent."
Far across the battlefield, Tenjin continued his unstoppable advance.
Roots erupted beneath the ice.
Towering wooden branches swept entire groups of pirates aside.
Bodies tumbled through the air.
Marines cheered as he carved a clear path through the enemy lines.
Tenjin brushed a pirate aside with one arm and grinned.
"So the commanders are movingā¦"
His eyes scanned the battlefield eagerly.
Vista.
Jozu.
Izo.
Blamenco.
Rakuyo
Powerful opponents everywhere.
His smile widened.
"Who should I go for first?"
A sharp instinct screamed in his mind.
Tenjin's body twisted instantly.
SHING!
A sword sliced through the air where his face had been a fraction of a second earlier.
A lock of green hair fluttered downward.
Tenjin skidded across the ice and turned.
Standing where he had just beenā
A woman in a long coat with an icebreaker sword resting casually at her side.
Her expression was cool and composed.
Whitey Bay.
The captain known as the Ice Witch narrowed her eyes.
"That's enough of your rampage, little boy."
Tenjin straightened slowly.
Then a grin spread across his face.
At last.
A worthy opponent.
---
Find early chapters on my patreonĀ
[Patreon.com/tenten100?]