"Ice Block: Two-Pronged Spears!!"
Two ice spears shaped like halberds whistled through the air. Kari clearly saw their trajectory and was about to sidestep to avoid them...
Crack—
The stone slab beneath his feet suddenly shattered, preventing him from turning in time, and the ice spear pierced through his chest!
Without the slightest hesitation, Kari swung his sword backward to break the ice spear and rapidly retreated to evade the second one.
Just then, a massive boulder from the collapsed arena happened to land directly in his retreat path.
Swish—
With no way to avoid it, the second ice spear impaled him as well.
The tremendous force of the ice spear pinned him against the giant boulder, leaving him temporarily trapped.
This...
Once might be coincidence, but twice in such a short time couldn't be explained by mere chance!
Swish!
Kari raised his sword, intending to slice his own body in half to break free from the restraint.
An even more absurd situation occurred...
Clatter—
The Famous Sword Spring Rain actually slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground!!
Kari stared at his empty palm, which was wet with water droplets from the melted ice due to his own high body temperature.
Crackle—
"Freezing Moment!"
Ice crystals began spreading from his feet as Kuzan slowly approached.
Scratching the back of his head, his tone remained lazy: "Feeling unlucky, aren't you? You shouldn't have been defeated so easily."
"To be honest, despite the significant gap in power, with your far superior skills compared to mine, you should have been able to hold out a bit longer."
...
"You're too modest, Kuzan. If you were serious, you could end this battle in an instant."
A soft, charming woman's voice rang out, accompanied by the crisp sound of military boots on the ice.
Saint Miya wore a faint smile as she looked at Kari, whose lower body was encased in ice: "Famed for hunting Celestial Dragons?"
"Not so impressive after all..."
...
Neither the ice spear piercing his chest nor his gradually freezing body caused Kari to show any emotion.
Flames ignited from his still-unfrozen torso, a final desperate struggle.
Saint Miya's gaze was like that of someone admiring prey in a cage. She slowly raised her finger, a wisp of black energy hovering between reality and illusion at her fingertip.
"Luck is an essential component of strength. I am a Paramecia-type Misfortune Fruit ability user."
"As long as I wish, even the most trivial mistake can become a major accident capable of altering the entire battle!"
"Marvelous, isn't it? You don't even know why you lost!"
...
Even the dumbest person could figure it out... especially since you just explained it yourself.
Kari still didn't understand.
Why did people here enjoy revealing crucial intelligence publicly? Even his main body sometimes did the same.
With Griffin's memories, he quickly found data in his mind matching the woman before him with at least ninety percent similarity.
During the God Valley incident twenty-six years ago, this woman seemed to have been standing beside Saint Garin.
What was strange was...
Why hadn't her appearance changed at all?
Even Garin had visibly aged, right? Was there something special about her?
It didn't matter. He would transmit this information to the main body later and let him ponder it.
...
This time, Griffin was determined to stay out of it entirely. No consciousness descended upon Kari, afraid that if he witnessed strong fighters clashing, he might get carried away and insist on joining the fray.
He was quite self-aware, knowing it was still too early to participate in such a battle. Letting Kari take the heat for now would suffice.
...
Kari lowered his gaze indifferently and spoke calmly: "God's Knights, is it? Which family do you belong to?"
Saint Miya's smile froze, her elegant face twisting into extreme distortion in the next instant.
"Who exactly are you! What do you know!!"
"Kuzan! Freeze him completely immediately! I'm taking him back to the Holy Land for rigorous interrogation!!"
...
God's Knights...
Did it mean a knight order composed of gods, or...
Saint Miya's furious shout interrupted Kuzan's thoughts. He raised his hand, releasing more freezing air, instantly solidifying even the flames around Kari.
Just as the ice crept up to Kari's chest, something that defied Kuzan's common sense occurred...
Crack——
Kari forcefully twisted his head, pulling it from his body like uprooting a radish!!
As the head rolled away, flesh and blood rapidly regenerated, even his clothing simultaneously materializing.
The moment he landed, he picked up Spring Rain, creating distance with several somersaults.
...
...
"Just what... are you... human?"
Kuzan was speechless, unconsciously recalling the conjecture Kizaru had proposed during the headquarters meeting.
Even Saint Miya appeared somewhat astonished.
While it was true that their God's Knights possessed immortality, its manifestation was limited to ultra-rapid physical regeneration and immunity to fatal injuries.
This head-removal regeneration tactic was just too bizarre!!
...
"You look surprised. It seems the replica technology still has room for improvement. This is merely a basic ability of our tribe."
Indeed, it was fundamental.
One could understand Shaped Magic Puppets as clay creations—only complete destruction could achieve a single kill.
Beyond that, as long as a sufficiently large body part remained, it would serve as the core for reshaping.
...
"Urk—"
No sooner had Kari finished speaking than he lost his footing on the slick ice and fell.
...
"Replica..."
"Are you implying... that the source of our power is your Lunarian Tribe?" Saint Miya slowly approached Kari, her expression darkening.
"What nonsense!!"
"Even wild talk has its limits!! I am a noble Celestial Dragon—how could I possibly be a replica of trash like you!!!"
Saint Miya raised her knight's lance high, a dark aura enveloping the area within fifty meters.
"Misfortune Domain!!"
...
Kari, who had just stood up, felt the flow of his energy become incredibly sluggish. Several attempts to use Ninjutsu failed at the final step; his throat was scorched, yet he couldn't even produce a single Fireball.
Miya's face contorted viciously as she sneered, "It's useless. Within my Misfortune Domain, any action you take is self-destruction!"
"Even if you try to use that self-destruct ability, it will fail. Techniques requiring precise control like teleportation are even more impossible!"
...
The Shaped Magic Puppet is equipped with a self-destruct function; I can destroy myself at any time to trigger teleportation. That doesn't count as precise control...
Self-destruction... can be used.
Finale: Grand Self-Destruction is inherently the most unfortunate Ninjutsu. It seems within this domain, only it can activate unimpeded and fastest.
Swish—
Saint Miya pointed her knight's lance at Kari, shouting sharply, "Kuzan! Freeze him quickly!"
"And..."
She turned her head, glaring fiercely at Kuzan: "Don't think about stalling to learn more. If you truly don't wish to become my Retainer, pretend you never heard what was said earlier."
"Any more, and you won't have a choice!"
"I see... I understand."
Kuzan raised his hand toward Kari and uttered sharply, "Ice Age!"
A wave of extreme cold roared forth, instantly freezing Kari in place and forming a small glacier.
The ice layer was dozens of meters thick, shimmering with an eerie blue glow, its hardness surpassing even alloy!
...
Just as the two stepped toward the glacier, they suddenly halted and looked up.
In the sky, what began as a barely visible black dot grew into a distinct silhouette amid rumbling thunder.
Without any deceleration, it tore through the air by sheer gravitational force, emitting a piercing shriek.
The glacier sensed despair before their eyes could perceive it, trembling uncontrollably under the terrifying wind pressure as cracks spread like spiderwebs.
"Evade!!"
Kuzan shouted urgently, immediately leaping aside, while Saint Miya displayed remarkable speed, swiftly retreating to a corner of the coliseum.
The next second—
BOOM!!!!!!!
The massive figure slammed into the glacier, the impact point instantly collapsing into a bottomless crater as debris and shattered ice scattered like cannonballs.
The long-overburdened coliseum was utterly destroyed by this impact.
A dust cloud blotted out the sky, swallowing even the sunlight, plunging the royal capital into darkness!
...
...
A series of dull, cracking joint sounds emanated from the enormous crater.
Kaido slowly pushed himself up by the crater's edge, his deep purple skin gleaming with a metallic luster in the cold light.
Thud—
As he rose, the surrounding ground sank further, completely unable to withstand his presence.
Amid the dust veil, Kaido's crimson eyes swept arrogantly across the scene, as if the cataclysmic impact moments earlier had been nothing more than casually crushing a thin sheet of ice.
...
Saint Miya gripped her knight lance tightly, her delicate brows furrowed, as she murmured the name of the newcomer under her breath.
"Beast... Kaido!"