"Admiral Kuzan…"
Kairos narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the man standing on the frozen sea ahead.
One of the three Admirals.
Kuzan.
A monster at the very pinnacle of the Marines.
"Kairos. I've heard your name."
Kuzan finally spoke, his voice lazy, unhurried—as though nothing in the world could trouble him.
Then his gaze shifted past Kairos and landed on Robin behind him.
"So you ended up with her," he said flatly. "Picked yourself up a companion?"
Robin remained silent.
Her eyes flickered, instinctively avoiding Kuzan's gaze as she took half a step back.
The pressure he gave off was overwhelming.
He wasn't even releasing killing intent.
And that made him even more terrifying.
Then—
a warm hand rested lightly on her shoulder.
Robin looked up immediately.
She met a pair of deep, steady black eyes.
Kairos.
He smiled at her without a word, calm as ever, without the slightest trace of tension.
That calmness—
and the quiet reassurance in his touch—
eased the chill gripping her heart.
"You go ahead into Fire Country and wait for me."
Kairos gave her shoulder a light pat, his gaze clear.
In that instant, Robin understood exactly what he intended.
Her eyes widened.
Panic flickered within them.
"He's a Marine Admiral!" she said urgently. "He's nothing like the pirates in Hannabal!"
As she spoke, her hand instinctively reached for the edge of Kairos' clothes.
In her eyes, Kairos was strong—
terrifyingly strong—
but not yet strong enough to face an Admiral.
"Relax."
Kairos smiled faintly.
"It's just a little warm-up before lunch."
He said it lightly—
and had already begun walking toward the sea.
The tip of his shoe touched the surface.
Ripples spread outward.
"Kairos…"
Robin stared at his back, unable to say anything more.
She was worried.
Everything in her told her that retreat was the right choice.
But in the end—
she chose to trust him.
Kairos might be reckless.
Kairos might be unpredictable.
But he was not foolish.
He would never gamble his life on something meaningless.
"Whoosh—"
There had been no wind a moment ago.
Now the air stirred.
Because of him.
Kairos stepped across the sea, and a razor-sharp aura surged from his body. At that moment, he looked less like a man—
and more like a divine blade descending upon the world.
Walking upon the ocean.
Kuzan watched quietly.
He made no move while Kairos spoke with Robin.
He simply stood there—
and waited.
By the time Kairos stopped, the two stood face-to-face atop the frozen sea.
"Admiral Kuzan," Kairos said, his eyes gleaming with battle intent, "care for a spar?"
"You beat Monkey D. Garp," Kuzan replied simply. "I'm interested."
That was enough.
He accepted.
Kairos' smile didn't change.
The Magic Blade Thousand Blades slid free of its sheath.
At the same moment—
the Soderos card activated.
No more words were needed.
Kuzan slowly lowered his hands.
A stream of icy breath escaped his lips.
Then—
the temperature dropped.
Frost spread across his clothes, his skin, the air itself.
The sea beneath his feet froze faster.
Farther.
Endlessly outward.
It was the kind of cold that heralded an ice age.
In its presence—
even blood felt like it might freeze solid.
Then—
Boom!
Kairos moved.
He stepped forward—
just once.
A blade-light surged skyward, piercing sea and heaven alike, so brilliant it resembled a dragon of light tearing through the world.
At the same moment—
the sky roared.
Thunder cracked.
The sea churned violently, as if responding to his will.
This was no natural force.
It was Kairos.
With the Magic Blade Thousand Blades in hand—
he had already struck.
One slash—
became a thousand.
They descended like a silver river from the heavens, threatening to cleave the ocean itself in two.
"Rumble—!"
The sea overturned.
Tens of thousands of tons of water surged upward, blotting out the sky. Wind howled, spray exploded outward, and the world darkened beneath that towering wall of water.
And facing that—
Kuzan raised a single hand.
Crack.
A sharp, chilling sound echoed.
The massive wave froze midair.
Completely.
Kuzan turned his wrist.
Cold erupted from his palm.
Absolute.
Unyielding.
Even the air seemed ready to crystallize under its influence.
Against that power—
the waves had only one fate.
To freeze.
In an instant—
the mountain of seawater became ice.
It hung in the sky like the open jaws of a colossal beast, frozen in the act of devouring the world.
Then—
it shattered.
The frozen mass exploded into countless fragments—
which immediately reformed into thousands upon thousands of razor-sharp ice spears, suspended in the air around Kuzan.
Cold mist curled from them, chilling the sea to its core.
And with the destruction of the frozen wave—
Kairos reappeared.
He stood there, Magic Blade Thousand Blades in hand, his aura vast and overwhelming, pouring outward like a breached dam.
It was a sharpness so extreme—
it felt capable of piercing the sky itself.
Kuzan's lazy eyes narrowed.
He moved without hesitation.
With a flick of his hand—
every single ice spear shot forward.
A storm.
Dense as falling arrows.
Each one carried a lethal chill—
enough to freeze even a hundred-million-berry pirate solid in an instant.
A cold glint flashed in Kairos' eyes.
His blade was already moving.
The moment he swung—
it was as if thunder exploded across the sea.
A domineering, unstoppable force burst forth with that single slash. The surrounding ocean recoiled under its pressure, waves crashing backward as though forced to bow.
This strike—
was absolute.
Magnificent.
Tyrannical.
Unmatched.
The power of the Sword God—
Soderos.
Draw Slash.
Kairos stood above the sea—
as if demanding the ocean itself kneel before him.
Sharp.
Proud.
Untouchable.
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