While Rayleigh was held back by Zephyr, a figure ignored the two of them entirely, flickering across the ice.
"So that's Saint Valthior? This is my first time seeing what he actually looks like..." Zephyr said as his brows lifted slightly.
"You already know we've got a Celestial Dragon backing us. Why don't you just retreat?" Rayleigh said calmly.
"Hahahaha! That won't do at all. The orders we received were to treat all of you the same!" Zephyr laughed loudly.
The moment his words fell, the two charged straight at each other. Haki exploded wildly as fists and sword slashes collided with deafening force, instantly throwing the battlefield into chaos.
Crack!
The sound of shattering ice came from where Harald had been frozen. Seeing the giant about to break free, a translucent horn crystallized in the center of Valthior's forehead. Chilling air surged, and he fired a bolt of frost, intending to freeze Harald once more.
But at that exact moment, a violent and scorching aura erupted nearby.
"Inugami Guren!!" (Great Eruption!)
It was Sakazuki!
He had only recently joined Marine Headquarters. With his current rank and status, there was no way he was qualified to know that Valthior was a Celestial Dragon.
To him, Valthior was simply another member of the Roger Pirates, and against pirates, Sakazuki would naturally show no restraint.
The burning magma slammed directly into Valthior's freezing wave. Steam hissed violently into the air as thick white mist spread everywhere.
"Sakazuki?" Only now did Valthior notice his presence.
It couldn't be helped. From the feedback of his Observation Haki, Sakazuki's aura only registered as that of an "elite contestant." Valthior hadn't paid him much attention earlier and had assumed he was just another Marine elite soldier. He only recognized him after seeing him face-to-face.
Meanwhile, Sakazuki suddenly realized that the magma he launched was rapidly being swallowed by the freezing energy. Although it weakened the attack somewhat, it was nowhere near enough to stop the frost from advancing.
Left with no choice, Sakazuki poured even more power into his magma. Massive waves of molten heat burst out as he shouted loudly,
"Borsalino! What are you standing around for!?"
Not far away, Borsalino stared at Valthior with a complicated expression.
Unlike Sakazuki, Borsalino was a Marine with connections. He naturally recognized Valthior immediately.
At that moment, their eyes met.
A bright smile spread across Valthior's face before he casually hurled his chain axe toward Borsalino.
No words were exchanged, yet Borsalino instantly understood what he needed to do.
His gaze darkened slightly as golden light flashed in his hand, firing a laser beam straight toward Valthior.
"Too slow!"
Valthior laughed mockingly as he slipped past the laser. In the blink of an eye, he had already appeared in front of Sakazuki.
Sakazuki immediately drew the long sword from his back. Molten magma covered the blade as he fearlessly swung it at Valthior.
As a Logia user, Sakazuki was also a very capable swordsman.
"This little bit of magma isn't even enough to light the candles on a birthday cake..." Valthior mocked. Suddenly, crystalline ice pillars erupted from beneath his feet.
The sharp ice instantly pierced through Sakazuki's body. Before he could even mobilize his magma powers, his entire body was frozen solid.
Then Valthior moved past him in one smooth motion and drove a brutal elbow strike into Sakazuki's frozen body.
Boom!
The terrifying force shattered Sakazuki on the spot, turning him into fragments of ice mixed with cooled magma scattered across the ground.
Right after that, Borsalino transformed into light and rushed forward. A glowing Ama no Murakumo Sword formed in his hand as he slashed toward Valthior.
"Let me see just how big the gap between us really is—"
"The gap is huge!" Valthior cut him off directly.
His body slid beneath the slash of the Ama no Murakumo Sword with unbelievable speed. Then, in one fluid movement, he grabbed Borsalino's wrist.
Using the momentum, Valthior twisted through the air into an upside-down kick. The muscles in his waist tightened explosively as he launched a savage strike straight toward Borsalino's head.
"Even light can be kicked, you know~"
Bang!
Borsalino's head literally burst into light particles as he was sent flying, crashing into the distant ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
In a single exchange, Valthior had momentarily neutralized both Sakazuki and Borsalino, moving toward Harald without breaking stride.
He added pretentiously, "You're all still too young. You're not qualified for this stage yet..."
Finally, it was his turn to lecture other people. Damn, this felt good.
Logia users could indeed be struck by Haki, allowing their true bodies to be captured and injured. But at the same time, they could also restore themselves by reforming through their elemental powers.
It was just like during the Summit War, when Vista's Haki-infused slash cut through Sakazuki's body. The magma fused back together almost instantly, and he quickly appeared completely unharmed.
Even after Whitebeard beat him into a mangled mess, he could still recover. Injuries like those seemed more internal than external.
And now it was the same situation.
Even though Valthior had shattered Sakazuki into icy magma fragments and blown apart Borsalino's head, those weren't truly fatal injuries for Logia users. Besides, Valthior had intentionally held back.
Dark smoke rose from Sakazuki's scattered remains as the magma melted away the ice. The fragments quickly gathered back together, restoring his human form.
Without even thinking, Sakazuki prepared to charge back into battle.
But in the next instant, a streak of blue flames flashed through the corner of his eye, followed immediately by a fierce kick crashing in from his left side.
Compared to Valthior's terrifying speed earlier, this attack was much "slower," slow enough for Sakazuki to react.
He immediately raised an arm to block.
Thud!
Bullet's kick slammed heavily into Sakazuki's arm as he coldly declared,
"Your opponent is me!"
"And who the hell are you!?" Sakazuki shouted while throwing a punch.
Bullet had absolutely no intention of dodging.
Sakazuki's magma-coated fist blasted a huge hole through his chest, molten lava spraying everywhere, but Bullet showed no reaction at all. Instead, he swung his own fist straight into Sakazuki's face while roaring,
"Douglas Bullet, doctor of the Roger Pirates!"
"Doctor!?" Sakazuki coughed blood from the sheer force of the punch, disbelief written all over his face.
Dammit, is the doctor on your ship really this tough? The rumors of the Roger Pirates being "all elites" were no joke!
The fighting style of both men was brutally direct. They immediately began exchanging punches at point-blank range, fists colliding nonstop as magma and blue flames exploded everywhere.
But perhaps because Bullet had far greater mastery over Haki, while Sakazuki had only recently begun learning it, Sakazuki gradually fell into a disadvantage despite being older.
Most importantly, Bullet—relying on the Phoenix's regenerative abilities—didn't bother with defense at all, pouring all his Haki into offensive strikes!
On the other side, Borsalino was intercepted by Doringo and other crew members. Due to his complicated mindset and position, he didn't try to break through. He started "acting," fighting the Roger Pirates with a "struggling" expression as if he were barely holding his own.
The brief delay caused by the young Marines had allowed Harald to break free of the ice and crawl fully out of the ground.
Between the falling Roger and the pursuing Shiki, Harald instinctively locked onto Valthior as his priority target. After all, the biggest loss he had suffered at Whole Cake Island was at the hands of this usually inconspicuous brat!
"Taiyo Nokogiri!!" (Sun Saw!)
Harald swung his massive sword, coating it with overwhelming Haki. Instead of releasing a slash, he directly smashed the blade toward Valthior himself.
Valthior swung out his chain axe. The instant the chain reached the perfect length, freezing energy surged through it, instantly turning the flexible chain into a solid frozen handle.
Then, without dodging at all, Valthior coated both himself and the battle axe in Haki before smashing straight into Harald's giant sword.
But the moment their weapons collided, a terrifying and overwhelming force exploded through him.
The ground beneath Valthior shattered instantly. His arms trembled violently, and his face flushed red as though he could barely withstand the impact.
"What the hell..."
Before he could even finish cursing, Harald's gigantic sword blasted him away.
Compared to how he was back on Whole Cake Island, Harald's physical strength had become utterly ridiculous, almost like cheating.
Valthior had always been extremely confident in his own power. Even Roger himself wouldn't be able to casually knock him flying with brute force alone.
Yet now, he simply couldn't withstand Harald's monstrous attack.
However, the moment Valthior crashed into the ground and shattered the earth beneath him, thick smoke and dust exploded upward and blocked everyone's vision.
Then suddenly—
A ferocious metallic roar erupted from within the smoke.
"Majestic Attire: Frost Sky Ice Zheng!!!"
A gigantic frost-white beast even larger than Harald himself burst out from the smoke with unbelievable speed.
Five tails swayed wildly behind it as the power of Susanoo wrapped around its body.
Its claw-like forelimbs pierced directly into Harald's shoulders before he could even react. Using its enormous size advantage, the beast slammed Harald to the ground.
Then it opened its massive bloody jaws and bit fiercely into Harald's neck.
Blood exploded into the air.
Harald stumbled violently before being completely pinned to the ground.
At the same moment, Shiki arrived first. His eyes widened in shock as he shouted, "What the hell is that ability!?"
He actually took down a darkened Harald head-on!?
Even Roger was stunned by the scene. Was the Susanoo-Mythical Zoan combo really this fierce?
...
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