The power of frost exploded from Harald's heart, instantly freezing his chest solid. Even his arms became stiff from the cold, leaving him unable to react.
"Cut him to pieces, Gaban!!!" Roger roared while gripping Ace tightly.
The moment he heard Roger's shout, Gaban moved without hesitation. He leaped high into the air. Even though he was already exhausted, he forcibly squeezed out every last bit of strength and Haki remaining in his body.
"You bastards... don't think you can—" Sengoku raised his hand as golden light burst out from his body, transforming him into the Great Buddha as he tried to stop Gaban.
But at the critical moment, Silver Axe finally proved useful. He swung his massive battle axe and roared angrily,
"Sengoku, I'm your opponent!!!"
"Buddha Light—"
The golden shockwave had already been unleashed.
Silver Axe gritted his teeth and jumped directly behind Gaban. He swung his axe forward with all his might, smashing hard against the golden blast!
In terms of pure strength, Silver Axe was still weaker than Sengoku. The golden light exploded violently, instantly swallowing him whole.
But in the end, he still managed to buy enough time for Gaban.
"Yaso..."
A savage light flashed in Gaban's eyes. Conqueror's Haki condensed around the twin axes in his hands like solid matter.
The instant his body reached Harald's waist level, the two axes he had been charging suddenly swung out violently.
"Yasotakeru!!!"
Countless dazzling axe blades flashed behind Harald.
A huge spray of blood exploded from his body as the terrifying slashing force tore into him, shredding him apart from the inside.
At this moment, Gaban's legendary technique—said to be capable of devouring even mountains—displayed its full destructive power!
"Lion Rampage!" Shiki also seized the opportunity at the same time, his twin swords dancing wildly.
He had no idea why Roger wanted Harald chopped into pieces.
But at this moment, he chose to trust Roger!
Under the combined assault from Gaban and Shiki, Harald suffered catastrophic injuries instantly. Even so, he still forced himself to stay conscious, trying to gather Haki for defense.
Right then, the figure of the catfish Fish-Man, Babel, leaped high into the air, arriving directly in front of Harald's face.
"Fish-Man Karate Secret Technique: Buraikan!!!" (Vagabond Drill!)
Boom!!!
A terrifying punch crashed down.
The violent force traveled from Harald's head straight through his entire body. His giant frame, already barely holding together after being sliced apart by Gaban and Shiki's fierce attacks, completely collapsed on the spot.
At that exact moment, Harald's severed head spun through the air.
The rage that had clouded his eyes suddenly disappeared, and clarity returned to them once more.
"Permafrost Boundary!!!" Valthior roared furiously.
White frost shot into the sky.
For a brief moment, everyone seemed to see a silver-white beast rushing into Harald's scattered remains.
At first, Roger and the others thought it was the phantom of the Ice Zheng Beast.
But Rayleigh immediately noticed something wrong.
Valthior had the Cat-Cat Fruit.
Yet the phantom just now was clearly a wolf.
That was a canine, not a feline.
And it didn't even have five tails!
"Okuchi no Makami!?" Rayleigh instantly realized the possibility.
As the frost-white mist blocking everyone's vision slowly dispersed, Harald's shattered body—cut into seventeen or eighteen pieces—still hadn't even fallen from the sky before it was completely sealed inside pure, transparent crystal ice.
Inside the massive block of ice, the phantom of a frost wolf could faintly be seen, like a Warden Beast imprisoning the corpse forever.
Thud!
Harald's severed head dropped onto the ground.
Yet he still hadn't died.
It was just that he clearly could no longer reunite with his frozen body and regenerate.
"What... happened to me?" Harald asked blankly while staring up at the sky.
"You regained your senses, Harald!?" Roger looked at the head lying on the ground in shock.
"My senses... right... There's a terrifying existence in Mary Geoise. He wanted to take Elbaf and enslave..." Harald suddenly remembered everything and hurriedly tried to warn Roger and the others.
Right then, another enormous figure charged over from the distance.
"You damned pirates! To think you dared murder the King of Elbaf! Even if it costs me my life today, I will slaughter every last one of you vile bastards here!!!"
An aged voice thundered from the figure.
It was clearly Elbaf's elder—the strongest man of three hundred years ago, the warrior who once swept across the seas undefeated...
Jarul.
"Who the hell is this old guy!?" Roger raised Ace and shouted, "I don't exactly have a habit of respecting my elders..."
"He's almost four hundred years old and still managed to break my ice?" Valthior said in surprise. "As expected of the world's strongest man from back then."
Seeing Jarul about to risk his life fighting Roger, Shiki, and the others, Harald suddenly shouted,
"Lord Jarul, stop!!!"
Jarul froze in shock when he heard the voice.
He looked carefully—
Harald's head was talking!?
To be honest, the moment Jarul broke free from the frozen restraints earlier, he had just happened to witness Roger, Gaban, Shiki, Valthior, Babel, and the others forcibly tearing Harald's body apart together.
After seeing Harald dismembered, Jarul naturally assumed he was dead and rushed over in a furious rage to fight to the death.
But now that he got closer...
The guy was still alive with only his head left!?
And he could still talk!?
"You... Harald, how are you still alive!?" Jarul asked in disbelief. Then he awkwardly corrected himself, "No, I mean... you're not dead yet!?"
"When I went to Mary Geoise, I was cursed with immortality..." Harald quickly explained everything. "Before this, my mind had been clouded. That wasn't truly me. The World Government wanted to control me and use Elbaf as a weapon to conquer the seas. We were deceived from the very beginning. They never intended to let us become an affiliated nation. They wanted to turn every person in Elbaf into slaves..."
But the battle was still ongoing.
Shiki was extremely interested in all this and stayed behind listening to Harald's story.
Roger, meanwhile, directly rushed toward another battlefield with sword in hand—
where Marine Admiral Sengoku was fighting.
"So what you're saying is..." Jarul said in shock after hearing everything, "these pirates rampaging through Elbaf were actually trying to save us!?"
"Jihahahahaha! Exactly right!" Shiki immediately rolled his eyes and shamelessly put on the act of a heroic savior. "From the very beginning, I came here to help you! The World Government wants to enslave you, right? In that case, how about joining me and turning Mary Geoise upside down together!?"
Valthior crossed his arms and looked at Harald's giant head.
"When you and Shiki started fighting, our Roger Pirates could've simply escaped," he said calmly. "But Roger remembered how Rocks was manipulated and toyed with the same way back then, until he exhausted himself and died at God Valley. Seeing monsters like you reduced to puppets for others to control... it really pisses him off."
"So even Rocks died in humiliation like this back then..." Harald muttered sorrowfully.
A moment later, hope suddenly appeared in his eyes again.
"Since you managed to kill Rocks at God Valley back then... does that mean you can kill me now too?" Harald asked. "Then hurry and end my life. I can feel that darkness beginning to erode my mind again. At the very least, let me decide my own death in these final moments."
"That's impossible." Valthior frowned slightly. "Back then, Rocks was only being forcibly controlled. But you actually formed a contract with that thing."
After pausing briefly, he continued,
"Elbaf possesses a certain power. A power that allows souls to return to Valhalla. It's a force capable of granting warriors an honorable death."
"The time hasn't come yet..." Harald said softly. "That is the gift I prepared for Loki... His current strength still isn't enough to inherit that power."
"In that case," Valthior said slowly, "I can only freeze and seal you within Elbaf. Stay inside this eternal ice... and wait for the future you hope for."
"I leave it to you..." A flash of absolute resolve crossed Harald's eyes.
The moment his words fell, Valthior's power erupted once more, completely sealing Harald's head inside the transparent crystal ice.
Then Valthior turned toward Shiki.
At the same time, Shiki looked back at him with ill intent in his eyes.
The two stared at each other for a moment.
Then Shiki grinned.
"Let's put our grudges aside for now," he said. "First, let's drive the Marines out of Elbaf!"
"That's exactly what I was thinking," Valthior replied with a smile.
The moment those words fell, both men charged back into battle once more.
Valthior headed straight toward Zephyr, who was fighting Rayleigh.
Meanwhile, Shiki chose Sengoku as his target.
...
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