Sakazuki coughed up another round of blood as he slid down the wall of the mountain he had been knocked into. His blurred vision was quickly fading as he continued to feel the reverberations that Kageki had delivered into his body, and he grimaced as he saw the man slowly approach him. The look on his face was one of unfeeling duty, and Sakazuki felt a brief moment of connection with the man as he held out his palm once more.
"Let's finish this," Kageki said as he narrowed his eyes toward the young pirate.
Sakazuki lowered his head, the overwhelming feeling of defeat and the continuing pain making any will he had to fight fade from his body. With his eyes closed, he awaited the grasp of death that he felt was surely coming for him.
After waiting for what felt like too long, Sakazuki curiously raised his head and opened his eyes, both of them widening in surprise as he saw Kageki struggling with his foot that now seems to be encased in ice.
"You ok, kid?" Zeff asked from above the pair, his blonde hair blowing in the wind as he stood at the top of the cliff that his crewmate had been slammed into.
"Ugh, can't a man just do his job?" Kageki asked in a disgruntled tone as the ice around his leg shattered.
Zeff frowned as he looked down at the situation, checking momentarily to ensure that he had frozen every soldier that was attacking Mayando. Analyzing the battlefield with a cold and calculating state, his calm demeanor never changed as he jumped down toward the battlefield, his hands remaining firmly tucked into his pockets the entire way down.
"Is it your job to beat the crap out of a couple kids half your age?" Zeff asked with a soft anger in his voice as he landed between sakazuki and Kageki.
"It's my job to follow the orders of the Flower Kingdom," the general said as he raised his palms up once more. "And your friends have made us fall fairly far behind, so I'll be finishing you all off now," he said as Zeff barely managed to bring his knee up to block the initial strike.
Zeff clicked his tongue in annoyance before jumping backwards, clearing a dozen or so feet of space between the two as he looked down at the shattered lay of ice falling from his knee. The Chilly Chilly Fruit was an immensely powerful Devil Fruit, and the intricate abilities like forming armor on his body still weren't coming naturally to him after only a few months. Fortunately for him though, the familiar sensation of Haki hardening his leg and the flames that were starting to spark off of it were as familiar to him at this point as breathing.
"My captain just made me go on a hike in snow covered mountains that took 6 hours," Zeff said as he slowly walked toward Kageki, the snow melting around his right leg with every step that he took. "I was not in the mood for this," he said before suddenly pushing off of his left foot with immense force.
The Haki infused into his legs allowed him to launch himself with immense force, rocketing toward Kageki like a comet. Using the momentum of his initial jump, he began spinning his body rapidly, the cloak of flame that covered his leg expanding in size with every spin. The general looked up in surprise, his eyes barely able to keep up with the movements of the Rocks' Pirates chef. Just as he raised his arms in a defensive position above his head, Zeff swung his leg down toward Kageki in a massive arc.
"Rotini Ruggente!" Zeff shouted as his foot made contact with the general's arms, instantly breaking through their defenses as his foot slammed Kageki's head into the snow.
The smashing of his skull into the ground and the pained wheeze indicated that Zeff had done the damage he had been aiming to do, and he leaped over his groaning opponent as he beelined toward Mayando. The remaining members of the Land of Flowers troops were approaching the downed navigator, and Zeff could tell by the pace of their approach that he wouldn't be able to make it in time to physically defend the unconscious teenager.
Taking a deep breath and stopping in his tracks, he raised his right arm up in front of him with his palm facing the sky. The whipping frigid winds that surrounded him howled just a bit louder as the power of the Chilly Chilly Fruit swirled in his hand, forming a trio of perfectly spherical ice balls. As they levitated in his hand, he focused intently, successfully infusing Armament Haki into his projectiles. He smiled as the technique that he had been practicing for weeks finally bore fruit, and he dropped his hand as the spheres dropped toward the ground. Just before they made an impact, his right leg moved like a blur, his Haki coated limb launching each projectile like a small missile at the remaining troops.
"Gelato di Sangue!" He shouted as the spheres he had formed out of ice now radiated with 2 additional colors: the metallic sheen from his Haki, which acted as a protective coating to allow the balls of ice to be coated in fire. In an instant, tiny spheres made impact with the skulls of their targets, and the contained explosions rocketed them away from Mayando.
With a sigh of relief, Zeff turned around to see the palm of General Kageki rapidly approaching his chest. He did not even have time to process the events unfolding in front of him, let alone put up a defense, and simply did his best to brace for the impact.
Fortunately for him though, the crack of a leg connecting with his opponent's head echoed throughout the battlefield, and the invader from the Land of Flowers fell before landing a single strike.
"Making a woman save you? I thought you were Mr. Chivalry?" Rocks said in a mocking tone as Kureha landed on the general's chest, eliciting a grunt of pain as the old witch smiled down upon him.