"Mother!"
Napoleon screamed in terror as creeping frost raced up the blade of the Emperor's Sword. The strongest Homie, usually indifferent to Armament Haki, felt genuine fear. A primal instinct warned him that if Daiguren Hyōrinmaru's aura froze him completely, he wouldn't just be immobilized—he would truly die.
"Prometheus!"
Charlotte Linlin's pupils constricted. She instantly summoned Prometheus, the Old God of Fire, who blazed into existence, engulfing Napoleon in explosive flames to shield the sword.
"Mother's Flame!"
She swung the flaming blade, intending to melt the encroaching ice.
But the result defied logic.
Hiss!
Upon contact, the flames didn't melt the ice. Instead, the fire itself froze, crystallizing into jagged, burning ice crystals. The high-temperature flames were instantly solidified.
"Damn it!"
Linlin roared, but her rage didn't cloud her judgment. She immediately switched tactics. Since Homies born of Devil Fruit powers were vulnerable to Rosen's blades, she would rely on the Grand Line's ultimate counter to Devil Fruits: overwhelming Haki.
Both her fists erupted. Armament Haki flowed like a breaking dam; Conqueror's Haki surged like crackling lightning. The dual energy blast washed over the freezing air, slowing the ice's spread—but failing to stop it.
Napoleon remained frozen solid, completely unaffected by her Haki.
"This ain't ordinary ice!"
Linlin's eyes widened in apprehension. Her Haki was insufficient to shatter it.
"Lion—Wave Slash!"
Shiki swooped from the sky, his twin swords cleaving the air. He transformed into a Conqueror's Haki-clad thunder lion, a mountain-splitting force of nature hurtling toward Rosen like black lightning.
Rosen didn't even turn his head. He simply raised one of the massive ice wings unfurled from his back, intercepting the attack.
BOOM!
Conqueror's Haki clashed in concentric shockwaves. Shiki's blades struck the ice wing with the force of a meteor, but the result was the same. Not a crack formed. The ice, hardened by Rosen's Armament Haki, was absolute.
Shiki's eyes nearly popped from his skull. "Is this really ice?"
Even Diamond Jozu's Glint-Glint Fruit couldn't compare.
The cruel truth was laid bare: the combined might of two Emperors couldn't breach Rosen's defense.
Edward Newgate saw this and charged. His left hand, still embedded in the sky, unleashed constant quakes that shattered the heavens, disrupting Rosen's footing. Simultaneously, he descended like a tiger, Murakumogiri swinging. A sphere of pure vibration and Conqueror's Haki coated the blade, aimed to crush both Rosen and the ice.
But Rosen vanished.
He didn't use Soru. He didn't move.
He simply teleported.
Rosen flashed past Linlin and Shiki, blurred by Newgate's charging form, and reappeared standing behind all three.
"Impossible..."
Newgate's instincts screamed. His Observation Haki couldn't sense Rosen, but his combat reflexes took over. He halted his momentum instantly, pivoted, and swung Murakumogiri behind him in a wide arc.
The Tremor-Tremor Fruit didn't need precise aiming. A full-power swing covered half the sphere of battle. Whatever was behind him would be crushed.
"Four Realms: Ice Freeze."
Rosen stood calmly behind Newgate, Daiguren Hyōrinmaru pointed forward.
The words dropped like frozen steel.
Mid-swing, Murakumogiri stopped.
Newgate's body, caught in the pivot, froze solid.
Man, sword, swirling Conqueror's Haki, and the azure sphere of shockwaves—everything was instantly encased in a block of absolute zero ice.
"Whitebeard!"
Linlin spun around, horror twisting her features. The world's strongest man... was frozen.
She hadn't felt any freezing air touch him. It happened instantly, ignoring the quakes that should have shattered any approaching ice.
"How?!" Shiki gasped.
Rosen hadn't frozen him from a distance. He had teleported the concept of freezing directly onto Newgate's location.
"Give up."
Rosen's voice cut through the silence.
"He cannot break free. Not with Edward Newgate's current strength."
Ten seconds passed. The ice remained uncracked.
Linlin and Shiki trembled. They knew the biology. The longer the freeze, the more the body deteriorated. Blood congealed. Joints seized. Muscles died. Organs stopped.
"I don't believe it!" Shiki roared, slashing at the ice block. "Newgate is the strongest! He shatters the ocean itself!"
Shiki was ruthless, but he respected strength. In his mind, Gol D. Roger was the only true equal. Seeing Newgate—his rival in spirit—trapped and helpless ignited a fury that surpassed self-preservation.
He had to save him.