The Ice Glove and Thunder Bagua remained in a terrifying, deadlocked stalemate. A moment later, Kuzan and Kaido simultaneously stepped back, separating from the clash.
Kuzan's expression remained unreadable, but he didn't immediately press the attack after retreating.
Kaido's massive spiked kanabo was heavily coated in thick, crackling frost. In the blink of an eye, the absolute zero ice spread from the weapon, engulfing his hand and rapidly crawling up his arm until it finally stopped at his shoulder.
Frowning, Kaido flexed his massive muscles. With a sharp crack, the ice violently shattered into a shower of harmless flakes. Protected by his monstrously dense Armament Haki, the freezing temperatures couldn't inflict any genuine frostbite on his flesh.
However, Kaido was currently facing the exact same frustrating issue Bardock had encountered earlier. Fighting in an environment of absolute zero cold increased his stamina consumption by a significant margin. If his opponent were a third-rate scrub, Kaido wouldn't care. But Kuzan was an incredibly formidable opponent; in a battle of this caliber, every single drop of stamina and minor environmental advantage mattered.
By creating a battlefield of extreme cold, Kuzan wasn't just restricting his opponents; he was passively buffing himself. In sub-zero temperatures, every single one of his Devil Fruit techniques became significantly smoother, faster, and more lethal.
Kaido didn't hesitate. In the blink of an eye, he completed his transformation into his Human-Beast form. The Dragon-Human state granted him even more explosive physical strength, an impenetrable scale defense, and an absolutely absurd level of adaptability to extreme environmental conditions.
"Urororororo! Kuzan! Let's start the next round!" Kaido roared. As a man who frequently lost himself in the heat of battle, Kaido was becoming incredibly excited. He just wanted to enjoy a good fight to his heart's content.
"Arara... this is going to be incredibly troublesome," Kuzan sighed lazily. "The cold doesn't seem to have much effect on him at all."
In truth, Kuzan's freezing abilities were the absolute ultimate counter to pure, physical brawlers. Even the colossal, terrifying Ancient Giant Oars, the 'Continent-Puller', had historically been frozen to death. Yet, this Azure Dragon user possessed a physical constitution and cold resistance that was somehow even more absurd than a legendary Giant.
"Gundari: Ryuseigun (Gundari: Dragon Swarm)!"
Kaido charged forward, his Haki-coated kanabo spinning furiously as it trapped Kuzan in a terrifying storm of rapid-fire strikes. The barrage rained down from every conceivable angle. It was an attack with virtually no blind spots; even if Kuzan completely dissolved into freezing air, the sheer density of the Haki-infused swings would inevitably strike his elemental body.
However, Kuzan's physical Rokushiki mastery was more than enough to handle it. Meeting extreme speed with extreme speed, the Vice Admiral's Haki-coated fists flawlessly parried and blocked every single one of Kaido's omnidirectional strikes.
"Ice Time Capsule!"
Kuzan wasn't the type to just passively take a beating. A concentrated wave of freezing air shot across the ice, attempting to instantly flash-freeze Kaido's legs.
Kaido, having anticipated the counter, leapt high into the air, using the momentum to launch a devastating aerial assault. "Kosanze: Ragnaraku (Conqueror of Three Worlds: Ragnarok)!"
It was another apocalyptic technique infused with Advanced Conqueror's Haki. The massive kanabo swung down from the heavens with terrifying force. Utilizing Soru, Kuzan violently launched himself forward, completely dodging the strike. The kanabo missed the Marine and slammed directly into the frozen ocean.
KRACK-THOOOOOM!
The apocalyptic shockwave shattered the massive ice continent into countless floating fragments. If Kuzan hadn't spent the previous minutes freezing the ocean water so incredibly deep and solid, the sheer force of that single blow would have completely destroyed their battlefield, forcing them to relocate.
Reappearing directly behind Kaido, Kuzan struck. "Ice Block: Partisan!"
Four massive ice spears, heavily coated in Armament Haki, thrust viciously toward Kaido's vital spots.
"Hōrai Hakke (Roaring Thunder Bagua)!"
It was an upgraded, even more devastating variation of the Thunder Bagua. Kaido spun around with blinding speed, violently swinging his ACoC-infused kanabo with both hands. With a single, earth-shattering swing, he completely pulverized the four Haki-coated ice spears. The residual shockwave continued screaming toward Kuzan.
Kuzan used Soru to rapidly retreat, and the two monsters fell into a tense standoff once again.
Suddenly, Kaido's Observation Haki picked up an anomaly. Bardock and his crew were gone. He scanned the surrounding area—the golden White Dragon was completely missing from the battlefield. In an instant, his expression darkened considerably. Combined with his terrifying Dragon-Human visage, he looked absolutely demonic.
Kuzan also noticed that Bardock had used the chaotic clash to slip away. Honestly, for the Vice Admiral, this was a fantastic outcome. At the very least, it guaranteed Kaido couldn't recruit Bardock, Enel, and Robin.
A Mythical Zoan user, a Lightning Logia user, and a highly sought-after scholar who could read the Poneglyphs. If those three joined the Beast Pirates, the Yonko crew's overall threat level would instantly skyrocket by several magnitudes.
(In truth, Kuzan still had no idea about Princess Mansherry's existence. The larger and more violent an organization was, the more terrifyingly valuable the Heal-Heal Fruit became.)
It was fine that they escaped. Kuzan hadn't genuinely planned on arresting Robin today anyway, and now he had the perfect, irrefutable excuse to report back to Headquarters.
But the truth was, Bardock's crew hadn't actually run that far away.
Taking full advantage of Kaido and Kuzan's chaotic deathmatch, Bardock and Enel had stealthily piloted the ship away from the epicenter before rapidly ascending vertically into the sky.
Currently, they were hiding inside a dense cloud bank high above the battlefield, secretly watching the two monsters fight. Bardock had expanded his Flying Nimbus to completely envelop the White Dragon like a massive camouflage bubble, blending the ship perfectly into the surrounding natural clouds.
They were hovering at the absolute maximum visual limit of Bardock's Golden Fiery Eyes. Meanwhile, Enel kept his Mantra completely dialed in, monitoring the perimeter so they could instantly flee if either monster decided to fly up and target them.
"Bardock... aren't we going to use this chance to actually leave?!" Robin asked, her voice still trembling with lingering terror. Kuzan's initial appearance had already spiked her heart rate, but Kaido's arrival had literally made her forget how to breathe. Was that truly what a top-tier Yonko felt like?! The sheer, oppressive aura made Crocodile and Moria feel like harmless children in comparison.
"Yeah! Let's get out of here, right now!" Perona pleaded. Previously, Perona had always been incredibly confident in her Devil Fruit abilities. She had genuinely believed her ghosts could affect anyone, even Bardock. But standing in the sheer, overwhelming presence of Kaido, she couldn't even muster the courage to think about throwing a Negative Hollow at him.
The rest of the crew looked at Bardock, anxiously waiting for his final decision.
"Hold on just a little bit longer. Let's see if they bust out any more ultimate techniques," Bardock grinned, absolutely refusing to leave just yet.
The main reason he had chosen to linger at a safe distance was because he had successfully deciphered the underlying mechanics of Kaido's Thunder Bagua, and he had even begun to grasp the fundamental theory behind Advanced Conqueror's Haki Infusion.
The core of the Thunder Bagua was merely a highly specialized application of Armament Haki combined with the raw physical manipulation of electrical energy. The actual martial arts technique of swinging the club wasn't particularly complex; Bardock had already completely memorized the kinetic flow. Once he had some free time to practice, his staff-wielding skills would undoubtedly see a massive leap in lethality.
As for Advanced Conqueror's Haki (ACoC)? Bardock finally understood why a single kanabo swing could make Luffy roll his eyes into the back of his head. It was because the Conqueror's Haki being infused into the weapon was violently compressed. It was an impossibly high-density application of King's Haki.
Standard Conqueror's Haki utilized its natural density to effortlessly knock out thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of weak-willed individuals in a massive area-of-effect wave. If a user forcefully compressed that exact same apocalyptic volume of energy into the tiny surface area of a weapon... the resulting kinetic and spiritual impact was absolutely horrifying. No wonder Luffy, despite his absurd rubber durability, couldn't tank a single hit in Kuri.
But to actually learn how to safely compress and infuse his own Conqueror's Haki, Bardock still had a long way to go.
Through Bardock's visual feed and Enel's live-audio Mantra commentary, the crew watched as Kaido and Kuzan violently clashed once again.
Having lost his primary targets, Kaido was currently just fighting to cause as much chaos and destruction as possible. Kuzan, on the other hand, was desperately trying to prevent Kaido from doing whatever he wanted. The Vice Admiral needed to stall the Yonko, or ideally, annoy him enough to force him back to the New World.
Suddenly, Enel flinched. "Bardock. Someone else is coming!"
"He's so fast!"
"HE'S HERE!"
Enel blurted out three consecutive, panicked sentences, his tone completely laced with shock.
Given the absolutely massive range of Enel's Mantra, the fact that the newcomer had traveled from the very edge of his radar to the dead center of the battlefield in the few seconds it took Enel to speak... the speed was utterly incomprehensible.
"Yeah, I see him," Bardock muttered, his golden eyes narrowing as a blinding flash of yellow light materialized in the sky above the ice. "It's Kizaru. Alright, playtime is officially over. We're leaving."
Without a second thought, Bardock mentally commanded the Flying Nimbus. The golden cloud instantly cocooned the White Dragon and violently propelled them higher into the stratosphere, rapidly fleeing the sector.
Right before they completely vanished into the upper atmosphere, Bardock glanced back down at the battlefield one last time. He saw the newly arrived Kizaru adjust his tinted sunglasses and briefly glance up toward the exact cloud bank they had just vacated.
Seeing that look, Bardock aggressively pumped even more stamina into the Nimbus, fleeing even faster.
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