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A pale, frigid mist drifted up from the frozen sea like a thin layer of cloud.
A light breeze passed, scattering the white vapor.
Kuzan's tall figure slowly came into view. Half his body and cheek were encased in blue ice as he lifted his head inch by inch.
Crack.
The ice shattered away, revealing torn clothes beneath and the abrasions on his skin.
Even though he'd elementalized in advance, he still hadn't fully dodged Kyle's explosive strike.
"Now that's pressure I've never felt before."
Kuzan muttered under his breath, eyes narrowing.
There was no denying it. Ever since Kyle had stepped into his line of sight, he had never stopped moving forward. The man's growth rate was monstrous, even among monsters.
At first, the gap between them had been huge. Then Kyle caught up. Then he surpassed him. And on that day at Marineford, when he captured the Golden Lion, Shiki, Kuzan had felt true shock.
Somewhere along the way, this man had grown so far ahead that Kuzan could no longer even see his back.
Two years ago, that shock had turned into clenched fists and a single, stubborn resolve: I will catch up to him.
Since then, he had never once slacked off. He'd honed his strength relentlessly.
"I haven't been standing still either!"
"Kyle!"
His eyes sharpened. Ice condensed in his palm, forming an icy saber. An invisible force coiled around it.
Armament Haki hardened the blade.
The reason the three "monsters" were called monsters was simple. Their talent was terrifying.
A shrill screech tore through the air.
Brilliant blue lightning exploded downward from the sky.
Kuzan's pupils flickered. He instantly retreated.
The moment his afterimage faded, a lightning-wreathed blade slashed through where he'd stood, smashing into the ice below.
Boom!
The scorching electricity burned a hole straight through the frozen sea. A violent sword aura carved a long trench across the surface.
"Quick reaction."
Kyle grinned. His body twisted, lightning blade cutting again.
Kuzan raised his ice saber and blocked.
"Observation Haki, huh?"
Kyle's eyes narrowed, his expression turning cold.
He himself had little aptitude for sensing external auras. Seeing Kuzan master Observation made him, admittedly, a little jealous.
Lightning flashed around him.
In almost less than a blink, he appeared behind Kuzan, fingers splayed.
"Three hundred million volts."
"Divine Judgment."
Crackle!
A blinding pillar of lightning swelled instantly, swallowing Kuzan whole.
When the light faded, Kuzan's body appeared—fully frozen—before shattering into pieces across the ground.
"As expected of the most offensively powerful Logia."
Kuzan's voice was grave.
Even with preemptive elementalization, smoke rose from his body. He was injured.
"If you can't even handle the warm-up," Kyle said with a grin, "how long do you think you'll last once we really start?"
Before his words even settled, he vanished in a streak of lightning.
Kuzan's gaze sharpened, a faint red glint flashing in his eyes.
Against the speed of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, only Observation could keep up.
A bolt of lightning split the air.
Kuzan turned—and his heart jolted.
From the sky descended a massive lightning strike stretching thousands of meters, crashing toward him. The searing glare had already reached him by the time he registered it.
Thunder roared. The frozen sea, hard as iron, boiled under the heat, white mist erupting everywhere.
And then—
"Where are you looking?"
Kyle burst out of the lightning itself, fist wrapped in crackling arcs, swinging down.
Caught off guard, Kuzan barely managed to raise his arms to block.
Bang!
The force was overwhelming. Worse, it bypassed his exterior and blasted straight into his body.
"Pfft!"
Blood spilled from his mouth.
His body flew back like a cannon shot, crashing and tumbling across the ice for thousands of meters before finally stopping.
But Kyle wasn't finished.
The enormous lightning bolt in his hand whipped forward.
The frozen sea vaporized into surging seawater, roaring toward Kuzan.
Kuzan reacted instantly, springing up just as the lightning closed in.
"This is like a storm in full fury," he muttered, face tense. "No room to breathe at all."
Even so, he couldn't avoid everything. Lightning struck him again. Smoke rose. Pain twisted his features.
"So this is the gap between us…"
He wiped the blood from his lips, retreating, watching the shrinking lightning with steady eyes.
It was obvious. Kyle hadn't gone all out. This was just a friendly spar between old friends.
And yet the pressure was suffocating.
The sea wind howled, lifting shards of ice.
They faced each other, eyes locking.
And in that instant, they both moved.
Lightning exploded outward. Kuzan leapt high, slashing down with his ice saber.
Clang!
Lightning blade and ice saber collided. A shockwave rippled outward, cracking the ice beneath their feet.
But Kuzan slid backward.
In raw strength, he couldn't compete with the broad-backed, iron-bodied man before him.
"You've improved a lot!"
Kyle laughed, stepping forward.
That single step moved at lightning speed. Arcs coiled around him, relentless.
Bang bang bang bang!
Their elemental blades clashed again and again, shockwaves bursting outward.
"Armament. Observation. You've mastered them both?"
"Just like you, Kuzan."
"You're strong enough now to fight me."
Kyle meant it.
You could never underestimate anyone. Especially the future Admirals. In just two years, Kuzan had not only deepened his fruit abilities, he'd mastered Haki as well.
He already carried the outline of the man he would become.
"Still humble as ever," Kuzan said through bloodied lips.
In direct clashes, he was steadily losing ground. The force from Kyle's lightning blade was shaking his insides.
Was this advanced Armament?
Their figures blurred across the battlefield, lightning and ice colliding, hissing into clouds of steam.
And it was clear—Kuzan was at a disadvantage.
So far, this had only been a contest of physical combat and swordsmanship.
"Heh."
"It's not humility."
"It's respect… for an old friend's strength."
Kyle smiled.
His lightning blade moved in wide arcs, flowing Haki wrapped around it. He had the upper hand.
After more than a dozen breaths, Kuzan suddenly leapt back, arms spreading.
"Ice Age!"
An overwhelming wave of cold engulfed Kyle instantly. Frost coated his hair, skin, clothes in a heartbeat, spreading fast.
Even his blood and cells seemed to freeze.
The cold bit deep.
But just as quickly, Kyle laughed and shook.
"Armament."
An invisible force surged over his entire body, dispelling the cold and shattering the frost.
Kuzan's eyes darkened in shock.
Full-body Armament. To that level?
How had he achieved that?
Then lightning flared again.
"Five hundred million volts."
Kyle raised his right hand calmly.
"Heaven's Wrath."
A roaring blue pillar swallowed Kuzan and shot into the distant horizon, lighting up the entire world.
The lightning raged for several breaths before fading.
Far away, Kuzan lay sprawled on the ice, smoke rising from his body, unmoving.
"If you've chosen to stand against me," Kyle sighed softly, lowering his hand, "then don't hesitate, Kuzan."
Cold wind swept past, carrying both frost and lingering heat.
Suddenly, the blue arcs around Kyle flickered violently.
"Energy Barrier."
A blue dome expanded around him, covering a hundred meters.
Boom boom boom!
Molten magma fists slammed into the barrier, sending ripples across its surface—but failing to break it.
Kyle turned.
A figure stood a thousand meters away.
"Calling yourself absolute justice while launching sneak attacks?" Kyle's gaze went cold. "That's beneath you."
He spoke the man's name.
"Sakazuki."
Sakazuki's face was rigid, voice colder still. "Against a traitor like you, no method is off limits."
Kyle laughed softly.
"Don't make excuses for your fear."
"You know perfectly well you're not my match."
Killing intent flashed in Sakazuki's eyes.
"You dared to betray the Marines. You should've known the end awaiting you."
"I never said I was betraying anything," Kyle replied lightly.
"I'm simply practicing the justice I believe in."
Within his field of perception, the scholars of Ohara were safe under Bullet's protection. The civilians had been transferred to warships. Saul had reunited with T. Bone and the others, lying on deck talking excitedly with Robin.
What remained before him now—
Were the future Admirals.
"No matter what you say, it won't hide your rebellion," Sakazuki sneered. "You're a disgrace to the Marines, Kyle."
Magma boiled across his body, surging into his right arm.
"People like you…"
"Should be erased."
His arm swung.
"Meigo!"
A blazing magma fist tore through the air.
Kyle, however, stood silent. His face had darkened at some point.
Then his right hand moved.
It gripped the hilt at his waist—a sword he had never once drawn since obtaining it.
Black-red light burst forth as the blade slid free.
Lightning coiled along its edge.
"You really are…"
"…insufferable."
His voice was ice-cold.
He lifted his head. His eyes snapped open.
A vast surge of Conqueror's Haki exploded outward. Black-red lightning twisted around the blade.
He swung.
Crack.
Far across the frozen sea, fractures spread for thousands of meters under the crushing pressure of his will.
Then two low words echoed through heaven and earth.
"Divine Departure."
Light flared blindingly bright. For a fleeting instant, a golden dragon seemed to rise, roaring.
Before Sakazuki's eyes—
Only a dazzling slash remained.
And before he could even see how the blade had moved, an overwhelming force engulfed him. His elementalization failed, suppressed outright.
Boom.
There wasn't even the slightest pause. His body went flying backward.
"Click."
The long blade slid back into its sheath. Kyle's face was dark as thunder as he watched the figure hurtling away. Lightning crackled around him, flaring bright, and he stepped forward with his right foot.
With a sharp hiss, he vanished.
In the blink of an eye, he reappeared above Sakazuki.
His right hand shot out and clamped down on the man's head.
"There's only one person," he said, voice colder than the ice below them, "that I truly can't bring myself to like."
Lightning burst from between his fingers, blazing so fiercely it lit up the sky.
Then his hand tightened—and drove down.
Boom!
Sakazuki's head was slammed straight into the frozen ground. The sheer force shattered the surrounding ice, cracks racing outward as slabs collapsed and splintered apart.
Kyle slowly rose to his feet, staring down with an expression as cold as steel.
But in the next second, Sakazuki—his skull embedded in the ice, blood streaming down his face, features twisted—snapped his eyes open.
"I feel exactly the same about you!"
Magma churned violently across his body. He surged up in a single explosive leap, both fists roaring forward.
"Dog Bite—Red Lotus!"
The sudden counter caught Kyle off guard. A blazing magma hound burst forth and punched clean through his abdomen in an instant.
He lowered his gaze.
At his waist, there was nothing—his midsection severed, the torn edges flickering with arcs of electricity. Kyle's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Seems I underestimated you."
But Sakazuki didn't press the advantage. He seized the opening to retreat at once.
And then—
His body froze.
At some point, a shadow had fallen behind him.
It was already there.
A savage, beastlike chill pressed against his back, and Sakazuki felt every muscle in his body lock tight.
"..."
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