The crushing pressure of ice and fire attacked him from both the front and back. Above him was Kuzan's all-or-nothing "Galactic Impact," an attack powerful enough to freeze the heavens. Behind him was Sakazuki's ruthless "Meteor Volcano," a technique meant to incinerate all things.
The two vastly different powers, both carrying the purest killing intent, locked onto Kyle. Anyone else in this desperate situation would have been paralyzed by despair. Yet, Kyle's heart was perfectly calm. A single thought even flashed through his mind. If this were ten years from now, with three full Admirals attacking me at once, I might actually have to dodge.
But now? How dare a couple of Vice Admirals get so cocky? Do these two greenhorns really think they can make me retreat?
Kyle sank into a low, stable horse stance. The usual cynical expression on his face vanished, replaced by a calm that was almost indifferent. As he crouched, a brilliant, unprecedented light burst forth from his golden eyes.
Buzz—!
The black-and-gold naginata, Nidhogg, let out a high-pitched dragon's roar, as if it were excited for the feast to come. A surging wave of visible Haki wrapped around the weapon, and streaks of ink-black and blood-red lightning—the telltale sign of a Haoshoku Haki coating—danced along the blade like a miniature thunderstorm.
"Boom—!!!"
Kyle didn't even swing his weapon. The simple act of releasing his full aura caused the sturdy ice beneath his feet to shatter. Centered on him, the dozens-of-meters-thick ice field for a hundred meters in every direction exploded into countless fragments that shot into the sky like a magnificent, violent fountain.
In the distance, at the edge of the ruined port, Mihawk and Moriah, who were busy dealing with the other Marine officers, both froze. A tremor from the depths of their souls made them instinctively look toward the center of the ice field. The aura that had just erupted was so overwhelmingly dominant it felt like it could bring the entire world to its knees.
Mihawk's hawk-like eyes narrowed. Moriah's signature "Kishishishi" laugh died in his throat. The two exchanged a look across the chaotic battlefield, instantly understanding what the other was thinking.
Run!
No, better yet—get the Marines in front of us!
Mihawk unleashed a simple horizontal slash, but the green sword pressure transformed into an unstoppable wave, forcing all the Marines in his path to stumble backward. At the same time, Moriah let out a low growl, and the shadow at his feet instantly morphed into a massive black shield, blocking all incoming attacks while simultaneously pushing him away from the center of the action. The two showed astonishing coordination, pushing back their opponents and retreating as fast as they could, wanting no part of what was coming next.
The Marine officers they left behind hadn't yet figured out why these two powerful pirates were suddenly running away. But they were about to learn.
On the ice field, facing the descending ice punch and the rain of magma meteors, Kyle slowly raised Nidhogg. His voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the chaos and reached the ears of everyone present.
"Blazing Sky Corona!"
A ring-shaped wheel of black-and-gold light exploded outwards from Kyle. It expanded in perfect silence. Its edge was a pure, all-consuming darkness, while its core was a dazzling gold, like a newborn sun. It wasn't a slash or a shockwave. It was something else entirely—an expanding circle of absolute destruction.
Where the light wheel passed, space itself seemed to ripple.
The overwhelming magma fists from Sakazuki's "Meteor Volcano" were the first to make contact. They were completely disintegrated, annihilated into nothingness without even producing a wisp of steam. The massive glaciers that were closing in from all four sides began to silently crumble from their bases as the light wheel advanced.
"What?!"
In mid-air, Sakazuki, who was still in his magma form, trembled violently. For the first time, an emotion he rarely felt—horror—appeared on his molten-rock face. That black-and-gold light wheel was giving off a threat of death he had never experienced before.
He didn't hesitate. He twisted his body in the air, ejecting a massive amount of magma behind him to propel himself away, desperately trying to escape the bizarre attack. But the light wheel expanded far faster than he could have imagined.
Sshhh—
The edge of the light grazed the side of his body. Sakazuki let out a grunt of pain as half of his magma form was simply sliced away, erased from existence.
On the other side, Kuzan, who was directly above the attack, had no way to evade. Nor would he. This was his ultimate attack, the culmination of all his training. He watched with his own eyes as his proud ice fortress was effortlessly broken, as the wheel of destruction tore through every obstacle and rushed up to meet the fist that held all of his beliefs.
Kuzan didn't dodge or retreat. He squeezed out the last ounce of strength in his body, pouring it all into his fist. The dazzling, red, cross-shaped light in his palm grew even more brilliant. This was everything he had. To retreat now would be to deny his past, to deny his very justice.
"Come on! KYLE—!!!"
He roared as he collided head-on with the heaven-defying black-and-gold light.
Time seemed to stop. The brilliant red light of his "Galactic Impact" flickered for only an instant before being swallowed by the deeper darkness of the light wheel, not even causing a ripple. Next to go was Kuzan's Haki-coated fist, then his arm, then his entire body.
Faced with the absolute power of the "Blazing Sky Corona," neither extreme cold nor hardened Haki mattered. The light in Kuzan's eyes rapidly dimmed. His anger, his pride, his unwillingness to lose—all of it was being erased, leaving only the blank confusion of being crushed by a power beyond comprehension. He didn't even have time to let out a cry of despair before his entire being was completely swallowed by the light.
The light faded.
The world returned to a quiet clarity. All that was left was an endless field of broken ice floating on the sea's surface.
Plop!
A figure fell from the sky and crashed heavily onto a large piece of floating ice, splashing frigid water into the air. It was Kuzan. He was covered in blood, his right arm was twisted at an unnatural angle, and he was already unconscious. His white Marine justice coat was torn to shreds and soaked in blood, a glaring stain on the ice.
In the distance, on another floating chunk of ice, Sakazuki knelt on one knee, breathing heavily. He clutched his right side, where there was now a smooth gap. The magma that made up his body was slowly and laboriously wriggling, trying to regenerate the part of him that had been forcibly erased. A trickle of scorching magma dripped from the corner of his mouth, sizzling a hole in the ice. If he hadn't instinctively twisted his body at the last second, he likely would have ended up just like Kuzan.
He looked up, his eyes filled with a mixture of rage and disbelief, staring intently at the figure in the center of the devastation.
There, Kyle slowly rested his black-and-gold naginata, Nidhogg, on his shoulder, completely unharmed.
----------------
You can read advanced chapters here: patreon.com/GregariousLion