Bahr gripped the Black Blade "Autumn Water," its tip angled toward the icy ground as he faced Aokiji from a distance.
The biting cold in the air intertwined with the undulating distortions of space, as if an invisible tension stretched between the two men. Even the falling snowflakes seemed to freeze midair.
"Admiral Aokiji, care to play with me?" A faint smirk curled at the corner of his lips, his tone laced with a hint of provocation. The edge of the Black Blade gleamed coldly under the daylight.
Aokiji's gaze swept over the unfamiliar Black Blade before flickering toward Enel, who was retreating toward the ship behind Bahr. Slowly, he withdrew his hands from his pockets.
With a subtle movement of his fingers, razor-thin Ice Blades silently formed in his grasp. The usual laziness in his voice faded slightly. "Seems you're planning to stop me."
"Just buying a little time, that's all," Bahr tightened his grip on the hilt, the space around him beginning to ripple faintly, like water disturbed by a thrown stone. "Don't worry, I won't keep you long."
Whoosh—
Before the words even fully left his mouth, his figure dissolved into a Spatial Ripple, reappearing beside Aokiji in the blink of an eye. The Black Blade swept horizontally with a sharp whistle, its slash tearing through the frigid air as it aimed straight for Aokiji's flank.
Aokiji's eyes darkened. The ice beneath his feet abruptly shattered, and amidst the flying shards, he propelled himself backward like an arrow loosed from a bow, narrowly evading the blade.
Even so, the edge of his Justice Coat was sheared off by the slash. The severed fabric fluttered briefly before freezing into powder midair. Meanwhile, the ice beneath them split open with a half-foot-deep gash, cracks spiderwebbing outward.
"Your swordsmanship has sharpened since our last meeting," Aokiji remarked, flicking his wrist. Multiple Ice Blades shot toward Bahr's face with a piercing whistle, the cold they carried several times more biting than before—so intense that even the light seemed to tremble in their wake.
Bahr twisted mid-chase, Autumn Water sweeping upward to cleave the Ice Blades into fragments.
Using the recoil, he closed the distance, the Black Blade surging toward Aokiji's face with lethal intent. "Then you'd better watch out—don't let me cut you down."
"Ara ara, you're getting more vicious, kid." Aokiji sidestepped the blade, his left arm sweeping out in a frigid arc. Where the cold passed, the moisture in the air instantly crystallized into ice shards, tracing a shimmering crescent through the air. The chill was so intense that even exhaling produced thick white mist.
The moment Bahr raised his blade to block, a piercing cold surged up the steel, numbing his arm.
He spun back, leveraging the impact to retreat swiftly. The Black Blade scraped against the ice, leaving a trail of sparks and an ear-piercing screech in its wake.
"Freeze—Time Capsule." Aokiji steadied himself, his palm already gathering a swirling mass of white mist.
A streak of ghostly blue cold raced across the ice, leaving behind a half-foot-thick layer of frost in its path. The very air froze with an audible crack, making it clear he had abandoned his earlier half-hearted approach.
Bahr tapped his toes against the ground, his body dissolving into a Spatial Ripple as he Teleported several meters away. Shaking his numb wrist, he pointed the Black Blade at Aokiji, the blade whistling through the air—still coated in fine ice crystals. "I must say, Admiral Aokiji, when you get serious, it's like you're a different person."
Where did that lazy demeanor go? This sudden pressure was truly catching him off guard.
"To deal with you, I can't be as casual as before," Aokiji said with a faint smile. His palm suddenly erupted with a surge of chilling air, and several ice spikes as thick as bowls shot out violently from the frozen ground beneath Bahr's feet. The sharp, gleaming tips seemed intent on pinning him to the icy surface.
Bahr swung Autumn Water, slashing horizontally and vertically, shattering the incoming ice spikes into pieces. As the ice fragments scattered, Aokiji closed in like a ghost, his right hand radiating a soul-freezing chill as it struck forward.
"Ice Ball."
Where his palm passed, even the air crystallized into fine ice particles, as if trying to encase Bahr entirely in an icy prison.
"You're faster than I expected," Bahr chuckled, his figure dissolving into spatial ripples as he vanished. The next moment, he reappeared behind Aokiji, his Black Blade slicing through the air toward the latter's back.
Without turning his head, Aokiji's body split like ice the instant the Black Blade struck, the two halves sliding apart by half a foot. In that split second, an intense chill emanated from the severed sections, fine ice patterns forming along the edges as the halves visibly reconnected and fused back together, leaving him standing unharmed.
Just then, the hull of the Ark Maxim trembled violently, its engine humming with noticeable strain—clearly frozen solid by the ice.
From the corner of his eye, Bahr noticed the ship's underside remained firmly encased in ice, with Enel standing at the railing, exerting his strength.
"Seems your companion is in trouble," Aokiji remarked, shaking ice shards off his shoulders with a faint smirk.
He pressed his foot down, sending more chilling air surging across the ice toward the Ark, creeping up its hull as if determined to freeze the entire vessel solid.
"Not a chance!" Bahr's eyes sharpened. He traced an arc in front of him with Autumn Water, and as the blade turned, violent spatial ripples erupted around the ship. The encroaching ice, as if colliding with an invisible vortex, was forcibly redirected by Space Power, spreading away from the vessel.
Aokiji raised an eyebrow at the diverted ice. "So Spatial Ability can be used like this? Interesting."
He stomped again, unleashing an even more overwhelming surge of cold across the ice toward the Ark, as if intending to freeze the very space itself into an icy prison. "Too bad your spatial capacity has its limits."
Bahr spun away from the barrage of Ice Spikes Aokiji sent his way, countering with an upward slash of his Black Blade. "Still faster than your sluggish freezing, at least."
Blade winds clashed with chilling air, stirring up a mist of ice. Their figures darted through the fog, each collision shaking the surrounding ice violently, shards and blade flashes weaving into chaotic patterns of light.
Then, a blinding golden lightning erupted from beneath the Ark. Enel stood at the railing, arms spread wide, currents cascading from his body like a waterfall. "This god's Ark will not be bound by mere mortal restraints!"
"BOOM—!"
Dense lightning strikes hammered the ice beneath the ship, unleashing deafening thunder. The thick ice rapidly melted and shattered under the intense heat, cracks spiderwebbing outward before finally collapsing with a resounding crack.
Freed from its restraints, the Ark slowly ascended, its engine humming smoothly once more.
Just as the Ark was about to take off, chaotic footsteps suddenly echoed from the other side of the cabin. Shalria charged out with a squad of marines, her face twisted with rage as she shrieked, "Stop them! Wipe out these filthy creatures! Especially the women on board—leave none alive, kill them all!"
The marines behind her immediately raised their guns, the dark muzzles gleaming coldly in the lightning flashes.
"Annoying insects," Enel's eyes flared with electric light as he raised his right arm high, a basketball-sized sphere of lightning gathering in his palm. The surrounding air trembled violently from the current.
"Divine Punishment!"
A blue-white pillar of thunder roared down like a dragon, striking Shalria with pinpoint accuracy. She didn't even have time to scream before her entire body was engulfed in lightning. Her luxurious robes instantly blackened and charred, her hair standing on end as smoke billowed from it. She collapsed stiffly onto the deck, barely breathing.
"Your Highness!" The guards panicked, scrambling to lift the unconscious Shalria. Seeing her charred state, they dared not linger, fleeing in disarray toward the other side of the cabin while carrying her.
The remaining marines trembled as they gripped their guns, none daring to advance further.
Enel snorted coldly, glancing at the shrinking figures on the ground before turning to enter the cockpit. "Hurry up, Bahr."
The Ark finally broke free from gravity's grasp, its engines humming steadily as it ascended into the sky, soon vanishing into the clouds as a tiny speck.
On the deck, Bahr relaxed slightly as he saw the Ark successfully take off. But the moment his nerves eased, Aokiji's attack followed like a shadow—a wave of freezing air grazed his left arm, instantly freezing half his sleeve. The biting cold seeped into his skin, stiffening his muscles.
"Losing focus will cost you your life," Aokiji's voice rang out behind him, laced with icy killing intent.
His left hand had already gathered an even more formidable surge of freezing air, clearly intent on seizing the moment of Bahr's distraction to decide the battle.
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