Seeing Kuzan take his stance, Brian's lips curled upward into a smug, confident smile.
"Armament!"
In an instant, his arms turned black with the gleam of Armament Haki.
"They're really going to fight…" muttered Onigumo, frowning beneath his helmet. He, too, had been a disciple of Zephyr, and had known Brian for years.
He understood all too well what it meant when two monsters like Brian and Kuzan clashed—how catastrophic the aftermath would be.
Turning to the silent Akainu, he asked, "Sakazuki… you're not going to stop them?"
Because the only thing that could stop a monster—was another monster.
But Akainu's face remained as cold and grim as ever, as if carved from stone, betraying no emotion.
"Admiral Sengoku, please, you have to stop them!"
No one was more panicked than Spandine.
He had once witnessed a fight between two Admirals—the night sky torn apart by blinding light, beautiful and terrifying, and the island beneath them wiped from the map.
The thought that Ohara might share that fate made his blood run cold.
After all, the Buster Call was, by definition, an act of overwhelming destruction—erasing the island completely in the name of "justice."
But Spandine was still on the island. He didn't want to die here!
Then, the Den Den Mushi on his shoulder snapped to life, taking on Sengoku's tense, grim expression.
"Leave Brian and Kuzan," Sengoku ordered, his tone sharp.
"Everyone else—evacuate immediately!"
The order caught Spandine off guard for a moment—but he didn't hesitate. Not one bit.
In fact, he couldn't wait to get off this doomed island.
"Snow, Star! Take the men and pull out!"
"Yes, Lord Brian, we'll take our leave first!"
The two brothers, Snow and Star, knelt before Brian before retreating—every movement filled with the deference of loyal subordinates.
Kuzan's eyes narrowed coldly. "You really think you're some kind of emperor, don't you?"
Brian chuckled. "Well, I do have the makings of one."
"Let's go."
Akainu finally spoke—a single, cold word.
He turned to leave, but for the briefest half-second, his gaze lingered on Brian.
Barely half a heartbeat—but Brian caught it.
"Sakazuki! Next time you're in the West Blue, I'll treat you to hotpot—dog meat hotpot!" Brian called after him with a grin.
Akainu gave a dismissive grunt, then strode away without another word.
Once Akainu and the four vice admirals had departed with their troops, the entire island fell into an eerie silence.
Now, only Brian and Kuzan remained—along with the captured scholars and civilians awaiting execution.
At that moment, frost began to spread outward from Kuzan's body.
The air filled with glittering snowflakes as the temperature plummeted, freezing everything in sight—including the flames that had been devouring Saul.
The ice mist rolled across the ground, forming crystals even upon Brian's body.
But in seconds, the frost shattered and flaked away like powdered snow at his feet.
"Heh." Brian chuckled softly.
"Fighting the monkey takes mental focus—Observation Haki to track his speed and predict his tricks. Fighting you, though… is pure physical endurance. I've got to coat my whole body in Armament Haki, or your frost'll seep right through my pores and freeze my veins solid."
Kuzan said nothing.
In a blur, he vanished with Soru, reappearing right before Brian.
His twin ice blades slashed for the man's throat.
Brian raised one forearm, parrying the attack with a blade of his own hand, his tone calm—almost playful.
"Really, is that any way to greet your senior officer? Going straight for the kill?"
"It's because you've gone too far."
Kuzan's eyes flashed with icy fury.
His left arm swept around, his blade slicing toward Brian's ribs at a deadly angle—sharp enough to pierce between the bones and drive straight into his spleen.
Brian was a master of close-quarters combat.
Though Kuzan's taijutsu was formidable, Brian's body techniques were his specialty—his reflexes honed to near perfection.
Catching Kuzan's wrist, he smirked.
"Too far? You mean with Saul?"
"We're Marines—not bloodthirsty, selfish demons!" Kuzan growled, wrenching against Brian's grip.
Then, moving instinctively, he slammed his forehead into Brian's chest, coating his left-hand blade in Armament Haki and driving it toward Brian's heart.
"Demons? You idiot—what are you babbling about? We are the Government's killing tools! And a weapon doesn't need compassion!"
Brian caught Kuzan's other wrist as well, then suddenly kicked off the ground.
His body surged upward, and he drove a vicious knee straight into Kuzan's midsection.
But Kuzan wasn't new to this fight.
They'd trained and sparred countless times—over fifty bouts since their days at the Academy.
He knew Brian's habits as well as his own.
As Brian's knee came up, Kuzan lifted a leg to block—but his opponent vanished, stepping skyward.
"Rankyaku—Meteor Bombardment!"
From high above, a storm of blazing slashes rained down like falling stars.
Kuzan's eyes narrowed.
He knew just how terrifying Brian's mastery of the Six Powers was.
Taking that attack head-on would be suicide.
The smartest choice was to dodge—
But he didn't.
At the last second, Kuzan raised a massive ice shield, conjuring it from thin air and bracing himself.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The fiery slashes exploded against the frozen barrier, filling the sky with steam and shards of shattered ice.
When the smoke cleared, Kuzan was still standing—but blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Brian landed lightly, eyes glinting with disdain.
"See? Compared to the monkey—or Sakazuki—you really are an idiot."
Before Kuzan could respond, a weak voice came from the pyre.
"Kuzan… don't hold back… use your full strength… defeat him…" Saul gasped.
Brian threw his head back and laughed—a harsh, mocking sound.
Under Saul's confusion, Kuzan's anger, and the horrified stares of the scholars and civilians, Brian cracked his neck and sneered.
"You really think he's holding back because of you? You fool… you and all you 'doves' are nothing but soft-hearted idiots!"
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