My hunch was right.
Every muscle fiber, every nerve, every cell in Darren's body screamed in agony beneath the crushing pressure of the three strongest Logia users alive. His fingers trembled as though the air itself weighed a ton.
This is it.
The terror of dying any second… the exhilaration of standing at the edge of oblivion.
Only this kind of pressure can force my Armament Haki to evolve—to break past its limits!
He clenched his fists tighter, blood running down his forearms. Because only overwhelming Haki can resist the power of the Devil Fruits themselves.
Darren exhaled a heavy breath that steamed in the freezing air, his eyes burning with feral excitement.
Ever since the battle on Felsek Island, when he'd faced the Gorosei's grotesque "Undying Body," he'd been searching for an answer.
My physique and strength are at the very peak of this world.
Even monsters like Kaido and Big Mom no longer surpassed him in raw power. Yet despite all that, his strength couldn't kill those five "immortals." His blows had torn them apart—but they hadn't stayed torn.
That left one answer.
My Haki isn't strong enough.
He knew little of the Gorosei's true combat abilities. But he knew this: to defeat them, he'd need something that transcended brute strength.
If force failed, then only Armament Haki—the truest embodiment of will—could pierce that invincibility.
And to forge such Haki, he needed the deadliest sparring partners imaginable.
The three strongest Logia users on the sea: Sakazuki, Kuzan, and Borsalino.
He had already exhausted his "training" with pirates like Kaido and Whitebeard. But the Marines' next generation was rising fast—perfect opponents to sharpen his blade.
With that thought, Darren launched himself back into the fray, blood spraying from reopened wounds.
"Still going, huh…"
Borsalino sighed, dissolving into golden photons. Dodging Darren's lunging Dragon Claw, he raised his hand. A blinding beam of light fired downward.
Darren's eyes narrowed. Metal fragments on the ground lifted and spun into the air.
The battlefield fell silent.
Zzzzzzzzt!
Magnetic energy surged, the shards fusing into a colossal lance of blue-white electricity.
"Super Electromagnetic Cannon!"
He fired.
The laser and electromagnetic blast met midair—then detonated.
BOOM!
The explosion engulfed the sky in white fire, searing the eyes of everyone who watched. Fiery shrapnel rained over the Vice Admirals.
Armament Haki: 0.187!
Through the inferno, Darren burst forward, closing in on Sakazuki like a bullet.
"He's gone mad!" Sakazuki snarled. His arm erupted into molten magma, waves of heat distorting the air.
"Come on, Sakazuki!" Darren's grin was all teeth as their fists collided.
"Great Eruption!"
"Fist Bone Meteor!"
BOOM!
The ground split open beneath them. Both men staggered back, coughing blood.
Armament Haki: 0.211!
Planting his feet, Darren stomped hard. Cracks spread through the ice at his feet like writhing dragons. The frost shattered as he swept his hand outward, unleashing four streaks of condensed Haki.
They howled through the air toward Kuzan.
"Hey, hey, hey, Darren! Are you trying to kill us?!" Kuzan shouted, punching forward. Ice exploded from his arm, shaping itself into a colossal bird that screeched toward the incoming blades.
"Ice Pheasant Beak!"
The frozen beast met the Haki-infused blades—and shattered like glass. Shards glittered in the air before vanishing into mist.
Kuzan disappeared into the fog.
A cold wind brushed Darren's back.
He turned just as an icy silhouette rose behind him, arms spread wide.
"Hahahaha! Got you now!" Kuzan roared, wrapping him in a crushing embrace. "This one's made just for you—Freezing Moment!"
Instantly, a surge of killing cold raced through Darren's body.
Frost crept over his blackened form, consuming the Armament Haki that cloaked him. White crystals bloomed across his body like flowers on obsidian, spreading faster with every heartbeat.
"Got him!"
Kuzan's eyes burned with triumph. His Devil Fruit—the Ice-Ice Fruit—could freeze anything it touched, shape ice into weapons, and turn his body into cold incarnate.
"Ice Age" could immobilize whole islands—but this wasn't Ice Age.
This was focused death. Pure, concentrated cold unleashed point-blank.
"Freezing Moment" struck with power that dwarfed his other techniques. It was Kuzan's killing blow.
The frost raced upward, sealing Darren completely in a gleaming tomb of ice. The battlefield went still.
Within moments, a ten-meter-tall iceberg glistened under the sun, its surface pure and dazzling. Inside, Darren's form stood frozen in lifelike perfection.
"He did it!"
"Vice Admiral Kuzan pulled it off!"
"He's unbelievable!"
Marines erupted in cheers.
Kuzan stumbled out of the ice, panting, grinning sheepishly as praise rained down on him. "Heh… come on, you're making me blush. Don't go flattering me too much now."
He puffed out his chest, pride creeping into his grin.
Then—silence.
The cheers died.
Kuzan blinked. "Huh? What's wrong?"
The Marines stared past him, faces pale, eyes wide.
He turned slowly.
Crack.
A sound like shattering stone split the air.
To be continued...