He let out a long sigh, his face returning to its usual cynical, lazy expression as he muttered to himself, "Man, big moves like that really take a lot out of you."
This quiet complaint carried across the ice and reached Sakazuki's ears, sounding sharper and more insulting than any direct mockery. Humiliation and rage instantly washed away the fear he had felt just moments before. He was Sakazuki! The man who would one day embody "Absolute Justice"! How could he feel fear?
"You bastard—!!!"
Sakazuki's roar was like a volcanic eruption. He shot up from the ice, his right arm instantly transforming into an enormous, rolling fist of magma that billowed with thick smoke and fire.
"Great Eruption!!!"
Without a shred of hesitation, the attack, filled with all his rage and carrying enough heat to evaporate the sea itself, slammed toward Kyle.
Hmm, a hot-head to the very end.
Facing the furious assault, Kyle didn't even bother to move the naginata resting on his shoulder. He lightly tapped his toes on the ice, and his figure instantly blurred.
Boom—!!!
The massive magma fist grazed his afterimage and crashed into the sea. In an instant, all the floating ice within several hundred meters melted. The frigid seawater boiled violently, sending a thick, sky-obscuring wall of steam into the air. The shockwave and scorching water spread outwards, nearly flipping over the chunk of ice where the unconscious Kuzan lay.
Kyle's figure reappeared dozens of meters away. He stood steadily on another piece of ice, looking at the churning steam. His voice cut clearly through the roaring vapor. "Hey, hey, you're pretty fired up, aren't you? But if you keep trying that hard, Kuzan's going to end up as fish food."
From within the rolling steam, Sakazuki's figure slowly emerged, his eyes burning with a rage even hotter than the magma that formed his body. "Shut up! The Marines' justice will not be defiled by a heinous pirate like you!"
"Justice?" Kyle repeated the word, a playful smile touching his lips. He took the naginata from his shoulder and lightly tapped its butt against the ice, making soft thump, thump sounds. "During the Buster Call, you were the one who ordered the sinking of the refugee ships, weren't you? The ones carrying civilians and tourists trying to flee Ohara."
Sakazuki's pupils constricted.
"That ship was full of unarmed scholars and civilians. Wiping them out along with everyone else... is that part of your 'justice' too?"
That order was something Sakazuki had given through a secure Marine channel. How could he possibly know?!
After a brief moment of shock, Sakazuki's face grew even colder. "So what if I did?" he growled, his voice low and hoarse. "The justice of the Marines is not for a pirate like you to question!"
He took a step forward, and the ice beneath his feet instantly melted and cracked under the intense heat. "To prevent 'evil' from having any chance to escape, it must be thoroughly eradicated! Even if only one scholar got away, the 'poisonous thoughts' of Ohara could have taken root somewhere else in the world. That would only lead to more Buster Calls in the future, causing even greater sacrifice!"
Sakazuki's voice grew louder and more passionate, his belief in "Absolute Justice" burning fiercely. "Sacrificing the people of Ohara was necessary to save more innocent people in the future! That is my justice! It is a necessary price!"
Kyle listened quietly, offering no rebuttal. There was no point in arguing. Some people could only be calmed down with fists.
"Are you finished?" Kyle lifted Nidhogg from the ice and casually slung it back over his shoulder. "If you're done talking, then it's my turn."
"You bastard—!!!" Kyle's dismissive attitude was met with an even more furious roar from Sakazuki. His right arm once again transformed into a ferocious magma hound. The magma in its gaping maw was a deeper, angrier red than before, warping the very air around it.
"Magma Hound!"
The hound shot from his arm, charging straight for Kyle's face with enough force to boil the seas. Kyle's figure left a nearly invisible afterimage in his original spot.
Boom—!!!
The massive magma hound's head grazed the afterimage and plunged into the sea behind him. The violent impact sent a giant wave crashing over the ice field. The chunk of ice carrying Kuzan was thrown high into the air before it slammed back down, and the unconscious Vice Admiral rolled twice, nearly falling directly into the boiling water.
Sakazuki went on a rampage, his arms transforming into countless magma fists that rained down like dense artillery fire, indiscriminately covering every inch of space where Kyle might be. But Kyle's figure simply weaved through the gaps in the magma storm, each movement perfectly timed, as if he were taking a leisurely stroll through a garden.
"Knowing you're outmatched but still fighting to the death... that's just foolish, hot-blooded nonsense," Kyle said calmly.
Foolishness? In this man's eyes, his fight to uphold justice, to bear all sin and infamy for the greater good, was just "foolish"?
"Ahhhhh—!!!"
Sakazuki's reason was completely consumed by rage. He squeezed out every last drop of his remaining power, concentrating all of it into his right arm. The magma on that arm became highly compressed, its color changing from crimson to a dark, deep red that radiated a terrifying aura capable of piercing through anything.
"Dark Hound!!!"
This strike, condensing all his will and his rage, was the single strongest attack he could unleash. However, Kyle simply stood still, watching the destructive attack rush straight toward him.
He yawned. "Ah... this is getting utterly boring."
Just before the "Dark Hound" could touch him, Kyle's figure abruptly disintegrated into countless shimmering, golden particles of light and instantly vanished.
Boom—!!!
The attack, having lost its target, tore through the huge iceberg that had been behind Kyle, melting a smooth, massive hole through its center. It continued with undiminished force into the distant sea, once again stirring up monstrous waves.
Sakazuki remained frozen in his punching posture. He gasped for breath, the magma forming his body flickering, a clear sign that he was at his limit.
"I'm not playing with you anymore."
Kyle's voice came from high in the sky. Sakazuki looked up abruptly, just in time to see a streak of light flying back in the direction of Ohara.
He left? He just... left?
As Kyle disappeared, the suffocating, oppressive feeling that had enveloped the entire battlefield vanished with him. The world suddenly seemed to return to normal. The chaotic battlefield fell completely silent. All that remained was the faint crackling of cooling magma and the sound of cold seawater lapping against the ice.
Intense pain and exhaustion washed over Sakazuki like a tidal wave. He stumbled and dropped to one knee. He looked in the direction Kyle had disappeared, then turned his gaze to the floating ice where Kuzan lay unconscious.
Sakazuki was silent. He slowly clenched his fist, his knuckles making a faint cracking sound. Humiliation, anger, powerlessness... all of it churned inside his chest. But beneath it all, a feeling that he himself didn't even notice began to surface: relief.
He had survived. Kuzan had survived.
His shoulders, which had been tensed with extreme rage, imperceptibly slumped.
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