Sengoku's hysterical roar echoed across all of Marineford.
But what answered him… was a voice cold as the deepest winter.
"Ice Age."
In the blink of an eye, a figure appeared at the very center between the two towering tsunamis—so fast that the naked eye could barely track it.
The Navy's highest combat power.
Admiral Aokiji!
With a single palm thrust forward, a wave of frigid air exploded from his body, sweeping outward in all directions like a storm.
Crack! Crack-crack-crack—!
The massive waves, enough to swallow islands and bury entire armies, froze the instant they touched the cold.
In just two or three seconds—
The sky-scraping walls of water were transformed into two colossal glaciers, suspended in the air.
Sunlight passed through the ice, casting eerie reflections and covering the entire battlefield in a blue-tinted shadow.
100,000 Marines—narrowly spared from death—erupted into cheers.
"Ara ara… What a crazy old man," Aokiji muttered lazily, scratching his head as his eyes drifted toward the bow of the Moby Dick, where Whitebeard and Lucian Thorn stood.
"Since you're here, why don't you stay a while?"
But Aokiji wasn't done yet.
He raised a hand and gave a casual flick.
"Ice Block: Twin Spikes!"
Instantly, countless ice spears shot forth, sharp as razors, densely packed, shrieking through the air as they rained down upon Whitebeard and Lucian!
Each spear was more than capable of piercing steel.
And yet—neither flinched.
Lucian didn't even blink.
Whitebeard didn't move a muscle. He simply let out a scoffing snort through his nose.
He didn't even reach for Murakumo Giri.
Instead, he casually raised his right hand and slammed it into the air.
Crack!
The familiar sound of space shattering rang out.
A ripple of invisible force blasted forward.
The oncoming storm of ice spears collided with an unseen wall ten meters from the ship—and were instantly pulverized into frost-dust under the crushing force.
"Gurararara…"
"Brat, is this supposed to tickle?"
Whitebeard grinned and finally reached for Murakumo Giri.
With one hand gripping the massive blade, his muscular arm shimmered with visible rings of pale-white force.
The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit was now fully unleashed into the weapon.
"Gurararara… Try this one!"
Without any wind-up, Whitebeard swung his naginata in a single, brutal arc toward Aokiji—even though the Admiral was hundreds of meters away.
Whoom—!
A visible white shockwave, crescent-shaped, tore through the air faster than the speed of sound.
Aokiji's face twisted in alarm.
He could feel it—that swing contained unfathomable power!
He didn't dare underestimate it.
His body instantly dispersed into ice crystals, attempting to evade by elemental transformation.
But—
Whitebeard's power could shatter space.
BOOM!!!
The air around Aokiji twisted violently, erupting with a deep, thunderous boom.
The ice crystals forming his dispersed body were torn apart by the force of the quake, unable to reassemble immediately.
"Gah!"
With a pained grunt, Aokiji reformed over the ocean, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, and crashed into the sea in a disheveled state.
Still—he was an Admiral.
That level of injury wouldn't stop him.
As he hit the water, both hands slammed down—
And a new surge of bitter cold spread out from his body!
Crack-crack-crack-crack!
Within seconds, the entire Crescent Bay froze over—solid ice covering the turbulent waters.
A vast field of ice now separated the Marines and the Whitebeard Pirates—
A perfect land battlefield, created by an Admiral himself.
Whitebeard scoffed at Aokiji's handiwork.
"Gurararara! Not bad, Aokiji. Saved us the trouble of getting off the ship."
With booming laughter, Whitebeard raised Murakumo Giri high above his head.
"Sons!!"
He roared like thunder.
"Our family is right there in front of us!"
"Crush them!!"
"Rescue Ace!!!"
"OOOOHHHHHH—!!!"
Thousands of elite pirates aboard the Moby Dick and the dozens of other ships behind it roared in unison.
Led by Vista, the Division Commanders leapt down onto the ice.
One after another, pirates with bounties over 100 million followed.
Like tigers unleashed from a cage, they surged toward the Execution Platform with deadly resolve.
"All forces—engage!!"
From the platform, Sengoku unsheathed his sword and issued his first command of the war.
"Don't let them take a single step closer to the execution site!"
"For Justice!!"
"Charge—!!"
100,000 Marines—under the command of their officers—formed tight formations and advanced to meet the oncoming tide.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
From the rear, the Navy's artillery batteries thundered to life. Shells streaked across the sky, exploding in blasts of fire on the ice below.
Clang! Clang!
The clash of blades, screams, roars—
The War at the Summit had truly begun.
But amidst the chaos—
Within the Warlords' formation…
A man with a massive black sword on his back and eyes as sharp as a hawk slowly gripped his hilt.
Dracule "Hawk Eyes" Mihawk.
His gaze swept over the battlefield… and locked onto the mountain-like figure standing at the bow of the Moby Dick.
"Fufufufu, Mihawk," Doflamingo chuckled beside him. "What are you planning?"
Mihawk didn't respond.
He murmured quietly, as if to himself—
"I just want to know…"
"The true distance between us and that man."
With that, he slowly drew one of the Twelve Supreme Blades—
The Black Blade: Yoru.
With both hands gripping the sword, he casually swung a slash toward the distant Whitebeard.
There was no loud shockwave.
Just a single, perfectly honed green sword energy slash—
Like the grin of death itself—gliding silently across the ice.
Where it passed, the thick ice parted effortlessly, leaving a bottomless trench in its wake.
The speed… surpassed human reaction time.
"It's Mihawk's slash!!"
"Get out of the way!!"
Panic erupted among the Whitebeard Pirates.
Jozu, the 3rd Division Commander, roared and prepared to intercept with his diamond-hardened body.
But someone moved faster.
Before the eyes of the entire world—
The black-haired youth standing behind Whitebeard—Lucian Thorn—took a step forward.
He walked to the front of the bow, alone, facing that legendary slash head-on.
"What's he doing?!"
"Is he insane?! That's Mihawk's strike!"
"Get out of the way!!"
Shock spread like wildfire.
Even the Admirals and Sengoku on the platform turned to watch.
In Shakky's Bar, Rayleigh's hand paused, mid-sip.
Before the world—
Lucian raised his right hand.
A layer of pitch-black Supreme Armament Haki wrapped around his entire arm.
Then—golden flames, radiant as dragons, curled around his fist.
The power he'd inherited from Rayleigh, Whitebeard, and even Shanks.
The divine might of the Sun God Apollo!
No fear. No hesitation.
He didn't dodge.
He simply punched.
BOOM—!!!
Gold fire and green sword energy collided midair.
No explosion.
No shockwave.
Just silence—
As the so-called strongest slash in the world…
Shattered like fragile glass.
Piece by piece.
Until it dissolved into drifting green lights.
One punch.
Just one punch.
The attack of the world's greatest swordsman—
Obliterated by a nameless youth.
The battlefield fell silent.
Marines, pirates, all froze in place.
Doflamingo's twisted grin froze.
Akainu's bloodthirsty face finally showed hesitation.
On the platform, Sengoku's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
And Mihawk, for the first time—
The unfazed eyes of the hawk revealed…
Shock.