In the ruins of ice and frost, Valthior was leaning against a broken ice pillar.
Just from his appearance, it was clear that Garp had already beaten him back into human form.
His elegant knight suit, worth even more than Shiki's head, was now torn and ragged. Even the brooch that could only be bought for 1.3 billion Berries had only half of it left, still hanging from a torn piece of cloth on his chest.
Looking closely, several of Valthior's ribs seemed to be broken. The swelling muscles in his chest could not hide the fact that part of it had caved in.
And this was after Valthior had used Besshi Hachiman several times to heal himself.
Otherwise, his injuries would definitely have been even worse.
Feeling his own weakness, along with the stamina recovery brought by his Mythical Zoan ability, Valthior moved his twisted waist a little. Then he looked not far away, where Garp had punched through the ice and climbed out from a frozen pit. Valthior said helplessly, "Seriously, which one of us is the Mythical Zoan here?"
Garp's steps were also a little unsteady. His injuries looked far worse than Valthior's, after all, he did not have Besshi Hachiman to restore himself.
The bone around his left eye had clearly been cracked by Valthior, and frozen blood clung to his brow like ice shards. His nose was crooked, and his right eye was swollen and bruised, blurring his vision. There was also a deep wound on his shoulder, so deep the bone could be seen. It had clearly been cut by an axe.
But despite those heavy injuries, Garp's presence was still powerful, like a beast trapped in danger.
After staggering two steps, Garp steadied himself. He straightened his back, clenched both fists, and Conqueror's Haki wrapped around his iron fists once again. Looking at the black ribbon-like aura around Valthior flickering as if it might collapse at any moment, Garp gave a fierce grin.
"Looks like even your awakened Mythical Zoan body is about to reach its limit."
Valthior's Mangekyō Sharingan spun again. Red blood flowed down from his eyes, making his already blurred vision even worse after using his Mangekyō too much. That forceful use also made the caved-in part of his chest gradually recover.
Holding on with sheer will, Valthior said firmly, "Is that so? I can still fight you for ten more days."
"You stubborn brat. You are at the end of your strength. Do you think I cannot see it?" Garp sneered. Then he took a deep breath and shouted in a low voice, "Six Powers Secret Art: Life Return, Modified!"
During these three days of intense fighting, Valthior had already forced Garp to use Life Return more than once. Likewise, Valthior himself had used it many times too.
But this modified Life Return was the first time he had seen it.
The muscles around the wound on Garp's shoulder, which had been cut open by the axe blade, began to move and close together quickly. Soon, it was almost impossible to see any sign of injury. The swelling around his bruised eye also went down fast. After only a few breaths, it returned to normal. Even his skin, which had turned slightly purple after being frozen many times, regained its color in a very short time.
Not only did the color return, but soon, steam began to rise from the surface of his skin. Garp's skin started turning red, making him look as if his whole body had been boiled.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
A powerful heartbeat came from inside Garp's body and quickly reached Valthior's ears.
Seeing this, Valthior said in surprise, "You even have a king engine now?"
What is this? Did Luffy get the idea for Gear 2 from you?
"Why are you so surprised? Not every strong fighter on the sea is a Zoan like you. But when people at the same level fight without being disturbed, it is normal for them to battle for days without a winner. What do you think we rely on to do that?" Garp said with a grin.
Strong Paramecia users like Shiki and Whitebeard had methods similar to Garp's to force themselves to keep going.
It was just that compared to Zoan users, the price they paid to maintain such a state was much higher.
Even though Valthior did not fully understand it, he could still tell that Garp was forcefully burning through his own life force.
Perhaps the Marines had ways to rest and recover afterward, but ordinary pirates likely did not have such a complete medical system to support them.
For example, in the original story, Whitebeard had also roamed the seas and fought all his life. Yet even though Garp was four years older than Newgate, by the time of the Summit War, Whitebeard had already reached the point where he needed medicine drips in daily life just to maintain his condition.
On the other hand, Garp, even two years later at the age of seventy-eight, could still show his power on Hachinosu, while Whitebeard had already become bones in the grave.
I still need to learn more…
Valthior had thought his understanding of the Six Powers was already decent. But after seeing Garp like this, he knew he had not developed it far enough. In the future, he would have to pick up the Six Powers again and study them properly.
Seeing that Garp could still coat both fists with Conqueror's Haki, Valthior knew he was probably going to lose.
After all, at this point, he had already forced his spiritual power into healing many times. His once-overwhelming Conqueror's Haki not only could no longer keep the advantage, but was even becoming hard to maintain.
That was why he felt Garp was cheating.
At the start of the battle, Valthior had planned to trade injuries with Garp, force him into a head-on fight, drain his stamina, stack up wounds, and use that method to wear him down until he won.
He was the Zoan user.
He was the Mythical Zoan.
He was the awakened ability user.
Yet after fighting until now, he was the one starting to struggle, while Garp still had another hidden card and had somehow found a second wind.
Was that reasonable?
If that was not cheating, then what was?
"You are ten thousand years too early to beat me, brat!" Garp roared. He said no more, pushed off the ground, and rushed toward Valthior.
"You really are a monster!" Valthior cursed, then forced himself to charge forward as well.
At this point, neither of them had any intention of dodging. They were simply beating each other head-on.
Garp's Haki-covered fist slammed into Valthior's face and directly broke the nose he had only recently healed.
Valthior drove his knee hard into Garp's stomach. Since all of Garp's Haki was focused on his iron fists, his defense was far from perfect. Valthior's knee strike made his insides churn violently.
But Garp forced down the urge to vomit, lowered his waist, wrapped both arms tightly around Valthior, lifted him up, and then slammed him down toward the ground.
The moment Valthior was lifted, he realized what was happening. As his feet left the ground, he locked his legs tightly around Garp's waist. The two were tangled together so closely that it was not easy for Garp to smash him into the ground.
Seeing that he could not throw him down properly, Garp simply let his feet slip and threw his whole body forward.
With a loud crash, Valthior landed on his back and shattered the ice beneath him. At the same time, he drove an elbow into Garp's chin.
Garp did not hold back either. Sitting on top of Valthior, he swung back and punched Valthior in the left eye, roaring, "You giving up yet?!"
The back of Valthior's head had already smashed through the ice, and that punch left him dizzy. By instinct, he drove his knee hard into Garp's lower back while shouting, "Get the hell off…!"
Soon, after their fierce struggle, Valthior ended up sitting on top of Garp instead. At that point, there were no real techniques left. He simply rained rough punches down on Garp.
Before long, Garp found a chance, broke free from the pressure, and kicked Valthior in the stomach, sending him flying.
Valthior flew more than ten meters before crashing hard into the glacier again. A mouthful of dark blood forced its way out, but he quickly grabbed the ice and staggered back to his feet.
Across from him, Garp once again took a fighting stance and cursed, "This is why awakened Zoan users are so annoying. No matter how many times they are knocked down, they keep standing back up…"
But at that moment, a crimson firework exploded in the distant sky.
Garp, who had been about to attack again, froze. He frowned and said, "An emergency…"
"This is the New World, you old bastard. I originally planned to quickly deal with Chinjao here and then head to the West Blue…" Valthior clearly thought of something. After catching his breath, he said, "But I ended up fighting you here for three days… Someone must have followed the scent and come over."
"Before I came, I checked the intelligence. Shiki and Whitebeard were both still in their own territories and had not moved. But… with Shiki's ability, if he wants to come, he should be close by now," Garp said after a short silence.
The two looked at each other and stopped speaking.
After about a few breaths, Valthior hesitated and said, "Give me a ride?"
Garp froze for a moment, but quickly nodded. "Then hurry up and move!"
And just like that, the two men who had been beating each other half to death moments ago quickly joined forces and ran off into the distance.
Their backs looked strangely ridiculous.
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