Immortal Body
"--boom!!"
The Combined Strike of fire and ice engulfed the heavens and earth in an instant.
Crimson and azure intertwined to form a blazing white curtain of destruction, tearing space itself apart with heat and frost.
"--Ahhh!!"
The screams of the Saint Garling ripped through the sky.
His body was completely disintegrated in the light, magma scorched his flesh and blood, and the cold froze his soul.
Half of his body vanished into nothingness, his bones and blood mist scattered together, and he was blasted hundreds of meters away, crashing heavily into the ruins!
"Boom--!"
Ruins collapsed, dust billowed, and fragments of fire and ice fell from the sky like meteors.
The other four members of the Five Elders were suddenly taken aback.
Their eyes were fixed on the burning ruins, their faces darkening simultaneously, and an almost unbelievable sense of oppression filled the air.
"This... this is Combined Strike?!" Saint Warcury murmured.
Saint Mars's face twitched, turning ashen as if he'd swallowed charcoal. "I... damn it, this is what they call 'differences in ideology'?!"
Saint Shepherd Ju Peter gritted his teeth, cold sweat trickling down his temples. "Secretly... they've even mastered combined techniques?!"
Saint Nusjuro bulging, roared, "Damn it! We've been tricked--!"
Before the angry shouts had even subsided, a low, labored breathing sound came from the distant ruins.
"Ho--Hohohoho..."
Amidst the rubble, the figure of Saint Garling reappeared.
Half of his body was almost completely blasted apart; his flesh and bones had turned into a black, viscous liquid that kept writhing, churning, and reforming in the air.
The remaining eye, reflecting the fire and ice, gleamed with a scarlet light, like an undying curse resurfacing.
"You... bastard..."
His voice was low and hoarse, each syllable filled with intense hatred and madness.
Sakazuki and Kuzan stood side by side, the ground beneath their feet already divided into red and blue hues by lava and ice crystals.
Flames on the left, frost on the right, symmetrical forces converge at their feet.
Sakazuki coldly watched the figure reassembling, his tone steady. "Is this what Roy meant by 'Immortal Body'?"
Kuzan squinted, his tone languid, but his expression unusually serious. "Ah, it seems it really wasn't just a legend."
This special constitution, which requires Conqueror's Haki to break, is really troublesome~
The two of them churned with energy, heat and cold mingling in the air, creating a thunderous resonance.
At that very moment--
"Call--!"
A sudden gust of wind arose, and the golden-red cloak sliced through the thick smoke, arriving like a streak of flame.
Shanks —leading the elite forces of the Holy Knights, swooping down from the sky.
They were like meteors Heavenfall, each step they took creating explosive shockwaves as dozens of spears inlaid with holy symbols pierced the scorched earth, then burst forth with a ring of light.
"--Bang!!"
The golden barrier spread rapidly, and layers of energy waves temporarily isolated the aftershocks of the flames and the cold air.
Shanks stood at the very front, his gold and red cloak Hunting Roar.
He raised his head, and when his gaze swept over the half-reborn, distorted figure of Saint Garling, his pupils suddenly contracted, and a complex look of surprise flashed between his brows.
The air was thick with the smell of blood and ashes. Shanks took a deep breath and turned his gaze to the two figures standing in the eye of the storm.
Sakazuki's upper body was covered in flowing lava, with waves of heat rolling around, and the air was burned into ripples.
His right fist was still dripping with molten light, and the ground beneath his feet had turned into scorching red rock.
Kuzan's body was enveloped in a chilling aura, frost and mist swirling around him, the frozen aura spreading across the ground to form an ice field.
Fire and ice stand side by side.
Two extreme forces roared and swirled between them, yet remained untouched by each other.
On the contrary—the symmetry and balance of those forces made their figures appear exceptionally tall against the chaotic sky.
The Five Elders in their Mythical Zoan forms gradually closed in, their auras intertwining to firmly seal off the space around Sakazuki and Kuzan.
The light curtains of gold, red, and blue flickered in the air, each flow of energy accompanied by a roar and an explosion.
Just as the two sides were locked in a standoff, with the atmosphere on the verge of exploding.
"Yo~"
"What's going on here? Why all this commotion?"
A laugh, tinged with disdain and amusement, drifted down from the sky.
The sound wasn't loud, yet it seemed to shatter the entire frozen air.
In an instant, all eyes turned upwards.
--Above the clouds.
Two figures stood side by side.
The clouds high in the sky were Cut vortices by the airflow, and the sunlight penetrated the wind layer, casting their shadows as a double silhouette of gold and black.
A man stood with his hands in his pockets, his gold-rimmed Glasses reflecting the sunlight, a lazy smile playing on his lips, as particles of light slowly fell beneath his feet like a golden rain.
--Admiral Kizaru Borsalino, Marine Headquarters.
The other man stood quietly to the side, his Marine Cap tilted low over his brow, his cloak billowing, his calm eyes sharp as blades, his uniform lines sculpting a cold and imposing presence in the wind.
Beneath his feet, the clouds were ripped open with radial cracks by the Conqueror's Haki pressure, and the air trembled like glass.
--Admiral Roy, Marine Headquarters.
They looked down upon the Holy Land; beneath their feet lay a hellish landscape of fire and ice.
The winds of the Holy Land seemed to lose their direction under their aura.
"That's--?!!"
The Five Elders and the Holy Knights looked up simultaneously, and for a moment, even their anger was stunned into stillness.
The remains of the Saint Garling had just been reassembled; he raised his head and roared, his voice shaking the heavens:
"Navy!! Are you planning a complete rebellion!? How dare you start a fight in the Holy Land Mary Geoise!!"
The sound echoed endlessly, filled with boundless rage.
However, a lazy response came from below--
"Hey hey~"
Kuzan squinted, his tone full of mockery and disdain. "But you said you'd let us fight and see who's worthy of being the Fleet Admiral, right?"
"Don't make false accusations! You orchestrated this whole thing yourselves!"
"You bastard!!"
Saint Nusjuro roared in fury, his centaur form stomping the ground and shattering it, forcibly compressing the air into a sonic boom.
"What I meant was clearly to take you somewhere else—!"
Sakazuki raised his head, his voice low and cold as iron. "You speak too slowly—whose fault is that?"
"Too inefficient; Justice waits for no one."
Enraged, Saint Mars unleashed the wings of Itsumade behind him, their feathers covering half the sky, black mist churning, and flames intertwining—
"You mortal ants!! How dare you commit such blasphemous acts against the Holy Land!! I will annihilate you all—"
"Bang--!"
The words abruptly stopped.
Suddenly, the sky was illuminated by an arc of blazing white light.
The next second, a fist-like pressure that distorted the air fell from the sky.
That was pure Haki, without the slightest embellishment, yet it carried the power to destroy mountains and seas.
"--Thump!!"
Saint Mars's figure suddenly stopped in mid-air, as if struck by the hammer of God, and crashed to the ground with a loud bang that shook the entire city!
"Boom--!"
The earth shattered, smoke and dust billowed, and a massive Shockwave unleashed a storm of flames and ice shards.
The Five Elders and the Holy Knights were startled and turned to look up at the sky.
Roy remained in the punching stance.
The air in front of the fist twisted into a spiral, and the aftershocks of Conqueror's Haki lingered in the clouds.
His cloak billowed wildly, his eyes as cold as iron.
"Hey, hey--"
"All I saw was my comrades being summoned to receive their appointments, only to be forced into a brawl by you."
He leaned slightly forward, his gaze like a judging blade. "Now they're surrounded by a large number of people—"
"Aren't you guys being a little too arrogant?"