"Boom!"
An air-rending explosion erupted above the ice, and a terrifying ring of shock waves rippled rapidly outward from Ron's fist.
Under the impact of that punch, Roger's body was practically compressed into a meat patty before slamming into the rubberized ice.
"Smack!"
The rubberized ice rapidly caved beneath the meat patty's tremendous impact. Once compressed to its limit, it suddenly burst, its rubberization failing as the ice instantly returned to its original hardness.
Then it shattered into countless tiny ice shards.
Roger, compressed into a meat patty, returned to his original shape at that same instant. His eyes rolled back and blood spilled from his mouth as the flying ice shards buried him at the bottom of the crater.
"Rumble~~~"
The aftershocks continued for quite some time. Ice shards and broken chunks danced through the air, then slowly fell, until the disturbance finally subsided completely.
The battlefield fell silent.
Thick icy mist slowly rose from the bottom of the enormous crater.
Ron stood at the edge of the ice crater that had formed once again, staring down into it.
The Drums of Liberation had stopped.
Roger did not sit back up, nor did he suddenly open his eyes.
He lay quietly in the center of the enormous crater, buried beneath thick ice shards, his eyes rolled back and blood still seeping from the corner of his mouth.
"Your Nika isn't up to much either, Roger."
Ron murmured those words, then swept his hand, instantly flinging aside all the loose ice shards. He leaped into the center of the enormous crater, stood beside Roger, and looked down at him for several minutes.
To be fair, Nika really could take a beating. Anyone else would have been smashed apart long ago.
Then Ron reached into empty air, and an ice spike