The fight began without warning—at least, without any warning Sengoku had seen coming.
Ranged attacks flew from both sides, and their collisions and explosions opened the battle.
After trading barbs and testing each other with a few exchanges, Loa knew he was at a disadvantage. He flipped backward to make some room, dropped to one knee, and slammed his palm against the ground.
"Icefield: Thousand Forest Thrust!"
Bang, bang, bang! Bang, bang, bang!
Countless Ice Spikes erupted across the Plaza, which was paved with Stone Slabs, shattering them in an instant. The spikes stood as densely packed as grains of sand. Anyone who fell onto them would be riddled with holes.
"Oh my, so many of them. What a scary, scary attack. But physical attacks like Ice don't work on me, Loa!" Kizaru grinned. His body swiftly turned to light, and he moved toward Loa through the Ice Spikes of Thousand Forest Thrust.
"I know," Loa replied softly. Then—
Soru! Geppo! Second-Stage Acceleration!
In the blink of an eye, Loa vanished from the distance and appeared behind Kizaru. Dense Ice Dragon Power shimmered around his raised right fist, and the rings of air rippling outward showed just how much force the punch held.
"That was only to keep you off the ground. Ice Dragon's—huh?!"
"Argh! Why?!"
Just as Kizaru charged forward, pain shot through his foot. He cried out and stopped dead. One moment he was lunging ahead; the next, he had been yanked up short like a vicious dog caught by its collar.
Smack!
Kizaru caught himself with his hands before he could fall onto the spikes, then looked back in shock. The pain was no illusion. Something really had struck him, despite his supposed immunity to physical attacks!
An ice spike he had dismissed as harmless had pierced