Pirates: Seeing Proficiency, I Became a Legend

That strike had changed the weather across a vast area. Solid ice instantly covered the sea for fifty kilometers around them.

"Ice Age!!"

"Holy shit!!"

Enel's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. An area attack on that scale was absurd. The world had changed in an instant.

"Dongze!!"

At the sight, Robin, whom Enel had carried into the air, felt as though someone had seized her heart. Her pupils contracted, and she lost her usual composure as she screamed in anguish.

But Enel sensed no movement from the Sword Intent in his head and guessed that Dongze was all right. He hurriedly grabbed Robin, who had conjured wings and was about to throw herself at Aokiji.

"Robin, the boss is fine..."

Before Enel could finish, a huge slash burst from beneath the sea. The thick ice did nothing to stop it. Still surging with power, it hurtled toward Aokiji, ruining his plan to reinforce the ice. He flashed out of its path.

Aokiji narrowed his eyes at Dongze as he emerged from the sea.

Dongze's combat instincts impressed him. If not for where that slash had struck, Aokiji could have reinforced the ice again. Perhaps Dongze would never have escaped.

Dongze, meanwhile, regarded Aokiji with a grave expression.

Sure enough, none of these Admirals are easy to deal with! I need to be even more careful!

I was a moment too slow to redirect that force, and he nearly ended me right there!

Dongze stood in midair and surveyed the ice around him. He could not help drawing a sharp breath.

Fifty-five kilometers.

That was far more than Aokiji would freeze when he stopped Straw Hat Luffy later! It was almost as large as the island where he would fight Akainu. Watching Aokiji stand there sighing, Dongze gritted his teeth. The man held back until he struck, then struck as though he meant to beat someone to a pulp.

All I did was run off with your daughter. Did you have to go this hard?

Thinking of Luffy, the future Pirate King, left a sour taste in his mouth. Connections really did make all the difference. During the Paramount War, there had been three Admirals, two of them practically playing along. Garp and Sengoku had coasted through the whole thing, leaving Akainu to carry the fight alone.

Yet Dongze could barely handle Aokiji by himself. He would bet that if Aokiji had pulled this move during the Paramount War, not one of the Straw Hats—or anyone in Luo's lifeboat—would have survived. Who said hiding beneath the sea was safe?

"Not bad, Dongze! I rarely meet a Swordmaster as strong as you!"

"Likewise! Apart from Garp, I've never met anyone stronger than you!"

"Vice Admiral Garp? I can't compare with him. If I made that old man angry, I'd be bedridden for months!"

Dongze's mouth twitched. Is that why you'll let that Straw Hat get away with so much later? Doesn't your conscience bother you? I'm your son-in-law, you know~~~

A certain pheasant: "Sorry, not yet →_→"

At Attention, At Ease—the Battle Rages On

"Warm-up's over! Ready, Dongze?"

Ice swiftly spread over half of Aokiji's body. Even the surrounding air seemed affected; his breath turned to frost the moment it left his mouth.

His freezing power had risen by more than a full notch.

Dongze's face darkened. Aokiji had not been boasting. If this was his real strength, what came before truly had been a warm-up.

A cold wind blew through, and both figures vanished once more.

The air overhead rang with sonic booms, more than twice as frequent as before. Every collision made the space around them shudder.

"Ice Block: Twin Polar Spears!"

A cold shout exploded through the air without warning.

Silver light burst forth. Two short spears radiating bitter cold formed in an instant and shot toward Dongze.

The air along their path turned to ice crystals. The attack streaked across the sky like a comet trailing a tail.

But it carried no beautiful starlight—only cold killing intent.

Dongze tensed. Aokiji's fighting style was downright unfair. Prolonged exposure to that freezing air would numb the body and slow its movements.

Armament Haki helped, but it could not prevent the effects entirely.

In a battle between experts, the smallest difference could decide everything.

Aokiji had seized that opening to unleash a powerful move at point-blank range. It was a nasty tactic.

But Dongze was no ordinary swordsman. His figure blurred, and he entered a state beyond words.

Non-Contention Sword Intent erupted.

Dongze twisted and dodged the sudden attack in a way Aokiji could not comprehend. Aokiji froze for a moment.

"How does that even work?"

Dongze did not care whether it made sense. He took advantage of Aokiji's hesitation and launched Hundred-Pace Flying Sword.

Dense Armament Haki coated Forgotten Dust before Dongze hurled it with all his might. A scene like an ink-wash painting instantly enveloped Aokiji.

An overwhelming force followed, locking onto him at once.

Aokiji frowned as he felt its absurd intensity.

"Conqueror's Haki? No, it's just sheer force of presence. But how is it this strong?"

To his surprise, Aokiji found he could not move. His feet felt glued to the ground.

Before he could examine the sensation, Forgotten Dust was upon him with unstoppable force.

"What a terrifying sword technique!"

With that observation, Aokiji was blown apart.

Dongze's expression changed. Rather than stopping, he rode his momentum onward and came to a halt a full hundred meters away.

When he saw Aokiji's figure reforming not far from its original position, Dongze felt a wave of helplessness.

"As expected of an Admiral. That Observation Haki..."

Aokiji had realized he could not block the attack and transformed into his element in advance. The decapitating strike had cut through empty air without accomplishing anything.

Aokiji glanced at the sea behind him, now reduced to ice crystals. Rare solemnity flashed through his eyes. If that sword had hit him, he would have been finished.

Far away, Enel and Robin exchanged a look and smiled bitterly. For a moment, they had felt as though they were watching a movie—one that did not even need special effects.

Enel in particular shivered at the sight of Hundred-Pace Flying Sword again. Dongze had nearly killed him with that move on Sky Island. Being pinned by that force was the stuff of nightmares.

Watching the slash blast apart the glaciers for ten kilometers around left his scalp tingling. Thank goodness he had injured himself to break free of its hold back then.

If he had taken that strike head-on, he would probably have been dead.

"Hey, Dongze! Are all your moves this vicious?"

Aokiji watched Dongze in the distance with a headache. He could accept a Swordmaster sending out flying slashes. That was what swordsmen did.

He could even accept the added Armament Haki. Without a Devil Fruit ability, developing Haki made sense.

But a move that forced him to stand at attention and then stand at ease? That was harder to swallow.

They were fighting, not holding a military parade. Having that sprung on him mid-battle was miserable, whether he won in the end or not.

Dongze chuckled. "Yours are no different!"

Truthfully, Dongze no longer wanted to fight Aokiji up close. One brush with that freezing air, and Aokiji would hit him with a lightning-fast combination.

It was as though the man meant to finish him in a single string of attacks.

"Ah..."

Before the sigh had faded, Aokiji vanished and rushed toward Dongze at tremendous speed. After that Hundred-Pace Flying Sword, he had no intention of fighting at range. If Dongze forced him to stand at attention again, Aokiji would be too embarrassed to face anyone even if he won.

"Ice Time!"

A short-range move he could unleash instantly, Ice Time had never failed Aokiji.

But Dongze was no fool. He was not about to stand still and take a beating.

As Aokiji closed in, Dongze had already used Shave and Geppo to widen the gap again.

In midair, Dongze's upper-arm muscles swelled by a full size. He swept Forgotten Dust through a complete arc.

"Sword-Draw Technique!!"

A black slash tore through the air and shot straight at Aokiji as he tried to close in.

Feeling the pressure from the slash, Aokiji's mouth twitched. What happened to ordinary attacks? Is every swing a finishing move?

He was no Swordmaster, but he knew slashes well. Plenty of officers in the Marines used swords.

Even Akainu had carried a long sword when he was a Vice Admiral.

If an ordinary slash had a power of one, a special move could multiply it by two to four. Armament Haki could double it again.

After fighting Dongze for so long, Aokiji had a fair idea of the strength of his slashes. He was certain an ordinary one could never exert this much pressure.

Even a casual swing from Hawkeye, the World's Greatest Swordsman—no, that did not count. That man's casual swings might be stronger than most finishing moves. He was an exception.

Then Aokiji narrowed his eyes. Dongze had taken a familiar stance—the opening stance of Hundred-Pace Flying Sword. Aokiji's face darkened. He's going to use that again?

Confident in his skill, Aokiji gritted his teeth and pushed his Observation Haki to its limit. He planned to transform into his element ahead of time, evade the strike, then get close enough to land a heavy blow.

He's not dodging?

Dongze was taken aback by Aokiji's response. Does great Observation Haki make you this cocky?

Then he remembered that Aokiji could even dodge Whitebeard's attacks and shook his head helplessly. Fine. You win.

"Let's see you stay put through this!!"

Dongze raised Forgotten Dust and poured black slashes down on Aokiji. It was as though someone had mounted a Gatling gun in midair—one that fired five thousand rounds a minute.

Aokiji had just dodged Dongze's Sword-Draw Technique when he saw the barrage. His face turned green, and he vanished.

Cold River Appears, Aokiji Frozen

Logia Devil Fruit Users were said to be walking natural disasters. As the area covered by Aokiji and Dongze's battle expanded, the glaciers grew with it. By now, they stretched nearly eighty kilometers.

Within that expanse, the cold bit to the bone and wore down the will.

Only now did Dongze understand why Aokiji had opened with such a powerful move. A battlefield that favored him quietly increased his chances of winning.

Another slash flew past, but Aokiji kept moving. He had pushed his Observation Haki to its limit from the start, and transforming into his element ahead of each attack had become routine.

"Dongze! Your Observation Haki isn't as strong as mine!"

"You can't hit me!"

Dongze tightened his grip on Forgotten Dust. He had expected Aokiji's Haki to be stronger than he had imagined.

But he had not expected the gap to be this wide.

Aokiji could transform into his element before even Dongze's Haki-infused slashes reached him. They had fought for so long, yet Aokiji had not made a single mistake.

"Ah... I didn't think I'd have to use it after all."

Dongze sighed softly. A Marine Headquarters Admiral, someone capable of keeping the seas in check, was formidable indeed.

Now he would have to play another trump card.

Sword Intent!

He had comprehended only three kinds of Sword Intent so far. Two could be used to attack: Erosion Sword Intent and Thunderclap Sword Intent.

Their proficiency stood at 420,000 and 200,000, respectively.

He had already confirmed that Sword Intent could strike a Logia Devil Fruit User, whether they had transformed into their element or done so in advance. As long as the Sword Intent reached their vicinity, it would hit.

After days of repeatedly fighting Sky Island's god, he had begun to guess why.

Sword Intent was generally a manifestation of the world's laws and affected how those laws operated. Elemental transformation was also a way for a Devil Fruit User to wield those laws. When Sword Intent approached their body, it disrupted the laws they relied on, causing their transformation to fail.

They could not evade the sword strike that followed by transforming into their element.

As Dongze considered which Sword Intent to use, a voice suddenly sounded in his mind.

"Ding!"

"Swordsmanship (The Legend of Qin world locked): Sword Intents unlocked—Hundred-Pace Flying Sword, Crossing the Eight Directions, Cold River!"

Dongze's eyes lit up at the synthesized voice. If the timing had been different, he would have burst into song. This stroke of luck had come far too suddenly.