Battling an Admiral

Ice crystals scattered through the sky, and a figure emerged from within them.

But the Armament Haki that had covered that figure's entire body had completely vanished.

His exposed skin was covered in bluish-purple frostbite.

The injuries were not fatal, but he had indeed been hurt.

Roy's expression darkened!

"That power of ice... You certainly live up to your name as Admiral Kuzan, one of the Three Admirals, Marine Headquarters' greatest fighting force!"

"I just didn't expect the intelligence to travel so quickly. The Marines sent an Admiral as backup in such a short time!"

Only half a day had passed since the prison break, yet Marine Headquarters had already sent an Admiral.

Even he found this sudden turn of events troublesome.

Kuzan also fixed a solemn gaze on Roy.

"My, my, I'm truly honored that a powerful man like you remembers a Marine Admiral like me."

He dropped his lazy demeanor and became completely serious.

"But you're a criminal who escaped Impel Down, and you even led its other criminals in a prison break."

"Surely you know how much damage you've caused!"

Although Kuzan was lazy,

he was neither stupid nor conceited.

That Cross Slash alone, powerful enough to kill Magellan and even threaten some Admirals, was sufficient proof of Roy's strength.

For that reason, he treated Roy with particular seriousness.

Roy spoke disdainfully, raising his hand to unleash Slashes first.

"Heh, are you lecturing me?"

"Or is this what you call justice?"

Kuzan was an old hand at double standards.

Justice and all that was simply laughable.

Of all the Marines, perhaps only Akainu was truly qualified to speak of justice.

But that was all.

"A true madman. Not only are you powerful, you've got quite a sharp tongue!"

At those words, cold air unconsciously spread from Kuzan's body.

Roy's words had indeed crossed his bottom line.

"Ice Block: Partisan!"

He activated his Fruit ability at the same time, answering Roy.

The icy power gathered into four Ice Spears, which collided directly with Roy's Slashes in midair.

But Roy had already endured a long series of back-to-back battles, consuming enormous amounts of both Cursed Energy and stamina.

Even with a small amount of Cursed Energy still in the air available for conversion, it could hardly make up for his expenditure.

Now, facing an opponent of equal caliber like Kuzan, who was almost at full strength, he naturally struggled.

His ordinary Slashes, which had once been able to cut through anything, shattered only three of the four ice spears upon impact.

The remaining ice spear continued flying toward Roy.

Roy chose not to take it head-on, instead using Observation Haki to track its trajectory.

Just as the ice spear was about to hit him, he darted aside and evaded the attack.

Crack!

This made the difference between them immediately apparent at the very start of their second exchange.

Roy was now at a disadvantage.

An oppressive atmosphere hung over the scene. Neither spoke as they watched each other warily.

Even with the temporary upper hand, Kuzan did not attack rashly.

He knew just as well how difficult opponents of his own caliber could be.

After a brief silence, just as the killing intent in both their eyes intensified, Roy spoke again.

"Heh heh, Kuzan, you keep going on about justice, but don't you find yourself ridiculous?"

There was a hint of provocation in his tone.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing much. I just think some people wear a Marine uniform while doing things that don't befit a Marine."

Seeing Kuzan's ugly expression, Roy said meaningfully, "After all, I happened to learn about the Ohara Incident back then."

"Back then, certain people were Marine Vice Admirals, yet they let... escape!"

"Shut up!"

Before Roy could finish, Kuzan suddenly flew into a rage.

His body even trembled slightly, and he could not hide his panic.

"How did you learn about that? Aren't you afraid of touching things you shouldn't?"

Letting that little girl escape back then had always been his most deeply buried secret.

Now, however, a villain had learned of it.

Wasn't it dangerous for a demon like this to know?

At that thought, a trace of icy killing intent flashed through his eyes.

He even lost control of himself, covering his entire body with the Ice-Ice Fruit's power and charging straight at Roy.

"Enough, Kuzan. I'm not interested in discussing justice or the lack of it with you. None of that has anything to do with me."

Roy naturally noticed the change in Kuzan's eyes and could tell that he could no longer restrain himself from attacking.

He immediately coated his fists with Haki and charged toward Kuzan as well.

"As you can see, I did escape prison, and I killed plenty of Impel Down's jailers!"

His voice abruptly rose, turning excited.

"I've even slain Shiryu, Impel Down's Chief Warden. Even Magellan, Impel Down's Chief Warden, nearly met the same fate."

"Whatever you want to do, lay it out. I, Roy, will take you on!"

Domineering and arrogant!

Even with his Cursed Energy restricted, and after enduring several back-to-back battles,

Roy remained utterly domineering as he faced an Admiral from Marine Headquarters!

This was the arrogance that truly belonged to Ryomen Sukuna.

Bang! Bang!

Both were Admiral-level powerhouses. They stopped probing each other and unleashed killing moves outright.

Kuzan's attacks were especially fierce. He came with genuine intent to kill.

Someone who knew his secret and had killed Impel Down's jailers for no reason could not be allowed to escape.

Such purely evil men, unafraid of death, were the most frightening of all.

"Ice Time!"

In close combat, he tried to get close to Roy, preparing to freeze him again.

But Roy's Observation Haki kept warning him of danger, and he swiftly dodged away.

"So you do have considerable Observation Haki. No wonder even someone as strong as Magellan lost to you."

"But what makes me curious is that you seem rather afraid of my freezing power!"

After missing his first strike, Kuzan coated his fists in freezing power and attacked Roy again.

Most importantly, he noticed that something was off about Roy's condition.

At this, Roy felt grave inwardly, but his presence did not diminish in the slightest.

"Heh heh, Kuzan, what nonsense are you spouting!"

As his words fell, he charged in and clashed head-on with Kuzan.

Their fists struck flesh, countless fist afterimages tearing through the air.

"Heh heh, although I hate all your talk of justice, I have to admit that you're truly strong."

"But ever since I, Roy, gained a new life, I've been ready to contend with heaven and make an enemy of your Marines."

"Ha ha, come on! Let me test the true power of a Marine Admiral."

In a battle between equals, if one side was in poor condition, they would naturally suffer.

That was precisely Roy's situation.

And Kuzan lived up to his rank as an Admiral, continually unleashing his Ice-Ice Fruit ability.

Several times, he restricted Roy's movements and even injured him directly.

Not only that, as an Admiral of Marine Headquarters, Kuzan possessed extremely powerful physical combat skills and Haki.

At least in terms of Armament Haki, he was considerably stronger than Roy.

For that very reason, Kuzan found an opening not long after they began exchanging blows.

"Roy, for those dangerous thoughts alone, I, Kuzan, as a Marine Admiral, will carry out justice today and execute you on the spot!"

He flashed to Roy's side and unleashed his Fruit ability without mercy.

"Ice Ball!"

The surrounding cold abruptly gathered, forming five enormous ice pillars that blasted toward Roy from point-blank range.

"This is bad..."

Roy's expression changed. He could only cover his body with Haki and cross his arms to block.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

An icy wind swept past. Roy staggered back several steps, but his body was frozen nonetheless.

Just as when Kuzan first appeared, his entire body turned into a crystalline figure of ice.

"Whew, this guy really is troublesome!"

Kuzan did not let his guard down, his voice filled with solemnity.

Their exchange had given him the clearest sense of Roy's strength.

Neither of his two types of Dual Haki was weak, and they were enough for him to clash with Kuzan head-on.

Especially that terrifying combat intelligence of his, which allowed him to see through Kuzan's freezing power every time.

Ultimately, however, his opponent was running out of stamina.

Crack!

Sure enough, just as he expected, Roy broke through the ice crystals again.

"Kuzan, you really are a bastard!"

Roy stared at Kuzan, a chilling killing intent flashing through his eyes.

He had come off worse in this exchange again.

Now he understood a little of how the great Ryomen Sukuna had felt.

These back-to-back battles really were disgusting!

He felt as though he was about to follow in his footsteps.

Still, he had never intended to fight to the death.

"Kuzan, let me confirm a few things!"

With that thought, Roy raised his fingers and aimed at Kuzan again.

Kuzan's expression changed, and cold air surged wildly from his body.

He pushed his Observation Haki to its absolute limit as well.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

"Enhanced Slash: Hachi!"