"Gern, only you can make me realize how far I've come, so..."
As he spoke, ice crystals spread in an instant, and a chilling white mist still lingered on Kuzan's fingertips.
He had already appeared behind Gern, who was now frozen into a sparkling ice sculpture.
On the deck of the warship, Eneru's pupils suddenly contracted, and his golden staff slammed against the ground with a "snap."
"When?!" His voice, uncharacteristically, held a hint of astonishment.
That was Gern, the man who could shake Birka with a single punch and even catch his "God's Judgment" barehanded. How could he be frozen instantly?!
"It seems," Snake Princess said softly, her expression also tensing, "this battle will be very exciting!"
Eneru's veins bulged on his forehead, and lightning crackled around him, but he uncharacteristically did not retort.
Instead, he frantically tried to detect movement within the ice sculpture using Observation Haki.
However, he could sense nothing but a deadly chill.
Could it be... it's really over?
But the next second...
"Heh." Kuzan chuckled, half his face covered in ice, and tilted his head lazily. "As expected, this much isn't enough to freeze you."
"Boom!!!" The ice sculpture suddenly exploded, countless fragments scattering like bullets. Gern stepped out, his entire body enveloped in the black flash of Armament Haki.
"Kuzan..." Gern's mouth curved upwards. He stretched his neck, and his joints made crisp cracking sounds.
"This level of greeting isn't enough to impress me." Before his words finished, his figure suddenly vanished!
"Bang!!!" The ground cracked under the vibration. Gern shot towards Kuzan like a cannonball, his right fist enveloped in high-frequency vibrating pale energy, and the air at the tip of his fist twisted and shattered.
"Ara la la..." Kuzan's eyes narrowed. He raised his index finger, and an ice wall instantly shot up from the ground.
"This thing won't stop me!"
"Rumble!!" The ice wall, before even touching the fist, developed cracks and collapsed out of thin air, countless ice crystal fragments splashing like a downpour.
Kuzan's figure retreated into the ice mist, but at the same moment, he swung his hand back.
"Ice Thorns: Pheasant Beak!" Extremely cold freezing air condensed into a giant ice bird, screeching as it tore through the air, heading straight for Gern!
Gern laughed, not dodging, and crossed his arms in front of him.
"Clang!!" The moment the ice bird struck, a deafening metallic clang echoed across the entire island, and the strong winds from the shockwave kicked up a sky full of ice dust.
Gern's feet sank deep into the ground, but he didn't retreat a single step, while the ice bird's sharp beak shattered inch by inch against his Armament Haki-covered arms.
"Now that's more like it!" Gern roared, exerting force and shattering the last of the ice crystals, his figure surging forward again!
"This fighting style..." Kuzan's lips curved slightly, and frost condensed in his palm.
"You're more like Garp's direct disciple than I am, Gern."
With that, Kuzan pressed both hands on the ice surface and shouted, "Ice Age!"
Terrifying cold air instantly spread, and the entire island was frozen in the blink of an eye.
Immediately after, the floating ice beneath Gern's feet suddenly erupted, transforming into dozens of sharp ice spears that stabbed towards him!
"This level of ice..." Gern grinned, his right fist wrapped in pitch-black Armament Haki, and he slammed it violently onto the ground, "won't freeze me!"
"Boom!!!" The entire frozen island trembled violently under the power of the vibration, and countless cracks spread like a spiderweb.
The attacking ice spears were shattered into powder in mid-air, scattering as a sky full of ice crystals.
Kuzan's figure suddenly rushed out of the ice mist, his right arm completely elementalized into a huge ice saber: "Two-Spiked Spear!"
"Break!" Gern didn't dodge or evade. His left hand, wrapped in vibrational force, directly grabbed the ice blade: "Break!"
"Crack!" The ice blade, known for its absolute zero temperature, shattered inch by inch under the vibrational force.
Kuzan's pupils contracted. He immediately elementalized and retreated, but still had more than half of his body shattered by the aftershock.
"Tsk, still so troublesome." Kuzan reformed his body and patted Gern's shoulder, "But I'm not weak either!"
"Frozen Capsule!"
...
Gern's breath condensed into white mist in the cold, and the frost on his right cheek was being shattered inch by inch by Haki.
Kuzan's limitless freezing ability could even penetrate Armament Haki, nearly solidifying his blood.
"Crack, crack..." The ice layer beneath his feet suddenly emitted fine, crisp sounds.
Kuzan's pupils, dozens of meters away, suddenly contracted, and the scene foreseen by his Observation Haki exploded in his mind.
At the same time, Gern, just ten meters away, merely lifted his heel, and the entire ice field collapsed with a roar as if torn apart by a giant beast!
"Heaven Quake: Star Step!"
"Boom!!!" The earth's crust for a thousand meters around transformed into raging waves in the shockwave, and countless ice shards and rocks were thrown high into the sky.
The moment Kuzan leaped, ice pillars shot up from beneath his feet, but they shattered into sleet the instant they came into contact with the shockwave.
But he remained calm, spinning with the recoil, and swung his right arm, sending out a Zhan blue arc of light.
"Glacier: Prism!" Ice crystals condensed out of thin air and refracted the sunlight. In an instant, millions of dazzling beams of light and ice crystals transformed into sharp swords, stabbing towards Gern.
Seeing this, Gern reflexively closed his eyes while simultaneously raising both hands in defense, but Kuzan's left foot, enveloped in an ice storm, was already kicking towards his chest!
"Bang!" Sparks of Armament Haki collision erupted between the two.
Gern crossed his arms to take the blow head-on, but he was still pushed back, plowing the ground, by the immense force.
The frozen earth crushed by his feet exploded into a ten-meter-high dust wave behind him. However, when he suddenly opened his eyes, Kuzan's left hand was already pressed against the ice surface.
"Too late." Kuzan's breath carried frost.
The coastline of the entire island instantly froze, and hundreds of ice thorn spears erupted from the ice behind Gern!
Gern's eardrums caught the sharp whistle of the ice spears tearing through the air.
Without looking back, he suddenly bent down and slammed his right fist into the ground: "Heaven Quake - Earth Rumble!"
"Clang!!!" With his fist as the center, a shockwave erupted in a ring.
The attacking ice spears disintegrated into ice mist the moment they made contact with the shockwave, and Gern had already launched himself upwards using the recoil.
His figure, tearing through the ice mist, left a pale afterimage, his high-frequency vibrating left fist aiming directly for Kuzan's jaw.
Kuzan leaned back to dodge, but then saw Gern's fist suddenly change its move, pressing down, and the shockwave directly slammed into the ice surface!
"Splash!"
The moment his footing shattered, Kuzan's Observation Haki warned him. He twisted his waist abruptly, his right leg transforming into an ice blade that swept horizontally at Gern's waist and abdomen, but it was blocked by his opponent's knee strike.
Amidst the dull thud of bone and flesh colliding, both simultaneously retreated using the force.
The hem of Kuzan's military uniform was shattered into rags, while a layer of ice formed on Gern's calf.
"Hoo..." Gern exhaled a cloud of turbid air, shattering the ice layer on his leg.
Sweat, just seeping from his forehead, froze into ice beads, pattering down onto the cracked ground.
He stared at the spreading frost trail beneath Kuzan's feet and suddenly smiled, "This is a long-lost thrill!"
"Haha!" Kuzan shook his numb right leg. "No choice, after all, neither of us is weak!"
Before their words finished, their figures vanished again.