Chapter 421: Zephyr vs Sengoku (2)

A thunderous roar shook the earth.

Dazzling bursts of light and energy made it almost impossible to look directly.

Rumble… Rumble…

Their fierce collision caused the ice beneath them to quake and crack.

One after another, long, jagged fissures spread outward, creeping along the frozen surface.

"Ice Time Capsule!!"

Zephyr's eyes narrowed sharply.

He released an astonishing surge of freezing air. In an instant, he froze the golden Buddha's legs, allowing it no time to react. Moreover, a layer of ice visibly spread rapidly over the giant golden form, freezing this massive Buddha—whose body rivaled that of the giants—completely in place.

Crack…

But before Zephyr could even celebrate, the ice covering the Buddha fractured bit by bit.

Shards of ice splintered and flew in all directions.

"It's pointless, Zephyr… Your ice can't hold me!"

Sengoku shouted.

His golden Buddha form locked onto Zephyr.

That towering palm gathered a formidable shockwave, slamming forward at once.

Boom-boom…

The ice underfoot collapsed and fractured.

The thick, frozen surface rumbled violently.

"Shave—Flash!"

A master of martial technique, the former Navy Admiral Zephyr moved at breakneck speed.

He narrowly dodged the Buddha's strike, darting behind it.

His hands surged with cold, abruptly launching a barrage of ice pillars.

Swish…

"Ice Ball—!"

In that moment, the air whooshed;

A flurry of ice columns poured down in an unending torrent of frost, instantly engulfing the overly large golden Buddha, who had no time to defend.

Now, a tremendous iceberg stood silently in its place.

Sealed within it, that twenty-meter-tall golden Buddha—frozen with a wrathful expression—made for an utterly breathtaking sight.

"Admiral Sengoku!!!"

"How could this be?"

"He's frozen Admiral Sengoku!!"

"So this is the strength of the former Navy Admiral…"

Some distance away, numerous armed Marines dashing across the ice all wore grim faces. None had foreseen that Sengoku the Buddha—renowned as a Marine Admiral of the highest order—would be frozen so suddenly by Zephyr.

Crack… crack…

Yet before Zephyr could move in, add more layers of cold, and completely seal Sengoku away, the iceberg quaked violently; glaring cracks spread across its surface, splitting wider and wider.

And in the blink of an eye, it utterly shattered.

"So freezing you, the great Buddha, wasn't going to be this easy, after all?"

Zephyr's eyes narrowed in concentration, not truly surprised. Acting quickly, his right foot blurred into a streak, lashing out in a fierce kick:

"Tempest Kick—"

Crack—

A sharp air-slicing shriek erupted.

A massive, crescent-shaped slash tore through the sky, barreling straight at the just-freed golden Buddha. Zephyr didn't want to give him even a second's respite.

Boom!!

Instantly, a radiant golden palm lurched forth from the Buddha to deflect the sweeping slash.

A turbulent gust blasted outward, shattering chunks of ice in every direction.

Swish—

Cloak billowing, the giant golden Buddha shrank at a speed visible to the naked eye, condensing back down to a more compact, roughly man-sized form.

"Shave…"

Feet stomping powerfully, Sengoku launched himself forward toward Zephyr.

His shining golden right hand brimmed with a glaring halo of light.

Wearing a murderous look, Sengoku shouted,

"Zephyr, I advise you to give up resistance… Even with the Ice-Ice Fruit, you can't measure up!"

Among all the Marines, Sengoku was convinced that aside from Garp, not even Fleet Admiral Kong could be his equal.

"Shut it…"

Zephyr raised his right hand, fingers blade-straight, coated in a visible sheen of frost as he aimed at the rapidly advancing Buddha:

"Ice Block: Pheasant Beak!"

Screee—!!

A frigid wind surged.

Temperatures plummeted so sharply that onlookers involuntarily shivered.

A colossal ice-bird soared forth, its wings churning waves of biting cold as it dived at Sengoku the Buddha, freezing everything in its wake.

"Buddha Wrath!!" Sengoku roared in reply.

His golden Buddha hand glowed fiercely, pulsating with black-red lightning arcs visible to the eye.

It congealed into a fearsome shockwave, crashing downward in a mighty blow.

Boom… boom…

Biting cold clashed with dazzling golden light.

A towering shockwave spun in all directions, flecked with shards of ice thrown violently outward.

Pow… pow…

Rumble… Rumble…

The ice underfoot tremored.

Two imposing figures fought at full power.

They had once been brothers-in-arms, but their differing ideals and pursuits had driven them apart.

At this moment, any vestige of camaraderie was severed; they met as sworn foes, striking each other's flesh without mercy.

Even as a former Navy Admiral, Zephyr never relied solely on his Devil Fruit powers.

Under repeated blows from that crushing monster, "Fallen Angel" El—the world's mightiest creature—Zephyr had grown more tenacious with every setback. For years, day after day, he never ceased training, polishing his Armament Haki until it was second to none.

It was to the point that even Sengoku—though no less gifted than Garp—had spent more time immersed in high-level duties, following the World Government's demands, leaving him less time to hone his combat arts. Thus, in raw Armament Haki, he was outstripped by Zephyr. Only his personal mastery of Conqueror's Haki somewhat filled that gap.

And Sengoku's Mythical Zoan Buddha form retained an overall advantage over Zephyr's Logia Ice-Ice Fruit. Yet, in the short run, it wasn't enough to decisively suppress Zephyr.

Thus, their battle had reached a stalemate.

However—

At that moment, a flurry of pained screams rang out from behind the ice wall.

"What—?" Zephyr's face changed dramatically.

An instant's distraction: Sengoku, rich in experience, seized the opening.

He drove a fierce palm downward.

Humm—

A fearsome shockwave, laden with potent Haki, rippled outward.

Boom!!!

Caught off guard, Zephyr coughed up a mouthful of blood as the tremendous force slammed him away.

He hurtled like a cannonball across the ice.

Thud… Thud…

His towering frame rolled across the frozen surface, carving out a long streak, looking thoroughly battered.

Sengoku's gaze was cold as he stood over his old comrade. He said flatly,

"Zephyr, you let your guard down."

"Damn it… Is that Kaido, that brat?"

Struggling to stand, Zephyr wiped blood from his mouth.

He shot a fierce look toward the towering ice wall behind them, his expression grim.