The Dragon’s Ice, The Demon’s Pride

Her voice was a quiet blade, cutting through the tension like frost slicing flesh.

"Veldora."

Just that. One word. Spoken softly—almost calmly—but it made the earth itself shiver. Trees cracked. Wind died. Even the snowflakes refused to fall near her presence.

Veldora, the Storm Dragon, one of the mightiest beings to ever exist, lowered his head and took a half-step back. His massive wings tucked tighter. The aura he had proudly flaunted just the day before was now sealed completely.

He stammered. The mighty dragon, scared speechless.

"I… uh… Velzard… I–I was just…"

Velzard's eyes narrowed. Her voice, still low, now turned sharp.

"Didn't I tell you… not to go overboard?"

"Yesterday, your energy rippled across the planet. I felt it from the Ice Pillars… and so did everyone else."

Veldora opened his mouth to answer, but before he could form a single word…

Hujiro Hanma stepped forward.

The man didn't even have a shirt on, just pants and that impossible build. His presence wasn't loud—but it commanded attention. No aura. No magic. Just raw, primal confidence.

He grinned at the Ice Queen.

"That energy? That was because of me."

Velzard's eyes slid toward him slowly, as if acknowledging the existence of a speck of dust.

"And who exactly are you supposed to be?"

She turned back to Veldora with a frown.

"Since when do you hang out with puny humans?"

Veldora nervously rubbed the back of his long neck with a claw.

"Well… y'know… I-I was just bored and… uh… Hujiro is kind of interesting? And, um…"

Hujiro didn't let him finish.

"That's because I kicked his ass."

He said it like a joke. Like it was nothing. Like it wasn't Veldora, the legendary chaos beast of the skies, the one who bent armies and kingdoms with a roar.

Velzard's eyes widened. A flicker of disbelief danced through her cold stare. She looked at her brother. But… he didn't deny it.

"You… what?" she said, now fully facing Hujiro.

She stared at him.

But there was nothing. No aura. No power. No presence.

He was like a common man—just flesh and blood. No different than a soldier, a merchant, a baker.

This doesn't make sense, she thought.

Only one being in all of creation could suppress his presence so flawlessly: Veldanava, their elder brother, the Creator himself.

Velzard's eyes narrowed.

"A human was able to beat my brother?"

"Don't make me laugh."

Hujiro didn't blink. His smirk remained carved into his face like a challenge.

"I did," he said plainly.

"Ice Queen, you're next."

Everything froze.

The wind stopped.

The world held its breath.

Even Veldora immediately took three large steps backward.

"Uh-oh," he muttered. "That's it. He's dead."

Velzard's gaze burned colder than ever before. Her lips thinned. Her fingertips glowed with frost-light. But her voice remained calm—scary calm.

"You are very arrogant for a human."

"Don't you know who I am?"

Hujiro stepped forward, now less than ten feet from her. His eyes locked with hers, showing no fear—no hesitation. Only challenge.

"In front of me?" he said, voice deep and steady.

"You are nobody."

That did it.

Velzard's entire body flared with raw, glacial power. The ground cracked. Snow turned to frozen mist and then shattered in the air.

She raised her right hand—and without a single warning—

She attacked.

A lance of blue energy, forged from compressed frost magic, ripped through the air. It howled like an avalanche. The sheer pressure behind it flattened trees in the distance. The temperature dropped to sub-zero in a heartbeat.

But Hujiro didn't move.

Not one step.

He didn't dodge.

He didn't brace.

As the frost-lance closed in, his mouth curled into a small, confident smirk.

"Come on, Ice Queen…"

"Show me something real."

The sky darkened above the Jura Forest. Wind screeched. The clouds churned as though they feared what was coming next. The snow that had once gently covered the trees was now whipped into a frenzy by pure force.

Velzard's frost-lance slammed into Hujiro like a divine judgment.

Except—it didn't.

The massive wave of magic, layered with thousands of years of mastery, splintered against Hujiro's bare chest like it struck a mountain made of time itself. There was no shield. No barrier. No deflection technique.

He just stood there.

Unmoved.

Untouched.

And smiling.

Velzard's eyes narrowed.

"Impossible…"

She didn't give him time to speak. With a flick of her wrist, she summoned another blast, this time a Cryo-Fissure, a jagged spear of compressed snow crystal meant to pierce through even divine hide.

It launched—fast.

Hujiro tilted his head just slightly to the left.

It missed. By a hair. No wasted movement.

"Is this it?" he asked, stepping forward.

"The wrath of the so-called Ice Queen?"

Velzard's patience was thinning like melting frost.

"You dare mock me, human?"

"I dare speak facts," Hujiro replied casually, dusting snow off his shoulder. "You're strong—but your attacks lack… weight."

She screamed—and it was not the scream of a woman. It was the cry of a dragoness, the sound that shook the heavens in the ancient era. She launched herself forward at godspeed, and her fists became clubs of diamondized ice.

Hujiro met her charge with a grin.

No aura. No transformation.

Just muscle, movement, and mastery.

They clashed.

BOOM.

The forest quaked. Trees split in half. Mountains in the distance cracked like eggshells. The earth cratered under their feet.

Hujiro's fist slammed against Velzard's forearm, redirecting her strike like it was nothing. He twisted, spun, and delivered a roundhouse kick so smooth it looked choreographed.

Velzard flew back a hundred feet, slamming into a glacier—her glacier. It exploded on impact.

Veldora, now perched on a cliff like a massive blue gargoyle, blinked.

"What… the actual hell am I watching?"

Below, Velzard emerged from the ice, breathing heavier than before, her pale hair flicking with the wind.

"You're toying with me…" she hissed.

"I'm fighting you," Hujiro replied, beginning to walk toward her again, step by step, slow and relaxed. "The way real fighters do it. No gimmicks. No spells. Just fists."

Velzard clenched her teeth.

She had enough.

"You want real power? Then witness the strength of my Ultimate Skill."

Above her head, the sky split open. A divine glyph burned in the heavens. Gabriel—Lord of Patience awakened.

The air froze. Time slowed. Snow turned into glowing crystals as Eternal World activated—an absolute space under Velzard's control. Within it, she could manipulate time, twist space, and layer reality with magic and power beyond comprehension.

Dragon Spirit Haki coated her body in primal energy.

Universal Perception expanded her senses until she could see every molecule around her.

Frost Magic danced on her fingertips like gods weaving silk.

Snow Crystal enhanced every attack tenfold.

She descended from the sky like judgment incarnate, her body glowing in azure fury.

"Die in awe, mortal."

She vanished from sight—then appeared directly above Hujiro.

A thousand blows rained down in the blink of an eye.

But each one…

Blocked.

Countered.

Redirected.

Hujiro was dancing.

Spinning, ducking, weaving—his body flowed like water, his fists struck like falling suns.

CRACK.

His palm landed on her stomach—straight strike.

Velzard gasped and flew backward again. Her magic cracked around her like broken glass.

"W-What is this?" she muttered. "Why… don't my skills affect you?!"

Hujiro rolled his shoulders, letting his neck pop slightly as he exhaled slowly.

"Because you're fighting the wrong kind of opponent."

"I am Primordial Dominance. Skills? Magic? They are for cowards."

He vanished.

Appeared behind her before she could react.

His foot struck her ribs with a thunderclap.

BOOM.

Velzard was launched across the field again, crashing into a mountainside.

Veldora's jaw dropped from his perch.

"He's fighting big sis like… like she's not even special…"

Below, the battle raged on.

Velzard fought harder than ever before—her pride ignited into wildfire. Every punch she threw cracked the heavens, every spell froze the skies. But nothing landed.

Hujiro dodged, countered, and flowed like he'd been fighting beings like her for eternity. His ancient martial arts, passed down from a forgotten world, overwhelmed her. He struck with his elbows, knees, and palms—his movements fluid, efficient, almost beautiful.

"Your attacks are pretty," he said mid-fight, "but they're all noise."

"No weight. No rhythm."

Velzard screamed and formed a storm of spears from every direction.

They shot toward Hujiro.

He spun mid-air and shattered each one with pinpoint jabs—his strikes moving faster than the eye could see.

"This is what happens…" he said, landing back down calmly, "when a queen underestimates the natural order."

"Strength isn't about magic."

"It's about control."

"You lost the moment you needed your skill."

Velzard stood, blood on her lip, panting.

For the first time in centuries, she felt it—

Helplessness.

"Who… are you…?"

Hujiro cracked his knuckles, then pointed to himself with his thumb.

"Hujiro Hanma."

"The apex predator."

Velzard gritted her teeth, bruised, bleeding, trembling.

"Damn you…" she whispered. "Damn you to the abyss."

She closed her eyes and activated her final trump card.

Time Stop.

Everything froze.

Wind.

Snow.

Light.

Even sound ceased.

Only Velzard remained in motion, standing amidst a completely halted world. Hujiro stood in place like a frozen statue, mid-breath, mid-step.

"Finally," she whispered, panting. "Now… you die."

She walked slowly toward him, eyes glowing with victory.

"Mock me… humiliate me… push me this far… I'll make you suffer."

She conjured a blade of purest ice, humming with divine energy, and raised it to Hujiro's heart.

"Goodbye, arrogant human."

She thrust forward.

SNAP.

A hand caught her wrist.

Her world shattered.

"Didn't I tell you…" Hujiro said, his voice deeper now, more dangerous, "Your tricks won't work on me."

Velzard's pupils shrank.

"Y-You moved… inside Time Stop?!"

"You don't dictate my time," Hujiro said.

"I move in my own."

Before she could process the horror, he twisted her arm and slammed his fist into her gut.

BOOOM.

The force shattered the ice beneath them in a massive crater. The sound came after the blow, ripping through the air like a god screaming.

Velzard collapsed, mouth open in a silent gasp, blood dripping from her lips. She clutched her stomach, barely able to breathe, her body twitching.

Hujiro stepped over her, calm, composed, looking down with cold detachment.

"You lost."

"Not because you're weak."

"But because you only rely on your skills and magic."

Velzard looked up, eyes swimming with pain, humiliation, and something else—fear.

Hujiro leaned closer, his voice now ice-cold.

"Crawl back to whatever frozen hole you came from…"

"…And tell your little boyfriend…"

He smirked.

"I'm coming for him next."

Then he turned and walked away, as the shattered battlefield remained silent—save for the faint sound of Velzard's labored breathing.