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OPI Chapter 261: Caught Between Sky and Sea
🕑 Added 2024-11-15 23:16:49 +0000 UTCThe advance of the fish-man troop was so fast that their bodies were enveloped in currents of white water that flowed backwards at high speed, like a meteor shower crossing the ocean.
In the blink of an eye, they brutally collided with a group of nearly a thousand swordfish danger beasts of various sizes.
Scarlet blood began to dye the water, spreading rapidly like a crimson stain.
In less than half a minute, the seabed was filled with nearly a hundred corpses, elevating the battle to a level of heartbreaking brutality.
Despite this, Tiger, Aladine and the others showed no signs of shock.
Concentrating, they intercepted the swordfish attacks again and again.
They noticed that these creatures had some control over water, using techniques comparable to the martial arts of the fish-men.
And although they were outnumbered, the presence of Tiger, a vice admiral-level expert, leveled the battlefield.
Only three of his battleships had suffered severe damage from swordfish that managed to bypass the defenses.
...
As the underwater battle reached a bloody climax, on the surface of the sea, Kuzan decided to take action.
He stood on the layer of ice he had just created and dipped his hand into the water.
"Ice Age!"
The power of his freezing ability spread rapidly, solidifying everything in its path.
The frost advanced with unstoppable force towards the Black Marlin, which was approaching at full speed.
"Ice again!" the Black Marlin roared, surrounded by a dark mist. "I hate foxes, and I hate ice even more!"
With a cry of rage, it charged forward, its extremely hard and sharp upper jaw facing the gigantic mountain of ice that threatened it.
[Boom!]
With a deafening boom, the impact turned it into a gigantic black sword that split the thick ice in its path into two halves.
[Boom!]
A steel battleship measuring over two hundred meters, which was next to Kuzan, was effortlessly pierced by a gigantic, dark 'spear'. Immediately afterwards, the Black Marlin pushed him towards the skies.
The strongest Navy officers on board managed to jump off the ship using Soru and Geppo, narrowly escaping disaster.
However, most of the lower-ranking Marines were not so lucky and were killed instantly.
This made Kuzan's eyes instantly become indifferent. "You've gone a little too far, big fish."
[Swish!]
In an instant, he turned into a fleeting shadow and leapt into the air, placing himself at the same height as the gigantic swordfish, facing its colossal eye directly, at which point Kuzan noticed that it was looking at him full of mockery.
Then, in front of him, the battleship inserted in the upper jaw was completely blown up with a high-pressure water flow that appeared out of thin air.
The hundreds of Marines trapped on the ship were completely wiped out, with no chance of survival.
"Ice Block: Pheasant Beak!" Kuzan shouted angrily.
Raising his right arm, from which emanated a freezing cold breath, he released a large ice bird with enormous wings that launched itself at the Black Marlin's body.
The intense cold exploded upon contact, and although the black mist that enveloped the monster offered some resistance, the fierce frost ended up prevailing.
Within seconds, thick layers of ice began to spread across the Black Marlin's immense body, causing it obvious pain.
"How dare you!" The Black Marlin roared, enveloped in a wave of dark water that appeared out of nowhere, which began to spin at high speed around it.
The black water furiously washed over the layers of ice, which began to visibly crumble, corroded by the dark substance.
"Human from another world, this king will grant you death!"
With an angry roar, all the black water gathered into a torrent and rushed towards Kuzan in the air.
Kuzan did not back down. On the contrary, he activated the full power of his Ice Devil Fruit.
"Alalala~ it's really a bit irritating"
[Swoosh!]
A massive wave of icy cold crashed head-on into the stream of black water.
[Boom!]
Both forces clashed fiercely, dividing the sky into two colors: black and white.
But as the Black Marlin descended toward the ocean, dragged by gravity, Kuzan suddenly appeared on its flank.
Where he had been before, an ice double identical to him could be seen, still facing the torrent of black water.
The Black Marlin, sensing Kuzan's presence, immediately became alarmed. Its huge eyes narrowed, reflecting a flash of panic.
"Not good!" It didn't expect Kuzan to be so fast in the air, and he, a human, could fly?
Kuzan, on the other hand, firmly held an ice sword covered in Busoshoku Haki in his hand.
"Ice Saber!"
His eyes flashed with fierce killing intent as the edge of his sword came down forcefully on the Black Marlin's body.
[Clang!]
Although the fish's tough scales and black mist offered some protection, it was not enough to stop the sword's sharp slash.
In the blink of an eye, the fish's body was pierced, and jets of hot blood violently gushed out. However, the blood was immediately frozen by the cold emanating from Kuzan.
"Ahhhh!"
The Black Marlin's piercing scream echoed across the battlefield.
"Ara ara, it seems that the wound is somewhat superficial!"
Kuzan watched the Black Marlin writhe in pain in the water. However, its vigor was still intact, proving that the attack had not caused significant damage.
"You dare to hurt this king, you deserve to die!!"
Black Marlin felt a pain it had not experienced in centuries. Its rage erupted uncontrollably.
At that instant, it seemed like the entire Sea responded to its wrath. The water began to boil in large areas as a black mist spread out from its body, dyeing every wave a gloomy color.
[Boom! Boom! Boom!]
As if explosives had exploded underwater, thousands of columns of black water rose into the sky. With supersonic speed, the columns headed towards the ice bird that Kuzan was standing on.
However, Kuzan remained unmoved by the impending attack. The cold energy in his body seemed to silently intensify.
Meanwhile he began to manipulate the ice pheasant to avoid the black columns that were heading towards him.
Thanks to his advanced Kenbunshoku Haki, he could foresee the future, making him literally untouchable.
"Ahhhh! Damn, you're like a bug that keeps flying back and forth!" The Black Marlin was frustrated that it couldn't land any attacks on Kuzan.
Kuzan was not interested in continuing the conversation. He raised his right hand and pointed it towards the Black Marlin in the sea.
In an instant, thousands of trident-shaped ice spears formed in the air around him, then the tips of each spear took on a black glow.
"Ice Spear!"
With a mighty shout, the spears launched themselves like a torrential rain towards the Black Marlin.
For its part, the Black Marlin responded by creating new columns of black water to confront them.
Kuzan, meanwhile, jumped off the ice pheasant's back.
"Ice Age!"
This time, without worrying about the Allied ships, he used his full strength.
[Crack! Click! Crack!]
In the blink of an eye, the entire surface of the sea was frozen in a thick layer of ice.
Although the Allied ships were trapped in the ice, the real tragedy was experienced by the swordfish-type danger beasts and the fish-man troops fighting in the water.
Despite his precise control and ability to manipulate cold, Kuzan was unable to prevent some fishmen from becoming trapped in the ice.
Fortunately, Marines on the ships were working to break the ice and free their comrades.
Meanwhile, Kuzan transformed into a massive ice pheasant, over fifty meters tall, with claws and beak reinforced with Busoshoku Haki. Each attack pierced the Black Marlin's black mist and tough scales, drawing screams of pain from it.
"Ahhh, damn it, damn it, why can you hurt this king so easily?!"
Black Marlin was really angry and confused. Logically, his defense should not be so fragile.
[Crack!]
Suddenly, a thick silver-white lightning bolt, coming from the sky that was covered in dark clouds, struck the back of the Giant Ice Pheasant fiercely, causing its entire posture to shake.
"Huh?"
Feeling the pain, Kuzan raised the pheasant's head to look up at the sky.
But at that moment a large number of lightning bolts struck like a storm.
The sudden and relentless thunderstorm caught Kuzan completely off guard.
Bursts of silver lightning streaked across the sky, falling in waves that were impossible to calculate.
Kuzan had no choice but to employ a large amount of Busoshoku Haki to form a protective shield around his body and withstand the impacts. He had detected that these rays were not normal: they contained a natural energy similar to that of the Black Marlin's black mist.
"Alala~! Don't tell me another one of those Super Class Danger Beasts has appeared?"
Kuzan didn't care about the Black Marlin who took the opportunity to break away from him.
He quickly flapped a pair of huge ice wings and flew up.
Then he nimbly dodged the lightnings that struck down in the air under the dark clouds.
...
"This is getting complicated..."
In the command room of the Other Worlds Strategic Committee, the atmosphere turned gloomy.
"As we feared, it's another Super Class Danger Beast! Admiral Kuzan is in grave danger."
Coulson's sharp eyes caught a flash between the thick black clouds projected on the big screen. It was the white tail of a rapidly fading dragon. Wasting no time, he shouted: "Notify Headquarters immediately! Tell them to send General Borsalino as reinforcements as soon as possible!"
"Yes!" An operator nearby took action after hearing this.
"Eastern Cloud Dragon..." Coulson muttered as he silently prayed that Kuzan would hold out until Borsalino arrived.
...
Not long after, in the Teigu World, a bright golden beam shot out from the snow-capped mountains in the north of the empire.
"Kuzan is in trouble." At the base, Sakazuki watched the increasingly distant silhouette of Borsalino. His expression was grim.
He had just faced a Super Class Danger Beast, so he fully understood how difficult it would be to take on two at once.
...
On the battlefield of the East Sea, Kuzan had also noticed the white dragon that was soaring through the stormy clouds, its size was enormous.
What truly worried him was not the dragon's size, but the overwhelming aura it emanated, comparable even to Whitebeard.
For someone like Kuzan, who had barely reached the level of an admiral, this was an almost unbearable pressure.
"Relax. I have no intention of killing you. I just want to invite you to be my guest for a while, Celestial Spirit from another world." Suddenly an ancient and solemn voice came from the clouds. It was obvious that it belonged to the dragon.
"Alalala~ Sorry, but I have things to do. Maybe another time, how about that?"
Kuzan replied in a carefree tone, only he knew how tense he really was.
"I'm not giving you a choice."
The gigantic dragon head emerged from the lightning-lit clouds and looked at the Black Marlin in the ocean.
"Black Marlin, long time no see. But this is not the time to catch up."
"This Celestial Spirit from another world is strong. If we want to capture it, we will need to work together."
...
At the same time, the higher-ups of the world government, observing the scene through the Den-Den Mushi, finally saw the dragon clearly.
It has the shape of a bright green Chinese dragon with white fur, and also has two large, thin whiskers on its snout.
"What are you waiting for? I will torture this bastard in the cruelest way!!" The Black Marlin roared, reinvigorated by the dragon's arrival.
The Eastern Cloud Dragon was the world's first Danger Beast to master natural energy. Therefore he is considered the first Celestial Spirit.
[Boom! Boom! Boom!]
The sea, which was originally frozen, once again turned into turbulent waves under the explosion of water columns with the billowing black mist.
Under the control of Black Marlin, they quickly formed three terrifying black water tornadoes and besieged the huge ice bird incarnated by Kuzan.
At the same time, the dragon manipulated the dark clouds around him, sending denser lightning bolts down upon Kuzan.
Kuzan could barely stand firm, facing such a violent attack from the wrath of the sky and the sea.
Meanwhile, its ice wings generated extreme cold to counteract the approaching black waters.
The clash between these titanic powers transformed the Eastern Sea into a chaos of lightning, tidal waves, and storms, endangering not only Kuzan, but also the Navy fleets and the fish-men newly freed from the ice.
"Stand back!" The Navy officers shouted frantically as they tried to protect their subordinates from the devastating shock waves.
