Dimensional Chat Group: Speed-o'-Light

Esdeath mastering Haki didn't come as a surprise to him.

After all, both he and the warriors of the Kuja Island were able to easily learn how to refine Chakra.

In some ways, Armament Haki was even easier to learn than Chakra because it didn't require the integration of mental energy. As long as one's physical body was adequate, mastering it would be quick.

Esdeath's physical condition was obviously up to standard. While she was still quite a bit behind Kizaru and the top-tier fighters of the pirate world, she far surpassed the minimum requirement needed to master Conqueror's Haki.

However, for her to have learned it in such a short time could only be attributed to her flawless talent.

"That's quite a nice power. Shall we continue?"

Esdeath raised her head, and her gaze toward Kizaru shifted from curiosity to excitement, then from excitement to greed.

It was hard to find a worthy opponent, and even harder to find a powerful one. To find one so powerful that she could also learn something new from them was practically unheard of!

"Aight."

As soon as Kizaru spoke, the ice beneath Esdeath's feet exploded with a loud crash. A special-grade dangerous species with its massive jaws open leaped out, trying to swallow both Kizaru and Esdeath whole.

Clang!

However, neither Esdeath nor Kizaru paid any attention to the special-grade dangerous species. Their blades collided once more, and the violent sword pressure expanded recklessly in all directions.

In an instant, the special-grade dangerous species that had been rampaging across the ice field, as well as the surrounding several hundred meters of ice, were torn apart. With Esdeath now mastering Haki, her combat power had clearly reached a whole new level.

No longer needing to avoid a direct confrontation with Kizaru like before, Esdeath fully unleashed her power, and the display of her combat ability even made Kizaru take notice.

Icebergs the size of mountains occasionally fell from the sky, while the ground was filled with countless ice spikes. The raging sword pressure shattered the ice, which was as hard as steel. Flashing lights created countless craters on the ice field...

At this moment, the chat group was full of astonished onlookers.

Even those who were familiar with Kizaru and Esdeath couldn't have imagined that their battle would be this spectacular.

[Fubuki: Are these two monsters or something?]

[Ai Haibara: …They're like human-shaped natural disasters.]

[A passerby wanting to hug Luo Feng's leg: Sigh, when will I ever become this strong...]

[Orochimaru: This level of power is indeed quite impressive.]

[Tony Stark: Damn, I need to revise my Iron Man suit designs. I have to upgrade everything.]

[Kobayashi: This is like watching a monster movie...]

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The ice storm raging on the battlefield never ceased, with the biting cold wind cutting through everything within the storm's range like a blade, relentlessly tearing at anything in its path.

Even Esdeath, in such an environment, couldn't avoid being affected. Her military uniform was constantly being torn by the wind, with rips appearing on it here and there.

If not for her mastery of the Haki, including the hardening and wrapping skills, Esdeath would have been unable to maintain such a fierce ice storm.

However, despite this, Esdeath, filled with fighting spirit, showed no sign of halting her assault. She continued to launch increasingly ferocious attacks against Kizaru.

Clang! Clang! Clang… Clink!

The first to give way was actually Esdeath's sword. The weapon that had once accompanied her on countless battles shattered into two pieces after repeated collisions.

Esdeath discarded the broken sword without a second thought and immediately launched a physical attack on Kizaru.

"Paper Arts: Doppelganger."

Kizaru didn't rely on his elemental powers to overpower Esdeath. Instead, he engaged her in hand-to-hand combat, mirroring her actions precisely.

His form transformed into numerous afterimages as Kizaru dodged Esdeath's rapid series of attacks. Then, utilizing his Observation Haki, he seized upon an opening in Esdeath's defenses.

But just as Kizaru was preparing to take advantage of the opening and overwhelm her, Esdeath, the Snow Queen, flashed a cunning smile as her scheme succeeded.

"Freeze! Moke Botte Mo!"

Esdeath's voice rang out sharply, and an incredibly terrifying extreme cold descended in that instant.

In the blink of an eye, everything around Esdeath—everything in her vicinity, even the fabric of space-time—was frozen to absolute zero!

This technique, which was supposed to be developed years later, was now unleashed by Esdeath ahead of time.

However, at this moment, the space-time she could freeze was only for a split second. Moreover, throughout the earlier battles, Esdeath had vaguely sensed that Kizaru seemed to predict her movements.

After learning Haki, she became even more convinced that Kizaru possessed some other ability.

After all, Armament Haki was completely a power of the body, but a true powerhouse couldn't rely solely on their physical strength. Therefore, she knew she had to activate her ability at the moment Kizaru was unable to react—only then could she hope to defeat him.

Bang!

The instant time and space were frozen, Esdeath felt as though victory was already in her grasp. But just at that moment, she sensed something was wrong. Before she could instinctively defend herself, an invisible fist sent her flying.

After fighting for so long, Esdeath had already exhausted much of her stamina, and learning Haki only further drained her energy.

The technique of freezing time and space placed a huge burden on Esdeath's body, and when the punch hit her, she didn't even have the energy left to attempt a defense with her Haki.

A crushing punch sent Esdeath flying nearly a hundred meters, shattering countless ice spikes and carving a deep trench across the icy surface before she finally came to a stop.

Had it been anyone else, they would have been dead without a doubt. Fortunately, Esdeath's physical body was strong, and with a layer of transparent hardened ice covering her skin, she didn't suffer any fatal injuries.

Even so, her military uniform was in tatters, and her once-attached military cap had flown off somewhere. Blood now stained her face.

"That was dangerous… To think you could master the ability to freeze time and space. I almost lost…"

As the frozen time and space quickly returned to normal, Kizaru, unhurried, walked toward Esdeath, his stand, "The Flash," floating behind him.

At that moment, The Flash was proudly hovering in mid-air, having just crossed the frozen time-space at lightning speed to send Esdeath flying.

Every time Kizaru saw his stand, he had the urge to facepalm. Why did his stand look like such an arrogant little brat?

Clearly, he was famous for being kind-hearted… Oh, pirates and Celestial Dragons don't count as humans, so being kind-hearted isn't a problem.

°°°

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