One Piece: Alucard the Immortal

"Is it okay to fight out here?"

After they reached the east coast, Kuzan pointed towards the distant sea. If they fought in town, Zephyr-sensei would chew him out. So he chose the one tactic he was best at back in military camp.

"Hurry up," Alucard said, spreading his hands to indicate he had no objections.

Kuzan plunged a hand into the ocean, and a chilling aura emanated from him.

"Ice Age!"

The power of the Ice-Ice Fruit manifested, freezing the sea for several kilometers.

This wasn't Kuzan's future ultimate technique, "Ice Age," which could freeze an entire sea region, or even several, in one go.

The current range of only a few kilometers indicated that Kuzan's strength was still far from what it would be in Luffy's era. Given that hardly anyone passed through here, Kuzan chose this location for their battle.

As the two stood on the ice, Kuzan tilted his head slightly. "May I ask one last question? Why are you so determined to fight me? Is it to test the power of a Logia-type Devil Fruit?"

"Why? I've made it quite clear, haven't I? I fight for my mood, to experience pleasure. Right now, I want to fight you. There's no deeper reason."

Alucard's mind was precisely that simple.

He didn't possess Kuzan or Zephyr's dedication to justice, nor did he have Roger's grand ambition of seeking the world's truth and conquering the Grand Line.

He lived for his mood, for himself.

Whatever would make him happy in the moment, he would do.

It was that simple, yet also that insane.

"Then, here I come."

Kuzan raised a single hand, his palm facing Alucard, releasing a chilling aura that condensed into a solid projectile, shooting forward rapidly. "Ice Time Capsule!"

"Ice... if I get caught, my body will freeze."

"In that case, let's test the upgraded Casull's power first!"

Through his battle with Zephyr, Casull had upgraded from Level 3 to Level 4. This fight with Kuzan was a perfect opportunity to test its new strength.

BANG!

A shot fired, shattering the freezing projectile and piercing Kuzan's abdomen, leaving a small hole.

However, not a single drop of blood fell.

Around the hole, ice enveloped the wound, and it quickly recovered.

Although Kuzan was unharmed, he was still startled by the gun's power. Was that truly just a gun? Not even a cannon seemed to possess such destructive force!

"Elementalization, huh? As expected, Logia-types are tough opponents."

Less than a second after Alucard spoke, he had already rushed in front of Kuzan. This time, he didn't use Casull, but attacked directly with his hand.

'It didn't turn black, nor did I sense any Haki.' Kuzan thought to himself. He hadn't felt the presence of Armament Haki, the natural enemy of Logia users. 'But... why? This sense of danger is telling me that if I don't block this attack, I'll be in a very dangerous situation.'

Battle instinct made Kuzan bring both hands up to block Alucard's fist.

With a heavy impact, Alucard's overall physical abilities—speed, strength, agility, and reflexes—had all been further enhanced due to the previous evolution of the Blacklight Virus. The immense force sent Kuzan staggering back over a dozen paces.

He had already activated his elementalization, yet the punch didn't pass through his body but struck him solidly.

This meant that, like Armament Haki, he possessed the power to bypass elementalization and attack a Logia user's physical body.

But if it's not Armament Haki, then what kind of power is it?

Generally speaking, the only powers that could hit a Logia's body besides Armament Haki would be other Logia abilities.

Kuzan didn't know what Alucard's power was, but knowing that his opponent had the ability to bypass elementalization was enough; he had to be wary.

"Partisan!"

The elemental Kuzan crossed his arms to form an "X" shape. The cold air around his body condensed into spear shapes, rushing forward.

"Oh, looking for a long-range fight?"

Alucard pulled out Casull and fired two rapid shots, shattering the Partisan into ice shards.

Kuzan, however, continued to press the attack, constantly releasing Partisan. In his mind, bullets couldn't harm him, and Alucard would surely run out eventually.

However, after Alucard fired a dozen shots, Kuzan found it strange. What the hell, this is a pistol, not a machine gun, right? Hasn't he run out of rounds yet?

Alucard continuously closed in on Kuzan.

Three of the rapidly fired Partisan had already pierced Alucard's body.

Kuzan, too, had been hit repeatedly by bullets, but due to his elementalization, he was unharmed.

Alucard, on the other hand, was injured, and severely so. Three ice spears pierced his body. But for Alucard, injury was meaningless.

When Alucard grabbed an ice spear with his free left hand, he turned and threw it back at Kuzan.

"⁉"

Kuzan's brow furrowed, his gaze drawn to it. When his eyes flickered back, barely half a second later, Alucard had vanished from his original spot.

"Could it be!?"