Lulusia Kingdom, Port Town. Ice Age: Pheasant Beak! In the center square, filled with magma and frost, Aokiji raised his left hand, and cold air burst forth. A giant ice crystal bird with a wingspan of over ten meters, emitting an extremely cold freezing aura, flapped its wings and rushed towards Kozuki Hiyori. Wherever the ice bird flapped its wings, the temperature dropped sharply, the scorching magma instantly cooled, and a layer of frost condensed on the ground.
Holding Enma, with electric arcs coiling around her body, Kozuki Hiyori stomped the ground forcefully and flickered her figure.
After dodging the fierce ice bird by shifting sideways, she launched a lightning-fast assault towards Aokiji, her blade tip pointing directly at his chest.
However... The ice bird that brushed past Kozuki Hiyori didn't rush straight into the distance, crashing into the buildings. Instead, it suddenly made a U-turn, flapping its wings to turn around and crash into her back. At that moment, in front of Kozuki Hiyori, Aokiji's right fist, wrapped in Armament Haki, had already swung towards her, leaving her no time to defend.
Seeing this, she could only choose to slightly raise her hands and deflect the blade, preparing to block Aokiji's fist, while she planned to use her vampire body to withstand the ice bird attacking from behind! With her vampire's super regeneration ability, as long as her entire head wasn't instantly blown off, she basically wouldn't be in danger of losing her life and could quickly recover as before.
Clang—! Aokiji's ice-covered fist smashed onto Enma's blade. A powerful force struck, and Kozuki Hiyori took advantage of the force, causing her body to shift away to the left. On the other side, the ice bird was already upon her, close at hand, and Kozuki Hiyori had nowhere to hide. Just at this moment.
Swish—! A crimson light flashed and disappeared in the void. A spatial door quietly opened. Before Sephiroth could step out from the world within the door, the ice bird crashed straight into his embrace. Dark red lightning erupted from the butcher knife. Sephiroth flipped his wrist and casually made an upward slash, cutting into the ice bird's head. The next moment.
Bang—! The ice bird exploded, and ice shards flew everywhere.
"This is really... leaving me a bit confused!" Sephiroth stepped out of the world within the door. When he clearly saw the situation before him, the corner of his eye couldn't help but twitch slightly.
"Master!"
"Sephiroth!"
"Sephiroth!"
After seeing his appearance, Kozuki Hiyori and the others all gathered around him. Seeing this, the Marine side also subconsciously stopped their attack. They were somewhat confused as to why Sephiroth, this former Rear Admiral, would appear here...
"Cough!... Can you tell me what exactly happened here?" Sephiroth said with extreme confusion.
Akainu, Aokiji, Zephyr, five Vice Admirals... This troop configuration was enough to take on a Four Emperors crew!
"I'm sorry! Sephiroth, I seem to have caused trouble again..." Yamato lowered her head slightly, her voice apologetic. "After I came to the square, I saw the king of this country executing commoners who couldn't pay the tenryuubito tribute by burning them at the stake..."
She hadn't expected that her attempt to save innocent commoners would cause such a huge commotion.
In a distant alleyway, Perona, after hearing the sounds of battle disappear, quickly floated high into the sky, wanting to see what was happening in the square. When she saw Sephiroth appear, she couldn't help but cheer and quickly floated toward the center square.
"Sephiroth! Great, you're finally here!"
Ain looked at the five girls gradually gathering around Sephiroth. Her hands subconsciously pressed on the hilts of the two Sabers at her waist, "kill intent" and "Thunder." She inexplicably felt the urge to cut someone...
"Sephiroth, why did you suddenly appear here?" Ain asked with a forced smile, her tone questioning.
"..."
Seeing this scene, Sephiroth couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. The look in one's eyes when they wanted to cut someone was simply impossible to hide! This little girl, Ain... It had only been two years since they last met, how had her kill intent become so strong? Back then, when Sephiroth was teaching at the Marine Academy, he spent a year with Ain.
Therefore, he understood the girl's personality and temper quite well, knowing that she was very proud and strong-willed at heart, and completely unable to accept her man having other women. Her man could only love her alone. Coupled with her pure sense of justice, which made him feel somewhat ashamed. Sephiroth, this… well, he rarely acted like a gentleman. He didn't have any impure thoughts and had always played the role of a dedicated mentor in front of Ain... Hmm!?
Although there might have been some minor flaws in the details, like occasionally teasing the other party or something. But... Overall, as a guide, he should be considered competent, right...? Therefore, even though Sephiroth knew that Ain had a good impression of him, he didn't take any initiative to take things further, planning to let time gradually wear away the girl's vague and immature emotions.
In the distance, Akainu saw that Sephiroth dared not answer, and thinking that the other party was feeling guilty, he immediately snorted coldly and reprimanded:
"Hmph!
Those five women are all wanted Pirates. Sephiroth, if you don't want to cause trouble, then get out of here quickly! Don't hinder me from eliminating the Pirates."
Hearing this, Sephiroth's eyes narrowed slightly, and he said in an unfriendly tone:
"Heh! After so many years, Akainu, your stinky mouth is still so annoying!"
The air crackled with tension the moment they met, before they'd even exchanged a handful of words. The Marine personnel were used to it. After all, the feud between Akainu and Sephiroth was legendary throughout the entire Marine.
"I'll say it again, if you don't want to cause trouble, get out of here! I'm going to kill all these damned Pirates!"
Boiling, dark red magma surged from Akainu's body, gathering on his right arm. It was clear he was gathering strength, preparing to unleash a devastating blow. Back when Sephiroth was still in the Marines, and Sengoku was keeping things under control, Akainu never had the chance to attack him and eliminate this stain on the Marines.
Now, even a blind man could see the extraordinary relationship between the five female Pirates and Sephiroth. If Akainu seized this opportunity, forcing Sephiroth to attack and become an enemy of the Marines, he'd have a legitimate reason to treat him like a Pirate and get rid of the man he loathed.
Seeing this, Zephyr rubbed his forehead, a headache already blooming. Damn it! These two rivals had to run into each other at this moment... Trouble was brewing.
Hearing Akainu's cold, murderous words, Sephiroth immediately placed his left hand on the hilt of netherflame. His eyes were cold, filled with killing intent.
"Heh! They are all my women... I cannot pretend not to have heard your words. You want to touch them? Then you'll have to get past me first!"
Boom—!
As Sephiroth's words fell, a terrifying Conqueror's Haki erupted from his body, spreading in all directions and instantly enveloping the entire center square.
Violent black and red lightning burst forth from the void, continuously striking the ground and the building debris, completely tearing them apart and turning them into rubble. Among them, a thick black and red lightning bolt even reached the sky, penetrating the clouds, stirring up the wind and clouds, causing a sudden strong wind and the world to change color.
"Rumble...!"
Thump! Every single one of the low-ranking Marine officers standing in the center square rolled their eyes, lost consciousness, and collapsed.
Under the terrifying pressure of Sephiroth's full-power Conqueror's Haki, Ain's consciousness became hazy. She quickly drew the kill-intent Saber from her waist and plunged it into the ground, trying to steady herself. But the mental pressure was too intense. Her eyes rolled back, and her body went limp. She lost consciousness completely.
Why is the gap between me and him still so insurmountable...? Before she fainted, that thought flashed through Ain's mind, filled with extreme unwillingness. On the other side, the severely injured Onigumo didn't even groan under the terrifying mental impact. He simply tilted his head and collapsed in a pool of blood.
Momonga, and Yamakaji, who had just recovered from his negative state, both had their knees buckle under them when caught off guard, kneeling on the ground and barely supporting themselves with their hands, thus avoiding falling completely flat on the ground...