Free Web NovelChapter 59: Chapter 59
Chapter 59
Crack.
Just as their figures crossed paths, Aokiji, unable to dodge with his entire body, could only turn sideways.
The golden dragon head bit off his arm, turning it into scattered ice chunks on the ground.
The sword that had been aiming for his neck, due to the body twist, ended up severing the arm instead. Thanks to Observation Haki and preemptive elementalization, Rorschach’s slash didn’t cause any actual injury.
Rorschach, who had overshot, twisted his body and slashed out another wave mixed with brute force and Haki toward Aokiji.
"Armstrong Cyclone Slash!"
Since there was no time to charge up Mighty Nation, Rorschach could only use the relatively weaker Cyclone Slash.
Facing this roaring shockwave, Aokiji no longer dodged. Instead, he met it head-on.
"Ice Glove."
Aokiji’s right hand turned into a massive ice fist, coated with Armament Haki. He punched straight into the shockwave.
This shockwave wasn’t as large as the previous Mighty Nation, and its power was much weaker.
At the point of contact between the shockwave and the fist, black lightning flashed. The ice glove emitted piercing cracking sounds.
But a quick-release attack was ultimately not enough against Aokiji. With a steady supply of freezing air, the fist became even harder.
In the end, the shockwave was completely shattered by a single punch, dispersing into a gale.
"Whew. What kind of ability was that just now? It could control stones to restrain me, plus that dual-sword style."
"No matter how I look at it, Rorschach reminds me of someone. Did you learn your swordsmanship from a certain pirate?"
Aokiji exhaled a breath of cold air, his eyes full of seriousness as he scrutinized Rorschach.
Golden hair, dual-sword swordsman, ability to control objects — Rorschach’s image gradually overlapped with the Golden Lion in his intelligence files.
In the end, he reached a conclusion he really didn’t want to accept.
In Smoker’s earlier report, it had mentioned that Rorschach’s twin swords came from the Golden Lion.
But looking at it now, the intelligence was probably wrong. It wasn’t just the swords. The swordsmanship he used was very likely the same style as the great swordsman Golden Lion. ƒrēewebnovel.com
Even the Devil Fruit was so similar.
"Hehe, who knows~~ Maybe I figured it out myself."
Hearing Rorschach’s ambiguous reply, Aokiji showed an expression that said "just as I thought."
"All the previous information was fake, right? The drifting corpse on the island, the twin swords taken from him."
"You’re the Golden Lion’s successor, aren’t you? Whether it’s the swordsmanship, the twin swords, or the fruit ability that restrained me just now!"
"You fooled the entire world back in Loguetown! What exactly are you hiding by concealing all this?!"
Facing Aokiji’s questioning, Rorschach simply shrugged, neither admitting nor denying.
As for Aokiji asking about his purpose, Rorschach only wanted to say — he had no purpose. He just wanted to be happy.
"Hehe, just as I thought. The next generation of evil... In that case, I definitely can’t let you leave."
Seeing that Rorschach didn’t answer, which seemed like tacit confirmation of his identity, Aokiji’s attitude underwent a complete change. Not only his tone, but even his expression turned icy cold.
"Lion Majesty: Thousand Cut Valley."
Since he had already been exposed, Rorschach no longer held back. He directly used Thousand Cut Valley to slash out several sword waves.
Aokiji’s mouth continuously released cold air. Frost spread from under his feet.
"Ice Age."
The frost instantly covered the entire town. The ground froze over, and an ice wall appeared in front of Aokiji.
Immediately after, countless ice spikes rose up around Rorschach. The sharp tips couldn’t pierce his defense.
The pointed ends shattered upon impact with Rorschach’s body. But this wasn’t Aokiji’s main goal.
The broken ice spikes didn’t stop. Instead, they grew larger and larger.
In the end, they firmly trapped Rorschach. The ice wall in front of Aokiji was also slowly advancing.
In just a short while, a massive iceberg appeared before Aokiji, with Rorschach motionless inside it.
However, the sinful flames covering his body didn’t disappear. They were constantly melting the ice.
But Aokiji, now fully serious and showing no mercy, kept pouring freezing air into the iceberg. The melting and re-freezing ice switched back and forth.
Even with the heat from the sinful flames, Rorschach still felt the cold.
"Is this the true power of a Navy Admiral? This level of freezing is far beyond before. I can’t keep playing around anymore. If the Stamina Surge Potion effect runs out, I won’t be able to use Haki without restraint."
Inside the ice, Rorschach estimated the remaining time of the Stamina Surge Potion. Although the description didn’t specify, he could still feel the effect fading.
While the effect still lasted, Rorschach decided it was time to slip away.
He had roughly gauged his own strength. He could trade blows with an Admiral, but in a prolonged fight, he might not last.
"Lion Majesty: Earth Coiling."
The ice that had been freezing Rorschach turned into roaring lion heads that charged toward Aokiji.
The iceberg had disappeared. Having broken free, Rorschach immediately rose into the air. Since his fruit ability had already been exposed, there was no need to hide it anymore.
Aokiji, facing the lion heads made from his own ice, raised his hand and froze an even larger iceberg around them.
Rorschach in the air didn’t idle. He unleashed several Earth Coiling attacks in succession. Dozens of ice-and-stone lion heads bombarded Aokiji.
But Aokiji, in elemental form, dodged them all. The ice blocks weren’t coated with Armament Haki, and Rorschach still couldn’t apply distant Haki coating.
"Tch, no use, huh."
Watching Aokiji reform his body below, completely unharmed, Rorschach’s expression began to turn ugly.
The Stamina Surge Potion’s effect was almost gone. He felt his Haki reserves were nearly depleted.
He hadn’t truly injured Aokiji yet. The opponent had top-tier Observation Haki — at least A rank or higher.
His Armament Haki was probably A rank or above too. With only B-rank Haki capacity right now, he simply couldn’t compare.
Continuing the fight would only drain him further. Time to pull out.
Aokiji below, seeing that Rorschach intended to retreat, raised ice pillars from under his feet that shot skyward.
The ice pillars extended at extremely high speed. In an instant, they were about to reach Rorschach.
His right arm turned into a massive ice fist, intending to knock Rorschach down to the ground and pin him there.
Aerial combat wasn’t his specialty.
Clang.
Facing Aokiji’s fierce punch, Rorschach could only raise his sword to block.
Faintly, Rorschach felt his strength was inferior to Aokiji’s. His physique still hadn’t been fully utilized.
If it was Aokiji’s earlier state, he could still hold on. Now, he was starting to fall behind.
Aokiji’s left hand also began to be covered in frost. The other hand turned into a massive elemental fist.
Rorschach’s pupils widened. He switched from blocking with both swords to one hand. The other sword slashed out a wave to cut the ice pillar under Aokiji’s feet.
Losing the support of gravity, Aokiji tilted backward. The force in his hand weakened slightly. Rorschach broke free and used his fruit ability to fly higher.
Aokiji, reacting instantly, used Moon Step to try to chase, but his speed couldn’t keep up with Rorschach’s Float-Float Fruit flight.
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