One Piece:Becoming the King of the World from the Rocks Era

"Crack!!!"

However, just as Kuzan was pondering, the ice crystal statue suddenly shattered. Wei Zhuang, who had entered his Night Angel state, burst out from the ice.

As Wei Zhuang reappeared, an endless surge of shadow power poured out of him. It enveloped the area of several

hundreds of meters in all directions, casting everything around them in darkness, just like the freezing power Kuzan had used earlier.

"Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit!"

Seeing Wei Zhuang enter his Night Angel state and recalling the shadow power from before, Kuzan immediately realized that this was the power of a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit.

"Two-Spike Spear!!"

Noticing Wei Zhuang was closing in again, Kuzan swung his arms, and two thick ice crystal spears shot up from the ground beneath Wei Zhuang's feet.

"Night Flash!"

The two spears appeared suddenly, but just as they were about to strike Wei Zhuang, he vanished from his spot in an instant.

The next moment, six shadows appeared around Kuzan, all charging toward him. These six shadows were all Wei Zhuang, as though he had donned a shadow cloak.

"Ice Balls!"

Kuzan swung his arms again, sending twelve ice balls hurtling toward the six shadows.

However, the six shadows moved in perfect synchronization, dodging Kuzan's attack effortlessly.

"Frozen Era!"

Kuzan's face hardened as countless freezing forces surged outward from him in all directions. Since his single-target attacks weren't effective, he decided to use an all-encompassing area attack.

The icy white power rushed through the air, and the six shadows had no chance to evade. No matter how they tried, they couldn't escape the oncoming wave.

Under the extreme freezing power of Kuzan, the six shadows instantly turned into lifelike ice sculptures.

However, just as Kuzan unleashed his ultimate move, the real Wei Zhuang appeared from behind Kuzan, his blade, the "Budou Yuhun," now charged to its peak power!

"Raging Vulture Beak!"

Kuzan seemed to have anticipated Wei Zhuang's intentions, as his right hand was still charged with most of the freezing power. Without hesitation, Kuzan swung a powerful punch backward.

In an instant, the freezing energy transformed into a massive ice bird, which sped toward Wei Zhuang with incredible force.

But Wei Zhuang didn't dodge at all. His right hand gripped his sword while his left hand summoned a shadow shield. The ice bird collided with the shield, shattering into ice shards. Yet, the fragments released an intense freezing energy that encased the shield and even froze half of Wei Zhuang's body.

"Horizontal Sword Art: Across Six Directions!"

Despite the freezing power, Wei Zhuang's right hand firmly gripped Budou Yuhun and unleashed his peak technique. 

One strike, combining with the shadow power, created six dark sword shadows that simultaneously struck Kuzan from six different directions with lightning speed.

The speed of these strikes was astonishing, and they all struck at once. If it were Borsalino, he might have dodged, but Kuzan knew he wouldn't be able to avoid them all.

"Ice Crystal Shield!!"

Kuzan quickly erected an ice crystal shield around himself, covering a five-meter radius.

"Crack!!!"

However, the ice crystal shield was shattered instantly by Wei Zhuang's sword shadows. The brief moment it held allowed Kuzan's Observation Haki to pinpoint the true trajectory of the attacks.

Utilizing his speed, Kuzan managed to dodge two of the sword shadows and, with his ability, preemptively elementalized his body to avoid two more.

"Rrrip!!"

But the last two sword shadows left him with no way to evade. Kuzan had to rely on his freezing power and Armament Haki to block, but the force of the attack still broke through his defenses, leaving two deep sword marks on his body.

"Crack!!!"

At the same time, the freezing power that had ensnared Wei Zhuang's body was broken, thanks to his shadow power and Armament Haki surging together.

Without hesitation, Wei Zhuang charged toward Kuzan with his sword once more.

Kuzan, seeing this, immediately tried to distance himself from Wei Zhuang. However, Wei Zhuang's shadow teleportation power made it impossible for him to shake him off. Kuzan could only brace himself for another attack.

The Night Angel's control over shadows made him highly agile and unpredictable within the shadowy zones he created.

When combined with Wei Zhuang's domineering Horizontal Sword Art, Kuzan found himself in a tough spot. He had initially believed his own strength would allow him to capture Wei Zhuang, but to his surprise, Wei Zhuang's power was overwhelming. Despite being eight years older than him, Kuzan realized age alone couldn't bridge the gap between them.

Kuzan attempted to escape the shadowy zone Wei Zhuang had created. Inside the shadows, Wei Zhuang was empowered, whereas for Kuzan, it felt like a form of restraint.

However, when Kuzan attempted to leave, he realized that the shadow zones Wei Zhuang created moved with him. No matter where Kuzan went, the shadows followed him. The only way to escape was to defeat Wei Zhuang. 

As Wei Zhuang and Kuzan clashed fiercely, the entire town, even the port by the sea, began to freeze. The temperature plummeted rapidly, and the ground was covered in thick layers of ice and shadows.

Under the scorching sun, the ground looked as if it were from the Ice Age, enhanced by terrifying shadows. Those watching from the sidelines found the scene incredibly chilling.

"Run! Another powerful strike is coming!"

"Dammit, is the Marine trying to freeze the entire town?"

The onlookers, initially enjoying the fight, suddenly panicked when a massive, black sword strike flew toward them. Within moments, several people were killed, and the freezing energy spread out, turning unlucky individuals into ice sculptures. The remaining onlookers fled in terror.

Only Enel and the other members of Wei Zhuang's crew, including the pending Lafayette, remained to observe.

"This power... it's too terrifying!"

Watching the battle between Wei Zhuang and Kuzan, Lafayette was shocked.

Although he had confidence in his own strength, watching this battle made him realize how limited his vision and power truly were. He couldn't even get within ten meters of the fight, let alone face both Wei Zhuang and Kuzan head-on.

Now, he understood what Wei Zhuang had meant when he invited him to watch this battle: to realize his own weakness and understand that to grow stronger, he needed to leave this island, or he would forever remain a frog in a well!

"Our boss invited you personally, which means he sees potential in you. This is your opportunity. If you let it slip away, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

Enel, noticing Lafayette's stunned expression, spoke up.

"My cold can't invade his body!"

As the battle continued, Kuzan realized Wei Zhuang had some method to block his freezing power from infiltrating his body.

Freezing invasion was one of the effects of his ice power. Normally, unless someone used Armament Haki to cover their entire body, it was difficult for most people to resist the freezing effects.

The cold accumulated during the fight, causing the opponent's body to stiffen. This was the first time Kuzan had encountered someone who could block his freezing invasion!

What Kuzan didn't know was that Wei Zhuang had been tortured by such freezing powers when he was young. He had eventually developed techniques to use his shadow power to protect himself and shield against the cold.

After an hour of intense battle, it became clear that Wei Zhuang and Kuzan's strengths were nearly equal.

Looking at their injuries, Kuzan had taken four sword strikes, while Wei Zhuang had been frozen several times, suffering from frostbite.

"As expected of the 'Monster' Vice Admiral. Your strength has earned my respect!"

"Too bad you don't have many good subordinates!"

After an hour of fighting, Wei Zhuang realized that he couldn't defeat Kuzan on his own, so he decided it was time for a group fight.

"Hmm?"

Kuzan didn't understand Wei Zhuang's intentions, but he soon found out!

"Heaven-Splitting Hammer!"

Enel entered the battlefield and raised his hand. The shield he controlled transformed into a massive hammer, ten meters wide, and it struck down toward Wei Zhuang and Kuzan.

Wei Zhuang used Kuzan's attack to retreat, leaving Kuzan alone to face Enel's giant hammer.

Enel had eaten the Barrier Barrier Fruit, and since being brought back from Skypiea by Li Yuan, he had trained alongside Wei Zhuang. His strength was only slightly inferior to Wei Zhuang's.

As a defensive powerhouse, the Barrier Fruit had allowed Enel to develop numerous offensive and defensive abilities.

Kuzan hadn't expected Wei Zhuang to break the rules and switch from a one-on-one duel to a group fight!

"Top-Grade Ice Pillars!"

Four massive ice pillars shot up from the ground to block the falling hammer.

"Crack!!!"

However, the four ice pillars were instantly shattered by the hammer's force.

Taking advantage of the brief delay caused by the ice pillars, Kuzan quickly retreated out of the hammer's impact zone.

"Lion's Claw Gun: Rampage!"

However, as Kuzan escaped Enel's hammer strike, Bayo Vincent, the mink-man from the crew, covered his fingers with Armament Haki and unleashed a barrage of strikes at Kuzan.

"Ice Crystal Decoy!"

When Bayo Vincent's strikes hit Kuzan, his body turned into ice, but Kuzan's real body was already rushing toward the sea.

Unable to defeat Wei Zhuang on his own and now facing his subordinates, Kuzan decided on a strategic retreat. He would call for reinforcements to capture Wei Zhuang later.