Pirates of the Peak

Chapter 1150 Yama and Locking

Several attempts to poison him were thwarted by Aokiji, who detected and countered each time. Meanwhile, Zoro's momentum grew stronger and stronger, and Shura's heart sank completely, his anxiety gnawing at his reason like a venomous snake.

Many of his poison abilities require him to use them without the enemy's knowledge. In such cases, even a strong person of his level would be affected, or even a stronger person would be affected!

Just like how Aokiji and Zoro were poisoned without realizing it, if the other party becomes aware of his methods, ordinary people will still die from the poison, and even renowned strongmen cannot defend against it!

He fears that a strong opponent of his level might possess a Devil Fruit ability that counters his power. Once the opponent is on guard, his ability becomes less effective. Furthermore, Aokiji's ability has a counter attribute, so if the opponent is on guard, he will have even less of a chance!

Seeing that Shura's movements finally revealed a hint of panic, and that his steps were unsteady and even his breathing was disordered, a cold glint flashed in Aokiji's eyes—the opportunity had come!

He stomped his feet hard on the ground, and the ground, frozen in place, cracked open like spiderwebs as soon as he landed, his attack suddenly becoming several times more ferocious.

He was already tall and slender, with long legs and a stride that covered several meters in one step. Against Shura, who was less than 1.5 meters tall, even though the frequency of their leg movements was almost the same, Shura's movement speed was completely crushed.

Shura had previously relied on his injuries to unleash his maximum speed for a moment, but now that his strength was exhausted, his speed had already dropped. Even if he charged forward desperately again, Aokiji was confident that he could capture him!

"caught you!"

As the shout fell, Aokiji completely disregarded the possible poison lurking in Shura's body. He stomped his foot heavily and pounced on Shura like an arrow, his iron-like hands gripping the other's shoulders tightly.

The power of the Ice-Ice Fruit was pushed to its limit, and a chilling white aura spread wildly from his fingertips. In the blink of an eye, Shura's body was enveloped in layers of ice crystals, from his fingertips to his neck, and then to his entire body, completely transforming him into a lifelike ice sculpture.

Aokiji's own arm was also infected by the poisonous mist, and the cold air, carrying the poison, backfired, causing thick icicles to form on half of his body.

But that's not enough! Qingzhi's eyes were deep and serious, knowing how difficult Shura was to deal with; a few layers of thin ice couldn't possibly trap him.

He gritted his teeth and urged out more cold energy. The ice around the two of them grew wildly at a visible speed, piling up higher and higher, expanding wider and wider. In a short while, a huge ice mountain tens of meters high rose up around the two of them. The ice peaks were sharp like fangs, suppressing the two of them firmly at the bottom of the mountain, making them look like two sealed evil spirits from another world!

Just then, a chilling chant, accompanied by a biting wind, swept through the air, its sound growing louder as it approached, then suddenly rising in pitch, carrying a sharp edge that seemed to cleave the heavens and earth—

"King of Hell - Three-Sword Style - Purgatory Demon Slash!"

"Qiang——!"

The sharp clang of metal clashing pierced the sky, followed by a deafening roar that seemed to shake the heavens and the earth!

A dazzling crimson blade of light flashed past, and the iceberg was split in two, flying to both sides. Even the blue pheasant and the asura beneath the iceberg were split in two as well!

Only then did Zoro's figure appear in mid-air on the other side of the iceberg. His clothes fluttered in the wind, his green hair danced in the wind, and his posture of bending over was both flamboyant and handsome.

The three famous swords each pointed in a different direction, the crimson lightning wrapped around them slowly fading away, and the cold light on the blades reflected on his cold profile.

"Damn it! Do you want to chop me up too?!"

The iceberg, which had split in two, did not break upon impact, demonstrating its extraordinary nature. It is likely that only an iceberg like this could trap Shura!

The two halves of the iceberg crashed heavily to the ground, shaking the entire valley. Yet, not a single piece of the iceberg itself fell, demonstrating the formidable power of Aokiji's freezing force. It is estimated that only an iceberg of this sturdiness could temporarily trap a vicious villain like Shura.

Aokiji's body was formed from the iceberg, with half of his body still covered in shards of ice. As soon as he landed off the iceberg, he started cursing at Zoro, who was sheathing his sword, his voice full of dissatisfaction.

He was truly astonished. He had thought Zoro would find a tricky angle to cleave the demon in the iceberg, but this idiot didn't care about anything else and cleaved the mountain through with a single strike!

If he hadn't been a user of the Ice-Ice Fruit, whose perception was even more acute in the iceberg, allowing him to sense the trajectory of the blade's light beforehand, he would probably have been cleaved in two like Shura by that mountain-splitting, sea-splitting blade and fed to the fish!

"I know you can dodge it!"

Without turning his head, Zoro flicked his wrist, and the three famous swords rang out with a crisp sound as they were sheathed, swift and decisive.

His back was as straight as a pine tree, elegant and unruly, completely ignoring the life or death of the demon hidden in the iceberg—he had absolute confidence in his strike.

As for why he didn't take a detour, it's unclear whether he genuinely believed Aokiji could evade him or was afraid of getting lost and unable to find his way back.

The ice sculpture of Shura, cleaved in two by a single stroke, remains embedded in the iceberg, devoid of any life. His ferocious expression before his death is still frozen on the ice crystals. Perhaps this iceberg, now split in two, will become a strange yet eternal landmark on Narcissus Island!

……

With Zoro and Aokiji teaming up to defeat Shura, there aren't many enemies left!

While they were fighting, others were also fighting, and many were taking down their opponents much faster and were already supporting other battlefields!

There are also those who haven't been able to defeat their opponents yet, fighting bloody battles amidst the clash of swords and the deafening sounds of battle, such as Barnett, the vice-captain of the Thunder God Pirates!

His efficiency wasn't as high as Kuina's and Barrett's. Kuina was already on the second wave, while he hadn't finished the first wave of the battle and was still locked in a fierce struggle with his opponent!

Barnett's talent isn't bad, but compared to monsters like Luffy and Ace, he's still a step behind.

If he hadn't met Vic, he might have remained an unknown navy officer for the rest of his life, swallowed by giant waves and killed by pirates in a stormy naval battle, ultimately disappearing into the vast ocean without even leaving a name behind.

But ironically, he met Vic when he was at his lowest point and was appreciated for his outstanding organizational skills.

So his fate was completely changed. It was Vic who fully unearthed his talent and even forced out his hidden potential, which made him qualified to stand on the battlefield of this final battle and fight alongside a group of strong people!

In a corner of the valley, Barnett quickly moved two zhang to the side, his boots carving a deep furrow in the mud. He tried again to dodge the enemy's slash, but he still couldn't avoid it. The bright slash curved a corner and still struck his chest!

Fortunately, he had already used Armament Haki to harden his skin beforehand, which prevented him from being cut in half with one strike. However, a long and horrifying wound was still cut into his chest, with the flesh turned outwards and blood gushing out, making him wince in pain!

"They've got me cornered, they're being so ruthless!"

Barnett looked down at the wound on his chest; blood soaked through his clothes and clung stickily to his skin. He muttered to himself helplessly.

Although the opponent never explained their Devil Fruit ability, he was basically certain of it based on the previous battles.

The opponent's ability must be related to target locking, because no matter how he moves around or uses the terrain to dodge, the opponent's attack will always meander and ignore distance and obstacles, and eventually hit him. He simply cannot dodge it!

Moreover, every attack from the opponent was extremely powerful and showed no sign of testing; each move was ruthless and deadly!

Since you can hit it no matter what, why test it? Just beat it to a pulp, right?

Based on these two points, Barnett judged that the opponent's Devil Fruit ability was mostly related to target or lock-on, and was of the rule type, somewhat similar to Vander Duncan's Target-Target Fruit ability, but stronger than the Target-Target Fruit ability!

The Target-Target Fruit ability requires touching the opponent to use, but this person doesn't need to, because the opponent has never touched him!