The air seemed to solidify under Raleigh's control, pressing down like a massive mountain upon Golden Lion below.
"You damn brat, break apart!"
Golden Lion roared in furious humiliation.
As Garp's ship drew closer, Golden Lion was visibly losing his composure.
Disregarding the damage to his own body, he launched another upward attack.
"Lion's Drying Canyon Slash!"
Countless dense slashes became Golden Lion's hope for escape.
His figure followed closely behind these slashes, ready to ascend at any moment.
"You're not getting away that easily, Golden Lion!"
Seeing the frenzied Golden Lion, Raleigh gripped Mikazuki Munechika with both hands and swung down with all his might.
"Single Sword Style: Lion Bite!"
Mikazuki Munechika, wrapped in Armament Haki, unleashed a Sword Beam that clashed with Golden Lion's two famous swords.
Clang!
Sparks flew everywhere as Golden Lion and Raleigh locked eyes.
"Brat, I have a feeling you'll become a man who gives all pirates headaches," Golden Lion said with regret.
"If not for the poor timing, I'd cut off your head even if it cost me an arm."
Golden Lion's regret stemmed from recognizing Raleigh's threat.
But as a pirate, he lacked the resolve to sacrifice himself for other pirates' sake, hence his profound regret.
Hearing Golden Lion's words, Raleigh felt nothing.
As a proper soldier, when your enemy hates you to the bone and wants to eliminate you at all costs, it means you're doing something absolutely right.
As the saying goes, the more the enemy opposes, the more it proves we're correct.
So upon hearing Golden Lion's speech, Raleigh wore a mocking smile:
"Golden Lion, I don't know what would happen if we met elsewhere."
"But I can tell you this clearly—I won't be meeting you anywhere else in the future, because today you're destined to fall in these waters."
Raleigh declared with complete seriousness.
Several whooshing sounds cut through the air—Kuzan had launched his attack.
Left with no choice, Golden Lion abandoned his plan to ascend and instead fled toward the distance.
"Ice Age!"
Kuzan extended both hands, channeling all his strength to activate his Devil Fruit power.
Instantly, the space centered around Golden Lion and Kuzan transformed into a world of swirling snowflakes.
Under Kuzan's full power, this icy domain spanned a full five kilometers.
The drifting snowflakes and extreme cold relentlessly drained Golden Lion's stamina.
"Damn ice brat! You all deserve to die!"
Golden Lion skimmed low over the sea surface, his famous blades gliding across the already frozen ocean.
Two massive frost lion heads materialized under Golden Lion's control.
Without wasting words, Golden Lion soared upward, attempting to break through the combined blockade of Raleigh and Kuzan.
But just as he ascended a few dozen meters, he saw both Raleigh and Kuzan above him spreading their hands, aiming directly at him below.
"Absolute Zero!"
"Tornado Hurricane!"
Raleigh and Kuzan unleashed devastating area-of-effect attacks right from the start.
Moreover, their techniques could combine to form catastrophic destructive power on a natural disaster level.
Raleigh's hurricane blended with Kuzan's frigid air, sweeping across the world like a blizzard to freeze and shred every living being within its range.
Facing such an assault, even Golden Lion didn't dare be careless, forced to once again drain every last ounce of energy from his body.
Standing on the sea surface with a frenzied expression, he plunged his famous sword into the water.
"Lion's Imperial Water Scroll!"
This was Golden Lion's all-or-nothing strike.
Massive amounts of seawater transformed into solid lion constructs—three full lions standing a hundred meters tall each.
While gasping for breath, Golden Lion laughed triumphantly:
"You brats think killing me would be that easy? Gyehahahahaha!"
Seeing Golden Lion's smug face, Raleigh and Kuzan decided to turn up the intensity!
After exchanging a glance, they simultaneously and silently increased their Devil Fruit power output.
The already terrifying blizzard doubled its destructive force.
Half the sky was now covered by this snowstorm—wasn't this just a battle of energy clashes?
Could two young Marine officers like Raleigh and Kuzan combined not defeat a Golden Lion whose stamina was nearly exhausted?!
Holding this conviction, Raleigh and Kuzan continued reinforcing the blizzard's power, persisting even as their faces turned pale.
Only when the blizzard descended upon him did Golden Lion's expression suddenly change drastically.
What had seemed like an easily breakable technique had become nearly impossible to counter due to the perfect coordination between their abilities.
Had this been Golden Lion in his prime, even such a combined attack wouldn't have concerned him—he could have broken through by sheer force alone.
But now was completely different.
They had specifically targeted Golden Lion's depleted stamina, choosing this energy-draining battle of attrition.
This was the strategy Raleigh and Kuzan had decided upon before the battle based on intelligence reports.
Despite his significantly diminished power after so many years of fighting, Golden Lion's current strength still surpassed what Raleigh and Kuzan could handle in close combat, where he could leverage his vast combat experience and peerless swordsmanship to conserve energy.
This energy clash was a pure contest of raw power without any technique involved.
Raleigh and Kuzan refused to believe that two young, robust Marine officers—a Vice Admiral and Rear Admiral—would lose an energy clash against a pirate on the verge of exhaustion.
Ten minutes later—
The blizzard that had ravaged the sea surface finally dissipated into the ocean, unable to sustain itself.
Raleigh and Kuzan descended from the sky onto the deck, their faces pale.
Their energy had been severely depleted, requiring brief rest to recover what they'd lost.
The two grabbed the meat prepared by their soldiers and stuffed large mouthfuls into their mouths, their eyes fixed on the sea ahead.
The distant sea surface had formed a thick layer of ice from the continuous attacks. Golden Lion stood upon that ice.
But his condition was far worse than Raleigh and Kuzan's.
His once lush golden hair was now frozen into stiff strands by the blizzard.
His clothes had been torn into shreds by the howling winds, and Golden Lion's face and body were covered in wounds sliced open by the gales, with blood frozen into ice crystals at the injuries.