Chapter 162: Covering the Retreat!
"Heh..."
A puff of white mist escaped from lips painted the color of fresh blood.
"To be able to break free from my 'Mahapadma' at the very last moment... forcing your consciousness to override the frozen concept of time itself..."
Esdeath slowly pulled her spear out of the shoulder of the Emperor of the Sea. The friction between the ice and the flesh created a sickening, wet sound that was swallowed by the howling wind.
She extended her delicate, gloved hand and gently wiped the vibrant red blood from the tip of the ice spear. She looked at the crimson stain on her white glove, her eyes dilating with a mix of extreme pleasure and sadistic cruelty.
"Truly worthy of being the prey this General has set her eyes on! Your struggle... it excites me."
"Hah... Hah..."
As Esdeath withdrew her weapon, Shanks gritted his teeth. He didn't scream, but the veins on his forehead bulged.
He clutched his wound with his remaining hand, his grip tight enough to turn his knuckles white. With a burst of leg strength, he kicked off the frozen ground, back-jumping rapidly to create a distance of fifty meters between them.
The cold was not normal. It wasn't just temperature; it was a conceptual freeze that was spreading from the wound, trying to halt the flow of his Haki and his blood.
Esdeath ignored his tactical retreat. She didn't chase immediately. instead, she continued to taunt him, savoring the smell of his desperation.
"But now, you are already injured," she stated calmly, flicking the blood off her hand.
She approached him step by step. The sound of her white boots clicking on the ice was rhythmic, like the ticking of a countdown clock. Her gaze was not that of a warrior facing an equal, but of a hunter watching a beast that had finally stepped into a steel trap.
"Your speed has dropped by 30%. Your body temperature is plummeting. Next, you should obediently give up..."
She smiled, a beautiful nightmare amidst the blizzard.
"...and accept the torture time I have carefully prepared for you!"
Shanks leaned heavily on his sword, [Griffin]. His chest heaved as he tried to regulate his breathing, using his immense Haki to force his heart to keep pumping warm blood to his extremities.
"I never expected the development of your abilities to reach a point where they could affect space-time..." Shanks muttered, his voice hoarse but steady. "Freezing time... it's truly incredible! Even among the most bizarre Devil Fruits in the New World, I've never seen anything like this."
The sharp pain in his waist and the bone-chilling cold constantly reminded Shanks of the brush with death he had just experienced. If his Haki hadn't flared instinctively a millisecond before the time freeze ended, that spear would have pierced his heart, not his shoulder.
But he did not lose his composure.
As an Emperor who had stood firm on this chaotic sea for decades, engaging with legends like Whitebeard and Kaido, he knew better than anyone that anger and impulsiveness were poison to the strong.
He analyzed the situation in a split second.
'I can't win this quickly,' he realized. 'Not with her stamina. And the others...'
His Observation Haki screamed at him. His crew was dying.
He had to leave!
Not for himself—he would gladly die fighting—but for his companions, his family, who were still fighting desperately against monsters they couldn't comprehend!
"...Give up struggling!"
Esdeath's figure closed in again. The air around her twisted, forming dozens of floating ice daggers. Her beautiful face displayed the cruelty and pleasure of a predator who knows the chase is over.
"Ice is the only eternity. Submit to it!"
The ice spear in her hand emitted an even more ominous chill than before, glowing with a pale blue light. It seemed as if she intended to completely transform this ice plain into her private execution ground, with Shanks as the main attraction.
Shanks's eyes narrowed.
'I have to break through.'
Enduring the searing pain in his shoulder, he channeled his Conqueror's Haki again. Red and black lightning crackled around [Griffin]. He was about to unleash everything he had left to forcibly tear open a bloody path—
Just then!
"Bang—!!!"
A crisp, steady gunshot echoed from afar!
It wasn't the chaotic noise of battle, but a deliberate, sniper-precise shot that tore through the howling wind.
A Sea Stone bullet, wrapped in high-density Armament Haki, tore through the snowstorm like a black meteor. It carried a spiraling force, aiming not for Esdeath's head, but precisely for the wrist of the hand holding the spear!
"Hm?"
Esdeath frowned slightly. Her instincts screamed of danger.
She instinctively swung her spear upward to block, abandoning her attack on Shanks.
"Clang!"
Sparks flew as ice met Haki-infused metal.
The bullet was knocked away, spinning off into the distance, but the powerful kinetic impact caused Esdeath's forward momentum to halt abruptly. Her wrist numb slightly from the force.
"Oh?"
She sharply turned her head, her blue hair whipping around, looking in the direction the bullet had come from.
At the edge of the massive Ice Crater—the one that had been blasted open by Albedo's devastating attack earlier—a hand gripped the jagged edge of the ice.
A tall figure was slowly, painfully climbing out of the freezing seawater.
He was soaked to the bone. The water dripped from his grey hair and his long trench coat, freezing into icicles as soon as it touched the air. The cigarette in his mouth had long been extinguished and soggy, hanging limply from his lips.
He looked somewhat disheveled, a stark contrast to his usual calm and collected appearance.
But his eyes... his eyes were still incredibly sharp, burning with a lethal intelligence and an unyielding will.
It was the First Mate of the Red Hair Pirates.
Benn Beckman!
"...Beckman!"
A trace of genuine joy and relief flashed in Shanks's single eye. "You're alive!"
"Tsk... cough, cough..."
Beckman dragged his heavy, waterlogged boots onto the solid ice. He spat out the soggy cigarette with a look of disgust.
"You're quite a mess... Captain."
His hands moved with practiced speed, despite the cold making his fingers stiff. He pulled a fresh, dry cigarette from a waterproof case in his pocket, put it in his mouth, and lit it with a match struck against his gun barrel.
"Fuuu..."
He took a deep drag, the cherry of the cigarette glowing bright orange against the blue backdrop. The smoke he exhaled seemed to mix with his breath, carrying a chilling aura of killing intent that rivaled the blizzard.
"Haven't seen you for a while, just a few minutes, and you end up looking like a beaten dog?" Beckman quipped, though his eyes never left Esdeath.
"You survived that... impressive," Esdeath commented coldly.
Her eyes narrowed. Just as she was about to speak further, Beckman had already raised his flintlock rifle again, aiming it directly at the space between her eyebrows.
"Don't move," Beckman warned, his voice gravelly. "Your opponent is me now."
"Oh? A defeated subordinate dares to be so presumptuous in front of me?"
Esdeath sneered disdainfully, tapping the shaft of her spear against her boot.
"I knocked you into the abyss once. Do you wish to experience the freezing depths of the ocean again?"
"Then you can certainly try."
Beckman's tone was calm, terrifyingly so. There was no fear, only calculation. This composed confidence, coming from a man who should have been dead or incapacitated, made Esdeath feel a strange, fleeting sense of apprehension.
"Shanks!"
Suddenly, Beckman roared without turning his head. The volume of his voice startled even the wind.
"What are you still standing there for!?"
"Eh?" Shanks blinked, taken aback by the sudden aggression.
"Quickly take the others and go! I'll cover the retreat here!" Beckman shouted, firing three rapid shots to force Esdeath to deflect them.
"But you..." Shanks took a step forward, looking conflicted. "I can't leave you here alone! She's—"
He knew very well that although Beckman's strength was formidable—comparable to an Admiral in terms of threat—facing someone like Esdeath, a monster who could manipulate ice and time, especially when he was already injured... it was a suicide mission.
"But what?!"
Beckman suddenly turned his head. His neck veins bulged as he roared at Shanks with a ferocity that silenced the Emperor.
He looked completely unlike a Vice-Captain. At this moment, he looked like a furious father lecturing a disobedient child who didn't understand the gravity of the situation.
"You idiot Captain! Open your eyes and look!"
Beckman gestured violently toward the distant battlefield with his free hand.
"Look at your comrades! Look at your family!"
His voice cracked slightly, heavy with suppressed grief and rage.
"Yasopp is dead! His body is lying there in the cold! Monster is dead too! Bonk Punch and Limejuice are almost at their limit!"
The names hit Shanks like physical blows.
"Are you going to let everyone who trusts and follows you be buried here just because of your stubborn pride?!"
Beckman's voice, like a heavy hammer, struck hard at Shanks's heart, shattering his hesitation.
"Your mission is to lead everyone to survive! That is the Captain's duty!"
"Now! Immediately! Right now! Get out of here!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Beckman didn't wait for an answer. He turned back to Esdeath and unleashed a barrage of bullets. He calculated the time difference, the wind speed, and Esdeath's movement patterns, continuously harassing her with an endless stream of Haki-imbued lead.
He was using the crudest language to wake up the Captain who was entangled in personal emotions. He was buying seconds with his life.
Shanks stopped his steps, which had been moving to provide support.
He looked at Beckman's resolute back. The familiar grey cloak, the smoke rising from the cigarette... it was the back of the man who had supported him since the beginning.
Then, he looked at his comrades struggling in despair in the distance.
He tightly gripped the hilt of his famous sword, [Griffin]. His knuckles cracked.
He gritted his teeth, suppressing the urge to scream, suppressing the urge to fight by his brother's side.
He made the choice. The hardest choice.
"...Wait for me to come back!"
Shanks's voice was low, filled with a promise that carried the weight of the world.
"Don't you dare die, Benn!"
Leaving that sentence behind, he abruptly turned.
"Boom!"
The ice beneath his feet exploded. Shanks transformed into a streak of red lightning, rushing towards the battlefield where the executives were with a speed that blurred the very air around him!
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield.
The Red Hair Pirates' executives had fallen into a true, living hell.
The addition of Albedo and Ulquiorra had completely shattered the delicate balance of the battlefield. What was once a struggle for survival had turned into a one-sided massacre.
"It's nothing more than useless struggling."
The cold, indifferent voice of Ulquiorra Cifer cut through the noise of battle.
He stood with his hands in his pockets, his white uniform pristine, untouched by dust or blood. His emerald green eyes looked down with hollow emptiness at the man rushing towards him.
It was Building Snake, the navigator and acrobat of the Red Hair Pirates.
"Don't look down on me!"
Snake roared, wielding his dual swords with dazzling speed. He spun, twisted, and leaped, his body moving like liquid.
"Juggle Sword Style: Twin Fang Serpent!"
He unleashed a flurry of slashes, aiming for Ulquiorra's neck and chest. It was a technique that had confused and dismantled countless Marines and pirates in the New World.
However, in front of the 4th Espada, it seemed like child's play.
Ulquiorra didn't even take his hands out of his pockets immediately. He simply shifted his weight.
Step. Step. Dodge.
Every slash missed by a millimeter.
"You are slow," Ulquiorra stated flatly.
"What?!" Snake's face turned pale with fright. His proud acrobatic Dual-Wielding Sword Technique seemed to be happening in slow motion for the opponent.
Then, Ulquiorra moved his hand.
It wasn't a grand attack. It was just a casual swipe with his index finger, condensed with green spiritual pressure (Reiryoku), or perhaps he finally decided to draw his sword for a split second.
The observers couldn't even tell.
They only saw a flash of green light.
"Pfft...!"
A deep, bone-exposing wound burst open diagonally across Snake's chest. Blood sprayed into the air like a fountain.
"Guh...!"
Snake's eyes rolled back. His swords clattered to the ice, and he flew backward like a broken sack, crashing into a snowbank and completely losing his fighting capability.
"Snake!" Hongo screamed, trying to run to him, but he was blocked by a wall of pink wind—Ram.
Not far away, the situation was even more desperate.
Facing the sudden appearance of Albedo, almost all of the Red Hair Pirates' elite executives were severely wounded and lying on the ground.
Building Snake was down. Limejuice was clutching a shattered arm. Bonk Punch was unconscious.
Rem, Ram, and Akame stood in a triangular formation, enclosing them. Their expressions were cold, professional, and devoid of mercy.
And in front of them, Albedo stood tall.
She held her massive, blood-stained 3F (Variable Battle Axe). Her black armor absorbed the light, and her black wings cast a long, ominous shadow over the fallen pirates.
She looked like a deity of death looking down on squashed ants.
"What a boring warm-up exercise," Albedo sighed, sounding genuinely disappointed.
She rolled her shoulders, looking at the devastation she had caused with a mix of boredom and contempt.
"I expected more from the crew of a so-called 'Emperor'. Is this really the best humanity has to offer?"
She laughed contemptuously, a dark, rich sound.
Slowly, deliberately, she raised the massive Battle Axe in her hand. The heavy weapon hummed as it sliced through the air, aiming at the cluster of executives who, despite being severely wounded, were still trying to stand upright to protect each other.
"Resistance is futile. Your existence is an insult to Lord Suzaku's new territory."
Albedo's eyes glowed yellow.
"Then, let all of this end."
The shadow of the axe broadened, covering everyone.
The shadow of death enveloped them.
Despair could no longer describe their feelings at this moment. Hongo closed his eyes. Howling Gab braced himself for the end. They had no strength left to dodge. They had no Haki left to block.
Just as the dark axe blade was about to swing down, carrying the weight of a mountain to crush them into paste...
"Swish—!"
A red blur tore through the battlefield.
"Clang—!!!!"
A surprising, deafening clash of metal exploded in everyone's ears!
The shockwave from the impact blew away the surrounding snow, clearing a circle of fifty meters instantly. The ice beneath them shattered into a spiderweb pattern.
A familiar figure, missing an arm, standing tall like a god descending from heaven, stood in front of everyone.
His sword, [Griffin], held in a reverse grip, firmly blocked Albedo's inevitable axe swing!
Sparks showered down like rain.
"Captain!" Hongo gasped.
"Captain Shanks!"
The surviving executives opened their eyes wide, looking at that familiar and reliable back. The black cloak fluttered wildly in the shockwave.
The joy and excitement of surviving a catastrophe made their eyes well up with tears! He came. He actually came back for them.
"Oh?"
Albedo felt the resistance against her axe. She looked down, slightly surprised.
She saw Shanks, sweating, panting, with a frozen wound on his shoulder, but holding her strike back with pure physical strength and Haki.
The mockery on her lips grew even stronger.
"Dragging an injured body, abandoning your fight to escape from another battlefield..."
Albedo pressed down harder, her strength immense.
"What do you think you can do here, little human? Die with them?"
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