After several rounds of pursuit, Kronos finally caught up with Aokiji!
At the same time, a space boundary wall materialized right in front of Aokiji!
Just as Aokiji was about to crash into it, he sensed something and quickly sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the barrier!
Kronos hadn't expected the wall to actually hit Aokiji—
but the point wasn't to strike him.
The wall had bought Kronos the moment he needed—
to close the distance completely!
With his Black Mist Blade in hand, Kronos suddenly appeared behind Aokiji, slashing down without hesitation!
But Aokiji didn't stay still.
A wall of ice erupted instantly between them, intercepting Kronos' attack just in time.
At the same moment, Aokiji leapt backward, his body flickering as he elementalized into ice.
"Phew... that was close," Aokiji muttered as his face emerged, half-covered in frost, his breath forming white vapor in the air.
Kronos, whose blade had been stopped by the ice wall, now stood silently, then hurled his black blade aside, letting it dissolve into mist.
The two now faced each other across a short distance—
locked in a standoff.
Aokiji stared at Kronos with narrowed eyes.
He knew escape wouldn't be easy now.
A head-on battle might be the only option.
But deep down, Aokiji didn't want to fight.
He had seen Kronos' strength firsthand.
If he and Kabalu had attacked together as planned, things might have gone differently.
But Kabalu, with his arrogant overconfidence, had jumped the gun and attacked on his own.
Now, the whole plan was in ruins.
"Kronos, can we stop this here? Let's just end it," Aokiji tried.
"Our side's already suffered serious losses…"
Kronos took a few steps forward, speaking with a calm but sharp tone.
"Aokiji, you're a Marine Admiral. Surely you know this isn't some game between Marines and pirates."
"You're a Marine. I'm a pirate. We're enemies."
"If you came prepared to take my life, then be prepared to lose yours as well."
Aokiji's expression hardened.
He knew then that there was no talking Kronos down.
The frost covering his body thickened.
His eyes grew cold.
Kronos gripped his Black Mist Longsword tightly—
then vanished.
He moved first.
Aokiji reacted swiftly—just in time to see Kronos appear beside him, sword slicing horizontally!
Aokiji formed an ice blade in his hand and brought it up to block the strike!
But Kronos didn't stop at one blow.
His attacks came fast and relentless—like a storm.
Aokiji was forced to keep blocking and dodging, retreating under the pressure of Kronos' deadly blade.
Even more troubling was the strange black mist surrounding Kronos.
It clung to Aokiji during the fight, slowly draining his strength.
It wasn't much at a time—just a little bit each moment.
But he could feel it.
Something about that black mist was eating away at him.
What Aokiji didn't know was that even Kronos himself was unaware of this particular effect.
This was only the second time Kronos had ever used his Chaos God: Chaos Form.
Back during the Summit War, the Black Mist didn't have this ability.
Even Garp and Akainu, who had fought him directly, never noticed this strange effect.
And since the black mist didn't restore any energy to Kronos himself, he hadn't noticed it either.
But Aokiji felt it—and he knew, if this continued, he would lose.
Realizing this, he dodged one of Kronos' slashes, then quickly raised his hand.
A huge ice block formed above Kronos' head and dropped from above like a meteor.
But Kronos noticed it the moment it appeared.
He waved his hand, and a space boundary cage locked around the falling ice, halting it mid-air.
Then he clenched his fist—
Boom!
The massive ice block shattered into fine crystals, raining down harmlessly.
Aokiji didn't look surprised.
That ice wasn't meant to win the fight—it was a distraction.
While Kronos was busy dealing with it, Aokiji had already leapt to the side, crouching low.
A surge of cold air exploded outward.
"Ice Age!"
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