Kizaru wasn't worried about losing — he just found it embarrassing to be ganged up on by his own woman in front of Boros and the others from the Dimensional Chat Group.

"You're the one who attacked first!"

Esdeath's lips curled into a savage grin. Her free right hand froze into a blade of ice and thrust toward Tatsumaki.

The infamous imperial general was not someone who took a beating without fighting back. The razor-sharp ice sword wasn't just coated in jet-black Armament Haki — crackling black lightning also surged along its edge, proof that she'd infused it with Conqueror's Haki using the advanced technique known as "Conqueror's Coating."

With a thunderous crack of air, the sword pierced through Tatsumaki's psychic barrier, the tip closing in on her forehead.

"Screeeech!"

Even Kizaru was a little startled and almost moved to protect Tatsumaki. The esper, who lacked true life-and-death battle experience and hadn't yet learned Haki, finally managed to shake off Esdeath's Conqueror's pressure at the last second.

A violent storm erupted throughout the entire temple. Out of the maelstrom appeared a colossal golden-red divine bird — Garuda.

Transforming in time to evade Esdeath's attack, Tatsumaki launched her counterstrike. As Garuda's vast wings spread open, countless golden-red arcs of lightning gathered around her body, fusing into a massive bolt as thick as a water tank that thundered down toward Esdeath.

Kizaru, unwilling to take a stray hit, instantly turned into light and vanished. These two crazy women were fighting like monsters — no way was he going to get caught in the crossfire.

"Mahāprajñāpāramitā!"

Facing the transformed Tatsumaki, Esdeath didn't dare to be careless. Her Observation Haki screamed in alarm the moment Garuda appeared. Knowing better than to take that lightning head-on, she immediately activated her trump card.

The Demon's Manifestation: Essence of the Devil, the ultimate ability of the Ice Teigu, was forged from the blood of a super-dangerous species said to inhabit the far north. In the hands of its perfect wielder, it could even freeze space and time itself.

Within the frozen world, Garuda's thunderous pillar of golden lightning hung motionless in midair. The divine bird loomed over the ground like a magnificent statue carved from light.

But Esdeath didn't rush to finish Tatsumaki off. Instead, she turned her gaze toward the "motionless" Kizaru.

"Aren't you going to save her?"

Esdeath's lips moved silently. In frozen time, her voice couldn't be heard, but she knew Kizaru could read her lips.

She'd known ever since their first meeting that Mahāprajñāpāramitā had no effect on Kizaru. So even now, she wasn't expecting to kill Tatsumaki by freezing time.

"I'm not interfering in your fight…"

Kizaru rubbed his temple and mouthed back his reply.

He wasn't stupid — Esdeath might be acting calm, but if he actually tried to interfere, she'd turn on him in an instant.

Besides, Kizaru already knew Tatsumaki's trump card. Killing her wouldn't be as easy as Esdeath imagined.

Satisfied with his answer, Esdeath's beautiful face curved into a smile again.

Her ice blade elongated, twisting into a long, spiral-shaped lance over ten meters long.

"Die!"

Perhaps because Kizaru's attitude pleased her, Esdeath didn't even bother coating the lance with Armament or Conqueror's Haki this time.

Even so, with her power and the might of her Teigu, that strike was more than enough to seriously wound the Garuda-form Tatsumaki.

Shlick!

The divine bird's body was impaled by the icy lance — and at that very moment, the frozen world shattered, time resuming its flow.

"Sister!"

Seeing Garuda pierced through, Fubuki screamed instinctively. Even the distant onlookers — civilians, and the cousins Xiao Yan and Xiao Mei — gasped in shock.

But before Fubuki could rush in despair, golden-red flames suddenly ignited across Garuda's body.

"Tch!"

Esdeath clicked her tongue, realizing that this battle was far from over.

Esdeath shot Kizaru a sharp glare, clearly annoyed — this guy obviously knew what was going to happen all along, yet still pretended to be surprised.

Golden-red flames melted through the ice spear that had pierced the divine bird Garuda, and as the flames burned, the gaping wounds across Garuda's body slowly healed until it was completely unscathed once more.

The Mythical Zoan: Tori Tori no Mi, Model—Garuda possessed a rebirth ability similar to Marco's Mythical Zoan: Phoenix Form, allowing the user to be reborn from flames.

However, unlike Marco's phoenix form — which could endlessly resurrect as long as the user still had stamina, practically granting immortality — the Garuda form's nirvana could only activate once per day, and only as a passive trigger upon receiving a fatal injury.

Still, compared to the phoenix's rather limited offensive power, the Garuda's sheer attack potential was more than enough to make up for that single weakness.

"SKREEEE!"

Once her body fully recovered, Tatsumaki finally realized what had happened — and immediately erupted into a frenzy once again. With a furious flap of her wings, a crushing gale swept through every corner of the temple. Even Boros, who had been spectating with mild interest, showed a flicker of genuine intrigue.

If Tatsumaki in her human form merely brushed the threshold of top-tier combat power in this pirate world, then in her Garuda form, she was now undeniably on par with the strongest.

Especially when her immense psychic power inadvertently fused with Garuda's wind-manipulating abilities — even Esdeath, who had already mastered all three forms of Haki, had to admit this short-statured girl was far tougher than she'd expected!

As the clash was about to erupt, the telekinetic barrier that Fubuki had been maintaining finally shattered under the Garuda's violent wind pressure. Fubuki let out a muffled groan, which immediately snapped Tatsumaki out of her rage. Ignoring her rival completely, she released her transformation and rushed to check on her sister's condition.

Seeing this, Esdeath didn't take advantage of the opening. Instead, she paused to think for a moment, then decisively turned toward Kizaru.

"I want one too. That transformation that woman used — you gave her that power, didn't you? I want the same thing."

Esdeath held out her hand confidently. She had once accepted the power of an Imperial Arm without hesitation — naturally, she wouldn't mind wielding the power of a Devil Fruit now.

And since Tatsumaki had already received one from Kizaru, Esdeath couldn't allow herself to be treated as less. In her mind, she already belonged to Kizaru — which meant her "master" was obligated to help her grow stronger.

If she hadn't witnessed Tatsumaki's transformed power firsthand, she might have let it go. But now that she had seen the might of a Devil Fruit, there was no way she'd miss the chance to obtain one herself.

"Tatsumaki ate a Mythical Zoan, but I don't have any spare Mythical Fruits on hand right now. Would you settle for a Paramecia instead?"

Kizaru replied with a slightly weary tone. Ordinary Devil Fruits — even Logias — were no longer anything rare for him.

As the Fleet Admiral, if he wanted a Devil Fruit, he could easily get one in a short time.

But a Mythical Zoan, especially one like the Tori Tori no Mi, Model—Garuda that Tatsumaki had eaten, was a truly exceptional fruit — one of the most powerful even among Mythicals, a treasure that could not be obtained simply by status or power.

Even with Kizaru's influence, finding another one of equal caliber in a short time would be nearly impossible.

"I want the best one," Esdeath said flatly, rejecting his offer without a moment's hesitation. If Tatsumaki hadn't received one, she might have compromised — but now that Tatsumaki possessed the strongest Mythical Zoan, Esdeath demanded the exact same treatment.

"…Fine," Kizaru finally said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I'll find you the best Mythical Zoan I can — as soon as possible."

Kizaru didn't bother explaining to Esdeath that she didn't actually need a Mythical Zoan-type fruit — Logia users weren't any weaker than monsters like Kaido who possessed Mythical Zoans.

The only reason he gave Tatsumaki a Zoan-type fruit was because she needed one in order to exploit a loophole in the dimensional chat group and travel between worlds.

But reasoning was useless against Esdeath — that just wasn't who she was. What she really cared about wasn't the fruit itself, but the fact that Tatsumaki had been given one and she hadn't.

Of course, the Devil Fruit was the kind of thing that could pique Esdeath's interest. Someone as obsessed with battle as she was would never pass up any chance to get stronger.

Even Boros had once considered eating a Devil Fruit, but after discovering that it offered him little improvement — and would, in fact, introduce a brand-new weakness — he abandoned the idea entirely.

At that moment, Tatsumaki, having confirmed that Fubuki was unharmed, walked over with a dark expression, glaring coldly at Esdeath.

If it weren't for Garuda's ability to resurrect through flames, that last attack would have either killed or severely injured her.

Even with the tremendous vitality granted by Zoan fruits, it was difficult to withstand Esdeath's terrifying mastery of her Ice Teigu, which she had refined to unprecedented levels.

In terms of raw offensive power, even before she had mastered Haki, Esdeath could already stand shoulder to shoulder with top-tier "Emperor-class" fighters.

Whether or not Tatsumaki survived after eating her Devil Fruit depended entirely on whether Esdeath wanted her alive — not on whether she could kill her.

Just thinking about how close she came to dying at the hands of that blue-haired woman made Tatsumaki shiver — and stoked her burning desire to grow stronger.

°°°

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