A deep, groaning rumble echoed through the ground. Dust billowed outward, driven by shockwaves as the collapsed building smoldered in ruin.
Every Marine stared in stunned silence, eyes fixed on the shattered remains of the teaching tower.
Just watching it hurt.
Wait—Darren landed that hit?
His attack... actually worked?
The realization struck them all at once. Their gazes snapped toward Darren—and their pupils shrank in shock.
There he stood, leg still outstretched from the strike. His gleaming black combat boot was cloaked in swirling, invisible force—like a spiraling hurricane.
"He's using Armament Haki!!"
"That kind of talent... he's a monster!"
Gasps rippled through the onlookers. Most couldn't even believe their eyes.
"Darren, you little brat!! Forget the fortress—you kicked him through a whole teaching building! Couldn't you have aimed somewhere else?!"
Zephyr's voice erupted, full of fury and grief. His teeth clenched in pain—not for the battle, but for the budget.
Luckily, the academy's formal sessions hadn't begun yet. No staff had been inside. If they had, it would've been a disaster.
Rebuilding the building was going to cost.
"Do you know how expensive that was?!"
Now? Zephyr-sensei, you're worried about that now?
"I apologize, Zephyr-sensei. I'll compensate twice the full amount for any damages caused during the duel."
Darren retracted his boot and smiled.
"...Alright then. Carry on."
But then their thoughts turned elsewhere.
Had that attack ended the fight?
They turned, eyes locking on the rubble of the collapsed building.
Thick smoke curled through the cracks in the stone. From deep within the wreckage, white frost began to spread.
Crystal by crystal, a glittering trail of ice bloomed outward—until a human silhouette formed at the edge of the ruins.
Blood trickled from the corner of Kuzan's mouth. One side of his face had visibly swollen.
They shone with blazing determination.
"Armament Haki... huh? You really are the rival I acknowledged."
Darren couldn't help but marvel.
Any other person here—anyone—would've been out cold from that kick alone.
Even Tokikake, thick-skinned and reinforced by Darren's own brutal training, wouldn't have stayed conscious.
He looked like he was just getting started.
'Is this what monster-level physical endurance looks like...?'
For a moment, Darren's mind flashed back to the war on Marineford—when Sakazuki took Whitebeard's Shockwave Punches to the face and kept fighting.
'No... it's more than that.'
His eyes drifted to the collapsed building.
His kick had dealt three distinct layers of damage:
One — the raw power of his body.
Two — the explosive burst of Armament Haki.
Three — the collision with the structure and the resulting crush trauma.
Kuzan had phased out of that final impact using his Logia intangibility.
No wonder battles between Admirals and Emperors (Yonko) were measured in days.
When you'd trained your body and Haki to that level, even the most brutal slugfests couldn't decide a winner quickly.
"Still willing to keep going, Kuzan?" Darren asked, smiling.
"But since you're using Armament Haki now... I guess it's time I use that move."
He inhaled deeply. Took a single step forward. Raised his right hand.
And his gaze sharpened like a blade.
A long stream of icy breath flowed from his lips, crystallizing in midair.
Ice rapidly coiled around Kuzan's arm.
The temperature across the battlefield plummeted.
Hot and cold currents twisted together, forming a violent wind that tore across the field, biting and cruel.
With a sharp cry, wings of pure ice unfurled from his arm.
A high-pitched screech echoed over the campus.
A giant ice pheasant burst forth from Kuzan's hand, wings wide, surging forward like an avalanche made of crystal and death.
Everything in its path turned white.
Frost coated the earth.
Snow swallowed the world.
"Ice Block: Pheasant Beak!!"
Darren's eyes narrowed as an overwhelming wave of cold rushed toward him.
The ten-meter-tall bird tore across the battlefield like a glacier collapsing in real time.
But his right leg twitched.
A thin layer of frost had crept over his boot.
From that kick earlier...?
"Incredible... even after taking that hit, Kuzan managed to freeze Darren's leg!"
"There's no way he can dodge now!"
"His instincts are terrifying...!"
All eyes locked on Darren.
In front of that monstrous, storm-born ice bird, the Marine commodore looked... tiny.
As if he'd be swallowed whole in the next heartbeat.
A coin appeared between his fingers.
A simple coin—dull, unassuming.
The coin flipped into the air.
The tumbling coin reflected the shimmering wings of the ice pheasant... the crowd's widened eyes... Kuzan's thrill...
...and Darren's cocky grin.
Blue sparks crackled from his fingertips.
"Magnetic Overload: Railgun!"
Far across the field, Zephyr's pupils shrank.
The world seemed to freeze for a second.
A blinding pillar of orange-red energy erupted from the ground, coiled in lightning.
The world flashed white—
Then plunged into black.
For an instant, the sun itself seemed to vanish.
The railgun's beam tore through the air with a shriek, pulverizing the giant ice bird in an instant.
The crystal creature shattered and melted, its wings blown apart before it even got close.
The railgun didn't slow.
It roared toward Kuzan.
Panic exploded from the sidelines.
But Kuzan... stood frozen.
He stared into the oncoming inferno. His pupils reflected only light.
The beam engulfed him.
The battlefield disappeared in a flood of heat and force.
A howling gale exploded outward, a tidal wave of wind and flame.
Kuzan's eyes widened.
A silhouette appeared before him.
Tall. Colossal. Unmoving.
His short violet hair danced in the shockwave.
On his snow-white coat, the kanji for Justice shimmered in gold.
Like a dragon rising from the earth.