Chapter 51

Loya didn't look human anymore. The only thing Beard could compare him to was a legendary dragon! Those golden, vertical pupils were full of majesty, staring him down. The aura coming off this thing was so intense it felt physical, making Beard tremble and struggle to breathe.

Blue scales covered Loya's entire body, gleaming in the sunlight. A pair of massive bat-like wings spread out behind him, kicking up icy winds that froze everything around them.

Beard used his Haki to fight off the biting cold, his eyes narrowing. 'A Devil Fruit user... some kind of mythical Zoan type?'

He'd always suspected Loya had some special ability, but freezing power? That threw him for a loop.

Beard knew for a fact that Admiral Aokiji was still kicking. His sources had spotted the guy in the East Blue not long ago. No way a big shot like that would bite it in the weakest sea - that'd be the joke of the century!

With Aokiji still around, and knowing two identical Devil Fruits can't exist at once, Beard ruled out Loya having the Ice-Ice Fruit. The answer seemed obvious: Loya must be some mythical Zoan type with ice powers as part of the package.

Loya's laugh sounded weird and electronic, probably from his new dragon vocal cords. 'Good guess, but no prize for you!'

Before Beard could blink, Loya dive-bombed him like a bird of prey, those nasty dragon claws aimed right for Beard's chest. The sheer power coming off Loya at close range was overwhelming.

'Holy crap, he's fast!' Beard thought, genuine fear creeping in. That weird pressure was slowing him down - he couldn't dodge in time.

He went to block with his dagger on instinct, then remembered he'd chucked it away earlier. He was empty-handed.

SLASH! The sound of claws tearing through flesh rang out. Streams of blood hadn't even hit the ground before they froze into crimson icicles.

Loya didn't even wait to see the damage. He spun around and kicked Beard hard, sending him flying.

'Here's one back at ya! 720-degree spinning kick!'

WHAM! The impact was like a cannon going off.

Beard was in shock. Loya's strength had skyrocketed in this form! He'd already been worn down from their earlier fight, and now he couldn't even slow Loya down.

With no other choice, Beard coated his head in Armament Haki just before Loya's kick connected. The combo of power and speed sent Beard spinning through the air, but he only made it around once before face-planting into the ground.

BOOM! The earth shook as a crater over 30 feet wide appeared, cracks spider-webbing outward.

'Urrrghh...' Beard coughed up blood.

Now he knew how Loya felt earlier - his brain was rattling around in his skull, leaving him dizzy and nauseous.

But before he could even catch his breath, a surge of cold air behind him jolted him back to awareness.

'Ice Make: Heavy Lancers!'

Ice attacks are nasty in two ways: the freezing effect, and the big boom that clears the field. But for someone like Beard who can coat his whole body in Haki, the explosions aren't as effective. Beard's no pushover - he's trained his Haki to cover every inch of him."

"But Heavy Lancers are a whole different beast. They're all about piercing power. This is Loya's strongest penetrating attack - it even busted through Rocky's defense. Against a tough guy like Beard, Loya wasn't taking any chances.

A massive ice spear, about 10 feet long, materialized in front of Loya's palm. It shot out like lightning, slamming into Beard's back and driving him deeper into the crater.

CRUNCH! The ice spear hit home, and Beard disappeared into the pit.

After that combo, Loya took a second to catch his breath, rubbing his chest.

'Damn, that vibration was no joke!' he muttered. 'Even though I froze it instantly, it nearly turned my heart to mush.'

Loya had avoided using Ice Coffin on Beard earlier because of that nasty dagger.

Beard's High-Frequency Fruit is kinda like Bartolomeo's Barrier-Barrier Fruit - super powerful right off the bat, but a pain to develop or control beyond the basics.

In the One Piece world, most stuff shatters as soon as Beard touches it with his vibration power. It's no laughing matter, especially paired with that unbreakable dagger.

But here's the kicker - Beard used to be a famous swordsman! Talk about a career change.

That dagger's something special. Handle's made of some crazy shock-resistant stuff, and the blade's a mix of sea stone and rare metals. It's not exactly razor-sharp, but it's tough as nails.

Losing that dagger was like Beard losing an arm.

The Ice Coffin's powerful, sure, but if Loya had spread it all over Beard's body, it wouldn't have ended the fight. Beard might've gotten some frostbite, but he could've escaped pretty quick with his fruit power.

But concentrating all that freezing power on the small dagger? That's a whole different story. Just touching it would freeze and crack the skin on Beard's hands.

And because all that ice was packed into a smaller area, it wasn't so easy for Beard to shatter.

If he'd tried to pick up that dagger, he would've walked right into Loya's trap.

Loya took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his aching heart. He kept his eyes locked on the pit in front of him.

Even after that last hit, there's no way a tough guy like Beard would go down so easily.

Sure enough, the ground started shaking. A massive stone spike erupted from the pit, aiming straight for Loya in the air.

'You've still got that much juice left?' Loya thought, his face stone-cold as he watched the spike racing towards him. 'Guess we need to bring out the big guns to clear the field!'

At the last possible second, just as the stone spike was about to hit him, Loya's bat-like wings slashed through the air, slicing the spike into pieces."

Suddenly, Beard burst out from behind the rubble.

The first thing you'd notice wasn't the gaping hole in his gut - it was the flames dancing around his fist.

'Explosive Fist Secret: Star Crushing!'

Even from a distance, the sheer force of his punch was insane. It felt like all the air was being sucked away, leaving Loya gasping.

'Holy crap, what a move!' Loya thought, clapping his hands together.

'Ice Make: Rashomon!' 'Ice Wolf!' 'Overlord Halberd!'

Loya fired off three ice-make spells in rapid succession. Good thing he'd mastered this technique - otherwise, the backlash would've left him paralyzed.

Three massive ice gates materialized in the air, blocking Beard's path. Those razor-sharp edges looked solid as hell.

"You think this'll stop me? Don't make me laugh!" Beard snarled. Blood was trickling from his mouth, and that hole in his stomach was sapping his strength fast. Beard wasn't ready to die. Since he couldn't outrun Loya, he had to end this fight ASAP to have any chance of patching himself up.

BOOM!

Beard's flaming fist smashed through the first ice gate, then the second, then the third.

After breaking through, Beard could finally see Loya clearly. But that glint in Loya's eye and his puffed-out cheeks made Beard's stomach drop.

Before he could think too hard about it, a pack of ice wolves was on him.

They were everywhere - biting his legs, his throat, hanging off him like ornaments.

'Hardening!'

Beard's whole body turned black with Haki as he tried to shake off the ice wolves.

He realized Loya was trying to slow him down. His Observation Haki was screaming at him not to stop, but he couldn't have even if he wanted to. After using that secret technique, he was like a human meteor - the momentum was too much to fight.

So he plowed ahead.

But then, a massive ice spear - easily a hundred feet long - came crashing down on his head.

WHAM! Beard stumbled. Having several tons of ice smash you isn't fun, but he managed to keep going.

Finally, he reached Loya... only to find himself face-to-face with a huge blue magic circle.

'What the hell is this?'

Before he could even finish that thought, Beard was engulfed by a monstrous ice storm."