Chapter 136

Abel was about to be completely buried by the heavy snowstorm before his eyes. Even Donquixote Doflamingo couldn't help but frown slightly. Though the enemy had sent a natural-type Devil Fruit user into battle, considering the age, a serious fight might still swing in their favor!

After all, he was very aware that Abel had already learned Armament Haki.

Even beginner-level Haki could catch an opponent off guard, or even lead to a decisive kill!

That was why he wasn't worried when he first saw the situation. 

What Doflamingo couldn't figure out, however, was why Abel just stood still, letting the enemy attack him?

The answer was simple. 

Abel just wanted to test out the meaning of his talent, "Legacy of the Ice Dragon," which granted him permanent immunity to all ice-type damage.

Since ice and snow are quite similar, although snow is not ice, it should still belong to the ice category.

That's why he didn't dodge and let the snowflakes fall on him.

Then, Abel happily discovered that the attacks from the Snow-Snow Fruit were indeed considered ice-type damage and did not affect him at all.

Moreover, this 'immunity to all ice-type damage' wasn't just immunity to harm so that you wouldn't get hurt while other effects like 'slowness' could still apply.

It was complete immunity!

It was the kind of skill that hit you, and then the words [Immunity] would pop up, with no effect at all!

That's what true immunity was.

Like Luffy being immune to Enel's lightning attacks—despite high temperatures being enough to melt rubber, it didn't have any effect.

This represented an absolute dominance due to attribute!

Not scientific at all, but devilishly effective.

Abel was satisfied, guessing that even Aokiji would have to take a detour upon encountering him in the future.

"It seems it's over."

The flat-haired youth thought Abel had become an immobile snowman and began to form what looked like an ordinary snowball in his hand.

But in reality, it was an infinitely compressed and hardened 'snowball cannonball' with a hardness rivaling steel!

This was much more insidious than sneaking rocks into a snowball during a snowball fight.

"Having me as an opponent, you could only say your luck was too bad."

"Go, God-speed Snowball!"

While saying his lines with a chuunibyou flourish, the flat-haired youth took the pose of a baseball pitcher and threw the snowball with all his might.

There was a loud thud as the frightening snowball cannonball hit the 'snowman' directly in the head. 

The flat-haired youth didn't believe there was any chance of survival for his opponent and clapped his hands before preparing to leave and rest.

However, at that moment, a voice came from behind.

"Are you trying to take me down by a snowball fight? Honestly, I'm really not that good at this stuff."

What?! 

The flat-haired youth instinctively turned back, and what he saw shocked him beyond belief!

Not only was Abel not dead as he had anticipated, but he was also standing there utterly calm, brushing off all the snow from his body.

His relaxed demeanor was like someone who went out to play with classmates in a not-too-intense snowball fight, without even breaking a sweat.

Seeing Abel's confident demeanor, the previously frowning Doflamingo suddenly burst into laughter.

Although there were still many questions, he knew that this battle was in the bag and that no more surprises would occur. So, with either Diamante or Gladius achieving victory, the overall situation was all but decided.

Thinking this, Donquixote Doflamingo was in high spirits.

He began to indulgently savor the astronomically priced tea brought by Du Feld.

"It's impossible, you should have been crushed by my snow already! And that snowball from before... is your head harder than steel?!" 

The flat-topped young boy, arrogant as he was, seemed somewhat psychologically unbalanced at this turn of events.

Abel had no obligation to give his opponent an answer, simply brushing off the snow from his body, then with a flick of his long sword, pointed it directly at the other, "Are you ready? This sword will chop off your head immediately."

"You won't even get the chance to get near me!"

The flat-topped boy screamed, once again swinging a flurry of snowflakes towards Abel.

Just like before, Abel stood unflinchingly in place, as if deep in thought.

But suddenly, the snowflake assault stopped.

Because, inexplicably, the flat-topped boy's head was chopped off!

Only then did Abel's figure and voice appear simultaneously behind the flat-topped boy.

"Dark Breath·First Form·Shadow Strike!"

When did this happen?

The flat-topped boy showed an incredulous look, how could there be two?

Twins?

Clones?

A Devil Fruit power?

Or something else?

The flat-topped boy looked back at where he had launched his attack, but there was no one there anymore.

"Was it an illusion?!"

He guessed the answer.

"It's no use, you can't kill me, none of your attacks are effective against me!"

The severed head of the flat-topped boy yelled out in frustration.

It appeared to be true; as long as the flat-topped boy maintained his elementized state, he was 'invincible'!

That was also why Abel's blade had not killed him.

"It is indeed a shame. If I had trained my Armament Haki to embed it on my weapon, you would have been dead with that one strike."

"But even now... it's all the same."

Suddenly, Abel clenched his fist, a faint black hue covering it.

Seeing this, the flat-topped boy showed a scared expression for the first time!

He was not ignorant of the fact that Armament Haki could combat Logia type Devil Fruit users, but what he didn't expect was for a country bumpkin from the North Blue to master Haki?!

"How is this possible?"

"This guy is even younger than me by several years!"

The flat-topped boy screamed in his heart, his pride as a Logia type Devil Fruit user completely shattered.

And what terrified him more was that they were engaged in a fight to the death!

What is a fight to the death?

Of course, it meant only one could live!

Boom!

Abel's Haki-imbued punch hit the flat-topped boy so hard he spat out blood.

However, this only provoked the young boy's ferocity even more.

"Today, the one who will die here is definitely you!"

"Snow Monster's Hug!"

In an instant, the flat-topped boy's body dissipated into a blizzard, then quickly reformed into a large snow monster over three meters tall right behind Abel.

Simultaneously, two thick arms made of snow materialized in front of Abel and swiftly wrapped him in a tight embrace.

"Ha ha ha, die!"

"Anyone embraced by the snow monster will be frozen immediately; their strength and body heat will rapidly drain away. By the time you feel a bit sleepy, it'll be time for your eternal rest!"