Chapter 192: The Island of Ice and Fire: Absolute Justice
The scents of burning flame and freezing frost collided in the air, releasing a constant hissing lament.
On the land of Punk Hazard, one half had become an inferno of eternal flames, while the other was a frozen purgatory of endless ice.
And right at the razor-thin boundary between the two, two men had been confronting each other for ten days and nine nights.
Sakazuki — Marine Admiral "Akainu."
He stood atop scorched ground where magma churned beneath his feet.
His Marine coat had long since been torn to shreds. The exposed skin beneath was covered in frostbite, yet the fire in his eyes burned even hotter than the lava around him.
His justice would tolerate no stain, no compromise.
Like his Devil Fruit power, it would burn away all evil—even if the flames consumed the innocent as well.
Across from him sat Kuzan — Admiral "Aokiji."
He sat cross-legged on the edge of a frozen cliff, frost that would never melt forming along his legs.
The laziness that usually hung on his face had vanished. His right side was armored in thick ice, while his left leg throbbed with pain from severe magma burns.
His justice was one of balance and compassion—a judgment as cold and clear as ice, not the fanaticism of burning everything to ash.
"Kuzan!!"
Sakazuki's voice rumbled like magma churning deep beneath the earth.
"Your hesitation and weakness are the very cancer preventing the Marines from eradicating evil!"
Kuzan exhaled a breath of white mist that instantly crystallized into tiny shards of ice.
"Sakazuki… your Absolute Justice won't just burn pirates."
"It'll burn away the humanity of the Marines too."
"Humanity?" Sakazuki sneered as magma spread beneath his feet.
"When facing evil, humanity is unnecessary."
"Only iron and fire are needed."
Ten Days Earlier — Marine Headquarters, Fleet Admiral's Office
Sengoku removed his frog-shaped glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly.
Standing across from his desk were the three Marine Admirals:
Sakazuki, Kuzan, and the absent Borsalino (Kizaru), who was missing due to injuries.
"The World Government has approved my resignation."
Sengoku's voice echoed through the quiet office.
"But the next Fleet Admiral must come from one of you two."
The air in the room seemed to freeze.
Sakazuki straightened like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
Kuzan leaned against the wall casually, though his gaze was sharp as an ice spike.
"Sakazuki's Absolute Justice demonstrated tremendous power during the Paramount War," Sengoku said slowly.
"But Kuzan's Calm Justice provides better balance for managing the complex aftermath."
"Balance?"
Sakazuki cut in coldly.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, it was precisely this so-called 'balance' that allowed Roger's bloodline to survive for twenty years!"
"It was 'balance' that allowed the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates to escape!"
"What we need is complete eradication, not balance!"
Kuzan slowly opened his eyes.
"Complete eradication?"
"Like when you ordered the bombardment of a civilian evacuation ship at Ohara?"
"Sakazuki… sometimes the methods we use to destroy evil only create new evil."
Their gazes collided in the air like sparks.
Sengoku sighed.
"I recommended Kuzan to the Five Elders as my successor."
Sakazuki's fists clenched instantly, and the office temperature spiked.
"But—"
Sengoku continued.
"The Five Elders believe that in this era of reshuffled pirate power, the Marines require a stronger leader."
Kuzan's pupils shrank slightly.
"So they made a final decision."
Sengoku stood up and looked between the two men.
"You will decide it yourselves."
"In the Marines' most traditional way."
"Strength."
Sakazuki's lips curled into a burning smile.
"Perfect."
Kuzan remained silent for a long moment before finally nodding.
"…Understood."
Present — Punk Hazard, Day Ten
The sky itself had been split in two.
One half was buried under thick volcanic clouds, magma falling like fiery rain.
The other half raged with blizzards, hail striking the ground like bullets.
"Meteor Volcano!!"
Sakazuki's fists transformed into enormous masses of magma as he launched them skyward.
Countless molten fists fell like meteors, covering the entire frozen plain.
"Ice Age!!"
Kuzan slammed both hands onto the ground.
An overwhelming cold exploded outward, freezing the falling magma midair into black stone—only for it to shatter, melt, and freeze again in an endless cycle.
Over ten days of battle had completely reshaped the island.
Both men had already reached their limits.
Sakazuki's left arm had been permanently frostbitten, its nerves destroyed.
Kuzan's right leg had been severely burned by magma, the muscles and bones irreversibly damaged.
But this battle was not merely about strength.
It was the clash of two ideologies.
"Why can't you understand, Kuzan?!"
Sakazuki roared after another devastating clash.
"Pirates are evil! Compassion toward evil is hypocrisy!"
"The scholars of Ohara were studying the Poneglyphs—they were shaking the very foundations of the world!"
"They all had to die! Even the civilian ship that might have been hiding scholars!"
Kuzan's breath formed frost in the air.
"Sakazuki… I saw those children on Ohara's shore."
"Their desperate faces."
"They knew nothing. They were simply born in the wrong place…"
"Does your justice not allow even that?"
"It does not!!"
Sakazuki slammed a magma fist into the ground, crimson lava surging through the cracks.
"Even the slightest weakness will allow evil to grow!"
"For the safety of the many, the sacrifice of the few is necessary!"
"—And who decides who those 'necessary sacrifices' are?"
Kuzan formed a massive ice saber.
"You? The World Government?"
"This self-righteous 'justice' of yours—how is it any different from pirates doing whatever they want?!"
"Great Eruption: Hound Blaze!!"
Sakazuki's magma fist suddenly accelerated, smashing through Kuzan's hastily formed ice wall and striking his chest.
At the last moment Kuzan transformed his body into ice, but the magma's heat still scorched his internal organs.
"Ugh—!"
Kuzan coughed up blood mixed with ice shards.
"It's over, Kuzan!"
Sakazuki transformed into a towering magma giant.
"Great Eruption!!"
The final attack capable of reshaping the island surged forward.
Kuzan knew.
This was the moment that would decide everything.
He could dodge and preserve himself.
But that would mean Sakazuki would become Fleet Admiral.
It would mean the Marines would walk the path of Absolute Justice, with no room for doubt.
Or…
Kuzan closed his eyes.
He remembered the children of Ohara.
He remembered Sengoku's words the night before his resignation:
"Kuzan… sometimes holding onto your own justice takes more courage than following orders."
His eyes opened.
The reflection of endless magma filled his blue pupils.
"Ice Age: Final Stand!"
Instead of spreading outward, the freezing power condensed into a single point.
Kuzan gathered every trace of cold he had spread across the island over ten days and forged a domain of absolute zero before him.
Not to freeze the enemy—
But to freeze the outcome.
Magma and absolute cold collided.
There was no explosion.
No thunderous impact.
Only a strange sound—
As if the world itself were groaning.
The magma began solidifying one meter before Kuzan, turning from molten liquid to dark red stone, then to black rock chilled by ice.
But Sakazuki's momentum did not stop.
The growing black pillar of rock slowly pushed forward.
Fifty centimeters…
Thirty…
Ten…
The tip stopped just before Kuzan's chest.
The last trace of heat vanished.
But the pillar continued growing.
It burst out from Kuzan's back, carrying his blood as it froze into jagged black crystal.
At the same time, Sakazuki's magma arm froze solid.
The cold spread through his elemental body toward his true form.
He grunted and shattered the ice violently—but his right arm lost all sensation.
Both men collapsed.
Punk Hazard fell into eerie silence.
Only the bubbling of magma and the cracking growth of ice remained.
After a long time, Sakazuki struggled to stand.
His right arm hung uselessly, but his left fist remained clenched.
"Stand up, Kuzan."
"Is your justice… finished already?"
On the frozen ground, Kuzan slowly pushed himself up.
A terrifying wound pierced his chest. Ice crystals spread across it, forcibly sealing the bleeding.
He looked at Sakazuki.
Then at the island they had permanently changed.
Half fire.
Half ice.
Just like their irreconcilable beliefs.
"Sakazuki…" Kuzan said weakly but clearly.
"Your justice might lead the Marines to victory."
"Or to destruction."
"Then you should fight to stop me," Sakazuki replied, magma gathering in his fist.
"If you truly believe you're right."
Kuzan looked at the molten fist.
Then suddenly smiled.
There was no bitterness of defeat in that smile.
Only relief.
"I can't stop you…"
He slowly stood, ice cracking at the wound.
"Just like you can't convince me."
Sakazuki's fist halted in midair.
"But I can choose not to take part."
Kuzan turned and limped toward the distant shore.
"This battle… you won."
"Fleet Admiral Sakazuki."
Sakazuki's magma slowly cooled.
"You're leaving the Marines?"
"—I'm leaving your Marines."
Kuzan didn't look back.
"I'll find my own answer."
"About justice."
"About this world."
Sakazuki watched silently as his former comrade walked away.
In the end, he neither chased nor stopped him.
He simply stood there until Kuzan's figure vanished across the frozen plain.
Two days later, Marine Headquarters officially announced:
Sakazuki defeated Kuzan and became the new Fleet Admiral of the Marines.
Former Admiral Aokiji (Kuzan) resigned from the Marines and disappeared.
Punk Hazard became forever known as the Island of Ice and Fire—half burning, half frozen.
Just like the battle that no one witnessed, yet determined the future of the Marines.
Just like the two forms of justice that could never coexist.
Their silent war would continue—
Across the seas.
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