Starting with One Piece, a Multiverse Simulation

However, his statement was quickly proven wrong, because after several collisions, Wood suddenly jumped back to create distance from Esdeath, then held his long sword horizontally in front of him, and a huge wave of air burst out from his body.

"Demon God Descends - Winter Knight!"

As a powerful shockwave suddenly swept outwards from Wood, the temperature in the surrounding air also plummeted.

"Roar------!"

As they felt a bone-chilling cold, everyone present saw a huge blue dragon-like creature suddenly roar and appear behind Wood, extending its completely ice-blue claws to grab at Wood, who was in the middle.

As a cold gust of wind obscured Wood's figure and covered the ground with a thick layer of frost, a long, icy blue sword tore through the storm, revealing Wood's figure once again to everyone's sight.

Wood reappeared in everyone's sight, clad in ice-blue full-body armor, wielding an extremely long blue sword, the surface of which was covered with vein-like blue flowing light.

Tatsumi and Esdeath had both seen Wood's Teigu before, but this was the first time Will and the others had seen it, so the shock they felt at that moment was considerable.

Will, in particular, was staring at Wood's figure with his mouth agape. He never expected that Wood's Imperial Arm would be the same type of Imperial Arm as his Noble Chariot!

What's even more astonishing is that Wood had just displayed such power, yet he hadn't used his Imperial Arms.

So, how strong will he become now that he's using Teigu?

The thought that Wood, with his terrifying strength, might be able to defeat Esdeath made Will draw his weapon, ready to rush forward to help.

Seryu, Kurohime, and the others, who were standing nearby, also realized the danger posed by Wood and took similar actions.

However, just as they made a move, a wall of ice suddenly rose up from beneath their feet and blocked their path.

The person who made the move was not Wood. Although his Imperial Arms also had the power to use ice, it was not as effortless as he had been.

"Don't make a move, just watch from the sidelines. She's my prey, and I won't let her escape from me a second time!"

That's right, the person who stopped the "Hunter" members from taking action was none other than Esdeath herself.

As a sadistic queen, Esdeath has her own pride. If she needs help from others even when fighting one-on-one, then what kind of strong person is she?

Wood hadn't used his Teigu before, and given Esdeath's pride, she naturally wouldn't allow herself to use the power of her Teigu.

Now that Wood has actually used a Teigu, Esdeath naturally doesn't need to be polite anymore.

Esdeath simply waved one hand forward, and huge icicles suddenly shot out from the ground, hurtling towards Wood's position at incredible speed.

Wood, seeing the icicles constantly thrusting towards him from the ground, clenched his fist and shattered them with a single punch.

The sound of ice shattering was like a signal that a battle had begun. The next second, the two people standing opposite each other vanished from their spots almost simultaneously!

"Ding------!"

The military knife and the blue ice blade collided in the air, more than ten meters away. The gale generated by the collision of the two long blades swept outwards from the two people in an instant, blowing away most of the floor tiles of the arena.

Using the Imperial Arms "Winter Knight" and Armament Haki, Wood's power was no longer evenly matched with Esdeath's, but rather exerted a certain degree of suppression on her.

In this clash of longswords, with the added power of Haki, it was Esdeath who was thrown to the ground.

However, as Esdeath landed, a large amount of dirt exploded on the ground. Although her body was knocked away, she landed steadily on the ground.

Upon landing, he immediately used the power of his Imperial Arm, "Demon God's Tempering," to launch a counterattack.

The water vapor in the air condensed rapidly due to the low temperature, and soon several icy spears appeared around Wood's body.

As Esdeath clenched her open hand, several icy spears shot towards Wood from different angles in an instant!

Thank you to Demon God Li Shuowang for the donation.

Thank you to this guy for the continuous donations over the past two days. To be honest, I've been criticized quite a few times on this alt account, but this guy is the first one who has consistently donated.

Although the number is not large, the fact that a number like 1187 points has been achieved shows that the guy has given it his all.

I was so touched that I'm posting this special chapter to express my gratitude (▽｀)

Chapter 422 They're both Imperial Arms, so why is there such a huge difference...?

...

Because his body was suspended in mid-air, Wood didn't have a good way to deal with Esdeath's attack.

Although he had "Moonwalk" to move through the air, the angles from which these icy spears appeared completely surrounded Wood, leaving him no chance to dodge.

Therefore, there is no other way to avoid it except by blocking it head-on.

"I know your Imperial Arms seems to have some effect against mine, and it can greatly reduce your immunity to cold and frostbite, right?"

But if it's a penetrating injury, you probably wouldn't have much immunity or resistance to it.

The reason why Wood escaped during their first encounter was largely because Esdeath underestimated Wood's Teigu and underestimated Wood's own strength.

But Esdeath will not make the same mistake twice, nor will she let her prey escape from her grasp a second time!

"Ding------!"

"clang------!"

Faced with the icy spears shooting from different angles, Wood could only use his longsword to cut off two of the incoming spears, and then use Armament Haki to block and shatter the remaining ice spears.

However, just when Wood thought he had gotten out of trouble, his Observation Haki suddenly sensed danger coming from behind him.

When Wood looked again, he was shocked to find that Esdeath, who had been standing there, had disappeared.

"Ding------!"

Another extremely crisp sound of weapons clashing echoed in the air, but this time the two people involved had switched positions.

Having just withstood a wave of ice spear attacks, Wood's body was still in a semi-stiff state, so he could only hastily defend himself against Esdeath's attack.

Because he hadn't fully defended against Esdeath's slash, her sharp saber easily pierced Wood's Imperial Armor, leaving a faint scar on his face.

At the same time, the immense impact caused Wood's body to plummet to the ground at high speed.

This wouldn't normally be a problem. With the Teigu armor as a buffer, even if Wood were to suffer the same level of impact, the damage he would take would be less than that of Esdeath.

But is Esdeath an ordinary person? She is a battle-hardened female general, and her mastery of her Imperial Arms is unparalleled.

During battle, Esdeath knows how to maximize the advantages of her Imperial Arms.

She not only possesses immense strength, but also top-notch combat skills and experience, which is the huge difference between her and ordinary Teigu users.

Wood's body would have hit the ground at most with his back, causing some impact damage.

The instant she knocked Wood away, Esdeath had already calculated where he would land, and with a flick of her wrist, she created a giant ice spike on the ground.

The cone-shaped ice spike shot up instantly, its tip gleaming with a cold light, capable of easily piercing the flesh of any prey.

Esdeath's purpose in creating this ice spike was, of course, to inflict a second injury on Wood.

With her Imperial Armor and that strange ability to harden her skin, Esdeath knew it was unrealistic to kill Wood outright, but she was certain she could inflict serious damage on him.

Because of his Observation Haki, Wood could sense the danger coming from behind even without turning around as he was sent flying backward.

To avoid being skewered like candied hawthorns, Wood actually resisted the force of inertia and forcibly twisted his body in mid-air, using the "Moon Walk" technique from the Six Styles.

If it were anyone else, even if they had withstood the force of inertia and twisted their body, their body would still have been pierced by the ice spike due to the influence of gravity and the weightlessness they experienced.

Esdeath probably never imagined that Wood also possessed the skill of moving in the air.

"Is this also his Imperial Arm ability? This is too outrageous. We all have armor-type Imperial Arms, but my 'Noble Chariot' has no outstanding abilities other than greatly enhancing physical abilities."

Why does his Imperial Arms have so many additional abilities?

From the very beginning, Will and the others had been watching Wood's battle with Esdeath. Compared to Esdeath, who used the "Ice Imperial Arms," ​​the power Wood used was incredibly diverse and bizarre.

Leaving aside its unparalleled sword energy, it also possesses the ability to harden skin to enhance defense and attack, resist cold attributes, and use small-scale ice power.

Now they've even developed the ability to "walk in the air," how are the other Teigu users supposed to survive?

Obviously, walking or flying in the air is something that cannot be done by human beings, so Wood's "Moonwalk" is naturally considered by Will and the others to be one of the abilities of the Imperial Arms.

Tatsumi and Ran, who were standing nearby, also empathized with Will's complaints.

Tatsumi understands Will's feelings because he is also a user of an armor-type Teigu, and his Teigu "Demon's Embrace," like Will's, only has the ability to amplify physical abilities and grant invisibility...

If the abilities Wood uses truly originate from Imperial Arms, then both "Noble Chariot" and "Demon Possessed" are clearly knock-offs compared to "Winter Knight".

In fact, Tatsumi really wanted to tell this member of the "Hunter" who was also from the countryside and was good at making sarcastic remarks that if he knew what kind of person Wood was, he would probably become even more withdrawn.

Because Wood himself, like his Imperial Arm, is a well-rounded individual; he seems to know a little about everything.

From elaborate aristocratic etiquette and hobbies to assassination techniques, professional ethics of killers, and even being a traitor and undercover agent, Wood seems to be capable of anything.

Another person who felt bad was Ran, whose Teigu was the boot Teigu of "Flying Forever Mostima".

The effect is that the shoes grow wings, giving people the ability to fly at extremely high speeds!

While this ability wasn't considered strong among Imperial Arms, it was still mediocre, and Ran liked it.

But now, seeing Wood using "Shave" and "Moonwalk" to move at high speed in the air, Lan suddenly felt that his Teigu was no longer appealing.

His Imperial Arm only grants the ability to fly, but for other people's Imperial Arms, flight is only one of their abilities...

If Will and Tatsumi's Teigu are inferior to Wood's, then his Teigu can only be considered an accessory at best, like a small gift that comes with a high-end product.

------Dividing line

On the other side, carrying the struggling Mine, after leaving the capital, they deliberately circled around outside a few times before finally returning to the Night Raid's base.

When Lubbock and Akame, who were left behind, saw the two men's dejected expressions and the absence of Wood and Tatsumi, they knew that something must have happened.