Odyssey Of Survival-Chapter 203 -

Zoro dodged the barrage of razor-sharp glaciers Alice sent flying through the air, each one slicing through the sky like a deadly comet. His movement was clean, flawless. But even as he smirked and glided through them, he knew he couldn't keep dodging forever. Alice wasn't just throwing ice; she was adapting. Calculating.

"Enough games!" Zoro roared, his lightning aura flaring out in every direction as he rocketed toward Alice.

She saw him coming. Her hands moved swiftly, conjuring an array of thick ice walls stacked in layers. Zoro's fist crashed into the first wall, shattering it instantly. Then another. And another. Each wall he broke slowed him down just a fraction more. By the time he got to the final wall, he was still moving fast, but not fast enough.

Alice stood there, waiting.

Her hands lit up, and an entire mountain of ice surged from beneath her feet and slammed into Zoro like a tidal wave of frozen rage. The impact sent Zoro spiraling backward, skidding across the ground in a trail of sparks and shattered stone.

He barely had time to stop himself before Alice appeared above him, wielding a massive glowing ice hammer. She slammed it down with enough force to split the earth. Zoro rolled away just in time as the hammer shattered the ground where he'd been lying.

Alice pivoted smoothly, only for Zoro to leap up and strike with a brutal kick to her ribs. She gritted her teeth as her body skidded across the floor, her boots carving lines in the stone, but she quickly regained balance and re-formed her stance.

She waved her hand. Another blast of ice smashed into Zoro before he could retract his leg. The crowd watching from bunkers around the world gasped as he flew back, blood finally visible on his chest where his cloak tore.

In the bunkers, people held hands. Whispered prayers. Hope surged.

"She's doing it," someone whispered.

Madison had already pulled Nate away from the battlefield, his body limp and broken. Ann tried to heal him, pouring every bit of power she had, but it kept failing. Nate wouldn't wake up. And right now, Alice was their last chance.

Zoro staggered to his feet. He looked at the blood on his hand and chuckled, wiping it away. "You actually hurt me," he muttered. "Fine. No more holding back."

He clapped his hands together. A shockwave of lightning erupted outward.

Alice didn't flinch. Her eyes were calm. Focused. She didn't need words. Her ice answered for her.

Pillars of frost shot up around Zoro, trying to trap him. He dodged with fluid movements, but even as he moved, Alice sent shards of glacial steel flying toward him from all directions. He dodged, blocked, countered with bursts of lightning, but she kept pressing.

Their fight turned into a ballet of destruction. Ice versus lightning. Grace against chaos.

Alice slid across the battlefield, leaving trails of frost. She kicked up a wall, vaulted over it, and launched several frozen spears from midair. Zoro knocked them aside but didn't see the frost forming beneath his feet. Too late.

The ice trapped his legs.

Alice landed and summoned another hammer, this one spiked and glowing with ancient runes. She raised it high.

Zoro broke free a second too late.

She brought it down.

Boom!

Zoro was smashed into the ground. A crater formed instantly. The air shook.

She didn't stop.

Alice raised both hands. Spires of ice erupted and crashed down at the spot where he landed. Over and over. Ice after ice. Each time she smashed the same spot.

BOOM.

BOOM.

BOOM!

The viewers around the world leaned forward in silence. Hearts racing.

"She's... she's killing him," someone breathed.

Alice raised her hands again, eyes wild with power. Her breath visible, her body glowing with freezing energy.

One more strike.

But this time, just as her next glacier descended, a hand burst out from the crater.

It caught the ice.

The massive glacier stopped mid-air, ice cracking beneath Zoro's palm.

He stood, slow and deliberate, steam rising off his body. His eyes burned with rage.

And Alice's breath caught in her throat.

Alice's icy breath steamed into the scorched air, her eyes locked with Zoro's. Her heartbeat thundered, yet she stood her ground. But then, she felt it.

A shift.

Zoro's power—no, his very presence—was changing.

She blinked, confused at first, but then saw the truth. The lightning around him intensified, now jagged and violent like a wrath. The wind responded to him. The ground trembled beneath his boots.

He was evolving.

"Impossible," Alice whispered.

Zoro glared at her with glowing, electric-blue eyes. His body crackled with raw power, lightning veins dancing across his skin, wrapping him like armor. The shattered remains of the glacier hung frozen in the air, trembling in resistance as his aura alone began to break it apart.

"Your strength was amusing," he said, voice laced with disdain. "But you're nothing. Just another corpse in waiting."

With a scream that shook the skies, Zoro lunged forward, smashing through the glacier with his bare body like it was made of glass. Ice exploded outward in a shockwave, shards scattering like a thousand daggers. Alice raised her arm instinctively, but by the time her eyes found him, he was already there.

His fist landed square against her chest.

A thunderous boom echoed as Alice flew back, the blow sending her crashing through a thick slab of stone and skidding across the battlefield like a rag doll. Her body bounced once—twice—before thudding to a stop. She coughed violently, blood staining her lips. Her rune armor, once glowing with runes and ice, now had a massive spiderweb crack across the chestplate.

The air left her lungs. Her ribs screamed in pain.

She barely had time to breathe before she felt it again. Zoro's pressure.

He was above her.

She looked up—and he was already in motion.

He grabbed her by the collar, lifting her limp body with ease. Then, with a roar, he hurled her like a missile through three buildings. Each one shattered into dust as her body carved through walls, ceilings, and foundations.

Smoke and rubble filled the air.

Zoro stalked forward, a cold, merciless look in his eyes.

"Let this be a lesson," he growled. "No matter how strong you think you are… you're still insects under a storm."

But when he reached the crumbling ruin of the last building, Alice was no longer there.

He paused.

Then he felt it.

A chill.

The wind froze mid-gust.

He turned—but too late.

A massive glacier the size of a truck slammed into him from the side. The force sent him spiraling through the air, flipping wildly until he crashed into a tower, embedding him into the wall.

Dust and debris rained down.

The world watched, stunned.

Zoro grunted, gripping the building wall to stay aloft. He snarled, then kicked off the concrete with violent strength, using the force to launch himself like a cannonball toward Alice.

She saw him coming but couldn't dodge in time.

BOOM.

Lightning-powered fist. Direct hit.

Her chest exploded in agony as her rune armor cracked again—this time fully. The glowing blue runes shattered like glass and fell to the ground in fragments. The last remnants of her magical protection vanished.

The people watching from the bunkers gasped.

Madison covered her mouth. Ryder clenched his fists.

"No…" Bella whispered.

Alice flew across the battlefield, spinning before she slammed into the dirt and tumbled violently. When she finally stopped, she groaned, clutching her ribs, her breaths sharp and pained. Blood trickled down her chin.

She tried to rise—but her legs shook.

Her sword had fallen beside her. She grabbed it and used it for support, slowly lifting herself back to her knees. Her hair was messy, face bruised, armor gone. She looked like she could collapse any second.

But her eyes—those eyes still burned.

She glared at Zoro, refusing to fall.

Zoro's boots crunched over ice and broken stone as he slowly walked forward, his figure glowing faintly under the sun and sparks of lightning dancing across his shoulders. His face had returned to calm, but in that stillness was something far more terrifying—a quiet rage that built with every step. Behind him, the buildings he had thrown Alice through continued to collapse, kicking up a storm of dust and snow.

Alice coughed again, trying to lift herself with her sword, but her body gave in. The armor that once shone like pure diamond had crumbled into icy fragments around her. Her lips were cracked and red, her breath shallow. Her grip on the sword trembled.

Zoro reached her in a single stride.

With one sharp kick, he knocked the ice sword out of her hand, sending it clattering across the rubble.

Alice fell to her knees, the strength in her legs gone.

Zoro stared down at her with a blank expression, then bent forward. His hand gripped her hair and yanked her head up until their eyes met.

Alice winced, but didn't scream.

"You look like them," Zoro said, his voice low and cold. "The humans who stood against my masters in the past… the same foolish courage. You humans never learn do you?"

Alice didn't answer. Her body trembled from pain, but her eyes never looked away from his. She wasn't going to give him that satisfaction.

Zoro's expression twitched.

He dropped his gaze to the sword on the ground—the one Alice had fought with from the beginning. With a small grin, he reached down, picked it up, and slowly aimed the tip at her chest.

"This ends now," he muttered.

The icy blade glowed with Alice's own energy, and he grinned at the irony of using it to end her.

Then—he thrust.

Time slowed.

The sword pushed forward, cutting through the air straight for Alice's heart.

But it never reached.

A blur of purple intercepted the blade. Madison had appeared. Her bare hand caught the sword mid-strike. Frost immediately spread up her arm, turning her skin pale, cracking like porcelain.

But she didn't let go.

Blood dripped from her palm as the frost tried to consume her. Her teeth clenched from the pain, but she didn't back down.

Alice, eyes widened, whispered weakly, "M-Maddy…"

Madison's face was unreadable. "You're not dying today," she whispered coldly, her voice shaking not from fear—but from anger.

Zoro stared at her, surprised—but only for a moment. Then he smiled.

"So another one steps in to die,"