Chapter 122 – Thread and Flame: Collision of White
"Let me show you the real power of this sea!"
Doflamingo spread his arms wide, his laughter echoing across King's Plateau.
Boom… boom…!
The ground beneath Portgas D. Ace began to writhe violently. Stone and earth twisted and morphed until the entire terrain shimmered white—transmuted into countless threads.
Ace's eyes narrowed. The ground… it's turned into strings!
He instantly understood. So this is it… the awakened power of the Ito Ito no Mi (String-String Fruit).
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When a Devil Fruit user drives their abilities to the utmost limit, they enter a higher realm—awakening.
At that level, even a Paramecia user can impose their power onto the world around them, not just their own body. Awakened Paramecia can rival the large-scale effects of Logia users.
Doflamingo was one of the few Paramecia users on the sea who had achieved this state, earning him the right to claim he wielded true power.
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"Wild Waves—White Line!"
Doflamingo's fingers twitched. The entire plateau surged as countless thin white threads rose in waves, engulfing Ace in a rolling tide of deadly strings.
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"Brat, let me teach you—there's a level beyond normal Devil Fruits.
"Awakening!
"Don't think only Logias can shape the world around them. A Paramecia who's awakened can do the same… or even more.
"Now feel it! Fufufufufu!"
The wave of threads tightened, wrapping Ace from all sides. These awakened strings were impossibly tough. Even without Armament Haki, they clung to his true body, denying him the option to simply turn into fire and slip free. Then they began to twist, threatening to crush him alive.
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Ace struggled briefly but remained calm, flames flickering in his pupils.
"Awakening… truly impressive," he muttered with a smile.
"But my flames… are no longer ordinary, either!"
His body heat spiked. Dazzling light bled through the gaps in the threads. For an instant he was like a newborn star, swelling with blinding energy.
"Explosive Flames!"
BOOM!
A massive burst of superheated fire erupted outward. The surge of pressure blew apart the rolling strings, and the searing temperature vaporized the remnants in an instant.
Through the smoke and heat shimmer, Ace's silhouette emerged, wreathed in roaring fire as he hovered above the plateau.
"Awakening is indeed impressive… but if it's a contest of abilities… then Logias reign supreme!"
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Doflamingo threw his head back and laughed.
"Fufufufufu… what arrogance!"
His eyes sharpened.
"Then let's see—which is stronger: my awakened strings, or your so‑called ultimate flames?"
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"Wild Waves—White Line!"
Doflamingo raised both hands, turning everything within reach—stone, buildings, soil—into threads. The white tide rose like a tsunami, surging toward Ace.
Ace only smirked. His pupils blazed white. Flames of the same color ignited across his entire body—pure fire, hotter than any ordinary flame.
"Shiro En: Hiken!" (Pure Flame: Fire Fist!)
He thrust out a fist.
A colossal fist of white fire roared downward. Even before striking, its heat melted the forefront of the approaching tide, and then the blazing inferno descended upon Doflamingo.
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"What… what kind of flame is this?!"
Doflamingo's face twitched as the radiant heat seared the air itself.
"Shield White Line!"
Threads surged up like walls. The ground and nearby structures unraveled into pillars of woven string, interlocking into a massive shield.
BOOM!
The white fire fist slammed into the barrier. The entire King's Plateau trembled, shockwaves rolling outward. The line shield held under the impact, but the white fire ate through, leaking streams of burning light that rained onto Doflamingo.
He clenched his hands, Armament Haki coating them black as he caught a fragment of the falling flame. Even through the coating, the heat bit at him. His grin faded, replaced by a furrowed brow.
If not for this heat still lingering… I'd think I was imagining things. Since when did the Mera Mera no Mi produce flames like this?
Doflamingo's lips curled back into a grin, though tension lined his face.
"Fufufufufu… so that's it. You've forced that fruit to evolve in ways no one imagined… But let's see how far you've really gone!"
---
With a stomp, he spread his power further. The buildings, the hills, the very plateau itself unraveled into threads, forming a vast ocean of white strings.
"Umi Harami—Sea of White Threads!"
Countless waves of interwoven threads rose, churning like a stormy sea, crashing upward to swallow Ace.
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"Shiro En: En Pillar!" (Pure Flame: Fire Pillar!)
BOOM!
A column of white fire erupted, tearing through the rising sea of threads. The flames burned through the awakened landscape, forcing the waves apart and carving a path straight to the ground. As the blaze died down, Ace's figure emerged once more, unburned and unbroken.
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Doflamingo sneered. Ace tensed. That look… he's planning something…
"Feather-Strike Line!"
Doflamingo's hand flicked. A barrage of sharpened threads, hardened with Armament Haki, shot from behind Ace like spears.
FWOOSH!
Ace's pure white flames surged to block, but the Haki‑infused strings resisted the heat. One spear pierced through the flames, grazing Ace's shoulder.
"Tch—!"
He twisted midair, avoiding a fatal strike, but blood splattered as a gash over ten centimeters long opened on his shoulder.
---
Doflamingo's grin widened, eyes glinting darkly from behind his shades.
"Fufufufufu… impressive flames, brat… but even your white fire can't burn through Armament Haki."
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