"Roar——!"
On the unnamed desert island, the atmosphere finally shattered.
Standing amidst a world that had literally melted into a gurgling sea of magma, Ren had shed his human form. He stood now as a Hellfire Dragon, a majestic, terrifying behemoth taller than the normal giants. His body was bathed in a dark red luminescence—a substance Ren called "Hell Flame"—a fire so agonizingly hot that it didn't just burn; it erased.
With a thunderous explosion of speed, Ren lunged. He didn't just move; he tore through the air, his massive form carrying a billowing heat wave that distorted the sky into a shimmering mirage. He was a living calamity, hurtling toward the Admiral of the Navy.
"Arara... you really are a scalp-numbing monster," Aokiji muttered. His eyes, usually heavy with a lazy 'Justice,' were now sharp and piercing.
The Admiral felt the air in his lungs turn to steam. He recognized the threat. This wasn't just a powerful Fruit ability; it was the combination of a Mythical Zoan's raw power and the innate, strengthened flames of the Lunarian race. If he were even slightly careless, he wouldn't just be defeated—he would be vaporized.
Brush!
In a fraction of a second, Aokiji's feet stamped the ground. He didn't stand his ground; he retreated, creating a necessary buffer between himself and the swooping Dragon. His right hand transformed into translucent blue ice, sharpening into a lethal hand-knife as he channeled his freezing power.
"Ice Cube: Pheasant Peck!"
With a violent roar of frost, a massive bird of ice erupted from Aokiji's hand. The ice bird let out a silent, chilling howl as it flapped its wings, carrying an absolute-zero gale toward the encroaching Hellfire Dragon. It was a clash meant to freeze the sun itself.
Boom! Boom!
The Dragon didn't flinch. It didn't dodge. It was a force of nature that knew only forward momentum.
Ren slammed headlong into the giant ice bird. The impact was cataclysmic. In an instant, the terrifying high temperature of the Hell Flame bypassed the ice bird's defense, evaporating tons of solid frost into a blinding wall of steam.
Gurgle... gurgle...
The sky was burned a bruised, violent red. The giant ice bird let out a final, hissing whine before it was utterly crushed and evaporated by Ren's unimaginable rage. In this moment, the true horror of Ren's Mythical form was revealed to the world. It was as if the red lotus fires of the deepest hell had been unleashed to burn everything to ash.
"Arara... I really can't freeze you directly, can I?"
Aokiji's eyelids twitched as he pulled back further. His ability was famous for being able to freeze even the churning magma of Akainu, yet this boy's flames were fundamentally different. They were "alive."
"Roar——!"
Before the steam could even settle, a heat wave capable of mummifying a human body hit Aokiji like a physical wall. A terrifying giant claw, wrapped in pitch-black Busoshoku Haki and dripping with dark red flames, descended from the heavens.
Brush!
In the gap between heartbeats, a frightening chill countered the heat.
"Ice Wall!"
A barrier of ice, dozens of feet thick, materialized instantly. But the Dragon's claw struck it with the force of a falling moon. The ice didn't just break; it shattered into fine powder that vaporized before it even hit the ground.
The scaly beast's claws shone with a frightening cold light, continuing their descent with unabated force. Aokiji's pupils contracted. He couldn't rely on his fruit alone.
"Ice Gloves!"
Aokiji's fists were encased in thick, crystalline ice, but more importantly, they were saturated with a tyrannical, high-level Armament Haki. The veins in his arms popped as he unleashed the raw physical power he had honed since his youth—the power he developed training alongside the "Hero of the Marines," Monkey D. Garp. People often forgot that Aokiji didn't just use ice; he was a man who had used abandoned battleships as punching bags for decades.
BOOM!!!
It was like a comet hitting the earth.
The two unequal figures—the colossal Dragon and the tall, thin Admiral—collided in mid-air. There was no direct skin-to-scale contact; the sheer pressure of their competing Haki created a black-and-red lightning storm between them.
Boom... boom!
A shockwave of pure force tore through the island. Magma fluid splashed hundreds of feet into the air. The earth, already melted beyond recognition, was ripped apart. Despite his massive size and the momentum of his descent, the Hellfire Dragon was actually blown back.
Boom!
The massive beast flew through the air like a cannonball, crashing into the lake of magma. A fountain of liquid fire erupted, obscuring the horizon.
Aokiji looked at his hands. Even with his continuous output of freezing air and high-grade Haki, his "Ice Gloves" were almost entirely melted away. He marveled at the intensity.
"You almost melted me like this... it's really an exaggeration," Aokiji said, his voice dropping into a solemn tone. "I finally understand why Vice Admiral Stainless was killed so easily by you."
He watched as Ren rolled up from the magma, shaking his claws as if to ease the numbness. It was undeniable: Ren's Haki was still immature compared to a veteran Admiral. In a contest of pure technique, he was still a student. But his flames... they were the ultimate equalizer. They stripped away the protections of rank and Haki, forcing even the strongest to fight a war of attrition.
"In this case," Aokiji's eyes became sharper than his ice blades, "it is even more necessary to keep you here."
Unlike the other Straw Hats, this man—Ren—was a true killer. He had left a trail of Marine blood in his wake. To allow a man with the blood of a God (Lunarian) and the power of a Mythical Beast to continue growing would be a dereliction of duty. If he reached his peak, he would be a threat the World Government might not be able to contain.
"Hey... that really hurts," Ren's voice rumbled from the Dragon's throat. He shook his claws, feeling the lingering sting of Aokiji's punch. "I guess even with power exceeding the ancient giants, I can't just run over an Admiral!"
If he were any other Zoan user, that blow would have shattered his bones. Only the "God-like" durability of his race and the mythical protection of the Dragon form kept him whole.
"But Aokiji... if this is all you've got, you aren't keeping me anywhere!"
"Roar——!"
Ren didn't wait. He didn't give the Admiral time to breathe. He galloped into the sky, stepping on flaming clouds. A steady, terrifying stream of energy poured from his body, expanding at a speed visible to the naked eye. The flames didn't just spread; they consumed the sky.
"Does this monster want to destroy the whole island?" Aokiji's face finally changed.
In the blink of an eye, the atmosphere over the entire island was twisted by the heat. A huge fireball, with a diameter of more than a thousand meters, formed above Ren's head—a sun of dark red fire that dwarfed the island itself.
Ren, the Hellfire Dragon, held the colossal sphere aloft, his silhouette cast in terrifying relief against the artificial star.
"Enkai!!!"
The heat was no longer just a physical sensation; it was a spiritual weight. The very ocean around the island began to recede, steam-blasted into oblivio