"Is this the trick you wanted to show me?"
Zaraki lifted his head, gazing calmly at the two compressed masses of flame roaring toward him.
The scorching heatwave that washed over him curled his eyebrows, and the steel of the plain nameless sword in his hand let out a thin, strained whine under the temperature.
Yet he was smiling.
"Not bad, You have improved quite a bit compared to before."
Zaraki murmured softly, slowly raising his left hand, which had been hanging loosely at his side, to grasp the other end of the hilt.
This was the very first time since the battle began that he held the sword with both hands.
The exact moment both hands gripped the hilt, the entire world seemed to fall completely silent.
The texture beneath his palms felt solid and cold.
The hilt was heating up fast under Ace's flames, but it was still steel, still trustworthy, still enough.
And when both hands locked onto it, the soul of Kenpachi Zaraki roaring within him, thirsting for pure slaughter, finally let out a massive roar of satisfaction!
"What a hassle..."
Zaraki lowered his gaze, staring at his whitened knuckles.
It was simply that the power surging from deep within his body was too immense, making him feel somewhat bloated and heavy.
Boom!
A roar echoed from the depths of his soul!
A visible, towering pillar of dark golden light erupted straight from Zaraki's body.
This dark golden energy instantly spread in all directions, forcibly pushing aside the raging, high-temperature air currents with its domineering force.
The scorching sea surface from a moment ago now felt piercingly cold—a deep chill condensed from pure, suffocating killing intent.
The twin compressed fire masses hurtling toward him slowed for a split second under that terrifying pressure.
The flames at their edges trembled and shrank as if they were being crushed by an invisible hand.
"This... what is this?"
Through the blinding golden light, Zaraki saw the clear fear etched onto Ace's face.
A sharp crack had appeared in Ace's unshakeable confidence.
"Since you enjoy playing with fire so much..."
Zaraki's lips split wide open, revealing a row of stark white teeth as his grin stretched as ferocious as a demon's.
Dark golden arcs danced along the plain blade, making the air around it shriek.
"Then let's see if your fire can stay lit."
The sword descended.
There was no wind, because even the wind itself was severed before this brutal strike!
A dark golden sword aura surged from the ground, condensing instantly into a thin, terrifying line.
A line capable of cutting through absolutely everything.
Ssssh—
Without a single ounce of resistance, the two compressed fire masses didn't hold out for even a second before black lines appeared through their centers!
Then, under the stunned gazes of everyone present, both blazing projectiles were split apart and detonated off to the sides.
Boom!
The delayed explosions resounded through the sky.
The bisected flames spiraled violently out of control, transforming into scattered torrents of fire that burst apart in both directions.
A powerful shockwave, mixed with towering waves, swept outward!
The remaining wreckage of the pirate ships was hurled high into the air, and the distant Baratie floating restaurant groaned as windows shattered and the decks trembled heavily under the impact.
"Hold on tight!" someone screamed in pure terror, their voice instantly swallowed by the crashing waves.
Zaraki still stood firmly on the fragment of the deck, maintaining his stance of having swung the sword downward.
The plain sword in his hand hummed with residual force, but it remained intact.
He slowly exhaled a breath of hot, sulfur-scented air, shaking his numb wrist with a heavy, lingering satisfaction.
The sea before him was covered in thick steam and dense smoke, making it completely impossible to see anything clearly.
Only the massive trenches torn into the water by the divided flames and his slash proved the terrifying power of that single strike.
Even a Logia user taking a slash imbued with that much Reiatsu head-on couldn't possibly emerge completely unscathed, right?
...
Scalding white steam still churned across the sea's surface, heavily obscuring everyone's vision.
"Alive... he is alive!"
Someone shouted from the restaurant, and the previously dead silent deck of the Baratie instantly erupted in a massive commotion!
Through the gradually thinning mist, that cluster of orange-red flames was gathering rapidly again in mid-air.
First came scattered tongues of fire, then a blurred outline, and finally, the familiar figure of Portgas D. Ace reappeared in everyone's sight.
Though his hat had flown off somewhere and his bare chest heaved violently, he was indeed still standing.
"I told you! He is a Logia!"
Though the mask on Deuce's face had cracked from the earlier shockwave, he paid it no mind, his voice filled with the wild excitement of having survived a disaster.
"Even against such an exaggerated slash, as long as it doesn't hit his solid form, it's totally useless against fire! The captain is invincible!"
"That is a relief... truly an immortal body." Mihar pushed his sunglasses, which had slid to the tip of his nose, back up and let out a long, shaky sigh of relief, lowering the hand that had been reaching for his gun.
The Spade Pirates burst into cheers—in their eyes, Ace had already won!
Zaraki stood calmly on the teetering driftwood, his eyes accurately capturing Ace's current state from a distance of over ten meters.
This was absolutely not the posture of a victor.
Ace's legs trembled slightly, completely beyond his control.
His fierce pupils contracted sharply, fixed intently on his empty hands as if confirming whether his body truly still belonged to him.
The near-death sensation from that moment was already deeply etched into his mind.
If he hadn't instinctively dispersed his body into its most elementalized state the exact instant the sword's energy struck, Portgas D. Ace would likely have been split clean in two and sunk to the bottom of the sea to feed the fishes.
"It seems your body is far more honest than your mouth."
Zaraki chuckled softly, his voice quiet yet seeming to echo right against Ace's eardrum.
Ace snapped his head up, and the image reflected in his pupils made every hair on his body stand right on end!
Zaraki, who had been standing in the distance, was slowly fading away.
An afterimage!
'Not good!'
Years of brutal street-fighting experience made Ace's body react before his mind could even process the threat, and he instinctively tried to elementalize again.
But this time he was half a beat too slow.
Zaraki had already slipped into his blind spot.
"Don't be in such a hurry to leave."
Zaraki's voice came from right behind him, carrying a heavy hint of casual laziness.
He had no intention of cutting Ace in half again and giving him another easy chance to reform in place.
Instead, he reversed the sword in his grip.
The heavy steel pommel smashed forward like a hammer.
"So-called Logia users... if you don't actively turn into fire, you're still an ordinary human right?"
"Holy—"
Ace whipped his head around, but before he could even finish his sentence, his vision was entirely filled by that descending hilt!
Thud—!
A dull, sickening impact sound echoed.
This time, Ace's body completely failed to elementalize in time.
Amidst the frozen, cheering smiles of all his pirates, their seemingly invincible captain was struck so hard that his body arched backward violently!
Accompanied by several shattered teeth flying through the air, he was blasted directly into the churning waves below!
A massive splash rose three meters high.
"Captain—!"
Deuce let out a sharp, desperate cry.
"Damn it! He's a Devil Fruit user! If he falls into the sea, he will drown!" Mihar immediately snapped back to his senses.
He flung his sniper rifle off his back to a nearby crewmate and, without even bothering to remove his clothes, vaulted right over the railing.
"Deuce! You hold off that madman! I'll go rescue the captain!"
With a loud splash, Mihar plunged into the water, diving swiftly toward the spot where Ace had fallen.
On the deck, Deuce stared at Zaraki's back on the sea surface, his teeth grinding audibly.
He knew charging forward would only mean certain death.
"Don't underestimate the Spade Pirates!" Deuce roared, drawing two daggers from his waist.
Without even bothering to seek cover, he charged recklessly across the connecting pontoon bridge toward Zaraki.
"Get away from that area!"
Zaraki glanced down at the bubbles rising from the water—the clear traces of Ace struggling below.
Hearing the sound of something cutting through the air behind him, he didn't even bother to turn his head, merely sighing in heavy resignation.
"Kids these days... why are they all in such a hurry to die?"
Just as he was about to swing the sword backward with the flat to clear out the annoying small fry, a sharp, cold gleam suddenly shot in from the side.
Clang—!
The heavy clash of metal rang out.
Deuce felt a sharp, ringing pain in his palms, his daggers nearly flying right out of his grip!
He abruptly halted, only to see a man wearing a dark green bandana, with three swords hanging at his waist, standing firmly between him and Zaraki.
Apparently, while everyone else had been staring at the clash between fire and steel, Zoro had already crossed over from the Baratie side using the wreckage and mooring lines.
"Hey, long-nosed mask guy."
Zoro held his sword with one hand, Wado Ichimonji firmly blocking Deuce's twin daggers.
A battle-hungry grin spread across his face. "Since this is a duel between monsters, it's better not to interfere until that bastard has had his fill of fun."
"Roronoa Zoro?!" Deuce recognized the famous Pirate Hunter from the East Blue, his heart sinking heavily.
'Why is even this guy here?!'
"Get out of my way!" Deuce's eyes turned bloodshot as he recklessly lunged right at Zoro!
"Too many openings."
Zoro snorted coldly, quickly twisting his wrist. The back of his blade swiftly struck Deuce's wrist and abdomen in a blur.
Thud, thud—!
Two sharp impacts rang out.
Deuce didn't even see the other man's movements before he was sent sliding backward four or five meters, kneeling heavily on the slippery deck as his two daggers clattered to the ground.
The gap in their strength was painfully obvious.
"Damn it... damn it all!"
Deuce pounded the deck in frustration, then suddenly pulled out a dark, round object from his chest and yanked out the fuse.
"If that's how it is... then let's all die together! This is a specially made gas bomb! At this range, no one will survive!"
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