“What… What!?”
“Dragon’s… son!?”
“The bloodline of the most notorious criminal in history!?”
Akainu’s shout was heard by many in the Navy. Initially stunned by this revelation, the Navy soldiers quickly recovered and their gazes towards Luffy turned murderous.
Momonga, Doberman, and Onigumo, the vice admirals nearby, immediately abandoned their current opponents and charged towards Luffy!
“Jinbe! Ivankov! Protect Luffy!” Ian urgently shouted.
Ivankov and the others had already noticed the situation. Even without Ian’s command, they were rushing over. Vice Admiral Momonga arrived first, slashing at the running Luffy, but Ivankov intercepted him with a “Death Wink,” sending him flying with a shockwave.
However, the continuous wave of Navy soldiers kept advancing towards Luffy. He fought back desperately, punching away one enemy after another. Despite his efforts, the next to arrive, Vice Admiral Doberman, struck Luffy with a “Finger Pistol,” creating a bloody hole in his body and sending him flying.
As Luffy fell to the ground, Doberman and Onigumo reached him, both drawing their swords to finish him off.
However, at that critical moment, an invisible circular space suddenly enveloped Luffy’s position. The next second, Luffy disappeared from the ground, replaced by a Navy officer!Doberman and Onigumo’s swords stabbed directly through the Navy officer’s body…
“What!?” The two were shocked when they saw this and immediately turned to look for Luffy, only to find that Straw Hat Luffy had somehow appeared next to Trafalgar Law.
It was Law who had intervened. Using his Devil Fruit ability, he had swapped Luffy out of danger just in time.
Marco and the others noticed what was happening. Knowing that Luffy was Ace’s brother, two division commanders rushed over. At the same time, Jinbe and Ivankov also arrived. A group of them began fighting with the Navy vice admirals to protect Straw Hat Luffy.
“Damn it, one after another…” Akainu, who was currently engaged in battle with Ian and Ace, saw this out of the corner of his eye and was very displeased.
He had intended to deal with Straw Hat Luffy personally, but Ian knew very well that the only ones who could pose a real threat to Luffy were the Navy’s three admirals. As for the other vice admirals, with Jinbe and Ivankov’s protection, they wouldn’t be able to harm Luffy. So, Ian and Ace focused solely on attacking Akainu, not considering going to help Luffy at all.
Although Ace’s leg was injured, it wasn’t too severe. He could endure the pain, and if it became unbearable, Ian was right beside him and could heal him at any moment.
The two of them, flanking Akainu from both sides, launched a pincer attack. Ian’s blade, covered in black flames, continuously slashed at Akainu, while Ace’s fists, enveloped in white flames, provided ranged support, repeatedly unleashing fire punches at Akainu.
Troublesome! This was Akainu’s only thought at the moment. He had already noticed that Ian’s eerie black flames had a higher temperature than his magma. When the magma clashed with these black flames, it was burned away, turning into black carbon residue. This forced Akainu to be cautious in battle. Now, with Fire Fist Ace joining the fray, the temperature of his white flames was also quite high. Even Akainu felt a burning pain when grazed by them.
Ian’s previous advice to Ace was finally paying off. At least now, Ace’s ability development was on the right track and no longer restrained by the magma fruit’s power.
Once the Devil Fruit ability’s restraining effect was gone, the only things Akainu could rely on were his Haki and physical skills.
As an Admiral, Akainu’s mastery of Haki and physical techniques was undoubtedly top-notch. He coated his magma fist with Haki and clashed directly with Ian!
Ian blocked with his sword, Senbonzakura, but the impact from Akainu’s punch felt like it was almost going to break his blade. This immediately made Ian realize that Akainu’s Armament Haki was far more refined than he had imagined.
The higher the refinement of Armament Haki, the stronger its offensive and defensive capabilities—this was common knowledge.
If he continued to clash Haki against Haki with Akainu, he would undoubtedly suffer. So Ian quickly signaled to Ace to cooperate with him in a more mobile combat style.
With a swipe of his blade, Ian released a burst of black flames that flew towards Akainu.
This was the skill “108th Style: Dark Hook” from the Iori card, but Ian had used the dark flames from the Hiei card to launch it. This was a new technique he had recently mastered, combining the fire abilities of both cards.
In other words, Ian could now use the purple flames to perform the Jaō Ensatsu Ken (Wicked King’s Flame Killing Sword) and could even unleash the Devil’s Fire to its full potential.
Of course, these skills, though similar in form, had different effects after being adapted. For instance, the 108th Style: Dark Hook launched with the dark flames no longer had the special effect of freezing time like it originally did.
The black flames flying close to the ground were something Akainu definitely couldn’t let it touch him, so he immediately jumped up. Ace, having received Ian’s signal, launched a fire fist attack at Akainu in mid-air, forcing him to twist and dodge.
Seizing the opportunity, Ian hurled a lightning spear at Akainu.
Unexpectedly, Akainu used Moonwalk to swiftly move sideways, dodging the lightning spear.
His combat experience was incredibly rich. When Ace attacked with the fire fist, Akainu anticipated that it might be a coordinated attack. Sure enough, by using Moonwalk a second earlier, he managed to dodge even the fast lightning spear.
“Great Flame Commandment: Flame Emperor!!!”
Seeing Ian’s attack miss, Ace immediately filled the gap, gathering a massive fireball in his hands and hurling it towards Akainu in mid-air, aiming to counter Akainu’s Moonwalk with a large-area attack.
At the same time, Ian poured a large amount of his Nen into summoning a thundercloud above Akainu, culminating in a massive lightning bolt that struck down towards Akainu like a giant pillar of light.
Akainu covered his entire body with Haki to resist Ace’s Flame Emperor attack. While he managed to block Ace’s ultimate move, he was struck by Ian’s lightning and sent crashing to the ground with a thunderous impact.
The residual lightning scattered with a buzzing sound upon contact with the ground, leaving Akainu lying there, his body charred black.
Ace, panting, walked over and looked at the fallen Akainu, asking Ian, “How about now? Did it work?”
Before Ian could respond, Akainu’s body suddenly moved. Propping himself up with his hands, he got up, the muscles on his face twitching as he gritted his teeth and said to them, “You bastards… you did really hurt me…”
As he spoke, Akainu’s body began to undulate and swell. His entire body transformed into magma, gradually expanding until he became a gigantic magma monster standing before them.
His admiral’s uniform was already incinerated. Normally, Logia users could incorporate their clothing into their elemental form, but Akainu had forsaken this. His magma giant form had a ferocious hound’s head, sharp flaming claws for hands, and his lower body retained a human shape. Thick smoke billowed around him, with liquid and flames roiling across his body, making for an incredibly terrifying sight.
His current form was entirely unexpected for Ian. The dog-headed human body reminded Ian of the mythological figure Anubis.
Akainu was enraged. This magma form had never been displayed so openly before. The only ones who had seen it previously were the older generation of the Navy, like Sengoku and Zephyr. This form was the origin of Akainu’s nickname. Now, to deal with these two juniors, he had unleashed it again.
Akainu opened his mouth and spewed a stream of scorching magma at Ian and Ace. They quickly leaped to evade, but the magma hit several pirates and navy soldiers who were battling nearby. Under the intense heat, their flesh melted away, leaving charred skeletons behind, accompanied by their agonized screams.
Witnessing such a horrific scene, the surrounding pirates and navy soldiers were stunned for a moment before suddenly screaming and fleeing in all directions in panic.
However, Akainu didn’t spare a glance at the navy soldiers he had accidentally harmed. He swung his magma claws violently, sending them hurtling towards Ian and Ace with a whistling sound.
The transformed Akainu truly resembled a ferocious hound hunting its prey. His overwhelming power made him even more ferocious and formidable.
Ian and Ace used their fastest speed to dodge Akainu’s attacks, but their movements were still clumsy. Ian, unable to dodge in time, got slashed by Akainu’s claws, leaving long gashes on his arm with the flesh turned up. Ace barely avoided Akainu’s bite, but the ensuing head swipe knocked him out of the air.
Ace landed next to Ian. Climbing back up, he looked at Ian’s injured arm and asked, “Are you okay?”
“I’m good!” Ian shook his head. “This guy’s body is too big. Ordinary attacks won’t work. We need to hit him with that move!”
“Got it!” Ace immediately understood what Ian meant and nodded in agreement.
Akainu straightened up and charged at them again, but this time, he noticed that Ian and Ace didn’t dodge. Instead, they stood their ground, hands joined together.
A white and a black flame ignited and roared from their hands.
Ian and Ace, their eyes burning with intense fighting spirit, faced Akainu’s incoming jaws and fiercely pushed the flames forward.
“Dog!! Beating!! Cannon!!!”
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