Boom!!
High in the sky, the blazing flame sword and the lightning-wreathed kanabo clashed heavily once again, erupting with a powerful shockwave of Haki.
After the two separated, Ace raised his arm, holding the flame sword at his side, and thrust the tip toward Kaido from a distance!
"Sun Flare: Shiranui!!"
With Ace's loud shout, the flame sword suddenly erupted and extended. The compressed flames contained terrifying heat, distorting even the air itself.
Sizzle!!
The elongated tip of the flame sword pierced Kaido's shoulder. His dragon scales sizzled and smoked from the burn, and as the flames were injected into his body, they erupted from the back of his shoulder with a *boom*!
Enduring the pain, Kaido gritted his teeth and unleashed his Haki, suppressing the flames flowing within his body. At the same time, he coated his kanabo in Haki and swiftly swung it down, shattering the blade of fire!
Clusters of sparks scattered through the sky. The dancing flames condensed back into a sword in Ace's hand, but just as he prepared to launch another attack...
"What?!"
As if sensing something with his Observation Haki, Ace's expression shifted in shock. He abruptly turned to look down behind him, only to see a ferocious figure rushing toward him at breakneck speed!
"Black Arm: Sonic Soul Blast!!"
Allen bent his elbow and clenched his fist. His entire arm, coated in Armament Haki, gleamed with a dark luster as he unleashed a devastating punch at Mach Five!
"Demon Lion Allen!"
Ace hastily raised his flame sword to block, but it was instantly blown apart, exploding into countless embers.
Bang!!!
The fist's momentum remained undiminished as it viciously slammed into Ace's stomach. The Haki, combined with Emission techniques, erupted explosively, sending him flying away!
Whoosh—Boom!!
Ace's body plummeted straight down from the sky like a meteor, crashing heavily into the streets of the Flower Capital and kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
This sudden turn of events left Kaido stunned for a moment. Then, realizing what had happened, he threw his head back and laughed uproariously.
"Hahahahaha! I see, so you guys really aren't on the same side."
"Huh? What are you so smug about, old man? Whether we're on the same side or not, the outcome for the two of you today won't be much different."
Allen looked at Kaido with a disdainful expression and waved his hand to summon his Homies.
"Come out, all of you."
"Yes!"
"Right here, Master!"
A two-meter-long, pitch-black, blunt greatsword flew out in response, automatically landing in Allen's hand.
At the same time, Zeus, Zhurong, Hera, and the other Homies all emerged.
The thundercloud transformed into a black band of clouds wrapping around Allen's shoulders. Raging flames spread along the heavy sword, and three magatama beads—yellow, blue, and white—slowly revolved around him.
"Homies... That's the old hag's power..."
Kaido's eyes darkened coldly. The moment he saw those elemental Homies, he recognized the familiar ability.
For a brief second, an urge to avenge that detestable old hag actually sprouted in his heart—an emotion he felt he really shouldn't be having.
"Hey brat, do you know how many years Linlin and I have known each other?"
Kaido suddenly spoke. His cheeks, shoulders, chest, and limbs were visibly transforming as azure dragon scales continuously grew over them. He continued,
"As pirates, from the very beginning, neither of us doubted that one day we would die at someone else's hands."
"It could be a vendetta, or we could be defeated by some rising rookie, just like how we rose to power back in the day."
"But gradually, we realized we were simply too strong. Those we had offended feared us, and the reckless rookies who came to challenge us were all utterly crushed."
"Eventually, I stopped holding out any hope for the rookies of the New World. I thought things would just continue like this for the rest of my life, but then you actually..."
Kaido's gaze grew increasingly icy as he transformed into his Dragon-Man Form. He squeezed a low growl through his fangs:
"You're really annoying, you damn brat!"
"Is that so? I thought someone like you wouldn't be bound by such emotions anymore."
Allen's lips curled up, and he replied dismissively, "I didn't expect to leave such a bad impression right off the bat. This is going to have quite an impact on my subsequent plans."
"Plans...?"
"Yeah, my plans for after I finish the two of you off."
Allen said with a faint smile.
The two hovered in the air, their eyes locked, their fighting spirit steadily rising.
But right at that moment.
"Who did you say you were going to finish off, you bastard?! Stop talking to yourself!"
A crimson streak of light shot up from the ground at extreme speed. Ace shouted furiously, the flame sword in his hand rapidly expanding as he swung it at Allen and Kaido from afar!
"Sun Flare: Purifying Fire!!"
Boom!!
A massive blade of sun flare swept out with world-splitting force, instantly engulfing Allen and Kaido in ferocious flames!
These compressed flames possessed an extremely high temperature and contained Ace's emitted Haki. The combination of Haki and the fiery impact blasted the two of them straight into the center of the Flower Capital!
Rumble!! Rumble!!
The magnificent Shogun's Palace collapsed as the two human cannonballs smashed into it. Rubble flew everywhere, kicking up billowing clouds of dust.
Allen lay in the ruins, fierce flames clinging to his body and burning intensely, yet his face showed not the slightest ripple of emotion.
The Lunarian Tribe were natural masters of fire, capable of generating flames from any part of their bodies and using them in combat.
For Ace, a Flame-Flame Fruit user, the vast majority of his attack methods were completely ineffective against him.
His fire's burning properties were naturally countered, leaving only the concussive force—which was equally meaningless against the innate, formidable physical defense of a Lunarian.
On the other side, Kaido was also lying on the ground, bathed in flames that sizzled against his skin. Enduring the burning pain, he puffed up his chest and took a deep breath.
Whoosh—!!
Kaido blew forcefully over his own body, extinguishing all the flames and revealing a physique that emanated wisps of white smoke.
His dragon scales still gleamed with a metallic luster after being scorched, without a single trace of charring. Clearly, this strike hadn't caused him much damage either.
"That hurts, you damn brat! But this level of attack isn't enough to wound me."
Kaido sneered in a low voice. He fixed his gaze on Ace in the sky, a red glint flashing in his eyes. Gripping his kanabo with one hand, he instead swung it toward Allen's direction!
Clang!!
Sparks violently erupted in the air as the spiked kanabo heavily clashed with the flame-wreathed heavy sword.
It turned out that Kaido's Future Sight Observation Haki had already foreseen Allen's incoming sneak attack, allowing him to swing his kanabo in advance to block.
"Hey, hey, isn't using only one hand a bit disrespectful?"
Allen grinned. His blunt heavy sword ground against Kaido's weapon with a grating screech. His arm muscles bulged as he explosively pushed back!
Clang!!
A hint of surprise flickered in Kaido's eyes as his massive body was forced backward, his feet plowing two trenches in the ground as he slid back over ten meters.
"Interesting. I heard you're a multiple Devil Fruit user. Is this Lunarian form the power of another fruit?"
Kaido looked over with an intrigued gaze. He gripped his kanabo with both hands, black lightning faintly crackling around it.
"Indra!!"
Allen raised his hand toward Kaido and shouted. The black thunderclouds wrapped around his shoulders sparked with violent electricity, condensing into a thick beam of lightning that shot straight forward!
Rumble!!
A red light flashed in Kaido's eyes, and his figure instantly vanished from the spot. Moving alongside the grazing lightning beam, he dashed toward Allen at blinding speed!
"Thunder Bagua!!"
Boom!!
Haki erupted, and black lightning flashed violently. Kaido let out an explosive roar, swinging his kanabo—now coated in Conqueror's Haki—with a howling sweep!
Allen didn't dare to be careless. His eyes darkened as he gripped his heavy sword, channeling his Haki to meet the strike head-on!
Clang!!!
The deafening screech of metal trembling filled the air. The two streams of Haki clashed fiercely, lightning and fire intertwining, erupting with a shockwave that tore apart everything in the surrounding area!
The two gritted their teeth in a deadlock, their weapons trembling and screeching.
Suddenly, Kaido's thick dragon tail whipped out from behind him, howling through the air as it swept forward!
At the same time, the Homies floating around Allen unleashed a magma explosion!
Boom!!!
Bang!!!
The magma, containing terrifying heat and a powerful impact comparable to a volcanic eruption, engulfed Kaido's body.
Meanwhile, Allen was viciously swatted away by Kaido's thick, powerful dragon tail, his body shooting backward and crashing into a distant street!
Amidst the permeating dust, Allen pushed himself up from the ruins with one hand. With a swing of his heavy sword, a surging gust of wind blew the dust away.
But at that moment, Allen frowned, noticing that the surrounding space was filled with floating fireflies.
Atop a building, Ace held his palms facing each other, aiming downward as he let out a deep roar:
"Firefly: Fiery Daruma!!"
The next second.
Boom!! Boom!! Boom!!
The fireflies floating in the air detonated one after another. The terrifying explosions echoed endlessly, and within an instant, the space within a hundred-meter radius centered on Allen was swallowed by the blasts!
The fireflies contained Ace's emitted Haki. Combined with the high-temperature shockwaves, the force blasted Allen away.
Even though Allen was immune to fire, the exaggerated power of the chain explosions shook his internal organs violently and left his ears ringing.
"Tch, what a nuisance. He's more troublesome than I expected."
Allen glared at Ace with an irritated expression.
Although he had initially looked down on him a bit—after all, Ace's performance during the Summit War had been nothing special—he had to admit that the guy's strength had indeed improved significantly. This was especially true for his Haki mastery. Even if Allen was immune to fire, it didn't mean he could completely ignore the concussive force and the effects of Haki attacks.
If it were a one-on-one fight, it wouldn't be a big deal. But having to deal with this kind of harassment while fighting Kaido was starting to feel troublesome, even for him.
'I really should get rid of the annoying one first.'
"Try it if you can. Just talking won't bring me down."
Ace replied with a mocking smile. He held his palms facing each other, aiming at Allen. A bright light bloomed as he unleashed a massive swarm of extremely fast fireflies!
"Firefly: Fire Swirl!!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
With his loud shout, the specks of fireflies turned into streaks of light, tracing arcs through the air as they shot toward Allen from all directions!
A massive amount of black mist surged from Allen's body. He waved his large hand toward the incoming streaks of light.
"Black Vortex!!"
In an instant, the deep, dark mist swirled violently, transforming into a massive vortex that released a powerful gravitational pull, absorbing all the fireflies like an endless abyss!
Faced with the power of darkness, those fireflies—condensed with massive amounts of fiery energy—seemed to lose their vitality. They were swallowed up without a trace into the vortex, failing to cause even the slightest ripple.
'The power of the Dark-Dark Fruit...?'
Seeing this, Ace couldn't help but frown, his mind involuntarily recalling his battle with Teach from years ago.
The power of darkness that countered all Devil Fruits—even having experienced it once before, seeing this ability again still made him feel it was a thorny issue.
Although he knew from his previous fight with Teach that the Dark-Dark Fruit had the weakness of being unable to turn into an element to dodge attacks, Allen possessed more than just this one ability.
Especially since the intelligence reports mentioned that the man had extremely strong physical combat skills. This meant that not only would Ace's long-range attacks be countered, but he probably wouldn't gain any advantage in close-quarters combat either.
"Blackwater!!"
Before he could carefully think of a countermeasure, a powerful gravitational force suddenly acted upon him!
Allen aimed his palm at Ace, releasing an invisible pull that violently dragged him over!
Ace gritted his teeth, his hands rapidly generating two clusters of flames and compressing them quickly.
As troublesome as the Dark-Dark Fruit was, he had fought Teach once before, so he could at least anticipate what kind of moves Allen would use.
He knew very well that the moment he was grabbed by the opponent's hand, his Flame-Flame Fruit powers would be instantly sealed.
'I have to launch an attack before he touches me.'
Ace thought rapidly as he flew through the air. The two clusters of compressed flames in his palms morphed into two swords.
"Sacred Fire: Sword of Totsuka!!"
Arriving in front of Allen, Ace crossed his twin swords and slashed!
However, to his surprise, Allen canceled his technique. Tapping his toes on the ground, his figure instantly vanished from the spot!
Clang!!
The twin swords struck empty air, tearing two fire-spreading trenches into the ground.
Ace abruptly spun around, only to find that Allen had already blinked behind him. The black hand, wreathed in the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit, reached out fatally toward him!
Grab!
Without any suspense, Allen's hand clamped down on Ace's shoulder.
Instantly, the flames burning on Ace's body died out. He could clearly feel the powers within his body being completely suppressed.
"I'm curious about something. If you're attacked by fire while your Flame-Flame Fruit powers are sealed, what will happen?"
Allen's lips curled into a sinister grin. A volatile fireball had already formed in his other hand, and he viciously thrust it forward, slamming his palm into Ace's chest!
Bang!!
Accompanied by a muffled sound of impact, Allen's palm struck so hard that half of Ace's chest caved in. The fireball sank into Ace's body and violently erupted out from his back!
Boom!!!
"Gah—!!"
Ace's eyes widened in agony. His body doubled over in agony, and he couldn't stop a large mouthful of blood from spraying out!
"A Flame-Flame Fruit user burning to death. Sounds pretty ironic, doesn't it?"
Allen sneered mockingly as he retracted his hand and picked up the heavy sword planted in the ground.
Since Ace hadn't had his heart pierced and burned by Akainu's magma during the Summit War, perhaps that same fate would be recreated by Allen's hands today.
However, just as he was about to pierce Ace's body with a single sword thrust, a white comet descended from the sky!
Sensing the danger, Allen abruptly looked up.
He saw a woman's figure diving down at extreme speed—wearing a Hannya mask, with flowing white hair, a pair of red demonic horns on her head, and dressed in a white sleeveless kimono!