The End

"Ah!!!"

With a furious roar from Akainu, the Garganta was completely consumed by Great Eruption, and his massive fist shot straight toward Cifer.

A tremendous amount of Spiritual Pressure wrapped around the Moonlight Sword as Cifer thrust it toward the incoming punch.

This was a contest of martial prowess, as well as a clash between Cifer's Spiritual Pressure and Akainu's Haki and Devil Fruit powers.

"Ulquiorra Cifer! You're strong, but not strong enough!" Akainu tensed every muscle in his body, and the heat radiating from his magma intensified.

A crisp crack rang out. The Moonlight Sword shattered, while Akainu's fist drove forward without slowing and smashed into Cifer's body, which was covered in Spiritual Pressure.

It felt as though his bones were about to split apart!

That was Cifer's first sensation, followed by an incomparably scorching burning pain.

He was blasted away.

After crashing through an unknown number of trees and killing who knew how many beasts with the lingering shockwave, Cifer finally steadied himself several hundred meters away.

"That hurt like hell. A first-stage Resurrección really is still a little too much of a strain against Akainu!"

Cifer's shirt had already been burned away by the magma, and large sections of his body were covered in burns. Yet under the effects of High-Speed Regeneration, they healed completely in less than three seconds.

Whether in martial arts or Haki, Akainu was unquestionably a top-tier powerhouse. In Cifer's view, he was not much weaker than the current Whitebeard, but he posed a far greater threat than Whitebeard.

Whitebeard was old. His martial prowess, Haki, and endurance could no longer support a prolonged battle. If they fought, Cifer could wear him down to death through sheer attrition.

Akainu, however, was in his prime. It was no exaggeration to say that he could fight Cifer for ten days and ten nights.

"What's wrong? Are you already unable to continue fighting, Black Winged Great Demon?" Provoking his enemies with words had always been one of Akainu's favorite habits.

He slowly approached from a distance, magma dripping continuously from his half-elementalized right hand. Not a blade of grass survived in his wake.

At the same time, he noticed the hollow in Cifer's collarbone and his smooth body.

Had the burns caused by the magma already healed?

Akainu did not believe Cifer could emerge unscathed after taking a full-powered Great Eruption head-on.

What intrigued him more was what kind of person could leave such a hole in Cifer's body—one that could not be healed.

"If you didn't have that mouth of yours, you might be more likable."

Cifer immediately shot back. Light flickered in his hand as the Moonlight Sword formed once more.

Then an astonishing roar rang out, shaking the entire mountain forest. Amid the vast wilderness, it was as if two bright lamps had appeared.

"Looks like this island's king has arrived. This is going to be troublesome."

Looking at those eyes larger than a human being, Cifer said it was troublesome, yet there was not the slightest concern on his face.

It had finally appeared! A male lion!

Nearly fifty meters tall, its enormous eyes stared fixedly at the two tiny creatures below. It could not imagine how two humans so small had caused such a disturbance on its territory.

It opened its blood-filled maw, exposing gigantic, razor-sharp teeth as it roared, attempting to drive the two away. Unfortunately...

"Shut up!"

"Inugama Kurenai!"

The Garganta and the dog-headed attack arrived in an instant. The Garganta struck its chest, while the dog head slammed into its skull. With just one attack from each of them, Rexeno's king could not even let out a wail before collapsing to the ground, never to rise again.

The sound of the giant lion's fall and the heavy stench of blood drifted through the forest into the distance.

The beasts that had gathered nearby, intending to follow the lion in fighting the two of them, began fleeing in panic. Everything returned to silence.

The ground began to grow scorching hot. Mountain peaks once covered in trees suddenly exploded, and magma surged forth!

"Meteor Volcano!"

With several bursts of Soru, Akainu widened the distance between himself and Cifer. His fists fired countless streams of magma into the sky, which then transformed into meteor-like lava and fell toward Cifer.

"Trivial tricks!"

Cifer continuously dodged as he charged toward Akainu, occasionally kicking one or two of the falling masses back at him.

"Ulquiorra Cifer!"

"Sakazuki!"

The Moonlight Sword and magma fist collided once again.

"Vice Admiral Jonathan, is it really all right to let them keep fighting like this?"

Hina looked deeply uneasy. It was already the third day of Cifer and Akainu's battle. More than half of Rexeno had been destroyed, and the mountain forests had been ravaged beyond recognition.

From the warship, Rexeno looked like nothing but ruins. If tremors had not occasionally come from the island, Hina would have suspected that the two of them were dead.

"A monster's strength cannot be explained by common sense. Let them be. We can't stop them anyway."

Jonathan had been worried at first as well, but after giving it some thought, he realized this had already exceeded the scope of his concerns. So he simply played chess with Wright every day, enjoying himself immensely.

On Rexeno Island, the terrain had been completely transformed.

At the site of their battle, the once pleasant climate had been split in two. One half had been overtaken by volcanoes as Akainu's powers erupted without restraint, with bubbling magma rolling below.

The other half resembled ruins, filled with an aura of utter desolation that even the magma could not reach.

Cifer and Akainu stood facing each other. Though not a single wound could be seen on Cifer's body, his breathing was extremely disordered, and he was already gasping for air.

As for Akainu, his shirt had also been destroyed during the three days of fighting, revealing his burly body and the tattoos covering half of it.

Akainu had gained numerous wounds of varying sizes. Some were still bleeding, while others had already scabbed over. Yet judging by his breathing, he was far steadier than Cifer.

"Your self-healing ability is unbelievably powerful. Unfortunately, your martial arts and those strange methods of attack are each just a little inferior to mine."

Akainu picked up the cap he had casually tossed onto the ground and put it back on. He intended to end this meaningless battle. He had already felt Cifer's strength.

"There's no point in continuing. You are no match for me!"

That was indeed true! If he fell short by even a little in so many areas, then his overall strength was more than just a little weaker. They appeared evenly matched, but the outcome had already been decided.

After three long days of fighting, Cifer had reached the same conclusion. Akainu could not leave wounds on him, but neither could he inflict much damage upon Akainu.

If they continued, then in just a few more days, he would be exhausted. By then, he would lose badly.

Moreover, after maintaining Resurrección for such an extended time for the first time, Cifer's body had finally begun to feel the burden. That was also one of the reasons his breathing was so disordered.

"It isn't over yet."

Cifer raised one finger and spoke under Akainu's puzzled gaze.

"One more time! My form has another stage!"

Hearing this, Akainu clenched his fists. Cifer's current form had already allowed him to fight without defeat for so many days. Just how powerful would the next form be?

"Let me show you..."

"So hot, so hot!"

A little girl of five or six suddenly burst out from underground, leaped onto Cifer, wrapped her arms around his neck, and let tears the size of beans stream down her face.