Aokiji vs. the Lava Behemoth

It must be said that the Nightmare faction's sudden surge in strength caused the "Revolutionary Government Allied Forces" a great deal of trouble.

They had initially held an absolute advantage and were on the verge of storming the enemy's stronghold and achieving their decapitation objective, but this sudden blow stunned them, naturally putting them at a disadvantage in terms of morale.

Moreover, as time went by, the Revolutionary Army and the World Government became increasingly anxious and agitated.

They all knew very well that the sacrificial ritual could not continue indefinitely. When the ritual ended, they would face a Nightmare in its prime, or even an enemy that had become even stronger with the nourishment of blood—an ultimate monster with the decisive power to turn the tide of battle single-handedly.

"Ice Age!" Aokiji pressed his palm to the ground, and from him, ice gradually spread in all directions, instantly transforming the dark underground God's Temple into a beautiful ice castle.

Aokiji was very clear about his role. In this war, he was not to be an offensive warrior, but a mage who controlled and sealed the enemy.

If the enemy can be frozen for a moment, giving the Allied Forces time to attack, it will be enough to secure victory in this war.

However, things did not go as smoothly as he had imagined.

Sizzle!

The scorching lava flowed across the ground, and the extremely high temperature quickly melted the ice layer, leaving only a thick white mist, as if one had instantly traveled from the ice fields of the far north to the scorching volcano.

Roar!

The ferocious lava behemoth let out an incomprehensible roar, and saliva dripped from the corner of its mouth onto the ground with a sizzling sound. Even though it no longer possessed much intelligence, it still sought out its lifelong nemesis in the first instance.

"Sakazuki ..." Seeing the ten-meter-tall lava behemoth in front of him, whose body no longer had any human characteristics, Aokiji couldn't help but sigh sadly. Although he had never agreed with Akainu's ideology, he was definitely not willing to see Akainu end up like this.

"Sakazuki, you wouldn't want your body to become a weapon for the enemy to destroy justice, would you?" Aokiji gathered icy power in his hand. "Now, I will send you back to the Underworld!"

"Ice Block - Partisan Beak!" The cold energy gathered in Aokiji's right hand transformed into a flawless white ice bird, which flapped its wings and flew high, freezing everything in its path into extremely cold ice blocks.

"Roar!"

The lava behemoth swung its massive forelimbs and slammed them down, sending lava flying and shattering the ice bird. Crystalline ice crystals flew everywhere.

Aokiji wasn't surprised. Although Akainu lost his reason and wisdom in his misguided transformation, he gained unparalleled power in return.

As if provoked by Aokiji, the lava behemoth roared angrily, and the aura of fire gathered in its mouth. The flames, compressed to the extreme, distorted the surrounding space. Even from a distance, one could feel the terrifying energy contained within this ball of fire. Finally, the wisp of darkness that wrapped around the outer layer of the fireball made even Aokiji's heart tremble.

"So it was Armament Haki used out of animal instinct? It seems this battle isn't as simple as I thought!" Aokiji's expression darkened slightly. He had thought he could easily end the battle with his Elementalization and Armament Haki, but now it seemed that "Akainu" had brought his wild talents to their fullest potential under Nightmare's tutelage.

The lava behemoth tilted its head back slightly, then slammed down, spitting out the energy ball in its mouth. Aokiji first raised a layer of ice wall on the ground to block it for a moment, then quickly retreated.

As expected, the seven walls of extreme cold that Aokiji summoned in succession shattered in less than half a second. The surrounding crowd of people fighting also fled in a huff, cursing. The fireball, with its undiminished momentum, swallowed up the few unlucky souls who couldn't avoid it, and finally landed on the ground, unleashing boundless power.

Boom!

The lava erupted, causing the entire Underground Palace to shake. The ground above continued to collapse, and even the ruins of the Royal City fell in. Without the cover of the surface Royal Palace, the situation inside the Underground Palace was completely exposed to the world.

Roar!

The lava behemoth let out an excited roar, seemingly pleased with its masterpiece.

The next moment, a spear formed of ice appeared out of thin air in front of the lava behemoth and pierced its eyes at a speed beyond the limits of vision.

Aokiji's timing was perfect, far beyond what a monster like the Lava Behemoth, driven only by animalistic instincts, could react to. The ice spear instantly pierced its "eye."

In pain, the lava behemoth simply dispersed its maintained form, transforming into a mass of flowing magma that looked like a fire slime. It wriggled and lunged at Aokiji, seemingly intending to bury Aokiji in the magma.

Ice Age!

The ice continued to spread, freezing the magma in an instant, and the scorching weather became much cooler. However, before the Allied Forces could even breathe a sigh of relief, the ice shattered, and the terrifying magma monster broke free once again.

Enraged, the magma monster finally unleashed its terrifying power, spewing forth a continuous stream of magma that turned most of the Underground Palace into a sea of lava and fire.

In response, Aokiji unleashed the extreme cold energy within his body, transforming the remaining space into a frozen wasteland, standing in stark contrast to the scorching underground volcano.

"Hiss... The Admiral of the Marine Headquarters are indeed monsters. They actually summoned ice and magma of this level in a place without water or fire, almost single-handedly and permanently changed the topography of this Underground Palace."

"Damn it, these top-tier Logia ability users are a real problem. Now all we have left is a battlefield of ice and lava. Where are we supposed to fight?"

Aokiji's expression darkened slightly. He hadn't expected that "Akainu," trained by Nightmare, would be so troublesome. If time continued to drag on like this, the situation would only become more and more unfavorable for them.

"In the name of Absolute Justice, Ice Age: Absolute Zero!"

"Absolute... justice..." A murmur suddenly came from inside the magma monster. The familiar voice made Aokiji stop his hand and stare wide-eyed, waiting for a miracle to happen.

The next moment, the magma monster writhed and actually condensed into Akainu's face.

"Sakazuki, you..."

"Ku... Zan, quick, kill me while I'm still... conscious!"

"You..." Aokiji took a deep breath, nodded, and said seriously, "I understand. Is this your final choice?"

"Hmm?" Enel seemed to notice something was wrong with Akainu, his brows furrowed slightly, and he prepared to abandon Belo Betty and the others to rush to the aid of the volcano battlefield.

Click!

A dazzling sword light severed the lightning, Momousagi stood proudly upright.

"That's a battle for the navy; it's best if you don't get involved."

To everyone's surprise, Enel, who was stopped, did not get angry or embarrassed. Instead, he shrugged indifferently and said, "Anyway, he's just a consumable. It's not bad that I was able to take away a Marine Admiral."

Momousagi instinctively sensed something was wrong and asked quickly, "What do you mean...?"

"Puff!"

Hearing that familiar voice, Momousagi turned around blankly and found that "Akainu" had been turned into an ice sculpture, but his right fist, burning with flames, had pierced through Aokiji's heart.

Aokiji's eyes were full of confusion and bewilderment, while Enel passed Momousagi and landed in front of Aokiji, sighing, "The will of Marine Admiral is indeed tenacious. He can still maintain a sliver of his sanity after two years. It's a pity that the captain knew all along that you people love to play the game of breaking free from constraints with your will, so he planted a hidden trap in his body beforehand."

"When you think you've awakened his will and let your guard down, you're actually stepping into the abyss under the captain's watchful eye!"

"I see..." Aokiji smiled lazily, with a hint of relief in his expression. At least, he didn't die at the hands of his trusted comrades.

Marine Headquarters Admiral Aokiji and former Marine Headquarters Admiral Akainu both perished at the same time!