Boom! With a tremendous roar, Ace and Sabo were forced back several more steps.
"I feel it!" Ace shouted. The Conqueror's Haki that had originally been spreading through the surroundings surged and completely wrapped around his arm.
"Fire Fist—Flame Emperor!" With Ace's roar, an enormous fireball wrapped in Conqueror's Haki blasted toward Bullet.
By now, much of Bullet's clothing had been torn to shreds, and his body bore scorch marks and bloodstains. But injuries like these were no more than scrapes to him. Not only had they failed to weaken his fighting power, they had made his presence even more imposing.
Besides, he had yet to activate his Devil Fruit ability. Although he had not held back during the fight, he clearly had not used all his strength either.
However, as Ace's Flame Emperor came roaring toward him, Bullet's expression finally changed. The Armament Haki covering his body intensified, while soil and rocks from the ground climbed onto him. In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a twenty-meter-tall black giant, raising a massive fist to meet the Flame Emperor.
Boom! The black giant's arm was blown off in an instant. The enormous fireball also scattered into sparks, making it seem as though Bullet had suffered the loss.
Yet this so-called black giant was merely formed from soil Bullet had absorbed with the Combine-Combine Fruit. At most, this move had cost him a bit of stamina; it had not truly injured him.
"Not bad fighting strength." The black giant slowly vanished, revealing the completely uninjured Bullet within. Ace and Sabo panted as they watched the sight before them, bitter smiles appearing on both their faces.
"When I was your age, I was only about as strong as that brat Sabo. I was even a little weaker than you, Ace."