Ace, who had been kept constantly tense by Maud, unexpectedly awakened his ability at the most critical moment, driven by sheer willpower.
This was beyond Maud's expectations.
Once a Logia-type ability awakened, its already formidable destructive power would become even more terrifying.
The most obvious effect was the ability to easily alter the environment.
For example, after Ace's Flame-Flame Fruit ability awakened, he no longer needed to rely on his body to release flames. The resulting benefits were an obvious increase in release speed, power, range, and more.
Turning the ground beneath his feet into scorched earth was therefore effortless.
However, what increased dramatically after awakening was elemental power, not physical defense.
The shadow pillars feared no high temperatures—
Or rather, the shadow pillars could endlessly regenerate before ordinary attacks, maintaining their original form. Concealed beneath the raging flames, they moved about at will like crocodiles beneath the water's surface. Without making a sound, one reached Ace's side and silently opened its enormous maw.
Then Maud teleported over.
There was no special technique involved. Before Ace could react, Maud relied on his superior physical strength and Armament Haki to smash through Ace's body and aura with an ordinary knee strike.
The force that violently drove into his body left Ace gravely wounded. After vomiting mouthfuls of blood, his consciousness hovered between confusion and clarity.
The ferocious flames clawing around him, along with the clusters of flame on Ace's body, visibly dissipated into nothingness.
"Expanding the scale of the flames is, at best, only useful for clearing out cannon fodder."
Maud stared expressionlessly at Ace's unfocused eyes. He suddenly released his grip on Ace's shoulders and let Ace's body collapse limply to the ground.
Rustle—
The shadow on Maud's body slowly peeled away, gathered into a mass, and dropped to the