322 Fierce Battle

Essel's fist, covered in an aura of Haki like a drill bit, gained even greater penetrating power and became even sharper.

It seems they want to break through from one point to the whole, using this method to shatter Teach's Dark Jade.

Teach couldn't help but smile. Essel's combat power wasn't that terrifying. His ability gave him the power to be invincible, not powerful destructive force.

Essel may not have known that the Dark Jade is both strong and flexible, and that Dark Jade capable of changing shape cannot be broken so easily.

Teach also wanted to see the limits of Dark Jade's defensive capabilities.

This punch, a straight Jab, was delivered by Essel's arm, swinging a full 180 degrees. His dark fist gleamed with a black sheen.

As this punch was thrown, the surrounding environment seemed to darken.

Time stood still. The next moment, like a hurricane, it swept outwards. Some of the prisoners, taking advantage of the moment when Essel was watching Teach, had already escaped to the fourth floor. Those who were a little later, with their arms outstretched in front of them, faced the battlefield, their prison uniforms fluttering in the wind.

Immediately, their expressions changed as a white avalanche rushed towards them, accompanied by a chilling current.

The collision between the two had a significant impact. Centered on Teach and Essel, the ice and snow beneath their feet had vanished, and solid ground was clearly visible all around them, with the area expanding.

The Extreme Cold Hell, which has been covered by ice and snow for many years, has finally revealed its true colors.

The ice and snow were constantly being whipped up and gathered by the strong winds caused by the collision between the two, sweeping outwards.

Many prisoners stared wide-eyed, and the next moment, their entire bodies were covered in ice and snow.

As for Essel, he suffered another defeat. His punch failed to break through Teach's Dark Jade defense. His fist seemed to sink into Teach's Dark Jade, but in reality, it was enveloped by Teach's Dark Jade, which was changing shape.

Teach wasn't going to just passively defend; looking at Essel, he couldn't help but smile, knowing he was about to launch a counterattack.

Essel noticed Teach's smile and wanted to pull back his fist; he knew Teach was about to attack.

However, Teach's Dark Jade enveloped Essel's fist, attached itself to it, and continued to extend forward, firmly gripping Essel's arm.

Essel's expression changed, and he tried to retract his arm, but to no avail; he couldn't even move his body.

At that moment, Teach made his move, his body disappearing from Essel's sight and appearing on Essel's right side in the blink of an eye, raising his claws, which had now transformed into demonic claws.

"Yaochi-onna!" Teach, in his most comfortable posture, swung his claws downwards, their sharpness unmatched, targeting Essel's already bound right arm.

At such close range, Essel's movements were completely restricted, making it impossible for him to dodge.

Feeling that extreme sharpness, his heart skipped a beat. He raised his leg and kicked at Teach with the strange posture he remembered, trying to stop Teach.

However, Teach had anticipated Essel's actions, and another Dark Jade appeared on Teach's body, blocking the kick.

Teach's Dark Jade is usually hidden inside his clothes like armor, but he can control it to come out whenever he needs it.

Easily deflecting the kick, Teach laughed excitedly, as if spotting prey. His sharp claws seemed poised to tear through Essel's flesh and rip Essel entire arm apart at any moment.

Essel remained completely calm and composed, pondering how to break free from the shackles of the Teach Dark Jade.

Teach's claw strike was ferocious and cruel, landing directly on Essel's arm, but there was no sign of flesh tearing open, indicating that he was not seriously injured.

The strange Devil Fruit ability absorbed all the damage from Teach's claw attack.

Teach's claw struck directly at Essel's arm, tearing it apart. Teach felt this, but Essel's arm seemed completely unaffected, without even a scratch.

Indeed, there were scratches and streaks of blood on Essel's skin where Teach's claws had landed.

However, such injuries are not even considered injuries to strong individuals.

Within Essel's body, his power is connected to tens of thousands of points of light, each representing a prisoner imprisoned in Impel Down.

The damage from Teach's claw attack was instantly dispersed, evenly distributed among the countless points of light.

The prisoners in Impel Down, aside from those who had already fainted, suddenly felt a slight throbbing pain in their bodies. In the same spot, they had the same wound as Essel.

After a moment's thought, I realized this was Essel's ability; Essel was currently fighting someone.

Now, Teach is also clearly aware of the trouble with Essel's abilities. This rule-like ability causes countless people to share the negative effects on him.

However, Teach already knew about Essel's abilities beforehand, but even so, he couldn't help but feel a headache. If he didn't use "Dark Water," he would be facing an Admiral- level enemy who could maintain his peak condition.

At that moment, Teach's figure flickered slightly, dodging Essel's swinging fist; he had anticipated Essel's attack trajectory.

Essel's right arm had broken free from the seal of the Teach Dark Jade. He used Life Return to adjust the muscles of his right arm and then transferred the power to his left arm.

His left arm gained immense strength, while his right arm shrank considerably, creating an opening that allowed him to pull his right arm directly out of the Dark Jade.

The swinging left arm carried immense power. Teach dodged to the side, slightly turning his head as a deafening boom shattered the air beside him.

Teach twisted his body and unleashed a Haki whip kick, like a dragon's tail sweeping across the ground. Essel had returned to his original state, no longer with his arms out of proportion as before.

He raised one arm, his hand forming a claw, as if trying to grab Teach's foot.

Essel had nothing to worry about. His abilities were best suited for this kind of crazy fighting style, trading injury for injury, but the damage he suffered was weakened countless times.

The bizarre ability easily neutralized the impact of Teach's kick, weakening it countless times over.

Essel grabbed Teach's right foot as he kicked out, slammed it downwards, and pinned Teach's entire body to the ground.

The ground sank, creating a crater where Teach's body had smashed into it.

Having finally seized this opportunity, Essel pressed his advantage, delivering a triple slam that Teach flying hundreds of meters.

Essel pressed his advantage and charged forward. Teach stood up, faced the charging Essel, raised his fist, and delivered a precise punch that landed squarely on Essel's forehead.

However, it had no effect.

The next moment, Essel delivered the same punch to Teach's head, the powerful blow carrying Haki force. Teach was unable to block it and his entire body flew backward.

Next, Teach seemed to be getting brutally beaten by Essel. Every time he managed to counterattack, it was in vain, and he was simply humiliated by Essel.

Attacks are ineffective; only passive defense is possible.

Teach did not use his abilities, and even the Dark Jade disappeared.

"Isn't this alright? The captain got beaten up pretty badly. How could he possibly defeat such an opponent?" Nelson asked, puzzled. "Why didn't the captain use his abilities? If he had, things wouldn't have turned out like this." Nelson couldn't understand his captain's thinking.

The damage was dispersed; Essel's ability was simply too unstoppable, completely ignoring Teach's attacks.

However, Teach's Dark-Dark Fruit is the bane of Devil Fruit users. As long as Essel's power is sealed and rendered ineffective, Essel should be able to deal with her easily with Teach strength.

"Hehe, Teach is just warming up, hasn't moved like this in a while, and taking the opportunity to feel that long-lost pain." Rediat chuckled when he heard Nelson's question.

Compared to tedious training, nothing compares to a thrilling battle. Just as Rediat said, Teach was only warming up.

Despite the relentless attacks from Essel and the waves of pain shooting through his mind, Teach was actually enjoying it.

Teach defended, then countered. Teach attacks had little effect on Essel, but even Essel's powerful punches couldn't inflict fatal damage on Teach.

In terms of both physique and martial arts skills, Essel is superior, with more experience and greater skill.

Essel was getting annoyed. Teach was proving to be quite a handful. He was forced to defend and dodge Teach's attacks, but Essel couldn't inflict any real damage on Teach because he couldn't even break through Teach's Haki.

Essel didn't want to wait any longer. He and Teach had been fighting for a full half hour, and he had no idea what had happened up above during that time.

However, he had already sensed many prisoners from the Infinite Hell arriving at the first level, the level on the Impel Down.

For now, Magellan, the successor he favored, seems to be doing a good job, preventing these vicious criminals from escaping.

After all, the power of the Venom-Venom Fruit is terrifying. Its venom and gas block the exit. If someone is poisoned, even if they manage to get out, without an antidote, how long can they last? They might just die at sea.

Given Magellan's abilities, lasting this long is practically his limit. The gap in raw power cannot be bridged by ability alone, and it's unknown how many other powerful individuals are hidden among these criminals.

Teach had only minor injuries, wiped a little blood from the corner of his mouth, and wore an excited smile.

Every punch from Essel was incredibly powerful, carrying a terrifying force that made it difficult to withstand.

Teach accepted the Haki head-on; such a fierce clash was a test of his own Haki.

Although Armament Haki has reached the highest level of internal destruction, this does not mean that Armament Haki has reached its limit and cannot be improved further.

At the same time, Teach was also getting used to Essel's physical techniques, which were unique and had many influences from the Marine Six Styles, as well as a relatively "reckless" fighting style that had gradually formed due to his Devil Fruit ability.

With this fighting style and these abilities, Essel would be a very difficult opponent for anyone.

Teach was no slouch. Despite the drawback of double the pain, a battle between strong individuals wouldn't end so quickly. In a short time, Essel couldn't inflict serious injuries Teach. His full-force punches could only cause minor wounds.

Teach didn't want to drag things out with Essel like this, because if they did, Essel would definitely be the ultimate victor.

By then, naval support might have already arrived, and the loss of contact with Impel Down would certainly be discovered by the Marine Headquarters in a short time.

This is just a warm-up; the real battle is about to begin. Teach doesn't want to fight against such a turtle shell; it's pointless.

Essel didn't intend to waste any more time. He wanted to eliminate Essel as quickly as possible, and to gain greater power, he would use some unconventional methods.

Both sides made their decisions at the same time. The next moment, a look of surprise flashed in Teach's eyes. He already knew what Essel was going to do. He had never thought that Essel's ability could be used in this way.

The next moment, a burst of heat emanated from Essel's body, and his powerful aura surged even higher.

Essel used Life Return, rapidly depleting his stamina to unleash even greater power and speed.

At the same time, this also weakens those prisoners.

Because he wasn't expending his own energy, but rather the energy of the tens of thousands of prisoners in Impel Down.

The prisoners in the Infinite Hell are not only in poor condition, but also lack stamina. Every bit of stamina must be carefully calculated, which makes them afraid to fight recklessly and unleash their full potential.

This burden was also shared by the prisoners, which weakened them as well.

Teach, however, thought of another aspect: the burning of life as a form of Life Return. If it were Essel, it wouldn't just be his life that would be burned, but also the lives of tens of thousands of prisoners.

With these prisoners taking the fall for him, the life-burning technique consumes very little energy for Essel. Compared to others who use it as a desperate move, Essel can use it as a regular skill.

That would be amazing, Teach believed his intuition; Essel could definitely do it.

The surge in momentum and the rapid depletion of stamina greatly enhanced Essel's combat power. Teach could sense that Essel's body was brimming with vitality.

If judged by combat strength standards, Essel is no worse than "Black Arm" Zephyr, whom he had met before.

He should have been slightly weaker, after all, as the warden of Impel Down, the man who brought Impel Down to its peak, Essel's combat strength was truly formidable, not just talk.

Unexpectedly, the power of the Connect-Connect Fruit, besides its defensive function, also has a remarkable effect on enhancing combat strength.

Let's transform those brief, explosive attacks into sustained, fruit-linked abilities, thus significantly reducing the side effects and energy consumption.