Black Arm and Divine Fire

The highland battlefield, thick with smoke and dust, froze to a point of absolute stillness.

Zephyr stood tall like an iron tower, his empty right sleeve flapping violently in the wind. The battle-hardened veteran stared coldly at Ace, the atmosphere heavy enough to suppress even the swirling smoke.

"I have seen far too many rookies who treat plunder and destruction as a child's game on this sea."

Zephyr's remaining left hand slowly clenched, his knuckles popping with a thunderous crack. "But in front of me, your little sailing game ends here."

Ace leaped down from the shattered ramparts, landing firmly on the solid rock ground with a dull, heavy thud.

He looked at the former Admiral who had lost his right arm, showing neither mockery nor hesitation.

"Whether it ends here or not, let's prove it with our fists."

The moment the words fell, both figures vanished from their spots!

"Bang!"

Two massive craters exploded into the ground where they had stood just a heartbeat before.

In mid-air, Zephyr's left arm was instantly coated in a layer of Armament Haki as black as iron. This was the "Black Arm" that had made him famous across the seas. Even without one arm, this tempered Haki still carried a weight capable of crushing mountains.

Ace held nothing back either. His right arm muscles tensed, high-level flowing Haki compressing on the surface of his fist, followed by the golden-red Vermilion Bird Divine Fire weaving and coiling around it.

"Divine Fire: Collapse Fist!"

"BOOM!!!"

The black fist and the red fist collided in the center of the battlefield without a hint of finesse.

A deafening sonic boom echoed through the heavens, and a visible white shockwave mixed with violent waves of fire swept outward from the center. The nearby wrecked tanks and piles of rubble were instantly sent flying over a hundred meters away.

What a heavy fist.

Ace felt a wave of numbness travel up his right arm and marveled inwardly. This was the Armament Haki of the old era's peak; the hardness, which felt as if it would press into his very marrow, exerted immense pressure even with his high-level Haki defense and the cushioning of his divine fire.

But across from him, Zephyr also frowned.

The surface of this young man's fist was actually swirling with a layer of flowing Haki that could penetrate the body from a distance. Combined with the high-temperature flames that could faintly scorch even his Black Arm, and a raw physical strength that was shockingly pure, he had actually managed to withstand his Smash Strike!

"No wonder you dared to target the Heavenly Tribute; you certainly have the capital for such arrogance!"

Zephyr let out a cold snort, his left arm surging with power as he pushed forward against Ace's fist, the two of them locked in a dangerous, close-quarters brawl.

As the commanders clashed, the air at the edge of the battlefield tightened as well.

"Instructor Zephyr!"

Vice Admiral Momonga saw this and immediately drew his famous blade, his figure flashing as he prepared to rush in and support.

"Your opponent is me, Vice Admiral."

A deep blue figure cut into the battlefield, blocking Momonga's path.

Sabo adjusted his top hat and tapped his alloy staff lightly against the ground. Orange-red flames instantly rose from beneath his feet, forming a wall of fire that isolated the battlefield.

"The Logia Mera Mera no Mi."

Vice Admiral Momonga stopped in his tracks, his eyes fixed sharply on Sabo as he spun his katana into a sword flourish. "Don't think that just because you have a Logia fruit, you can run rampant on this sea, pirate!"

"You can try and see."

Sabo curled his right index and middle fingers into a claw, instantly coating them in pitch-black Armament Haki. He took the initiative, meeting the fierce sword energy slashed out by Momonga with a brutal Dragon Claw. The staff and the katana collided in mid-air, showering the area in dense sparks.

Sabo was not yet at the level where he could suppress a Headquarters Vice Admiral, but his martial arts, Armament Haki, and Mera Mera no Mi were more than enough to make Momonga take him seriously.

Seeing the Vice Admiral intercepted, the two Navy Commodores who had landed with Zephyr immediately drew their weapons, locking their gazes onto Jeno and Leona in the rear.

"Take those two down first!"

The two Commodores roared, using the Navy's Soru to dash forward like blurred shadows.

"Well met! My newly repaired hammer was just missing some high-grade whetstones!"

Jeno let out a boisterous laugh as he watched the Commodores charge. The mechanical exoskeleton on his back vented scorching high-pressure steam, and his hulking frame surged forward instead of retreating, swinging his heavy Hydraulic Power Hammer down toward the incoming sabers.

On the other side, Leona gripped a black and a silver Bone-Cleaving Blade, blood dripping from their edges.

Having just slaughtered her way through thousands of soldiers, she felt no fear; instead, it had fully ignited the predatory ferocity she usually reserved for hunting giant beasts. As the Commodore approached, her wild, slit-pupiled eyes lit up.

"Since the Captain said this is just a stepping stone to break down the door, I'll use your officer's hide to sharpen my blades today!"

Leona grinned, her legs tensing as she launched herself forward. With the black and silver blades whistling through the air, she charged like a crazed lioness, engaging the Commodore in a lethal dance. Blades clashed, and sparks flew.

As the commanders and officers found their respective opponents, the elite Navy vanguard that had arrived later began to pour onto the highland from the direction of the port, attempting to surround the battlefield.

"Hey, hey, hey! Isn't this a bit too much?!"

Buggy shrieked at the sight of the massive wave of Navy soldiers. He left his legs where they were while his upper body flew high into the air to dodge the incoming bullets.

"Stop complaining, Chief Steward! If you don't want to get dragged off to Impel Down, get moving!"

Carina hid behind a wrecked tank, nimbly reloading her flintlock pistol. She calmly observed the flow of battle, quickly locking onto several Navy officers who were preparing to flank Leona.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two crisp shots rang out. Carina's precise marksmanship instantly disrupted the officers' advance.

"Where are you looking, you Navy idiots! Your opponent is me!"

With Carina providing fire support from the rear, Buggy's courage suddenly surged. Fully utilizing the crowd-control advantages of the Chop-Chop Fruit, he donned his Seastone Knuckles and wove back and forth through the ranks of the Marines.

"Chop-Chop: Spinning Flying Fist!"

Buggy's fist flew out from a tricky blind spot, knocking out a Marine soldier who was preparing to aim at Jeno, before folding in mid-air to bypass a thrusting saber and using the small blades popping out from his knuckles to sow chaos among the crowd.

The entire area in front of the Highland Fortress had completely devolved into a brutal melee.

The deafening sounds of metal clashing, the roar of flames, and the whirring of steam-powered exoskeletons were all woven together.

In the center of the battlefield, the exchange of blows between Ace and Zephyr had reached a fever pitch.

"BOOM!"

Ace took the full force of one of Zephyr's heavy Black Arm punches, his blood churning, yet the fighting spirit in his eyes burned even brighter. Using the momentum of the impact, he swung his right leg like a battle-axe wreathed in divine fire, aiming a fierce strike at Zephyr's flank.

Against a legend of the old era who had tempered his Armament Haki to the absolute peak, any hesitation would be fatal. Ace took a deep breath, pushing his Haki to its absolute limit without reservation.

He intended to use this veteran, known across the seas as "Black Arm," as the ultimate whetstone to fully hone the internal destructive power of his own Haki!

"Again."

Ace shook his numbing arm, and his iron fist, wreathed in Ryuo and divine fire, struck out once more.