The heavy sweeping kick, wreathed in Crimson-Gold Divine Fire, came crashing toward Zephyr's waist like a colossal axe cleaving through a mountain.
Facing this fierce strike, infused with Ryuo, Zephyr didn't even try to dodge. His only remaining left arm dropped sharply, like a pitch-black support pillar, and braced firmly against his waist.
"Bam!"
The instant his leg collided with Zephyr's arm, a violent blast of air swept the rocks beneath them into the sky.
"Too weak, brat!"
Zephyr took the blow head-on. A ferocious glint suddenly blazed in his weathered eyes. The muscles in his left arm bulged like coiling dragons, and the pitch-black Armament Haki compressed to an extreme in an instant, becoming a dense, suffocating force of destruction.
"Black Arm Rock!"
Zephyr's left fist shot forward like a heavy siege cannon, blasting toward Ace's chest at point-blank range.
Ace's gaze sharpened. He quickly drew his right arm back and crossed both arms over his chest, as advanced flowing Haki and Divine Fire instantly formed a defensive barrier across them.
"Boom!!"
A deep, muffled crash, like an ancient bell being struck, echoed across the battlefield.
Ace felt a terrible pain jolt through his arms, as if the impact would shatter even the marrow in his bones. The density and sheer weight of Zephyr's honed Armament Haki were almost beyond belief. Even with Ryuo dispersing the force and Divine Fire cushioning the blow, its terrifying penetrating power still broke through his defense and struck his chest.
Ace's burly frame slid backward against his will, his feet gouging two deep furrows dozens of meters long into the hard ground. He only came to a stop after smashing through the remains of a fortress wall.
"Cough."
Ace's chest tightened, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood-flecked saliva.
Yet with his very next breath, a cluster of crimson-gold Nirvana Fire flared to life on his chest and arms. The tiny capillaries and muscle fibers Zephyr had ruptured healed in an instant, nourished by the Divine Fire.
"Hm?"
Zephyr's sharp eyes caught the sight from afar, and his brow furrowed deeply.
"Not only can he unleash flames of an exceptionally high temperature, but he also has such outrageous regenerative abilities... I see. An extremely rare Mythical Zoan?"
As a former Marine Admiral, Zephyr had an exceptionally keen eye. He saw through the true nature of Ace's power at a glance.
"Relying on a Mythical Zoan's recovery to recklessly trade blows with me."
Zephyr advanced with heavy steps, each one deepening the iron-blooded killing intent around him. "I've personally buried countless rookies like you in my time—overreliant on their Devil Fruits and convinced they're invincible!"
"Relying on my fruit?"
Ace rose to his feet amid the rubble and casually wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. As he watched Zephyr stride toward him, not only was there no fear in his eyes, but a fervent battle spirit blazed in them—the thrill of finally meeting a worthy opponent.
"Old man, don't lump me in with those weaklings."
Ace bent his knees slightly. The mighty flow of blood and energy within him roared like an engine. He drew in all the Crimson-Gold Divine Fire covering his body, compressing it to the utmost before channeling it into the deep, flowing Haki in his right fist.
The flames no longer burst outward. Instead, Armament Haki forced them to stay confined around his knuckles, forming a terrifying vortex that blazed with dazzling white light, like a high-pressure crucible.
"Divine Fire Cone!"
The ground exploded beneath Ace's feet. He became a streak of black and red, shooting toward Zephyr. This intensely compressed punch abandoned all wide-area destruction, pursuing only the ultimate penetration of a single point and devastation from within!
Zephyr's eyes flashed with surprise as he watched the punch tear through the air toward him.
"Forcing the explosive properties of fire into Haki and compressing them? What a crazy combat genius!"
But surprise or not, Zephyr's resolute face showed no hint of retreat.
His remaining left arm drew sharply back, and the muscles throughout his body cracked like firecrackers. His Black Arm, tempered through decades of life-and-death battles, unleashed a sheer, overbearing force capable of crushing any technique.
"But your Haki is still too green to stand against my decades of experience! Black Arm Mountain Puller!"
"Rumble!!!"
A large fist and a small one, both carrying world-shattering force, collided violently in midair once more, in the most primal and brutal manner imaginable!
This time, their clash didn't unleash a shock wave across the surrounding area.
All their force—the heat and the destructive power of their Haki—was compressed into the single point where their fists met.
"Creeeak—!"
The ground beneath them broke into a dense web of cracks, then rapidly collapsed and sank. The air around them warped violently under the extreme pressure and heat, even letting out a piercing wail.
Ace gritted his teeth, the muscles in his right arm bulging until they looked ready to tear apart. He could clearly feel his intensely compressed Ryuo and Divine Fire being crushed bit by bit and forced back by Zephyr's seemingly solid black armor.
This one-armed veteran's mastery of Armament Haki was like an immovable, living volcano!
"Your flowing Haki is indeed ingenious, but you can't build up a deep reserve of Haki overnight just by relying on talent!"
Zephyr roared, and a second burst of monstrous strength surged from his left arm, sweeping forward like a landslide.
"Bam!"
The compressed vortex around Ace's fist burst apart completely, and the irresistible force hurled him backward once more.
This time, Zephyr didn't give Ace a chance to hit the ground and recover.
"Geppo!"
Zephyr's burly frame moved with incredible agility as he stomped repeatedly through the air, moving even faster than Ace as he flew backward. Like a black eagle swooping on its prey, he appeared above Ace in an instant.
"It's over, you East Blue madman!"
Zephyr's head pointed downward as his left leg, like a pitch-black steel whip, tore through the air with a shrill whistle and slammed down hard onto Ace's chest.
"Boom!"
Ace's body plunged toward the ground like a meteor, smashed down with merciless force.
With a crash that shook the entire highland, the hard rock strata were smashed into a colossal crater more than thirty meters across. Rocks and dust blasted into the sky, obscuring the center of the battlefield.
Zephyr landed steadily at the crater's edge, breathing slightly harder.
He was advanced in years, and the unrestrained barrage of attacks he had just unleashed had taken a considerable toll on his stamina.
He stared coldly at the dust swirling across the bottom of the crater.
He hadn't held back at all with that crushing kick. Even if his opponent was a Zoan user, such a solid hit—one that inflicted internal damage—should have shattered his internal organs.
And yet.
"Rattle... rattle..."
A faint sound of rocks tumbling suddenly came from the silent crater.
Zephyr's pupils contracted slightly.
The dust gradually cleared.
In the center of the pit, several meters deep, the tall, muscular young man with black hair slowly straightened amid the rubble.
A bright streak of blood hung from the corner of Ace's mouth. A clear, charred footprint marked the solid muscles of his chest. The fatal injury, enough to kill an ordinary pirate ten times over, was rapidly healing beneath clusters of crimson-gold Divine Fire.
"Whew..."
Ace breathed out a stream of hot air, tinged with the smell of blood.
He raised a hand and wiped away the blood from the corner of his mouth, then slowly rolled his neck, producing a series of crisp cracks from his bones.
He lifted his head and looked at Zephyr, standing at the edge of the crater. His deep black eyes held not the slightest frustration at being overpowered. Instead, they blazed with intense excitement, as though he'd spotted perfect prey.
"Now that was fun! What a hit! No wonder they call you the 'Black Arm'—you've trained your Armament Haki to the very peak. That sheer weight from compressing Haki to its limit really taught me a lesson."
Ace walked up from the crater, one step at a time.
With each step, the flow of blood and energy within him grew more violent, and the temperature of the surrounding air climbed sharply.
"Old man, your Haki is definitely tough."
Ace stopped, facing Zephyr from a distance.
A terrifying aura, more ancient and majestic than before and brimming with the power of utter destruction, began to awaken within him without restraint.
"But that's enough warm-up."
Before you continue