"Enough with these pointless little tricks—Flame Commandment: Flame Pillar!"
Blazing flames roared to life around Ace, shooting skyward as countless splinters of wood and chunks of stone rained in every direction.
"Stop! You can't beat him as you are now!"
A bead of cold sweat formed on Marshall D. Teach's forehead as he turned and barked a warning.
"You're only saying that now? Isn't it a little too late? Fire Fist!"
Scorching flames instantly swallowed everyone. Van Augur's expression changed, and he vanished from sight in an instant.
At the same time, Laffitte sprang into the air and escaped the flames. Doc Q, Jesus Burgess, and Marshall D. Teach, who had no means of escape, were engulfed by the blaze.
"Ouahhh! Wait, hot, hot, hot, hot..."
Marshall D. Teach, who had been sent flying by the punch, rolled about on the ground in agony. Ace, separated from him by the flames, failed to notice that there was not a single burn on his body.
Everyone: "Captain!"
Marshall D. Teach: "Wait, damn it..."
Within the sea of flames, Ace slowly stepped forward, his eyes cold and merciless beneath the curtain of fire.
"Zehahahaha... I know, Ace. You really want to kill me, don't you? After all, murdering a crewmate is a grave crime!"
"But there was no other way. That fruit in his hands was the fruit I had dreamed of for twenty years..."
"According to the rules aboard the ship, whoever obtained it first had the right to eat it first. In order to get it, I memorized the shapes of every single fruit in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia."
"That was why I could recognize at a glance that Thatch had taken the fruit I had longed for day and night!"
"Come to think of it, I stayed aboard Whitebeard's