"Watch out!"
Ye Chen gritted his teeth. Ignoring his injuries, he planted both feet and lunged forward. He drew the Twin Swords and brought them down with all his strength, putting the force of his fall behind the strike and focusing every ounce of power into one point.
A blood-red arc of sword light tore through the air toward Akainu's back. Akainu spun around, but Ye Chen shifted sideways in midair with Geppo. His figure blurred, leaving a dark afterimage as he appeared beside Kuina and pulled her to safety.
They had barely moved when a thunderous crash erupted behind them. The ground shook, sand and stone flew, and a blast of air surged upward. Even the nearby air shimmered with heat, trailing plumes of white smoke.
Ye Chen looked back. The ground behind them was a charred wasteland, spattered with molten rock. Nothing on earth stood a chance against that magma. Anything it touched was incinerated at once.
Black smoke billowed over the shore and flames leaped high. Even the sky overhead had lost its blue. Gray and hazy as a battlefield choked with smoke, it was impossible to see through.
"Hahaha..."
Akainu swept a contemptuous glance over Ye Chen and the others, a sneer curling his lips. "Grim Reaper Pirates, your voyage ends here."
He fixed Ye Chen with a cold stare, as though he were already looking at a dead man.
Just then, a fierce wind whipped across the sand farther down the shore. A dark figure streaked through it like lightning and arrived before them in the blink of an eye.
"Who's there?"
Akainu's ears twitched. He could clearly sense a powerful presence closing in fast behind him.
The moment he turned, a flash of sword light filled his vision. Akainu was startled. So fast!
He