Bang! Bang! Bang!
Luffy landed several punches on Blackbeard, but he soon sprang back in pain. His hands burned as though they had nearly been charred.
Blackbeard's fists weren't the only parts of him made of magma. His entire body was. Luffy had yet to master Haki, so he couldn't touch him at all.
Even when Luffy landed a hit, he was the one who suffered. The magma's heat, thousands of degrees strong, left him no way to strike, but it did nothing to slow Blackbeard. His attacks remained steady and fierce.
"Hell Hound!"
Blackbeard gave a contemptuous sneer and drove a fist at Luffy. Luffy hurriedly dodged. The punch missed him and blasted a huge crater into the ground. Magma sprayed everywhere, burning everything it touched to ash in the blink of an eye. Even soil, sand, and stone could not withstand it.
Thick smoke billowed skyward. For a hundred meters in every direction, the land resembled a Purgatory Sea of Fire.
"What's wrong? You can't win by running and hiding! Zehahaha... Great Eruption!"
Blackbeard grew more pleased with himself. He was becoming increasingly adept with the magma's power, and he had come to like it.
Blackbeard had long coveted Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit, but the Magma-Magma Fruit was no less powerful. Its ability to burn everything and strike fear into all living things satisfied him immensely.
"Gear Second!"
Luffy didn't want to keep dodging, but he had no choice. Blackbeard left him no opening.
Once Luffy entered Gear Second, his speed multiplied. He moved faster and faster, leaving a trail of afterimages that made the eye struggle to follow him.
With a sharp cry, Luffy put all his strength into a punch that struck Blackbeard in the chest. "Gum-Gum Stretchy Rocket!"
Boom! His fist sizzled painfully against the heat,