The Unlucky Great Shaman / Flame-Flame Fruit

Noil acknowledged the call and looked over, his face also turning grim.

That was a row of wooden racks, and scarlet fresh blood was splattered all over the ground. Bloody raw meat hung upon them, and human clothing fragments along with terrified faces of the dead with their eyes wide open were scattered across the floor.

What they had eaten was instantly crystal clear.

Noil shuddered, glaring angrily at the villagers who were like fierce wolves.

This island was simply an uncivilized, barbarous place, and the people on this island were inhuman beasts!

Seeing his own territory, Kasa stiffened his back and laughed wildly and brazenly, "Don't bother leaving since you dared to land on the island; obediently stay behind and become ingredients!"

"Just in time! We'll offer a most perfect tribute to the great shaman who taught us how to enjoy human meat!"

The villagers brandished their weapons and grew restless, looking at the four as if they were looking at dinner.

The four were surrounded, and Ace's expression turned solemn as he asked softly, "What do we do now? It's impossible to beat them all to death, right?"

A ruthless look appeared on Noil's face as he said, "Capture the ringleader first; it's that damn great shaman who taught them these things! Butcher him first!"

"Alright!"

As if hearing a joke, Kasa twisted his features and laughed like a madman, "Just you lot?!"

"How could you possibly defeat the great shaman who can create fireseeds!"

"Outsiders! You only deserve to become our..."

Before Kasa's arrogant roar finished, he suddenly felt a chill strike his neck!

Looking up again, the sky seemed to turn blood-red, the usually friendly villagers rushed forward like fierce ghosts, and his consciousness gradually blurred...

Noil gently raised the blood-stained Qingxing, stared at this bunch of true savages, and let out a furious roar:

"Damn great shaman, get your ass out here!!"

Chapter 30: The Unlucky Great Shaman

Accompanied by Noil's roar, the surrounding villagers also seemed to be provoked.

"Daring to insult the great shaman! Kill them!"

"Flay their skin off! Offer it to the great shaman!"

At the mention of that so-called great shaman, the villagers' appearances became even more ferocious as they brandished their weapons and charged forward.

Ace could no longer hold back, charging in with his fists raised, while Deuce and Skull also drew the flintlock pistols at their waists and opened fire to engage.

Meanwhile, a figure was faster than all of them; Noil bent over while holding his sword and swooped toward the crowd, reaching right under the villagers' noses in the blink of an eye.

Amidst the villagers' terrified gazes, Noil gripped his sword hilt and fiercely drew his blade to slash!

It was the famed high-speed quick-draw sword technique of the Flying Heaven Imperial Sword Style!

"Dragon Nest Flash!" As the cold words fell, Noil's sword quickly un-sheathed, the blade seemingly vanishing into thin air.

Gleams of light flashed, and within a mere second Noil launched dozens of chaotic slashes. Numerous enemies had not even seen where the attack landed before a fatal wound appeared on their bodies!

"Ah!"

It wasn't until the pain spread that the injured reacted, and a large swathe of enemies immediately collapsed in front of them!

"So... so strong!"

Deuce and Skull looked in shock at Noil, who was like a god of war, and stammered.

Ace's eyes gleamed with excitement as he said, "Noil is really strong!"

The villagers were too intimidated by Noil's stunt to step forward, and at that moment an aged voice suddenly rang out.

"Outsiders! You're courting death!"

Following the sound, Noil saw an old man with a gloomy expression step out, sporting white hair and a white beard.

Upon seeing him, the villagers instantly and joyfully made way for the old man, shouting, "The great shaman is here!"

"Great shaman, quickly step up and punish them!"

"Burn to cinders with heavenly fire, outsiders!"

Listening to the flattery of the crowd behind him, the great shaman inevitably grew a bit carried away.

An arrogant expression appeared on his withered, aged face as he disdainfully said to Noil and the three, "Brats, if you know what's good for you, surrender obediently and become old man's meal!"

The hot-tempered Ace couldn't hold back upon hearing this, cursing, "Crap, go suck on your mom's milk!"

Having cursed, Ace charged forward again. Since Noil had stolen the spotlight earlier, he hadn't had his fill yet!

The great shaman's old face flushed red from the curse, but seeing Ace's fist approaching his face, he neither dodged nor avoided it.

A trace of disdain even showed in his eyes!

Sure enough, Ace's fist, striking the old man's body, felt as though it hit a ball of fire; the great shaman's head exploded like fireworks, and Ace's arm passed right through the flames!

"So hot... What is this!"

Ace felt no impact sensation at all, and his palm even felt somewhat burning as he retracted his attack in surprise and spoke.

Amidst the villagers' worshipping gazes, the flames that made up the great shaman's head pieced themselves back together, revealing a smug old face as he laughed, "Hahaha, kid, have you felt the power of a god?!"

"A pervert who ate a Devil Fruit really thinks he's become a god?"

Noil's calm voice rang out. The great shaman's laughter stopped, and as if someone had seen right through his thoughts, he glared angrily at Noil.

Although he was revered as a god by the people on the island, he knew very well that this terrifying power stemmed entirely from a fruit he had eaten over a dozen years ago!

He was not a native of the island; he was originally a pirate who had been abandoned by his pirate crew because of his terrifying penchant for eating human flesh.

That was why he had run to this idyllic little island he accidentally discovered, lording it over others here for many years and living a comfortable life!

Noil's words undoubtedly ripped open the great shaman's years of fig leaves and self-hypnosis!

Ace slapped his head in sudden realization and said, "I know about Devil Fruits. Did this guy eat that kind of fruit like Luffy?"

The great shaman's beard trembled with anger, and his hands transformed into the shape of flames as he roared, "You two shut up!"

His arms elongated into flames and lunged forward, two pillars of fire rushing toward Noil and Ace respectively.

However, to Ace and Noil, the speed of such fire pillars was simply not worth noting; the two of them hopped lightly, and the surging pillars of fire missed entirely.

Ace taunted, "Old man, your aim isn't any good either, is it?"

Noil curled his lip; here was another guy who wasted a good fruit ability.

The beard-quivering, eye-rolling great shaman was completely provoked, his lower half completely turning into raging fire, and propelled by the flames, he rushed rapidly toward the two of them.

Knowing that his attacks couldn't reach him, Ace hurriedly dodged aside, so the great shaman changed direction and charged at Noil.

Seeing Noil "in a daze," the great shaman couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.

Stinky brat! Burn to ashes for me!

The speed at which the great shaman charged seemed like a turtle's pace in Noil's eyes. Having finally waited for him to reach right in front of him, Noil slowly raised his long leg above his head.

Got him!

Just as the great shaman was about to feel proud, a burst of intense pain that nearly made him faint suddenly came from his head.

A massive foot blackened with Armament Haki stepped onto the great shaman's head, and he was smashed into the ground headfirst like a inverted leek!

Nani?

The villagers panicked completely.

Why was the great shaman's miraculous fire-transformation ability useless?!

Ace looked at Noil, not quite understanding but feeling it was impressive, and cried out in shock, "Why can you hit this guy?"

Noil smiled at him and said, "This power is called Haki. I'll teach you later..."

"Awesome, awesome!"

Just as the two of them were joyfully conversing, a muffled voice came from beneath Noil's foot: "Don't get cocky, bastard! I'm not dead yet!"

The great shaman's entire body turned into flames and scattered to escape Noil's "magic foot," roaring furiously, "You've angered me, brat!"

Ace picked his ear and asked, "He said you angered him, Noil."

"Oh?" Hearing this, Noil didn't care at all and said flatly, "Then I must be really great."

As fanatical believers of the great shaman, the villagers' expressions were as pleasant as having eaten dung, while Deuce and Skull covered their mouths and chuckled secretly.

Stung to the verge of losing his mind by these two who ignored him, the great shaman roared and released flames.

He raised his hands above his head, and torrents of flame surged from his body, then frantically gathered in his palms.

The orange-red light grew brighter and brighter, and a fireball resembling a small sun gathered in the great shaman's palm, high-temperature airflow spraying toward everyone present.

Seeing the great shaman form the fireball with such impressive momentum, the villagers bowed down excitedly, their foolish zeal driving them to roar:

"The great shaman is invincible!"

"The great shaman is invincible!"

The great shaman's ability seemed to have reached its limit, his old face flushing purplish-red, yet he still didn't forget to flaunt his strength, shouting, "Go to hell! Bastard, this is the power of a god!"

Beneath the firelight, however, Ace showed no panic at all, and Noil even boredly began picking his nose.

With this skill involving both shouting and posing, the startup delay was so huge that it should be very easy to dodge, right?

This was Ace's thought.

And Noil's thought was even simpler:

After holding back such a big move for so long, isn't this just a castrated, weakened, noob version of the Great Flame Commandment: Flame Emperor?

Chapter 31: Flame-Flame Fruit

Lifting the chibi version of the Great Flame Commandment: Flame Emperor, the great shaman grinned hideously as he hurled the charged ultimate move, roaring, "Go to hell, bastards!"

The searing fireball enveloped the tops of the two heads, and Ace gently raised an eyebrow.

Well... his movement speed is indeed slow enough.

Agile Ace ran much faster than the fireball, easily dodging out of the battlefield in a few flashes.

Seeing this, the panting great shaman found that this brat could sprint away so fast that his eyeballs were practically flying out from anger!

Is my skill really that easy to dodge?

Looking back, however, the youth with a sword strapped to his waist stood there blankly, as if scared out of his wits.

The great shaman put on a smile again, but soon the smile stiffened on his face.

This scene... seemed somewhat familiar?

The fireball crashed heavily onto the ground, and a massive explosion and heatwave surged into the sky. Rolling heat currents rushed about in all directions, and the three of them hiding to the side widened their eyes.

Was Noil... alright?

Tongues of fire wantonly licked the red leaves on the island, charred thick smoke rose, and the small village instantly turned into a sea of flames.

Amidst the towering blaze, a black figure slowly walked out, and Ace and the others instantly recognized him—it was Noil!

Looking at Noil, who walked out of the big fire bathed in flames, the great shaman stared at him in shock and stammered, "Why... do you also have it... and it's black fire..."

Amaterasu Black Flame burned wildly on Noil's body, wisps of black fire framing his face, making his features even more bewitching and wicked, resembling a jade-faced Yama walking out of hell.

"Ordinary flames, how could they possibly compare to my Amaterasu Sunfire?" Noil raised his burning arm and said with satisfaction.

"Impossible! How can this be?!" The great shaman stared at Noil in disbelief.

From that terrifying temperature emitted by the black flame, his flame-constituted body actually felt a burning sensation!

How many years had it been since he last felt the sensation of being "hot"?!

"Go to hell! All of this of yours is fake!"

The great shaman lashed out, transforming into a fire whip to strike at Noil. Noil calmly raised his hand burning with Amaterasu Flame and easily batted away the fiery assault.

The orange-red flames seemed to have encountered a superior; the black Amaterasu Flame transformed into a glutton, frantically devouring the ordinary flames, and the great shaman's flames collapsed and scattered as if meeting their birth father.

"Impossible! Why is it like this?" Having stood high above for so long, the great shaman looked like he had seen a ghost as he collapsed to the ground in terror, staring at Noil in panic.