Back on his feet, Akainu stared grimly at the pirates beginning to hesitate around him and went straight to work without a word.
Scorching heat rose once more, casting flickering light across the pirates' faces.
"Damn it, he recovered!"
"Didn't that bastard say he'd be out of action for a whole day? Damn it!"
"Now we're in trouble!"
"Great Eruption!"
A gigantic magma fist smashed forward. A dozen or so pirates failed to dodge and were engulfed in magma.
"Aaaaaaah!"
The sound of burning fat set everyone's nerves on edge.
"W-we can still fight him! He hasn't fully recovered!"
"That's nowhere near as powerful as before!"
"We can do this! We outnumber him!"
Akainu's response was another eruption of even hotter magma, treating them to a free scalding bath.
Seeing Akainu regain his ability to move, Aequus finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Then he focused all his attention on the pirates before him.
He punched, again and again.
Each punch landed a little harder than the last.
The Armament Haki within him worked furiously, like a pump.
Elsewhere, Christa unleashed her full might, shaking heaven and earth in her battle with the monster.
By now, the monster could no longer even touch Christa. He could only endure her lightning strikes.
They tore his flesh open and damaged muscle and bone alike.
But to keep the monster suppressed, Christa had to summon Thunderbolt without pause.
And that meant constantly draining her stamina.
Another half hour passed, yet the monster still wasn't dead. His wounds had only grown more gruesome, while his movements remained swift.
He was like a zombie.
Christa gritted her teeth and glanced at Aequus and Akainu out of the corner of her eye.
Both were practically buried under pirates.
They could barely fend for themselves, let alone