"Twin blade emperors!"
With a flap of his wings, the flames behind the Pteranodon fired countless flaming bullets.
They were packed so densely that they nearly blocked Aequus's entire field of vision.
The surrounding pirates were caught in the crossfire.
Those flaming bullets were far more powerful than ordinary ammunition.
Pirates fell in droves.
Yet Aequus, standing at the center and bearing the brunt of the attack, remained utterly unmoved.
The bullets tore through his skin, but the wounds healed in an instant.
The sight filled the surrounding pirates with despair.
At last, the flaming bullets faded away, as if unwilling to give up.
But King had vanished from his spot.
Aequus's heart jolted.
A wave of heat was already rushing at him from behind.
"Guardian Fire Dragon Emperor!"
King slashed his sword, sending a dragon formed of flames surging from the blade.
The flames were blisteringly hot, like magma.
Aequus's pupils contracted, and he hurriedly dodged to the side.
To his surprise, the fire dragon turned its head to follow him and kept flying toward him.
Seeing that, Aequus simply stopped dodging.
He took a deep breath. Like a hydraulic press inside his body, something compressed a tremendous amount of Armament Haki into his right fist.
"Iron Fist: Adamant!"
The instant they collided, Aequus felt a searing heat.
Sweat poured from his body.
Only to evaporate a moment later.
Aequus gritted his teeth and threw another punch at the fire dragon.
"Iron Fist: Level mountains and seas!"
His punch unleashed a strange wave that had no effect on the fire dragon.
Instead, it passed through the dragon and hurtled toward King.
King had never expected that.
It struck him squarely.
The tremendous force snapped King's head back.
He spat out a mouthful of bile.
His entire body folded into