Akainu's deep, hoarse voice came from the maw of the Lava Behemoth, where tongues of flame danced. Mixed with the crackle of molten rock, it sounded somewhat garbled.
"Dog Biting Crimson Lotus!"
Akainu hurled both his arms outright. The lava limbs reshaped themselves in midair, then broke into a run. Two hyenas, slightly smaller than the last, appeared on the ground of Saipan Island and charged at Whitebeard, snapping their jaws like mad. Meanwhile, Akainu's arms re-formed from lava. His attack was far from over!
"Great Eruption!"
Jets of scorching flame suddenly erupted from the shoulders of the giant Akainu had become!
His enormous body lunged forward, and his fist came with it!
"Aaaah!"
Gripping the axe with both hands, Whitebeard swung it twice through the air, sending two enormous white slashes toward the wildly snapping hyenas!
One white slash cleaved a hyena clean in half at the waist! Seeing its companion cut down, the other opened its jaws to bite the slash, only to be split in two starting from its mouth!
But no sooner had Whitebeard dealt with them than he saw Akainu charging toward him!
The power Akainu's enormous body poured into his fist was naturally immense, but Whitebeard's comparatively smaller frame seemed to hold even greater strength!
The muscles of Whitebeard's bent left arm twitched furiously, accompanied by the crackle of his joints. Then, the instant he straightened it, that immense, concentrated power erupted, meeting Akainu's enormous fist head-on!
"What?!"
Feeling the tremendous force that remained even after passing through layer upon layer of lava, Akainu was stunned. He had still underestimated Whitebeard. Whitebeard had infused that force with the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit. As though breaking apart from within, Akainu's enormous lava arm twisted ceaselessly in midair before finally disintegrating...
At that same instant,