"Cough... cough, cough..."
In the crater, Ace coughed violently. Every breath tugged at his battered chest and abdomen, sending waves of tearing pain through him.
Yet he stubbornly pushed himself up on trembling arms and slowly rose from the crater. He lifted his head, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
"Even if..." His voice was hoarse. "Even if no one in the world accepts my existence!
"No matter how much they hate me, how much they reject me..." Ace straightened his back, and the flagging flames around him surged once more.
This time, the flames were no longer blazing white, but a deep blend of eerie blue and dark red!
"I'll still become a great pirate! I'll make every last one of them see me in a new light!
"I'll make sure the whole world knows my name..." Ace roared at the sky, his voice soaring into the clouds with the exploding flames.
"Not because I carry that man's blood!!
"I am... Portgas D. Ace!
"My name begins with my mother's name! Not that man's!!!"
Boom!!! With that cry from his soul, the enormous, spinning vortex of flames beneath Ace's feet suddenly expanded outward from him.
In an instant, it covered hundreds of meters in every direction!
Within the vortex, fire was no longer a gentle element. It was savage!
"Great Flame Commandment..." The enormous vortex rose from the ground like a firestorm connecting heaven and earth, engulfing Gern and everything around him!
The vortex spun at high speed, radiating terrifying heat as it sucked away every last trace of air.
Then, within that raging vortex, several hideous demon heads formed from flames compressed to their utmost limit.
"Demon Fire!!!!" As the words fell, the demon heads unleashed silent roars, all locking onto Gern at the center of