[You... mustn't look back, Ace!]
[Don't look back.]
[Don't look back.]
"So... that's what it meant?"
Don't look back... because behind you stood someone you would give your life to protect.
Once you looked back, you could never let go again. You would plunge into the flames like a moth.
Ace's lips curved into a bitter yet relieved smile, blood spilling endlessly from his mouth.
But...
How could he possibly not look back!!!
This was his little brother!
The brother he had grown up with, who had promised to set sail with him-
The brother he had watched put on a straw hat and swear to become the Pirate King!!!
Their brotherly bond transcended blood ties and ran through their very bones. It had long since become part of his life.
It was more real, more profound than his biological father, who had given him his "sinful bloodline"!
To protect Luffy, he was willing to look back, willing to pay with his life!
"Hah!!" Akainu's killing intent had not diminished in the slightest after he pierced Ace!
"The Pirate King's bloodline is no different! But..."
With Whitebeard no longer there to stop him, his eyes hardened.
"You can't stop me!!!"
Before his words had even faded, energy began gathering wildly inside the fist that had punched through Ace's chest!
Boom!!!
The magma fist unleashed a second violent explosion inside Ace's chest!
The searing magma instantly destroyed what remained of Ace's life from within, while the explosion's terrifying shock wave and the surging magma-
Like a venomous dragon bursting from its lair, lunged straight at Luffy, who stood frozen in overwhelming grief in front of Ace, sheltered by his brother's body!
Akainu intended to skewer both these "sinful brothers" with the same fist that had pierced Ace!!
"Ace!!!" Jinbe, Marco, and