Roy stopped, the two of them now less than twenty paces apart. He reached for the long sword at his waist, its Shusui gleaming coldly in the moonlight.
"Let me see just how much this hawkish, iron-willed Admiral really weighs."
boom--!!!
Before Roy could finish speaking, Akainu made the first move.
That fist, enveloped in fiery magma, was powerful enough to turn mountains to ashes.
Akainu's punches were completely unpretentious.
It was just one punch.
The force originates from the waist, travels through the shoulder, and explodes into the fist, resulting in a standard Fist.
But what covered the fist wasn't Armament Haki, but rather scarlet magma.
Simple, direct, and brutal.
This is Akainu's fighting style.
No skills or changes are needed.
Magma-Magma Fruit is the most terrifying weapon of mass destruction; any fancy tricks are a waste of its power.
" Great Eruption!!!"
The magma fist expanded rapidly the moment it was unleashed, growing from the size of a person to over ten meters in size, like a meteorite erupting from the Earth's core, and hurtled towards Roy!
Wherever it passed, the air was ignited by the high temperature, emitting a sharp popping sound.
The heatwave swept over the ruins below, instantly igniting the remaining wood, melting the metal components, and even softening the ground into a pool of dark red lava.
Roy didn't try to catch it head-on.
His Telekinesis exploded beneath his feet, and his body became a blur as he dodged the direct impact of the giant magma fist.
Hot lava grazed his shoulder, and ripples spread across his Telekinesis armor, keeping the intense heat at bay.
A giant fist of magma slammed into the buildings behind him.
The buildings melted instantly upon contact with the magma; the steel bars turned into molten iron, the bricks and stones into lava, and the timber into fly ash.
In the span of two breaths, the three adjacent buildings were erased from the map of Sabaody, leaving behind only a churning lake of lava.
Roy glanced at the lava lake, raising an eyebrow slightly.
This punch was far more powerful than the one he threw at the auction.
It seems that Akainu was suppressed by Garp earlier and didn't use his full strength at all.
"You dodged pretty quickly."
Akainu's voice was deep and cold.
Without pausing, his right arm transformed into magma once more, unleashing three consecutive punches.
" Great Eruption - Triple Shot!"
Three giant magma fists slammed towards Roy in a triangular formation, blocking all his escape routes.
Each one was bigger, brighter, and hotter than the last one.
Three Magma Fist left three white trails of heat in the air, distorting and deforming the air, and causing the glass of the surrounding buildings to shatter.
A red light flashed in Roy's eyes.
In his perception, every move Akainu made was anticipated before it even "was about to happen."
Roy's figure flashed continuously in the air.
The first Magma Fist grazed his left shoulder. The second passed over his head.
The third magma fist came head-on—he didn't dodge. He condensed his Telekinesis into a tilted barrier in front of him. The Magma Fist slammed into the barrier, but the tilted angle changed its direction, sending it flying diagonally into the sky. It exploded in the clouds, dyeing the entire sky dark red.
Akainu frowned.
Two consecutive attacks failed.
Although his Great Eruption breath was strong, the charging time was too short. From elementalization to condensing into a fist, it took less than 0.3 seconds.
But in Roy's Future Sight, those 0.3 seconds represented three complete dodge windows.
" Heavenly Dao Emperor."
Akainu's voice carried a hint of mockery.
"All you know how to do is hide?"
Roy did not answer, accompanied by a ripple in the space in front of him.
His figure suddenly turned around three steps away from Akainu, circling around to Akainu's left and behind him.
The moment Shusui was drawn, jet-black Armament Haki had already enveloped the entire sword.
Akainu suddenly turned around and swept his right arm with a giant magma fist.
Too slow.
Before Akainu could even finish turning around, Shusui had already slammed heavily into his left shoulder.
But the terrifying speed, combined with Roy's immense strength and Armament Haki, made the impact of this blade strike comparable to a battering ram.
Akainu's left shoulder suddenly sank, and the force sent him flying sideways, his feet carving two deep furrows in the magma-filled ground.
Roy did not give chase.
He hovered in mid-air, flicked his wrist, and Shusui drew an arc in the air, flicking off the lava that clung to the blade.
" Admiral Akainu."
"It seems your verbal skills are far more impressive than your actual abilities!"
Akainu steadied himself, a dull ache throbbing in the spot on his left shoulder where the back of the blade had struck him.
There were no fractures, but the muscles were injured by the shock.
He raised his head, his eyes filled with even more murderous intent.
Roy continued, "But your attack charging is too predictable. Every Great Eruption has a fixed starting animation—"
He raised his Shusui, the tip pointing at Akainu's right shoulder.
"From the moment the elementalization begins on the right shoulder, to the magma condensing on the fist, and finally the force is unleashed, the time in between is short, but in my eyes, it's too slow."
Akainu's pupils contracted slightly.
He didn't expect that Roy had figured out his attack rhythm in just two rounds of combat.
This level of insight goes beyond simply having strong Observation Haki —it's proof that Observation Haki has been cultivated to the point of " Future Sight."
" Future Sight..." Akainu's voice was forced out through clenched teeth, "You, a pirate, actually..."
"Enough with the nonsense." Roy interrupted him, and his figure disappeared again.
This time, Akainu didn't stand still and wait.
His legs simultaneously transformed into elementals, magma gushing from beneath his feet, and his entire body became a torrent of magma, charging headlong towards Roy!
Since ranged attacks won't hit, let's fight in close combat—turn the entire battlefield into a lava field, and see where you can hide!
" Hell Hound!!!"
Akainu's right arm, already magma-formed, was further compressed, causing the magma's density to increase dramatically and its color to change from dark red to jet black.
That was the eerie color of magma after it was covered in Armament Haki.
His entire right arm transformed into a massive, dark red lava hound, its jaws agape as it lunged to tear at Roy's chest.
Roy's Observation Haki issued a sharp warning.
He dodged to the side, but the speed of the Hell Hound was too fast. Even as Roy dodged, it was still able to suddenly turn its head under Akainu's control.
The lava dog's head grazed his Telekinesis armor.
A tear was ripped in the armor, and high temperatures rushed in, burning the skin on his left rib.
Roy grunted, his Telekinesis exploding beneath his feet as he retreated.
He glanced down at his left side—his clothes were burned through, and there was a palm-length burn on his skin, the edges of which were charred and sizzling.
"Good."
He looked up, a serious glint in his eyes.
"That's an interesting move."
Without wasting words, Akainu charged forward again.
Hell Hound, Dog Biting Crimson Lotus, Volcanic Collapse —these close-combat killing moves were unleashed one after another, each aimed at Roy's vital points.
Lava surged between the two, the intense heat distorting and warping the air, and the surrounding buildings spontaneously combusted in the heatwave, the flames reddening half the sky.