To Ace's surprise, his casual curse, born of anger, immediately silenced Blackbeard, who stopped laughing in that disgusting way.
A ruthless glint flashed in Blackbeard's eyes as he stared intently at Ace.
What did you just say?!
Blackbeard uttered these words almost through gritted teeth, a terrifying killing intent emanating from him.
However, Ace showed no fear whatsoever; he just stared blankly at Blackbeard, wondering what he had just said.
"I'm telling you, you son of a bitch!"
" Cross Fire!"
Ace didn't care why Teach was doing this and directly unleashed a terrifying burst of flames.
However, this ability was not very effective against Blackbeard, as it was completely blocked by the black barrier.
"Damn Ace, I'm going to kill you!"
Instead of retreating, Blackbeard advanced, charging towards Ace at incredible speed, his fingers emitting black substance as he reached out to grab Ace.
Ace was equally fast, instantly dodging Blackbeard's attack, and then unleashing a Fire Fist.
However, this time Ace was more cautious and did not attack Blackbeard directly. The flames exploded before they even hit the opponent.
The violent explosion sent Blackbeard flying.
"Efficient!"
A glint flashed in Ace's eyes as he unleashed his Devil Fruit power at full force, bombarding Blackbeard like a mortar.
Blackbeard hadn't expected Ace to have this trick up his sleeve. His anger vanished instantly, and he was left feeling dizzy from the blast.
"Hateful!"
Blackbeard stared intently at Ace, surprised that his opponent was so difficult to deal with.
" Black Hole Release!"
With a roar from Blackbeard, all the trees and boulders that had just been swallowed were sent hurtling towards Ace.
"Holy shit..."
Ace quickly dodged, but just then, Blackbeard's figure appeared in front of him.
"You thief! Hahaha, I've got you!"
" Black Water!"
A resolute glint flashed in Ace's eyes as he watched the dark hand reach for him.
"Armed Flame Fist!"
Ace's Armament Haki -covered fist slammed into Blackbeard's five fingers, and the flames on his fist vanished instantly.
Although Blackbeard's power extinguished the flames, he failed to defeat Ace, and their attacks collided fiercely.
"Boom..."
With a loud bang, the two were simultaneously thrown back dozens of meters. Blackbeard wore a cruel smile and clenched his slightly numb fingers.
Ace's face looked rather grim; five scratches appeared on the back of his hand, and a trickle of blood oozed out.
"Hahaha, your domineering Haki is still too weak, kid."
This move had previously caused Shanks, who was unprepared, a great loss, but it didn't seriously injure Ace, which surprised Blackbeard.
A flash of fire, Logia ability activated, instantly stopping the bleeding.
At this moment, Ace finally understood why Lin Yuan had asked him to pay attention to Blackbeard; he hadn't expected Teach's Haki to be even stronger than his own.
"Hmph, Fire Pistol!"
Ace made a gun-raising gesture with both hands, and then countless fire bullets bombarded Teach.
"Hahaha, useless!"
Blackbeard wore a disdainful expression. After understanding Ace's techniques, he used his Dark-Dark Fruit powers to directly devour the flames, and even absorbed the energy of the explosion.
"Hmph, you want to devour me? Then I'll let you devour as much as you want!"
A resolute look appeared on Ace's face. He leaped into the air, and countless flames erupted instantly, setting everything within a thousand meters ablaze.
Blackbeard, surrounded by black matter that kept the flames at bay, looked up at Ace.
As for Lafitte and the others, they also retreated a distance.
Ace's eyes burned with fury. He raised his right hand, and a ball of fire, about a meter in size, appeared, slowly growing larger.
One meter, ten meters, one hundred meters, two hundred meters, five hundred meters...
As Ace continued to unleash his abilities, a fireball nearly a kilometer long formed, and the terrifying heat scorched the ground into Kurozumi.
A flicker of shock crossed Blackbeard's eyes; he hadn't expected his opponent to have this trick up their sleeve.
"Let's attack together and interrupt him!"
Seeing the fireball continue to grow larger, Blackbeard had no intention of fighting one-on-one and roared at Jesus Burgess and the others.
"Bang..."
Van Augur was the first to make a move, firing a bullet imbued with Armament Haki directly at the fireball in Ace's hand.
However, the bullet didn't ignite; it was simply melted.
As for Lafitte, Jesus Burgess, and a dozen or so other members of the Blackbeard Pirates, they quickly rushed over, ready to gang up on Ace.
"Go!"
Ace ignored them, his face contorted with bulging veins, and hurled the massive fireball at Blackbeard.
Within a radius of one kilometer, the earth was scorched and cracked.
Blackbeard, his face contorted with fear, roared.
" Black Hole..."
A shocking scene unfolded: the evil, dark matter that had been flowing on the ground suddenly rushed towards the fireball and then rapidly spread upwards.
At this moment, everyone's eyes were on this scene: the clash between darkness and fire.
Ace was breathing heavily; he could no longer ignite flames of that magnitude, and could only try to recover his strength as quickly as possible.
Blackbeard's face also showed solemnity, and countless dark energies surged forth, attempting to devour the enormous fireball.
"Hahaha, swallow it!"
Finally, Blackbeard gained the upper hand, and countless darkness enveloped the giant fireball.
However, Blackbeard was also in bad shape, his face flushed red, and the dark energy enveloping the fireball was even emitting heat.
"Release!"
Blackbeard's pupils contracted; he felt as if the flames he was being devoured were about to explode, even though he couldn't completely absorb them.
Without a second thought, Blackbeard immediately aimed at the distant sea and unleashed a fireball using his ability.
"Boom..."
The fireball that had just crashed into the sea could no longer maintain its momentum and exploded.
A terrifying mushroom cloud rose into the sky, and near the coast, the seawater was directly evaporated, creating a terrifying Abyss.
Everyone was trying to block the terrifying aftershocks of energy. The scorching wind seemed to burn people, and half of the deserted island was enveloped in flames.
"Hahaha, let's attack together! He's running low on energy, grab him!"
Blackbeard wore a cruel smile; that attack had also taken a toll on him.
Lafitte and Van Augur did not rush over immediately, but instead prepared to launch a ranged attack.
As for Jesus Burgess and the other dozen or so pirates, they all rushed over impatiently, completely disregarding the terrifying aftershocks.
Because Blackbeard promised them that whoever could perform meritorious service first could be the first to ask for the Devil Fruit they wanted.
These ruthless scoundrels always put profit first. Now, their ambition has taken over, and they all want to take down Ace after he's been weakened.
Blackbeard also laughed, looking at his men with satisfaction.
Ace watched this scene coldly, then glanced at Blackbeard, who was far away from him.
"Then you can all die!"
Unbeknownst to anyone, the fire intensified in the burning area, then slowly merged together.
Flames within a radius of one kilometer slowly surrounded everyone, except for Lafitte and Van Augur. Everyone else, including Blackbeard and Jesus Burgess, was within this area.
"Boom!"
Terrifying flames soared into the sky, rising a thousand meters high. The enormous flames formed a fiery tornado, and within a radius of a thousand meters, the temperature rose sharply, and the earth began to melt.
" Flame Ring!"