“How could I face justice again if I retreated before a villain like that?” Akainu demanded, leaving Zephyr speechless.
Young and impetuous, Akainu did not care whether he was injured or even killed.
He only knew that retreating merely because Whitebeard might be ahead would be utterly unacceptable.
He absolutely could not flee without a fight.
Once he ran, he would never be able to hold his head high again or face the justice within his heart!
Even if Whitebeard appeared before him, Akainu would charge forward.
Even if he died, he would make sure his blood splashed across Whitebeard and tear away a piece of his flesh.
“Contact Marine Headquarters immediately and request reinforcements!” “We’re going to meet them!
Everyone, prepare for battle!” Zephyr shouted to the soldiers aboard the warship.
His adjutant hurried away to contact Headquarters.
As the two sides continued approaching, they soon came into view of each other.
Whitebeard and Zephyr stared at one another across the pirate ship caught between their vessels.
Without hesitation, Whitebeard unleashed the attack he had been preparing.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Zephyr was also prepared.
Using Moonwalk, he kicked against the air in a series of explosive bursts and charged directly toward the incoming attack.
“Armament: Iron Body!” With a roar, Zephyr’s arms turned pitch-black.
He clenched his right hand into a fist, incorporating Iron Body into his strike.
Whitebeard’s slash rapidly closed in.
Crack!
The pirate ship between them was instantly destroyed by the slash, disintegrating into countless fragments of wood.
“Ahhh!” Zephyr roared and punched the terrifying slash head-on.
Boom!
A violent explosion erupted, releasing a powerful shock wave.
The sea churned as towering waves rose around them.
The aftermath of the first probing exchange between the two top-tier fighters made everyone feel as though the end of the world had arrived.
Zephyr was still slightly weaker.
Although he shattered the slash, he was forced backward through the air, each step striking hard enough to create another explosion beneath his feet.
Zephyr had fallen behind in their first exchange.
If Garp or Sengoku had been in his place, they would never have been disadvantaged by the opening move.
“Here I come!” Whitebeard shouted.
He pushed off with both feet, stomping heavily against the ship’s bow as he launched himself toward Zephyr.
The whale-shaped bow of the Moby Dick suddenly sank beneath his step, causing the entire ship to tilt.
“Tempest Kick: Afterimage!” Still in the air, Zephyr kicked repeatedly toward Whitebeard, launching a barrage of flying slashes.
Whitebeard coated his entire body in Armament Haki and shattered each incoming slash with Murakumogiri.
The few that struck him directly caused no harm.
Upon reaching Zephyr, Whitebeard swung Murakumogiri through the air at his head.
Bang!
Murakumogiri, infused with Armament Haki and the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, was blocked by Zephyr’s pitch-black wrist.
The name Black Arm was well deserved.
He had directly withstood a strike from Whitebeard’s Supreme Grade Blade.
The Tremor-Tremor Fruit’s power caused the muscles and tendons in Zephyr’s arm to go numb and suffer internal damage, but no external wound appeared.
Without the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, the attack would not have injured him at all.
It would merely have consumed some of his Armament Haki.
Although Whitebeard was stronger, defeating Zephyr easily was nothing more than a fantasy.
Their battle would be one of attrition.
Damage would accumulate little by little as their stamina and Armament Haki were gradually depleted, until one of them could no longer endure.
“Shave,” Zephyr whispered before vanishing.
“Finger Pistol: Thrust!” A pitch-black index finger stabbed toward Whitebeard’s shoulder blade.
Pfft!
A line of blood sprayed out.
Zephyr’s index finger pierced deep into Whitebeard’s flesh, leaving behind a small hole.
However, for Whitebeard, who stood more than six meters tall, such a minor injury was negligible and could be ignored.
By contrast, Whitebeard’s earlier downward slash had injured Zephyr internally with the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
That wound would significantly affect the remainder of the battle.
The clash between the two powerhouses was terrifying.
Every collision of fists and feet was accompanied by a sonic boom.
The aftermath kept the surrounding sea in constant turmoil.
Both men tacitly chose the sky as their battlefield, avoiding those fighting aboard the ships below.
Otherwise, they might accidentally kill everyone on both sides and be the only two left alive.
Zephyr had mastered the Six Powers, and Moonwalk allowed him to fight nimbly in the air.
Whitebeard also possessed methods of fighting in midair.
Once someone’s strength reached a certain level, they would naturally possess some degree of aerial mobility.
That was especially important for Devil Fruit users.
Without a way to remain airborne, falling into the sea would be a miserable way to die.
No Devil Fruit user of sufficient strength would simply drown so easily.
Even Seastone merely suppressed their Devil Fruit abilities.
It did not leave them completely powerless.
The battle between Whitebeard and Zephyr would not be decided quickly, while the fighting aboard the ships below was even more dangerous.
Oden charged at the forefront, clashing fiercely with Akainu.
Clang!
Oden’s two Great Grade Blades struck Akainu’s sword with tremendous force.
Akainu’s blade was covered in magma, which splattered outward upon impact.
Sizzle!
A drop of magma landed on Oden’s face and began steadily burning his skin.
Even though Oden defended himself with Armament Haki, he could still feel the magma’s terrifying heat and corrosive properties.
“The outside world truly is exciting!
You even possess an ability like this—a genuine natural disaster!” Oden said with a smile, his face pitch-black beneath a coating of Armament Haki.
In his opinion, Akainu’s ability was just as terrifying as Whitey Bay’s.
One excelled at widespread destruction, while the other focused on concentrated bursts.
Both could be called natural disasters.
Oden attempted to speak with him, but Akainu remained silent and simply discarded the sword in his hand.
Akainu had once fought with a sword and considered himself a swordsman.
However, after obtaining the Mag-Mag Fruit, he gradually discovered that its power suited him better.
Although he still habitually carried a sword, his swordsmanship was insufficient against an opponent of equal strength, much less a true master of the blade.
He had set swordsmanship aside for several years to study his Devil Fruit ability.
His skill could not compare with Oden’s.
“Great Eruption!” Akainu’s right arm transformed into magma as he punched toward Oden.
A massive fist of magma erupted like a volcano, carrying terrifying momentum and heat that made approaching it almost impossible.
Whoosh!
Oden swung his Great Grade Blades, launching a cross-shaped slash that divided the mass of magma into four pieces.
The four chunks crashed down, splattering and flowing across the deck while continuing to damage the ship.
No one dared approach the area where the two were fighting.
The surrounding deck was covered in magma and riddled with burned holes.
Both the Moby Dick and Zephyr’s warship suffered damage from the scattered magma.
The destruction caused by their battle was divided almost evenly between the two vessels.
One moment, Oden would unleash his strength and force Akainu back onto the warship.
The next, Akainu would counterattack and drive Oden onto the Moby Dick.
Neither wanted their own ship destroyed, yet the result was that both vessels were damaged by the magma flying everywhere.
As time passed, more and more magma accumulated beneath their feet, gradually leaving Oden with nowhere safe to stand.
He could only keep his feet continuously coated in Armament Haki.
That was what made magma so terrifying.
It possessed not only devastating explosive power, but also continuous destructive force.