Chapter 433 - 272

Chapter 273: The Decisive Battle (2)"This is the end, [Flame Emperor] Ace!!"That ice-cold voice, carrying an undisguised bloodlust, pierced straight toward Ace's back."Is that so?"Ace didn't even look back.Almost at the same instant—The sea in the distance suddenly exploded!A figure moved with extreme speed, carving out a snow-white groove hundreds of meters long and several meters deep on the calm sea surface!Towering curtains of water rolled violently to both sides as the figure sped toward the center of the ruined town at a terrifying pace!—Clang!!An ear-piercing explosion, like metal tearing, erupted less than half a meter behind Ace!"Flower Sword" Vista appeared like a ghost, his dual swords crossed in a sharp "X" shape, forcefully parrying Shiliew of the Rain's lethal thrust!"Crack!"The ground beneath Vista's feet suddenly cracked!He took a fierce step forward, the stone slab beneath him shattering. The muscles in his arms bulged like steel cables, and a muffled grinding sound came from his clenched teeth."A rat like you who hides in the shadows... thinks he's worthy of attacking our Captain?!""Get—lost!!"Bang—!!Vista exerted force with both arms, and on his crossed swords, a powerful sword intent boiled over!A massive impact slammed heavily against the blade of Shiliew's sword!A flash of astonishment crossed Shiliew of the Rain's eyes. He was sent flying backward by the brute force, tracing a pathetic arc through the air."A swordsman, huh..."Shiliew forced his body to twist mid-air, barely stabilizing himself. Instead of frustration, a near-manic excitement and obsession rose on his face.He licked the corner of his lips, the blood-red light in his eyes growing more intense."How interesting!! It seems this fight won't be boring!"However, before his heels could touch the ground—Whoosh—!!A figure wreathed in blue flames descended from the sky like a falling star!Marco's blond hair danced wildly. On his right claw, the blue flames of the Phoenix were compressed to the extreme, emitting a destructive aura enough to make the soul tremble!"Phoenix Brand!!"Before the claw even arrived, the pressure, so dense it was almost tangible, made the air groan under the weight!At the critical moment, a fierce light flashed in Shiliew's eyes. His sword "raimei" was instantly coated in ink-like Armament Haki as he swung a brutal, straightforward upward slash!Bang—!!!The Phoenix claw and the famous blade collided solidly in mid-air!Time seemed to freeze for a moment."Ugh—!"Shiliew felt an irresistible force surge through the blade. The webbing of his thumb instantly tore, and blood splattered!He turned into a meteor, crashing straight down toward the earth below!Boom—!!!!An earth-shaking roar made the entire ruins tremble!A giant crater filled with radial cracks formed instantly, and the rising dust nearly obscured the entire sky!Almost at the same time, the sound of waves breaking rose one after another. The rest of the Whitebeard Pirates' Division Commanders and core executives had successfully landed.Their figures flickered like the sturdiest of ramparts as they stood in a row behind Ace, Marco, and the others, confronting the villains of the Blackbeard Pirates from across the distance.A murderous aura, like a cold tide, instantly filled the entire ruins.The planned sneak attack was instantly dismantled, and their momentum was even dampened.Blackbeard Teach's expression became extremely ugly."Zeh... ha... ha..."From Blackbeard's throat came a low, twisted laugh."Captain Ace... It's been a while, and you've actually learned to play such underhanded'schemes and tricks'?!""Then... let me see if, besides playing a few clever tricks...""Your strength has actually improved!!"Before he finished speaking, Blackbeard's eyes snapped open in anger!Boom—!!A majestic, deep, and terrifying aura, like a sleeping ancient beast fully awakening, erupted from his body!In an instant, a gale rose out of nowhere, sending sand and stones flying!With Blackbeard at the center, an invisible force field crazily distorted everything around it, causing heaven and earth to lose their color!This was... the full release of Conqueror's Haki!Boom—!!Another completely different but equally vast and majestic kingly aura, like a volcano suppressed for ten thousand years finally erupting, soared into the sky from Ace!It was a blazing, high-spirited will, like a flame that could incinerate all darkness!A purple dark tide and crimson sky-burning flames—two materialized forms of Conqueror's Haki—clashed violently between heaven and earth like two invisible giants!Rumble—!!!The purple and red energies crushed and collided with each other frantically, with countless winding, twisted black-red lightning bolts shooting out from the boundary, as if the apocalypse had arrived!The violent shockwaves turned into visible concentric ripples, spreading and sweeping out in all directions from the two of them!The Commanders' eyes widened instantly, their pupils reflecting the town ruins that were completely distorted by the clash of Conqueror's Haki, looking like a Shura purgatory. Their faces were filled with shock."A clash of Conqueror's Haki... to think it would be on this scale!""That traitor Teach... How is it possible?! He actually awakened Conqueror's Haki too?!""What kind of sea-joke is this?! A despicable scum like him—how could he be worthy of the qualities of a king?!"Low growls of shock and disbelief erupted among the Commanders.Conqueror's Haki, a heaven-sent talent found in only one in a million, is the proof of a king.But Blackbeard Teach, this despicable man who used the lowest means to betray his comrades and steal power, actually possessed such a force?This was a total desecration of the word "King"!Blackbeard took in everyone's reactions, a very subtle and hard-to-catch sense of smugness and mockery flickering in the depths of his eyes.He seemed to particularly enjoy the pleasure of overturning others' perceptions and smashing despair into their hearts."Zehahaha!! Since you're all in such a hurry to die, then... get over here!!"He roared with a sinister grin, and the moment his voice fell, the purple-black Conqueror's Haki aura on him surged frantically once more!Boom!The stalemate with Ace's crimson Haoshoku was instantly broken!Blackbeard's Haki was like a surging black tide, pressing heavily against the other side, and it actually began to steadily suppress and erode Ace's all-consuming flames!The crimson Haoshoku domain was forced back repeatedly, shrinking constantly, with the firelight at the edges sizzling!Ace's pupils shrank suddenly, and his heart sank.This guy's Haki... can actually continue to grow stronger?!"Hmph!"Just as Ace's momentum faltered, a cold snort rang out!Vista's gaze was cold, his face showing no extra expression.The muscles in his legs bulged instantly, the ground beneath him exploded, and he turned into a silver bolt of lightning that was hard to see with the naked eye, vanishing from the spot!Shua—!In the next instant, Vista's figure appeared like a ghost less than three feet in front of Blackbeard!His dual swords were already unsheathed, their sharp sword light wrapped in highly concentrated Armament Haki as they slashed toward Blackbeard's neck and waist from both sides!The speed was startling, and the angles were incredibly tricky, as if space itself would be sliced open by these two sword lights!"Paltry tricks!"Blackbeard only let out a cold laugh full of disdain.Facing these sharp slashes that could cut a giant ship in half, he didn't even try to dodge, merely slowly raising his right hand, which was wreathed in dark aura.Buzz—A deep, endlessly spinning dark vortex suddenly appeared and expanded in his palm! The annihilation aura from the center of the vortex made even the soul tremble!"Black Hole!"The moment the sharp sword light of the crossed slashes touched the dark vortex, it was like a clay ox entering the sea—swallowed and consumed silently by the vortex, without even causing a ripple!Not only that, Blackbeard's right hand reached forward, and the darkness in his palm, like living tentacles, powerfully sucked and wrapped around Vista's dual swords!Vista's eyes widened suddenly!"What?!"He exerted sudden force to pull back his beloved swords, but to his horror, he found that they were firmly welded to the opponent's hand. No matter how much mountain-shaking arm strength he used, they didn't budge!"Zehahaha!! Vista!! You're still the same as before, too prone to being 'careless'!"Blackbeard's sinister smile was full of mockery.Taking advantage of the moment Vista was restrained by his weapons, his free left hand was already clenched into a fist!Ink-like Armament Haki quickly wrapped around his entire arm like flowing water. The air around his fist even slightly distorted due to the high concentration of dark gravity!Without any hesitation, this punch, which condensed the devouring gravity of the Dark-Dark Fruit and the internal destruction power of top-tier Armament Haki, was thrown toward Vista's wide-open chest!A fatal sense of crisis, like an ice pick, instantly pierced Vista's spine!"Ugh—!!"Boom!!!!!Unavoidable! Blackbeard's fist, wreathed in darkness, slammed solidly into Vista's chest!A pain worse than bones cracking instantly swept through his body. Vista spat out blood and was sent flying like a blurred afterimage!Bang! Bang! Bang! Boom—!!!His body crashed through three ruined walls in succession, finally slamming into a pile of rubble. Dust filled the air, and for a moment, his life or death was unknown!"Vista!!" Marco cried out in shock."Sacred Fire: Shiranui!!"Almost at the same moment Vista was sent flying, Ace's angry roar erupted!He swung his arms in succession, and several orange-red fire spears, condensed to the extreme and emitting explosive heat, tore through the air, shooting toward Blackbeard from different angles with an ear-piercing whistle!Wherever the flames passed, the air was scorched to the point of distortion and evaporation, leaving visible scorch marks!However—Facing this fire attack that could melt gold and iron, Blackbeard merely looked up coldly, a mockingly curved smile on his lips.He didn't even bother to dodge, simply opening his five fingers toward the incoming flames with his left hand, which was still wreathed in faint darkness from just having sent Vista flying.Buzz—!An even more majestic and viscous tide of darkness surged from him, instantly turning into a dark domain that swallowed all light, enveloping him completely!The sharp orange-red fire spears shot into this darkness, their light quickly dimming and shrinking, until they were completely swallowed and extinguished by the boundless darkness!!The darkness remained there, like an eternal abyss, swallowing all light and heat.Blackbeard stood at the center of this darkness, like a demon god ruling the abyss, looking down on the "Flame Emperor" and the furious Commanders behind him."Strength of this level...?!"Marco stared intently at that deep darkness that swallowed everything, his pupils under his blond hair trembling slightly from extreme shock, and even his voice carried a faint, unnoticeable trace of wavering."Your fruit ability... has it actually awakened?!"Once the words were out, even Marco himself felt an almost absurd chill crawl up his spine.This was simply violating the iron laws of Devil Fruit abilities!The more powerful a top-tier Devil Fruit is, the more its awakening difficulty increases geometrically!It requires a deep synchronization between the user and the fruit ability that borders on soul resonance, as well as countless life-and-death trials and long periods of insight and accumulation.Just like his own "Zoan-type, Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Beast Model: Phoenix"...Yet to this day, he still hadn't touched the threshold of the legendary "Awakening," only able to continuously refine it on its original basis.But what about Blackbeard Teach?This despicable traitor—from the time he publicly stole Thatch's "Dark-Dark Fruit," it had only been three to five months at most!In this short time, he had not only initially mastered the basic abilities of this natural-type fruit, known as the "most evil in history," but had even... crossed the chasm that countless experts couldn't leap in a lifetime and stepped into the realm of awakening?!The reality before them was ruthlessly challenging the established knowledge of Marco and all the Whitebeard Pirates' Commanders."Hehehe... Otherwise..."A voice filled with mockery and the scent of blood drifted slowly from the shadows of the ruins to the side.Shiliew of the Rain was seen leaning on his famous sword "raimei" with one hand, slowly straightening up against a half-collapsed wall.He was covered in blood, his clothes in tatters, clearly having taken a significant injury from Marco's "Phoenix Brand."But in those eyes, there was no sign of weakness; instead, they flickered with a pathological excitement and madness. He grinned, revealing blood-stained teeth, his smile as sinister as a ghost's:"How would we... have the courage to set this trap to catch a 'big fish' like you, who call yourselves the 'Whitebeard Legitimists'?"As soon as he finished speaking—Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!In the shadows of the ruins, behind broken walls, atop burning wreckage... one figure after another, emitting powerful, eerie, and fierce auras, appeared like ghosts in succession!"Champion" Burgess clenched his fists, his knuckles making a series of cracking sounds;"Demon Sheriff" Laffitte stood on high ground, his cane lightly tapping the ground, a cold smile on his lips;The cold light of "Supersonic" Van Auger's sniper scope flashed for an instant in the dusty air... The executives of the Blackbeard Pirates had quietly occupied key positions and vantage points in the ruins, firmly trapping Ace, Marco, and the other Whitebeard Pirates' Commanders right in the center!The sunlight was completely obscured by dust and darkness, and the air was so oppressive it was almost suffocating.Cold killing intent, like a fine spiderweb, coiled from all directions, tightening around their hearts.Marco's heart sank completely. He looked around, his voice incredibly dry:"So... this really is an inescapable net... meticulously prepared for us."Blackbeard Teach stood at the center of the darkness, slowly spreading his arms as if embracing this hunting ground tailored for him. The sinister and satisfied smile on his face echoed throughout the ruins:"Zehahaha... Welcome to your—burial ground!!"