A crimson light erupted across the heavens, instantly enveloping the sky above Onigashima in a blanket of fire. Ace stood alone, commanding an aura that seemed to rival heaven and earth itself!
A scarlet spear materialized, slowly igniting with white-hot flames.
Amidst the sea of fire, Ace thrust his spear like a lunging dragon. With just a few strikes, he threw Kaido into a frantic, disorganized defense.
Down below, the battlefield watched as two black specks gradually fell from the sky—Yamato and Luffy.
Rumble...
Fierce explosions echoed from the sea of fire above, the sound so deafening it nearly pierced everyone's ear drums.
Boom!
Immediately following the noise, a violent gale swept outward.
A vacuum cleared within the sea of fire, and two figures gradually came into view.
Spear and iron mace clashed. Though Kaido possessed a massive physique in his Hybrid form, he could not budge Ace even a single fraction of an inch.
By this point, two bloody holes had been pierced into Kaido's body, and a streak of fresh blood stained the corner of his mouth. He panted heavily without pause; after fighting for such a prolonged duration, he too was rapidly approaching his limit.
Boom!
With a powerful upward thrust, Ace deflected Kaido's mace and sent him flying back. Immediately after, the flames swirling around Ace grew increasingly intense, their color shifting from crimson to a brilliant golden-yellow.
Ultimately, the fire burned to its absolute apex, manifesting as a faint blue hue. The temperature reached a truly terrifying degree.
This fire was fundamentally different from the Flame of Rebirth used by Marco the Phoenix; this was a purely destructive, highly offensive flame. Its temperature far exceeded the standard fire Ace usually wielded.
The Flame Spear!
The blue fire slowly coated the tip of the Flame Spear. The sight of those flames dancing in the wind, even from a great distance, sent a primal shiver down the spines of all who watched.
"Kaido! Get out of Wano!" Ace kicked off a platform of fire, charging forward with his spear extended.
Kaido hastily raised his spiked mace to block.
CLANG!
Spear and mace collided once more.
In the next fraction of a second, Kaido's face drained of color—the iron mace in his hands had begun to melt.
Ace suddenly drove the tip of his spear straight toward Kaido's chest.
Deprived of his mace, Kaido coated his hands in Advanced Armament Haki and met the attack with a heavy punch.
BOOM!
Ace had anticipated this move. At the exact moment their strikes collided, he extended a single finger.
Fire Finger!
Hiss!
A concentrated beam of laser-like fire instantly pierced clean through Kaido's shoulder.
"Ugh..." Kaido's brow furrowed, his expression turning incredibly grim.
As fresh blood poured down his left shoulder, Kaido slowly clutched the wound, his eyes burning with intense focus as he stared at Ace.
"Flame Pillar: Sky Support!" Ace raised a single hand, and a colossal pillar of fire erupted violently from the ground below, swallowing Kaido whole.
Ace zipped back and forth through the inferno. To him, the sea of fire was not an obstacle, but the ultimate battlefield. After all, he was fire itself!
Before long, he locked onto Kaido's position within the raging flames.
Because Ace had raised the temperature of his fire to its absolute zenith, Kaido was forced to defend with everything he had. Compounded by the severe injuries he had already sustained, he had to exert his absolute maximum effort just to withstand the heat inside the inferno. No matter how legendary his defensive power was, if such scorching flames managed to burn directly into his open wounds, the consequences would be dire.
The moment he saw Ace rushing toward him through the smoke, Kaido's eyes widened. Staring intently at the young pirate, he demanded, "Son of the Pirate King Roger... Are you Joy Boy?"
"Joy Boy? What's that?" Ace shook his head. He had absolutely no idea what Kaido was talking about.
Wasting no more words, Ace refused to give Kaido any breathing room. His spear tip sliced through the air, thrusting straight toward Kaido's heart.
Trapped within the sea of fire and caught completely off guard, Kaido could not evade Ace's attack. Left with no choice, he met it head-on. He violently swung his iron mace, which was already half-melted and glowing cherry-red from the intense heat.
"Shuten Bagua!"
The strike caused lightning to crackle and thunder to roar across the sky, instantly dispersing the surrounding flames. The immense energy fluctuating from the mace formed a massive, crushing pressure field. The sea of fire that had previously dominated the sky was instantly cut in half, the cleared portion claimed by the raw power of Kaido's exploding aura.
BOOM!
The two ultimate attacks slammed together with devastating force. One half of the sky was dominated by pitch-black night and crackling lightning, while the other half blazed with golden-blue flames.
Crack...
In the midst of the stalemate, a fracture suddenly appeared along Ace's Flame Spear, venting layers of pressurized fire. Because the spear was fundamentally constructed from condensed fire, it began to leak massive amounts of flames the moment it could no longer withstand the immense pressure.
"What?!" Ace's pupils constricted. This was the first time anyone had managed to crack his Flame Spear since he had learned to forge it.
Just as Ace expected, the weapon shattered completely in the next instant, dissolving into a burst of fire that vanished into the atmosphere.
Yet Kaido's momentum remained uninhibited. Though his mace had melted further, the raw physical power driving it had not diminished in the slightest. Because of Kaido's immense physical stature, the trajectory of this swing was aimed squarely at Ace's head.
His pupils shrinking, Ace realized it was entirely impossible to dodge the blow cleanly. He was forced to take evasive maneuvers to minimize the damage. He twisted his head to the side, allowing the heavy mace to slam directly into his shoulder instead.
BOOM!
Ace was sent hurtling out of the sky by the tremendous impact.
"ROOOAAAR!" Kaido threw his head back and unleashed a wild, resonant howl, his voice thick with a savage pride that asserted his unmatched dominance.
"Ace!!" Luffy and Yamato screamed in unison.
The two shot up into the sky simultaneously, their respective applications of Advanced Conqueror's Haki coalescing around them. Seeing them charge together, Kaido roared back, "Come on then!"
"Shuten Bagua!"
KABOOM!
The three forces collided in a spectacular explosion. Luffy and Yamato gritted their teeth, pouring every single ounce of raw strength they could muster into the struggle.
"Aaargh!" With a thunderous shout, Kaido unleashed a massive burst of power, throwing both Luffy and Yamato back.
However, Kaido himself had finally pushed his physical vessel past its absolute limit. Clutching his chest, he forcefully spat out a massive mouthful of blood.
Spurt!
As Ace's body plummeted toward the ground, the combatants below scrambled frantically to clear a wide open space, utterly terrified of being crushed or caught in the aftershocks.
Just before he could impact the stone, Ace's eyes snapped open. His body dissolved entirely into a mass of living fire, shooting forward like a piercing arrow. With a violent sweep of his hand, a burst of concentrated fire erupted from his palm, gradually condensing into a brand new spear.
"Single Point Alignment: Nameless Flame Spear!"
Ace thrust his spear forward. A concentrated beam of laser-like fire pierced straight through the horizon, hurtling directly toward Kaido.
This attack was completely unavoidable!
Under the horrified gazes of everyone present, the colossal beam of fire struck Kaido square in the chest without a single shred of resistance.
The moment the light pillar connected with Kaido, a cataclysmic shockwave of fire expanded outward, completely engulfing the entirety of Onigashima. Even the surrounding sea was covered by a dense sheet of burning flames. Had Ace possessed just a fraction more power, the residual fire unleashed by this single attack would likely have reached the shores of mainland Wano.
"Lord Kaido!!"
In that exact moment, the hearts of every single member of the Beast Pirates turned completely cold.
Lord Kaido had been defeated!
The Beast Pirates... were finished!
BANG!
Right then, a massive, round figure suddenly came flying out from the smoke, crashing heavily onto the stone ground. The body slid for several meters before coming to a halt, completely motionless.
"It's Lord Queen!"
"What?!"
The remaining forces of the Beast Pirates were on the verge of psychological collapse. What on earth was happening? How could the enemy's strength possibly be this overwhelming?!