"Hound Blaze!!"
The Magma Akainu launched from his arm took the shape of a fanged dog and came charging straight at me.
"Demon Walrus!!"
I deflected it with a strike that scooped upward from below, knocking it off course.
Stopping it head-on would be... well, I won't say impossible, but it drains me and it's brutal.
At this level, combining Jade Flames with Emission Haki was more than enough.
If I hadn't learned this way of using Haki from the Kurozumi Family Secret Manual that Suzu showed me, none of this would've been possible. I don't know what kind of people the Kurozumi Family were, but I owe them big time. If I ever get the chance to visit Wano Country, I really need to find some way to repay them.
And the same goes for Jade Flames, which appears to be a kind of occult power derived from the Seven Star Sword. I still don't fully understand it as an ability, but it seems the Seven Star Sword has the power to draw in my fighting spirit, or rather my Haki, and convert it into this mysterious flame.
It was during my time inside Impel Down, through a dialogue with the Seven Star Sword, that I became aware of this and learned to use the power.
It can be used directly as flame for offense, and I can also cloak myself in it. When I do, it becomes a powerful defense against an opponent's heat and fire. Exactly the ability I need right now. Well, its defensive properties aren't limited to just heat and flame, but that's beside the point.
Thanks to this, I can fight Akainu without the usual problem. Normally, just getting close to him would cause me to catch fire or start smoking, and the chip damage alone would make the fight hopeless. But now I can engage without any of that.
...Though if I take a direct hit, I'll die like anyone else. The protection doesn't go that far.
The only real downside is the extra Haki drain. Feeding stronger Haki into the sword makes the flames stronger too, but naturally that also accelerates the consumption, making it a tough ability to sustain in a prolonged fight.
Right now, I'm concentrating my Haki into the sword to cut through Magma without touching it. At the same time, I'm covering my whole body in a jade-colored aura that looks like flame.
This lets me hang in there against Akainu somehow, but as I said before, he's simply above my level. If this keeps going, I'll be ground down. The Haki drain is intense so a long fight is out of the question, and besides, I'm already pretty worn out! Dealing with all those Marines was no small feat, and the Sword Dance with Hancock was physically intense too. I was using my Powers nonstop, so the fatigue was real.
I do have various tricks up my sleeve, but ideally I'd like to settle this before any of those become necessary. Whoa, close call!
"Hellhound!!"
Akainu, his hand transformed into Magma, came slashing in a sweeping motion with terrifying force. A graze from that would burn and gouge my body. I parried and dodged, then forced my sword into the opening and thrust.
"Pierce: Ground Boar!!"
"Ngh...!?"
The blade I drove in left a wound on Akainu's body. Shallow, but real. His Magma's fluidity couldn't fully negate it. A faint trace of blood seeped out, barely visible before the red glow of his Magma swallowed it from sight.
"Why ye little...!!"
Driven by raw anger, he swelled his fist to Great Eruption scale and brought it crashing down. The direct hit reduced me to cinders, and I was utterly annihilated... or so it appeared!
"Death-Mourning Bird!!"
I swapped places with a paper body double, the Proxy Doll, in an instant, then took flight and circled behind Akainu. I'd intended to slam my sword into the back of his neck, but Akainu swung around without dispersing his massive Magma arm, sweeping it in a wide arc, and I scrambled upward in a panic to dodge.
The ground around Akainu was already a sea of molten Magma. No way I could land anywhere near there anymore.
"Scurrying around like a pest... you little..."
"Fire God: Shiranui!!"
That instant, a spear formed of orange flame came lunging from Akainu's flank and pierced his neck. The spear flared brilliantly for just a moment, but when Akainu grimaced and activated the Magma in that area, it was quickly crushed and snuffed out.
"Can't ye understand that doesn't work... Fire Fist...!"
Irritation plain on his face, Akainu thrust out another Magma arm, trying to blast the culprit who'd thrown that spear: Ace. Ace understood full well that taking that hit would be devastating, so he leaped back to dodge, and then, for whatever reason, flashed a fearless grin at Akainu.
"Repeating the same futile nonsense... if ye want to die that badly, I'll snuff ye out right now...!"
"Futile, huh? I wonder about that. Just now, my spear burned properly for a second there. Didn't it feel hot?"
"What...?"
Indeed, just for an instant, the flame spear Ace had launched did seem to burn properly. It was extinguished immediately after, and from what I could see, there wasn't so much as a mark on Akainu's neck, but still...
"The 'hierarchy' between abilities... it does seem to be real. But that doesn't mean it's absolute. There are people in this world whose raw physical toughness without Haki surpasses attacks from average fighters using Haki. Even if there's a gap between the abilities themselves, the outcome can change depending on how you fight."
"...What are ye getting at?"
"If my flames get burned up by your Magma, then I just need to make my flames stronger. Hotter. Hot enough to burn even Magma to nothing!"
As he spoke, Ace transformed both hands into flame and sent them roaring upward with tremendous force. Drawing in the surrounding oxygen, the intensity multiplied explosively. The heat washed all the way over to where I was. Clearly different from Magma's heat. Unmistakably the heat of Ace's flames.
Watching this, Akainu said...
"I see... there's logic in that, I'll grant ye. If ye could produce flames overwhelmingly hotter than Magma, then perhaps it might be possible... however..."
The next instant, Akainu generated an enormous surge of heat in his arm, with even greater force than Ace's display.
"The fact that ye think ye can do that against me proves it'll never become reality!"
He thrust it forward in a straight punch. Ace, realizing he couldn't dodge in time, threw up a wall of flame in front of himself. It blocked the fist for the barest instant before the Magma tore through, devouring the flames, and the magma fist homed in on Ace's face as if drawn to it...
Clang!
I couldn't let it connect, so I forced my way in and somehow blocked it!
"...Ngh... hot!"
"You... why...!"
No time for conversation. I kicked Ace backward to get him clear, deflected the magma fist as I pulled away myself, and put distance between us. An instant later, Ace's flame wall was completely obliterated, and Akainu emerged with a face twisted in fury.
"Such delusional raving is almost pitiful at this point... son of the Pirate King. Calling a 'loser' of the era yer father, hiding in that Shadow, and even now having to be saved by a woman, the daughter of yer father's 'nemesis' no less, unable to protect yerself on yer own... and ye dare claim ye can surpass my Heat? Don't make me laugh!!"
"You bastard... talking trash about Pops again...!!"
"Don't rise to the bait, Ace! And why haven't you run!?"
"Hah!?"
"I told you to run, didn't I!? I said I'd hold things here, so get going already! If you don't run, I can't run either!"
That was a pretty heated exchange just now, so I'd gotten caught up watching, but think about it. Why is Ace still here!?
I stayed behind and fought this monster specifically so Ace and Luffy could escape!
Sure, I'd been wanting some payback, but the odds are bad enough that I'd rather not fight if it can be avoided! Frustrating as that is!
And wait, Luffy is still over there too!? Why is he squaring up with his fists!? You still can't use Haki! Fighting this guy is absolutely impossible for you! Plus your legs are shaking like crazy... you've clearly been past your limit for a while now! Just run!
"Like hell I'm running! When I've faced an opponent head-on, and when they've insulted Pops, there's no way I'm turning my back! It's fine, just get out of here yourself!"
"If Ace ain't running, then I ain't running either!"
"You idiot brothers!!"
I was seriously considering whether I should just knock them both unconscious and carry them back by force... when, at that moment:
"Did I not give ye a Captain's order, ye dimwits!!"
Whitebeard came barreling in from behind Akainu, slamming a blow loaded with Haki and earthquake power that sent Akainu flying and crashing down. Then he planted himself in a position shielding Ace, Luffy, and me.
"I told you to run... Ace!!"
"But, Pops... I, but I just..."
A fist descended on the disobedient son's head before he could finish.
"...I told that fool Squard too... don't you dare die before your parent, not in front of me...!"
"..."
"Girl! Take these two idiots and get them out of here, now!"
"Y-yes sir!"
I did as I was told, grabbed both Ace and Luffy, launched into the air, and flew away from that spot. Hot! Hot! Stop, wait... Ace, stop burning! (Literally.)
Was it unconscious? Just emotions running high!? Or was he doing it on purpose!? If it's the latter, I'm going to punch him!
And Luffy, stop thrashing! How are you still this energetic!? You're already a wreck!
I glanced behind us. Akainu had gotten back to his feet, and he and Whitebeard were beginning to clash. A hellish scene of earthquake and Magma colliding...
...Hot!! Ace, stop turning up the heat! Calm down!
"Let go... please, let me go, Sue! Pirate Literary Master!! Pops is... Pops is my...!"
"Pops is the one who told you to run! Listen to what he said! Bad! We're going home, come on, move it! Luffy, stop struggling too... ow! Don't bite me!"
"Good grief... dragging two brats along, you've really got your hands full there, Sue."
"It's like... watching a mother trying to drag home two kids throwing tantrums going 'buy it, buy it!' at the store."
Oh, Beauty and Blume had caught up to us at some point. Good. Neither of them seemed to have any major injuries. They were running along just fine.
"I don't recall having two big, unruly boys like this! I've got my hands plenty full with just those three kids! And Ace, seriously stop catching fire! If you don't knock it off, I'm going to slap Seastone cuffs on you again!"
Even with Jade Flames protecting me, hot is still hot! And it eats through my Haki!
"Uh, you can't touch those either, yoi. You're an Ability User."
"Then I'll have Beauty do it!"
"Why me... fine, fine. Hey, Fire Fist, just settle down already. It's what Pops wanted, right? Trust me, you don't wanna make Mama angry."
"Hey, who are you calling Mama!? Beauty, why are you even..."
"Easy now, calm down, Mom. We're almost back with the main group, and once we are, things'll get a lot easier. Both the running and the carrying."
"Blume, you too!? You're older than me, you know! Wipe that smirk off your face!"
"Let go, Mama... wait, that came out wrong. Let go, Sue!"
"You too, Luffy!? Why are you going along with it!?"
What is with everyone calling me Mama this and Mama that!? I'm still unmarried, inexperienced, never had a boyfriend, years-alive equals years-single, and my body is pure and untouched, thank you very much!! Dammit, what am I even saying... my vision's getting blurry!
Also, just to be safe, Luffy, you specifically need to stop with the Mama thing. Seriously. Given our age gap, people might start getting ideas like "hey, that's actually plausible." (Luffy: 17, me: 34.) It's completely baseless, but if anyone ever wrote an article about it, the reputational damage across the board would be catastrophic. Your Dad would end up suspected of having made a move on me when I was 16 or 17.
...Come to think of it, Luffy's mother was never revealed even in the Original Work. Who could it be?
"Wait, Marco, when did you get here? If you're here, carry one of them! Preferably the one who's literally on fire!"
You're a phoenix and you're already on fire anyway, so you'll be fine!
"Yeah, yeah, got it, yoi. Here, hand him over, Mama."
"HEY!!"
To be continued...