Chapter 123 – One Hundred Thousand Degrees: Purple Flame
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"Fufufufufufu!"
Donquixote Doflamingo's wild laugh echoed across King's Plateau as he spread his arms wide. The ground and debris around him unraveled and transformed into glistening white threads—his awakened power in full display.
After confirming that Ace's blazing white flames could not pierce his Armament Haki, the Heavenly Yaksha no longer held back. His sunglasses glinted as he moved his fingers.
"Torikago no Ya—Tamaito!"
(Bullet Strings: Thousand-Arrows Piercing the Heart!)
From every direction, countless sharpened threads, each coated in Busoshoku Haki, erupted from the ground. They fanned out in the shape of flamingo wings, then converged, seeking to skewer Portgas D. Ace from all sides—like a thousand arrows aimed straight for his heart.
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"Jōen: Dai Enkei!"
(Pure Flame: Great Flame Ring!)
Ace crossed his arms, then spun them wide. A massive pillar of searing white fire erupted outward, encasing him in a blazing barrier.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The storm of Haki‑hardened strings slammed into the blazing pillar. The threads resisted the heat, each thrust tearing at the barrier until the white flames buckled and shattered. Then the arrows struck Ace directly.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The relentless rain of hardened strings forced Ace back. Even with his strongest Armament Haki layered over his body, the overwhelming barrage sent him staggering, bruises and shallow cuts opening across his form.
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Doflamingo's grin widened.
"Brat, I don't know how you've pushed the Mera Mera no Mi this far… but your so‑called white flame won't last. And no matter how hot it burns, it can't pierce my Haki!"
He laughed louder, his fingers twitching as more arrows of string erupted.
"Fufufufu… if this is all you have, then this battle ends now!"
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Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!
The hiss of threads cutting air mingled with the crackle of fire as Ace's defenses finally began to falter. Some of the sharpened threads pierced through his Haki, stabbing into his flesh. Blood dripped from fresh wounds as Ace gritted his teeth, his body trembling from both pain and exhaustion.
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Even ten thousand degrees of pure flame can't break through Doflamingo's Haki…
Ace's mind raced. His flames could already reach far beyond ten thousand degrees, but sustaining those temperatures was another story entirely. Raising temperature was easy—maintaining it while fighting was what devoured stamina.
With his endurance, Ace could battle for days with ordinary flames. But at 10,000°C, he could last only a few hours. At 50,000°C, only minutes. And at 100,000°C, he could sustain combat for no more than five minutes before his body would give out entirely.
For the past year, he had focused on physical training, pushing himself day and night, even harder than Zoro with his weights. Yet even now, those five minutes of ultimate fire would come at a punishing cost.
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Ace exhaled sharply.
Fifty thousand degrees might still not be enough…
Then what am I even hesitating for?
A grin crept onto his bloodied face.
"If I'm not sure fifty thousand is enough… then I'll just use one hundred thousand.
All I have to do is finish you before I burn out."
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He shut his eyes, breathing deeply. The white flames on his body flickered, then extinguished. His skin began to glow with a faint violet hue. Heat rippled outward, warping the air. The hue deepened, and a terrifying warmth swept across the plateau.
Zzzzzzzt!
Threads that had been piercing him began to blacken, then sizzle, emitting plumes of smoke like wool catching fire. The acrid stench of burning fiber filled the air.
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"What… what is this?!"
Doflamingo's confident grin faltered. He felt the threads of his awakened strings singe and curl from the heat. He recoiled instinctively, eyes widening behind his shades.
"Purple…? He's changing the flame again?!"
Doflamingo was no Logia user, but as someone who had mastered his own Paramecia to awakening, he understood limits better than most. The Mera Mera no Mi's upper limit was temperature—or so he thought. But Ace had already broken that limit once, changing red flames to white and multiplying the heat.
Now, before his eyes, Ace was pushing beyond even that, radiating a heat so extreme that it defied logic.
Just what kind of monster is this kid…?
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Ace opened his eyes. His pupils burned a brilliant violet, his black hair now a wild mane of living purple fire. The flames coiled around him, defying the wind, an aura of power that seared the very air.
For a heartbeat, the battlefield stilled. Doflamingo stared, his trademark laugh dying in his throat.
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From a distance, Ace's form looked almost unreal—a warrior wreathed in otherworldly violet flames, proud and unyielding in midair.
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This… Doflamingo thought, jaw tightening, …is no ordinary Mera Mera no Mi. He's twisted it, pushed it, reforged it into something new…
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To be continued…
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