Bonney, hidden within the forest of Sabaody, stared in shock. Her wide eyes reflected the battlefield in the distance.
"Horrible… it's truly too horrible! A monster… that pirate is also a monster!"
She had only just begun her journey as a Supernova, yet the sight before her was beyond anything she had ever imagined.
A pirate with a power equal to, no—perhaps stronger than Akainu himself!
Her heart trembled. The New World… is this terrifying?
Because of Thorne Ashveil's overwhelming performance, Bonney mistakenly believed that everyone in the New World possessed such frightening strength. In reality, Ashveil's power had already surpassed even the Four Emperors, but his reputation had yet to catch up. To the world, he was only "the man closest to the Four Emperors."
That knowledge gave Bonney no comfort. If someone of Ashveil's level existed, how could she, with her current strength, ever hope to compete in the New World? Her dream of becoming Pirate King faltered in that instant.
Akainu's strength was understandable. But Ashveil? A pirate not above twenty years old? That talent was beyond monstrous.
The title of "Supernova," the pride of the Worst Generation, seemed laughably small before him.
High in the skies above Sabaody, the floating newsroom of the World Economic Journal had retreated yet another ten kilometers upward, desperately trying to escape the blazing heat and shockwaves.
The middle-aged chief leaned over the rail, his face lit with both awe and greed.
"I never thought that kid from Zero Division would have this much power!"
Beside him, Rose grinned with unrestrained excitement.
"The stronger Ashveil is, the better for us. Imagine the headline—an Admiral defeated by a rookie pirate! Now that's news!"
"You're insane, Rose," the man laughed, though even he could not hide the spark in his eyes. "But if it happened… if we captured an Admiral's defeat on film, we'd be legends in the industry!"
---
On the battlefield below, Ashveil faced Akainu with a look of disdain. His expression calm, he spoke as if mocking the very essence of the Admiral before him.
"So, Sakazuki… isn't my control over flames far beyond yours?"
Akainu's face darkened, fury twisting his features.
"You bastard! Just a lowly pirate, and you dare ridicule me?!"
Enraged, the Admiral leapt into the sky, his fist coated in thick Armament Haki, and brought it crashing down.
Ashveil merely smirked.
A deafening bang erupted as the blow connected—yet it was like striking an unbreakable wall. Akainu's hand went numb from the recoil.
A shimmering barrier spread outward, an all-encompassing defense infused with Conqueror's Haki itself.
Akainu's eyes widened.
This… this is the same defense that resisted my attack earlier. Up close, it carries the weight of Conqueror's Haki itself!
Even Bartholomew Kuma, who stood silently nearby with his Bible in hand, could not remain unmoved. His gaze sharpened, fixed on Ashveil.
This boy… this boy who once claimed to need my help… he can withstand Sakazuki's strikes head-on? Akainu, known as the Admiral with the strongest martial skills, forced back by someone barely twenty? This talent is monstrous, on par with Dragon himself…
Akainu roared, his pride shattered.
"Brat! On the justice of the Marines, I'll kill you here!"
For a man like him—an Admiral groomed by Zephyr, a man hailed as a prodigy and feared by the seas—being mocked and suppressed by a youth was humiliation beyond measure.
His fury consumed reason. His muscles swelled, veins bulged, and his fists glowed with searing heat. The very air quaked as their auras clashed.
The ground cracked and split beneath Ashveil's feet. Gale-force winds tore through the battlefield, uprooting trees, ripping stone from the earth. Even the massive Kuma was forced back two steps.
Bonney, clinging to a tree in the forest, felt her strength vanish against the storm. The wind ripped her from the ground, carrying her helplessly into the air.
"A battle between monsters… even the shockwaves are enough to kill me," she gasped, barely able to breathe. The Supernovas… compared to this, we're just children playing pirates.
The Marines who had rushed to reinforce Akainu could not even get close. The storm blasted them aside, leaving them wide-eyed and pale.
"This… this is caused by one man?!"
"A natural disaster… he's a natural disaster!"
On the island, civilians hid in terror, while beasts fled and birds scattered into the skies.
And still, despite Akainu's full-force strike, his fist had barely broken through ten centimeters of Ashveil's Haki barrier. Moving further seemed impossible.
Ashveil's cold eyes narrowed.
"Enough playing around, Sakazuki. Your time is up."
Akainu bellowed, refusing to yield. Flames burst from his other arm, molten and wild.
"Dark Hound!"
The attack, his fastest and deadliest technique, shot forth with killing intent, aimed to rip through Ashveil at point-blank range.
But Ashveil's expression only hardened, voice low and steady.
"Akainu, you are not justice. You're nothing more than a man using justice as an excuse to vent your rage."
Flames surged up his arm, burning hotter and brighter than ever before, as if to deliver judgment.
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