Chapter 105: Sabaody Archipelago: Battle with Akainu, Part 6
This time, the five Vice Admirals deployed for the Buster Call were Garp , John Giant, Strawberry, Dalmatian, and Onigumo.
Among them, Garp was the strongest and most senior. He was supposed to lead this mission, but his lazy attitude made it clear—he had no intention of putting in any real effort for this operation.
So, the four other Vice Admirals connected via Den Den Mushi and unanimously decided to proceed with the destruction of the Sabaody Archipelago, ignoring the fast, long-range battleship on the other side. They hoped their actions might draw it in instead.
Half a year ago, Onigumo was still a Rear Admiral, but at the start of this year, he was promoted to Vice Admiral. By coincidence, today's Buster Call was aimed at the rookie pirate crew that had escaped from him six months prior.
This felt like destiny to him—a chance to complete the mission he had previously failed.
"You won't escape this time, Darin Eric and Chiron!" Onigumo silently vowed.
"Proceed immediately to the Sabaody Archipelago. Bombard it until it's completely destroyed!" Known as "Akainu Number Two," Onigumo couldn't care less about the lives of his fellow soldiers, let alone issuing orders to rescue marines who had fallen into the sea. His only principle was the eradication of pirates—he didn't hesitate to sacrifice comrades or civilians to achieve that goal.
"But, Vice Admiral sir, there are still many marines in the sea. Shouldn't we rescue them?" a regular marine asked.
Bang! Without hesitation, Onigumo drew his pistol and shot him.
The marine collapsed to the deck with a heavy thud.
The rest of the crew stood frozen in fear.
"If we let evil criminals escape just to rescue marines, can you bear that responsibility? Can you protect the future from those criminals?"
His voice was cold and devoid of emotion—typical of a hardline hawk in the Navy.
Onigumo turned to his adjutant. "What's the latest from Admiral Sakazuki? Have those pirates been eliminated?"
"Report! Island 27 has entered a snowstorm. Our stationed troops on the Sabaody Archipelago are slowly approaching Admiral Sakazuki's location. They haven't reached the battlefield yet, so the situation is unclear... However—"
"I've seen from Eric 's live broadcast that Admiral Sakazuki is locked in intense combat with five pirates from Eric 's crew."
"The Navy getting information from a pirate's stream... what a disgrace!"
…
"Chiron, they're not chasing us anymore. They've turned toward Sabaody. What should we do?" Da Vinci, piloting the warship, sounded uneasy. Just Akainu alone was giving Eric 's team a hard time—now more marines were heading over. What then?
"Don't worry. We'll stop them with this ship of dreams of ours!"
The Fearless Eternity drew a perfect circular trail over the blue sea and began pursuing the six warships.
…
Back on Akainu's side, he continued launching Meteor Volcanoes into the sky. A few seconds later, massive red fists began piercing the black clouds. More and more of them appeared, forming a dense field of crimson light as they plummeted toward Esdeath's ice mountain.
Esdeath casually commented, "Those magma fists are massive—way bigger than his real ones."
The magma fists, carrying immense kinetic force from their fall, shattered into molten lava upon striking the ice. Her ice mountain quickly began to shrink.
"It's just like a volcanic eruption at the end of the world. The Magma Fruit is really powerful."
Behind her, more Ice Knights were sacrificed to replenish her stamina. But this time, Esdeath's ice creation couldn't keep up with Akainu's melting power.
"We need to move out. In this formation, Esdeath is the only one directly facing Akainu. We need to use our numbers."
"Agreed," the others nodded in unison.
Taking the opportunity, Eric opened a panel that no one else could see and assigned temporary stat boosts to himself and his team.
He increased his Constitution and Devil Fruit attributes to seven stars and raised his Armament Haki to four stars—using 48 Achievement Points, leaving 9 remaining.
With the attribute boost, Scáthach's stat cap unlocked. He upgraded her spear mastery to eight stars, Kurumi's Armament Haki to three and a half stars, Esdeath's Constitution to seven stars, and Akame's Constitution to five and a half.
In total, 33 Bond Points were spent—completely draining his long-accumulated reserve.
Saving is hard. Spending is easy…
"Alright! Let's beat the hell out of this bastard!"
"I can feel the power flowing through me… Ahh, is this what it feels like to fight alongside the one you love? I finally understand fighting for someone important…" Esdeath blushed, lost in her own imagination.
Kurumi, faced with the looming threat, held back her usual sarcasm and simply rolled her eyes with dramatic flair.
"Kurumi, provide long-range cover. Melee is up to Scáthach, Esdeath, and me. Perona, time your Negative Ghosts just right. Akame, don't engage head-on—wait for a kill-shot opportunity."
Eric issued his commands. At the exact moment Esdeath lost control of the crumbling ice mountain, the group charged out.
"Hmph, a bunch of rats finally scampering out of their hole?" Akainu sneered as they emerged.
"Heh. Your magma really is perfect for exterminating rats, Uncle. I've got a job referral for you—'Professional Exterminator.' But don't go to AustromEric a; they protect rats over there."
Although Akainu had started the taunt, Eric 's reply instantly got under his skin.
Exterminator? I'm a Navy Admiral—one of the strongest in the world!
"Inugami Guren!" Akainu's left arm transformed into a magma dog's head, jaws wide, lunging at Eric .
"Too slow, Red Dog!" With his Constitution massively boosted, Eric 's reflexes had improved as well. He easily dodged Akainu's angry strike, though the house behind him wasn't so lucky—engulfed in molten magma.
Thanks to his upgraded Devil Fruit stat, Eric now controlled lightning with greater precision.
"Sixty Million Volts: Thunder Dragon!" A blue electric dragon wrapped in Haki spiraled toward Akainu, coiling around him.
"Damn it!" Red magma erupted from Akainu's body, slowly consuming the blue thunder dragon.
"Frosthorn Lance!"
"Spear of Deathpierce!"
A massive ice spear shot toward Akainu's chest, while a red magic spear streaked toward his back like lightning.
"Don't underestimate an Admiral!" Akainu roared, yanking his arms outward. The invisible Thunder Dragon was shredded into pieces and vanished midair.
"Ice Queen, don't think you're the only one who's awakened their Devil Fruit!"
Suddenly, everyone felt the temperature spike—as if they'd gone from a snowfield into a blazing furnace.
"Let me show you the awakening of the Magma Fruit!"
More magma burst from Akainu's body. He melted the oncoming ice spear and punched the magic spear away. Waves of magma surged like a tsunami, crashing down on everyone.
"I'm not the same as before. Warm-up's over, brats! You'll all burn to ash in my magma!"
"Not so sure about that," Esdeath smirked. "How do you know we were using our full strength before?" At that moment, the remaining Ice Knights shattered all at once.
"Ice Storm Grand Marshal!"
Although the weather had warmed due to Meteor Volcano and Akainu's awakening, Esdeath's power intensified it once again—lowering the temperature, intensifying the blizzard, and forming walls of ice that blocked the incoming magma.
The leading waves of magma, cooled by the frigid air, began to blacken and harden, transforming into igneous rock.
At this moment, Island 27 of the Sabaody Archipelago had become a divided world—half buried in snow, half submerged in magma.
(END CHAPTER)
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