Hina watched the battlefield with grim intensity, her eyes locked on the two men tearing each other apart.
Fire and darkness clashed in the air, a violent tug-of-war for dominance.
Everything around them had been reduced to rubble by the collision of these two terrifying forces. Hina, who had yet to set foot in the New World, felt a cold realization settle in her gut...
So this is what a fight between top-tier ability users looks like. It's a walking natural disaster.
There was no point in continuing her standoff with Buffalo and Giolla.
Because Mock Town... was gone. Ace and Teach's duel had leveled it.
There was no "underground" left for the Donquixote Family to exploit.
The civilians and smaller-time pirates had long since fled, scrambling to get as far away from this cursed island as possible.
Now, the only ones left were Hina and these few crews of monsters.
From this day forward... Mock Town was wiped off the map. It was history.
"FIREFLY: FIERY DOLL!"
Ace pushed himself off the ground without a moment's hesitation, charging at Teach with blinding speed. Raging flames gathered in his palms, his eyes burning with defiance. Countless glowing, green-yellow fireballs floated from his hands, drifting toward Teach like eager spirits before suddenly converging on his body.
BOOM!
A pillar of fire erupted into the sky, and from within the inferno came Teach's agonizing howl.
"IT HURTS! IT HURTS SO BAAAD!"
But Ace wasn't done. He launched himself high into the air, his hands transforming into two spears of pure flame as he dove toward the smoke.
"HOLY FIRE: SHIRANUI!"
Whoosh, whoosh!
The flame spears trailed long tails of fire, cutting through the air and plunging ruthlessly into Teach's body.
"Gah! What is this?! Fire spears?!"
Ace landed, instantly crossing his index fingers into a plus sign. He aimed a cross-shaped beam of concentrated heat directly at Teach.
"CROSS FIRE!"
FWOOSH!
A massive cross of fire erupted from his fingers, expanding instantly as it hit the air until it was nearly three hundred feet wide, practically blotting out the sun. It engulfed Teach and everything behind him.
ROAR!
The violent flames devoured everything. The crackling of burning wood was deafening. Buildings behind Teach were scorched into charcoal skeletons before groaning and collapsing into ash. Trees evaporated. The ground turned into a hellscape of molten slag.
After unleashing the combo, Ace stopped, panting heavily as he stared into the fire.
A second later, his expression hardened.
From the smoke and scorched earth, Teach's silhouette slowly emerged. He was still wearing that twisted grin as he casually dusted off his clothes.
The flames on his body were being eaten—swallowed whole by darkness until they vanished.
"What a shame. An attack that powerful... would have killed a normal man a thousand times over."
Teach spread his arms wide. "THIS is the power of darkness!"
He stood in the center of the devastation, practically unscathed.
Opposite him, Ace was battered and bloody, struggling to keep his balance as he forced himself to stand.
"For someone as strong as you, Ace... it really is a waste."
Teach spoke slowly, his tone filled with genuine admiration. "I'll ask you one last time, Ace... Join my crew."
"With this power, we can shake the entire world to its core!"
Ace was covered in wounds, clearly on the losing end. The Dark-Dark Fruit was simply too hard of a counter for his abilities.
But the corner of his mouth slowly curled up. His face still wore that same reckless, arrogant grin. "If I bowed to power... I wouldn't be much of a man, would I?"
"Get it now? You idiot."
Ace wiped the blood from his lip and lowered his hands, gathering every ounce of strength he had left.
"GREAT FLAME COMMANDMENT: FLAME EMPEROR!"
Countless spiraling pillars of fire erupted around Ace. The ground turned into a sea of magma. He threw his arms up, and the flames swirled like a tornado into his palms, condensing instantly into a colossal fireball that looked like a second sun.
Teach watched with a look of pity. "A pity, Ace."
"Only those who survive earn the right to be called winners. It seems you don't understand that simple truth... Ace."
"DIE IN THE DARKNESS!"
Teach spread his arms, and darkness billowed from his body like thick smoke, rising until it blotted out half the sky in pitch black.
The second sun and the ocean of darkness faced each other. Everyone on the ground watched in horror, waiting for the moment of impact.
But then...
Something happened that no one expected.
RUMBLE... RUMBLE...
The earth began to shake. A violent tremor threw everyone off balance. Ace and Teach, their attacks fully charged, were interrupted mid-motion, looking down at their feet in confusion.
Then... every powerhouse on the island felt it. Shock washed over their faces.
If you were looking from a bird's-eye view, you would see the ocean around Jaya Island receding. The water drained away from the coast as countless fish scattered in panic.
Then... the entire island tore itself free from the seabed.
The island... was shooting straight up into the sky at breakneck speed, piercing through the clouds!
The terrifying G-force instantly pinned everyone down. Hina grabbed onto her Justice cape for dear life, dropping to one knee as her eyes widened in disbelief. "What... What is happening?!!"
Behind her, her Marines were tumbling around like ragdolls.
Buffalo and Giolla were flattened against the ground by the crushing gravity of the ascent, looking like two squashed blobs, unable to even stand.
Van Augur, Teach's sniper, had his hands planted on the ground, sweat beading on his forehead as he struggled to maintain his balance.
Elsewhere in the town, Doc Q's sick horse, Stronger, had its legs buckled, practically embedded in the dirt. Doc Q, tongue lolling out, was pinned to the horse's back, half-dead. "What's going on?! The island... the island is flying!"
Next to him, Hisoka had used his Bungee Gum to tether himself to the surrounding buildings. He leaned at a sharp angle, fighting the gravity with a look of sheer surprise.
"Oh? Now this is a twist."
In the entire town, only two people managed to stay standing under the pressure.
Ace and Teach fought to stay upright, their duel completely forgotten in the face of this sudden anomaly. They looked around blankly, totally lost.
But there was one person in the town who saw through everything. Based on what he was seeing—and who he knew—he figured it out instantly.
Buggy the Clown.
Buggy, practically buried in the dirt by the pressure, realized the depressing truth. His face was pressed against the ground, looking uglier than a man crying at a funeral.
"This ability... this level of showmanship... this feeling of impending doom for everyone involved... this flashy-ass entrance—"
"It's him!! There's no mistake!!" Buggy gritted his teeth.
"IT'S THAT MAN!"
An image instantly popped into his head:
Black hair, dark eyes, deep expression, elegant posture, and a cross tattooed on his forehead. A figure like a devil.
"It's Chrollo! It has to be!!"
Buggy spat out bitter bile, looking like his soul had left his body. "Why does he haunt me like a ghost?!"