Journey to One Piece

255. No

Once standing on solid ground again, Ace wasted no time and turned back, shouting,

"Fire Dragon's Roar."

A massive burst of fire erupted from Ace's mouth and struck Akainu, who was charging at them at full speed. The fire attack was much larger than anyone had anticipated, and Ace had poured a significant amount of his magic and Devil Fruit power into this attack. As the flames engulfed Akainu, Ace's hair slowly transitioned from black to red, and the surrounding temperature began to rise.

"Luffy, step back!" Ace shouted.

"No, Ace, we need to go."

"Luffy, we can't run if we don't stop him here. We just need to hold him off for a while, and then we can leave." Ace was determined and wanted a rematch. He felt embarrassed by how a powerful person like him had been captured.

As Ace stood his ground, Akainu came to a halt.

"I thought you would run like the coward you are," Akainu taunted.

"If I were the coward, why did you seek the help of a pirate to capture me? Where did your absolute justice go at that time?"

Those words seemed to infuriate Akainu. With a deafening roar, Ace lunged forward, flames roaring from his fists as he attempted a devastating Fire Dragon's Punch. Akainu, however, was no pushover. He formed a molten magma fist and clashed with Ace's fiery attack. The ground beneath them quaked as their elemental powers collided, sending shockwaves that shook the very earth.

Ace unleashed a torrent of Dragon's Roar, a devastating breath attack that engulfed Akainu in a swirling tempest of fire. But the Admiral wasn't easily defeated. He emerged from the flames, his magma body repairing the damage almost instantly. Akainu retaliated with his own Meteor Volcano, creating tidal waves of molten rock that threatened to consume Ace.

But Ace was more than just fire. He met fire versus magma and even infused chakra into his attack. Using one of the signature moves of the Hyuga clan, he struck Akainu with an attack accompanied by fire. Akainu didn't anticipate such a sneaky move and was blown away several meters back.

"You have quite the moves for a pirate scum," Akainu grumbled as he got up after being struck by the palm attack. Meanwhile, Luffy was dealing with the people around him using his staff and feet. He wielded his feet like a killing machine, and it looked like an art if someone observed it from the side.

Ace didn't reply to Akainu as the battle raged on. He summoned his ultimate technique, the Dragon King's Roar. The sheer force of the attack created a colossal explosion, lighting up the battlefield in a blinding blaze of fire.

But Akainu was not to be outdone. With a determined roar, he transformed his body into a massive, molten Magma Golem, towering over Ace. The Admiral's magma fists came crashing down with earth-shattering force, threatening to engulf the Dragon Slayer/shinobi in a sea of searing heat.

With no other choice, Ace had to jump back while holding onto Luffy. The molten magma scorched the battlefield, forcing nearby pirates and marines to flee. Ace was panting, having been under stress all this time, and his hands hadn't fully healed yet.

Ace and Luffy didn't stop there; they broke into a run again. They had managed to stall Akainu for some time and exhaust his stamina, which was all they needed. Akainu, watching Luffy and Ace retreat, grew even angrier.

Although he had overwhelmed his opponents with his attack, Ace was elusive like a slippery fish, and his speed wasn't as fast as the two brothers. The other two were occupied with the Admirals, leaving Ace as the sole target.

By this time, all the Whitebeard Pirates were retreating at full speed, following Whitebeard's orders without question.

"So, you Whitebeard pirates are all cowards? Just like the others, you are running. And just like you, Whitebeard will run away too," Akainu suddenly taunted. His words echoed and reached Ace, who had stopped running and slowly turned back.

"Roger is not my father," Ace retorted.

"Of course he isn't. At least Roger didn't run when he was executed like a rat and faced it like a man. You and Whitebeard would run for sure if you were on the execution platform for your crimes."

This angered Ace even more.

"Hibashira" (Fire Pillar)

Ace shot a horizontal pillar of fire at Akainu, who gracefully defended against it. They engaged in a one-on-one battle once again. However, Luffy was growing annoyed by this point. He had been urging Ace to run away, and his brothers had been telling him the same. He now understood why Ken had been so bothered by this habit of Ace.

"Ace, we need to go!" Luffy shouted.

"Luffy, sometimes you encounter situations where you can't just run away. Mad dog, you better take your words back," Ace said.

"Make me." Akainu wore a smirk on his face as he continued to fight against Ace. However, this time, his aim was different. He intended to go after Luffy. He knew that killing Ace at this moment was almost impossible, as he could sense that the temperature of Ace's flames was rising with each passing second.

Ace's body was now covered in scales, and according to the scientists, Ace might not have consumed the Mera Mera no Mi to begin with; it could be some kind of mythical Zoan fruit they had never come across before.

And Akain could tell that Ace was a lost cause now, but Luffy.. Luffy didn't have that kind of power and he could be killed and thus as the battle raged on Akainu was slowly inching towards Luffy who was busy deflecting the attacks of the surrounding people. Ace didn't notice that Luffy and akainu's distance was getting shorter and shorter and he was cosnumed with the anger of taking Akainu down.

Just as he noticed that Akainu and Luffy had come close, he suddenly realized what Akainu had wanted to do.

"No..!!"