While Liam and Kizaru's battle was hitting its climax, the battle between Luffy and Akainu had only started to heat up.
The previous attack from Akainu almost killed Luffy.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! It hurts."
Luffy screamed like a child while running away from Akainu.
Yeah, he was running away while Akainu was chasing after him. Luffy wasn't faster than Akainu, but pain had only increased his adrenaline rush.
This allowed Luffy to run faster than Akainu, so much so that when Akainu realized that he couldn't catch Luffy so easily, he stopped.
He raised both of his fists towards the sky. His hands turned red with boiling magma and released several gigantic magma fists towards the sky.
When Luffy saw Akainu stop, he quickly stopped as well. Before he could take some rest, he saw Akainu launching his attack towards the sky.
Because he didn't know what Akainu was doing, he could only remain vigilant.
As soon as he saw those magma fists raining down with even greater force, he instantly realized the situation and entered Gear Second.
[Meteor Volcano]
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Even with Luffy's speed, he was still caught in several explosions. More importantly, the heat from Gear Second was only increasing his pain in that specific area, causing him to lose balance several times.
Fortunately, Luffy was using Gear Second, which helped him use Soru and Geppo simultaneously.
So, even when he was in the range of an explosion, he was more than capable of dodging them. Although that attack did make everything around him covered in flames and magma.
This island was almost unusable for battle, but Akainu had no intention of leaving it behind. After all, it was only favorable for him.
"Damn it! I can't keep running like this. I have to attack him."
Luffy muttered to himself and ran towards Akainu with Soru. He clenched his fist, coated it with Armament Haki and Conqueror Coating.
[Gomu-Gomu No]
[Jet Pistol]
By coating it with two colors of Haki, he had increased the power of his attack several times. If this were Kizaru, he would've dodged it.
But not Akainu.
When he saw Luffy coming towards him, he only got excited. His entire arm turned into Magma as he fiercely punched forward.
[Great Eruption]
His attack almost had the same pattern, but the power had increased several times, almost equaling Luffy by the level of damage it could cause.
Bang!
Advanced Armament Haki allowed Luffy to escape the damage of magma while his fist pierced through Akainu's attack and struck him on the chest.
Akainu was sent only a few steps back. The conqueror coating did make him feel pain in his chest, but it wasn't enough to even break his bones.
"Son of Dragon, take this!"
Akainu roared as he released another magma fist towards Akainu while Luffy's fist hadn't returned to him.
Luffy realized what Akainu was doing, so he extended his arm in mid-air, caught Akainu's body, and made him spin.
Akainu did continue to attack, but his magma fist went in another direction.
"Son of Dragon!"
Akainu roared even more fiercely when his attack didn't work. The magma started boiling all over his body, even destroying Luffy's Armament Haki.
"Hot! Hot! Hot!"
Luffy quickly pulled back his hand and started blowing air to cool it down.
"Damn you, Red Dog!"
Luffy fiercely cursed and bit his other hand. He started pumping air into his left hand, turning it into the hand of a giant.
[Gomo Gomu No]
Luffy leapt forward in his Gear Second and instantly reached above Akainu with his giant fist, raining down.
His entire hand was covered in Advanced Armament Haki while covered with Conqueror Coating.
At the same time, powerful flames appeared on his fist as he punched forward.
[Red Roc]
Seeing this, Akainu also raised his fist, releasing a massive dog made out of magma towards Luffy.
[Hound Blaze]
Boom!
Two fire-based attacks collided in the middle, creating a powerful explosion. Though neither Akainu nor Luffy ran away from the explosion.
The explosion of this fire wasn't strong enough to hurt Luffy, and fire could barely hurt Akainu. But Luffy's Conqueror coated Haki punch pierced through Akainu's magma dog.
Seeing this, Akainu gritted his teeth.
"Come on, Son of Dragon!"
He clenched his fist. Unlike before, he didn't release his Magma powers; instead just used Advanced Armament and punched forward.
Bang!
Their fists collided in the middle, creating a powerful impact. Luffy's giant fist versus Akainu's small fist.
But they were equal in power. Luffy almost a lot of momentum when he punched through the magma dog.
Even so, they managed to push each other several meters away. Luffy stabilized himself in mid-air while Akainu just stopped sliding.
Luffy landed on the ground that was still scorching from Akainu's previous attack.
Luffy stretched out his leg and used it to bind around a destroyed rock. He used this to send himself around the rock, spinning at a great speed.
He ejected himself towards Akainu and started spinning his arms. Because he was spinning already, he managed to increase the speed of his spin several times.
[Gomu Gomu No]
[Super Planetary Disk]
Luffy's arms were almost as sharp as a blade. He had coated his arms with Armament Haki, so when he tried to cut Akainu with his arm, Akainu had no choice but to retaliate with an attack.
[Seven Pillars of Destruction]
Akainu didn't even budge as seven different pillars of magma appeared around him.
Although the temperature of these pillars was high, Luffy didn't care. He simply cut through his pillars, and his attack landed on Akainu's chest.
Akainu simply tanked the attack and opened his hand in the shape of a claw. He covered his hand with magma and fiercely attacked.
[Hellhound]
His claw managed to reach Luffy, destroying his Armament Haki and piercing his skin.
But Luffy also bore the impact of this attack, coated his head with Conqueror Haki, Armament Haki, and head-butted Akainu.
Bang!
Luffy's attack sent Akainu flying across the island. Not only did the attack almost crack his skull, but it also had a powerful mental impact on his head.
Though Akainu was tough, he still had to clutch his head and rest for a moment just to relieve the impact of the previous attack.
Bang! Bang!
Small chunks of molten lava began to explode on Luffy's body. It turned out that when Akainu used Hellhound, he also left several molten rocks on Luffy's chest.
Although it didn't reach his internal organs, it did reach his muscles and bones. The explosions almost caused him internal injuries.
The rubber body was already weak against fire, and now, Luffy had several explosions on his chest, causing him to feel even more pain.
For a moment, Luffy couldn't help but think.
'Should I use Gear Fourth? I can't go on like this. I need to use Gear Fourth in this battle, otherwise I will simply lose this battle easily.'
'But I need to awaken my Devil Fruit. Liam said that Akainu has awakened his fruit, but I haven't seen him using his awakened powers.'
'So, how did he awaken it? How should I awaken mine?'
Luffy thought to himself, but he quickly heard a roar coming from far away. Akainu was rushing towards him with his legs acting as a propeller.
He exploded off the ground with his legs, allowing him to move faster.
Akainu covered his arm with magma, condensed it into a massive dog, and punched towards Luffy.
[Hound Blaze]
Seeing this attack coming towards him, Luffy couldn't help but remember Liam's words.
'If you want to awaken your fruit, you must be in a desperate situation. There is a high probability that you will awaken your Devil Fruit after death.'
When he remembered these words, for a moment, Luffy wanted to face death.
He wasn't afraid of death. If he could awaken his fruit through death, he might as well do it, right?
When that thought crossed his mind, Robin's face came to his mind. At the same time, her words also rang in his head.
'No matter how hard the battle gets, promise me one thing, Luffy. Promise me that you will make it out alive.'
'Shishishi! Don't worry, I will come out alive.'
'No, I need your promise.'
Robin's serious expression made him serious as well. He paused for a moment when Robin continued.
'Liam has told you about your Devil Fruit Awakening. I am worried that you will make a mistake, Luffy. For two decades, I did everything to survive. Promise me that you will do the same.'
Luffy, with a serious expression, nodded.
'I promise you, Robin. I will not leave you alone. You will never be alone anymore.'
Remembering those words, Luffy clenched his fist, coated it with Armament Haki. The pain in his chest no longer mattered.
He just wanted to survive and awaken his Devil Fruit. And right now, he just wanted to punch Akainu.
[Gomu Gomu No]