Ivankov's warship happened to be on the very edge of the meteor bombardment.
Not only was it completely unharmed, but the shockwave actually gave it a powerful push forward, propelling it ahead at great speed and allowing it to completely distance itself from Blackbeard's fleet.
As its speed stabilized, the ship happened to arrive right alongside Roya's warship.
From afar, Ivankov caught sight of Roya standing tall and proud on the command deck. In that moment, the confidence nearly crushed by Blackbeard came flooding back.
He immediately snatched the helm from the helmsman, spun it fully to turn the ship around on the spot, and followed Roya toward the uninhabited island where Blackbeard had fallen.
A blanket of pure darkness had abruptly spread over the island.
In the blink of an eye, every part of the island visible above sea level was swallowed entirely by the consuming blackness.
This darkness held a wicked and terrifying gravitational pull, as if determined to devour everything into its abyss.
Above the island, lightning cracked, hurricanes raged, and hailstones the size of fists crashed down at random from the skies.
The entire island had become a disaster-ridden hellscape, engulfed by a catastrophe unlike any other!
In mere moments, all vegetation, rocks, and debris on the island were shredded to dust by the natural disasters, only to be devoured by the darkness—fuel to empower the spreading abyss.
At the center of it all stood Blackbeard, grinning wickedly in the heart of the darkness.
"Keh keh keh… Of course it's you again, Roya."
"What's the matter? Did Captain Ace fall to his knees and beg you to avenge him?"
"Heheheh… I really want to get a taste of that mysterious power of yours!"
Ace's expression had long since turned ice-cold.
In a solemn voice, he said, "Your Excellency the Imperial Vice Commander, please allow me… to fight Blackbeard again—for my own dignity."
Roya chuckled softly. "This was your battle to begin with. Make it quick. If you finish him off fast enough, we'll still have time to enjoy a barbecue under the sunset."
Ace laughed heartily. "Barbecue's my specialty!"
With that, he leapt from the command deck, soaring toward the island now cloaked in darkness.
Before he even landed, flames were already blazing fiercely around his body.
The fire surged around him, gathering in his hands into a rapidly growing, massive fireball.
From the sky, hurricanes, bolts of lightning, and waves of hail surged toward Ace in a violent onslaught.
The hailstones suddenly accelerated, trailing afterimages as they tore through the air like a storm of bullets, blasting toward Ace.
In that instant—faster than words—the roaring flames in Ace's hands began to spin, compressing and condensing into an even larger, searing fireball.
Blackbeard sneered, "Captain Ace, still using those same old tricks?"
"Don't forget how you lost to me last time!"
As he spoke, his right hand—engulfed in darkness—clenched tightly.
The darkness blanketing the ground below suddenly bubbled like boiling water, surging into thick black mist that clawed its way toward Ace.
But Ace only smiled coldly. "I'll admit, last time I underestimated the terrifying fusion of your unique body and the Dark-Dark Fruit."
"But this time, I've made adjustments—just for you!"
As he spoke, the massive fireball in his hand suddenly began spinning at high speed!
And not just in a flat, circular spin—but in a full spherical rotation.
From every angle, it looked like a spiraling vortex of flames, spinning clockwise.
Great Flame Commandment: Flame Emperor – Vortex!
The fiery vortex roared to life, and the surrounding hurricanes, lightning bolts, and hailstones were drawn in like moths to a flame.
With no resistance, they were sucked into the vortex and instantly incinerated into pure energy, which in turn fed and amplified the blazing inferno.
Seeing this, Blackbeard was momentarily stunned, then mocked, "Captain Ace, trying to absorb and devour energy like me? Aren't you just turning into darkness yourself?"
Ace snorted. "With your stupidity, of course you wouldn't understand… the true nature of darkness!"
He pressed his hands downward, and the rapidly spinning fire vortex plummeted.
The black mist that had risen was instantly forced back by the intense heat.
Blackbeard's expression twisted into one of rage and panic.
His original plan had been to repeat his old tactic—use Dark Vortex to pull Ace close, nullify his Devil Fruit abilities, and defeat him in close combat.
But this time, his dark vortex failed to unleash its usual gravitational force. Instead, it was being sucked into the fire vortex and burned away, becoming fuel for Ace's flames!
Furious and alarmed, Blackbeard had no choice but to withdraw his attack and think of a new strategy.
But Ace wasn't about to give him that time!
The blazing vortex was now less than three meters from Blackbeard's head!
With a ferocious roar, Blackbeard called back the all-encompassing darkness that had covered the island, drawing it into himself.
As the flaming vortex descended to just one meter above his head, a swirling mass of darkness gathered above him, forming a pocket-shaped vortex.
And then—fire met darkness. Vortex clashed with vortex.
Strangely, there was no thunderous impact or shockwave—only complete silence.
It was as calm as two drops of water merging into one.
But a closer look revealed the danger within.
Fire and darkness were devouring each other with relentless ferocity, grinding the other into pure energy to strengthen themselves.
Ace and Blackbeard, at the center of it all, were fully focused on controlling their respective vortexes.
Whoever faltered first would be consumed—body and soul—by the other's power.
So much hatred had built between them that neither hesitated to go all-in from the very start.
Though it looked like a deadlock, the decisive moment had already arrived.
Because more than half of both vortexes had already fused together.
Half of the spherical fire vortex had been swallowed by the black vortex.
And half of the dark vortex was now tinged with searing flames.
The two forces intertwined, forming an entirely new vortex.
Yet from the expressions on their faces, it was clear—they had both lost control.
Neither could stop now. Both were caught in the pull of their own powers, unable to escape.
They could only watch as the vortex decided the outcome—and their fate.
Because once the balance between fire and darkness broke, the resulting explosion would be catastrophic.
And trapped at the epicenter, neither had even the slightest chance of survival.
Ace's smile only grew wider.
Blackbeard's face, on the other hand, became more and more twisted with panic.
In this final moment, their courage and resolve revealed the difference between them.
"I can't die here! I still have to become the King of the World!!"
With a desperate roar, Blackbeard activated his Devil Fruit power once more.
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