"Die, pirate!!"
Boiling magma swelled up and burst toward the pirate girl.
If she were hit, she'd be burned to nothing in an instant. But the deadly strike only burned empty air.
"Too slow! Even my own soldiers could dodge that!"
Meanwhile, the pirate girl—Boa Hancock—raced through the sky.
Even if she dodged the magma, she had chosen the direction that caused the least damage around her.
Hancock touched her lips with her fingertips and blew a kiss.
From her mouth, a pale pink glow swelled like a balloon—clearly created by her Devil Fruit—
"Slave Arrow!!"
She fired the giant heart-shaped thing as both bow and arrow.
Akainu instinctively tried to block it with his magma body, raising a huge molten arm as a shield—
"!?"
—Only for that arm to turn to stone in an instant.
"Yes, this way is much easier for me," Hancock smirked. She had originally fought as an archer when she first joined Kuro, and now she kept her conjured bow drawn as she faced Akainu.
"Still… it won't end that easily, will it?" she whispered to herself.
She had turned one arm to stone.
Against a normal foe, that would not guarantee victory, but it would give her a huge advantage.
But her opponent was Admiral Akainu.
"Of course. A Marine Admiral won't fall so easily to a mere pirate," Akainu spat.
He was the Magma-Magma Man—a man whose body was molten rock.
Our devil fruits aren't the best match… are they.
The stone arm slowly glowed red, and—like before—bubbled and cracked as the stone began to melt.
"We feel the same," Hancock stated coldly. "We freed the captured Marines, warned you, and even helped clean up your mess, yet you broke the ceasefire—the agreement meant to protect the people. We cannot kneel to criminals pretending to be just."
"Don't talk big, pirate!!"
Magma boiled up.
A strike filled with anger—anger so great even its target was no longer clear—swelled to swallow Hancock, roaring toward her in a red flood—
—BOOM!!!
"…What!?" Akainu gasped.
It had been stopped.
Not by a devil fruit. Her bow had vanished at some point, and the magma showed no sign of turning to stone.
"Fu… fufu…"
The one holding the magma back was Boa Hancock herself.
Her kick alone had stopped the raging stream of molten rock.
Even with Haki, touching magma should not erase its heat.
"Fufufufufufu…"
Her leg should have suffered burns far beyond repair—or even burned away entirely—yet she stood unfazed.
Her laugh grew louder.
"At last… at last I've caught up to you, My Captain!!"
"You fool… you—!"
The magma flood was held in place by the girl's slender leg.
"Fufahahahahahaha!!!" Hancock laughed triumphantly. The magma that should burn everything it touched never reached her Haki-covered foot. It was blocked completely.
"Did you see that!? Did you see that, Mihawk?! I was the one named the first fleet admiral by My Captain! I won't let you, a guest swordsman, act like you're above me! My Captain's right hand is Daz, the ones who see and hear for him are Robin and Perona, but the first blade is me!! I'll make you admit it at the next training!!"
—Oh? You talk big, Hancock.
As Akainu turned his left arm into magma again, ready to burn the pirate who stopped his blow, he heard a splash.
A sharp stream of seawater—less forceful than the earlier spray, but more focused.
Riding that stream on a large wooden plank like a surfboard was a swordsman.
One of the men Sakazuki hated most. A sea bandit who had cost many Marines their lives.
"You!!!"
The man called the "Marine Hunter"—Dracule Mihawk—was there.
Akainu tried to burn the seawater and plank in one go, but Mihawk calmly kicked the wet plank as a shield, using its bounce to change direction and land beside Hancock. He drew his blade.
"Marine Hunter and Pirate Princess…! If I take you two down, 'Steel Blade' will have no choice but to surrender!!" Akainu roared.
"…Pirate Princess?" Hancock repeated, glancing at Mihawk.
"Kuro has been made an enemy of the government. As his subordinates, it's natural for you to be seen as dangerous too. Looks like you've earned a title. By the end of this battle, you'll have a wanted poster."
"Oh? I look forward to seeing how much the government thinks I'm worth," Hancock replied with a haughty toss of her hair.
"You won't need to worry. You'll both burn to death here!!"
The wooden plank and seawater steamed and vanished, and a thin mist spread in the area.
Akainu blasted it away with another burst of magma—this time twice as massive as before.
"Again!? These devil fruit users are such a nuisance!!" Hancock complained.
"You are one too."
Mihawk moved in front this time.
With a fearless smile, the Marine Hunter swung his sword, splitting the massive magma wave in two, then slicing it into pieces that hardened and scorched the deck.
"…Tch."
Focused on watching the ground melt, Mihawk noticed the presence ahead a moment too late.
On the other side of the parted magma, an even larger torrent surged forward—
Akainu, most of his body turned to magma, closing the distance with a clenched fist.
"Die!!"
A killing blow.
A simple but deadly punch delivered directly with his Devil Fruit.
It was too close for Mihawk to swing his blade.
He loosened his grip on the sword—
"Hancock. Just as you caught up to Kuro…"
—and thrust out his left hand, catching the blow.
"I've caught up too. To him…"
"You—!!!" Akainu shouted in disbelief.
Not with a fist.
With a single finger.
A lone index finger coated in condensed Haki—the same flowing Haki Kuro once used to deflect and nearly shatter Mihawk's sword—struck Akainu and sent one of the Marine's strongest flying.
Like a kicked ball, Akainu was hurled across the deck and slammed into it, leaving the watching Marines frozen in disbelief.
"…So? At the next training… what was that again?" Mihawk asked, dusting off his finger.
"G—grrr…!!" Hancock growled, her face flushing red.
"…Fine! A warrior of Kuja never goes back on her word! I'll make you taste bitter defeat!!"
"Hahahahahaha!!"
--
100 Powerstones = 1 Bonus Chapter.