Chapter 582: Dog-Beating Cannon!
“Wh... What!?”
“Dragon’s... son!?”
“The bloodline of the most heinous criminal in history!?”
Akainu’s roar was heard by many Marines. Stunned by the news, they took a moment to process it, but once they came to their senses, their gazes toward Luffy instantly turned murderous.
Momonga, Fighting Dog, Gion, Onigumo—these Marine Vice Admirals nearby immediately abandoned their own opponents and charged at Luffy!
“Jinbe! Iva! Protect Luffy!” Ian shouted urgently at that moment.
Ivankov and the others, who had already noticed the situation, didn’t need Ian’s call to rush over. Vice Admiral Momonga arrived first, swinging his sword down at the running Luffy, but Ivankov intercepted him with a “Death Wink,” blasting him away with a shockwave.
However, wave after wave of Marines surged toward Luffy. He punched frantically, sending enemy after enemy flying, but the second to arrive, Vice Admiral Gion, landed a Finger Gun directly into Luffy’s body, piercing a bloody hole and sending him crashing to the ground.
As Luffy hit the dirt, Fighting Dog and Onigumo arrived simultaneously, their blades descending toward him to finish him off.
But at that moment, an invisible circular space suddenly enveloped Luffy’s position. He vanished from the ground, replaced by a Marine Captain!
Onigumo and Fighting Dog’s swords plunged down, impaling the Marine Captain through his body.
“What!?” They both gasped in shock, turning to search for Luffy’s trail, only to find Straw Hat Luffy inexplicably standing beside Trafalgar Law.
Law had acted, using his Devil Fruit ability to swap Luffy out at the last possible moment.
Marco and the others had also seen what was happening. Knowing Luffy was Ace’s younger brother, two Division Commanders immediately rushed over. Jinbe and Ivankov arrived as well, and a group of them clashed with the Marine Vice Admirals, all to protect Straw Hat Luffy.
“Damn it, one after another...” Akainu, currently locked in combat with Ian and Ace, glanced at the scene from the corner of his eye and felt deeply irritated.
He had intended to personally deal with Straw Hat Luffy, but Ian knew well that the only ones here who could truly threaten Luffy were the three Marine Admirals. As for the other Vice Admirals, under the protection of Jinbe and Ivankov, they couldn’t touch Luffy. So Ian and Ace didn’t even think about helping Luffy; they just kept attacking Akainu relentlessly.
Ace’s leg was injured, but it wasn’t too serious. He could endure it, and if it got worse, Ian was right beside him, ready to heal him at any moment.
The two flanked Akainu from left and right. Ian’s blade, wreathed in black flames, continuously slashed at Akainu, while Ace’s fists, blazing with white fire, launched long-range attacks, firing off Fire Fist after Fire Fist at him.
Troublesome! That was Akainu’s only thought at the moment. He had noticed earlier that Ian’s eerie black flames burned hotter than his own magma. When his magma collided with those black flames, it was incinerated, turning into black carbon residue. This forced Akainu to fight cautiously. Now, with Fire Fist Ace added to the mix, those white flames were also scorching hot—even a graze caused Akainu searing pain.
Ian’s earlier guidance to Ace had finally paid off. At least now, Ace’s ability development was on the right track, no longer suppressed by the Magma Fruit’s power.
And once the Devil Fruit’s inherent disadvantage vanished, Akainu’s only remaining assets were his Haki and physical combat skills.
As a Marine Admiral, his Haki and physical prowess were top-tier. He coated his magma fists with Armament Haki and clashed head-on with Ian!
Ian raised his Thousand Cherry Blossoms blade to block, but the force from Akainu’s fist nearly snapped it. He immediately realized that Akainu’s Armament Haki was far more refined than he had imagined.
The higher the refinement, the stronger the attack and defense of Armament Haki—that was common knowledge.
If he kept trading blows with Akainu using Haki, he would lose. So Ian signaled Ace to coordinate a hit-and-run strategy.
*Swoosh!* Ian swung his blade upward, sending a wave of black flames skimming across the ground toward Akainu.
This was the Eight-Style: Dark Grasp from the Iori card, but Ian fired it using the Demon Realm Flame from the Flying Shadow card. It was a new application he had recently figured out—since both were flame abilities, the skills from the Iori card and the Flying Shadow card were interchangeable.
In other words, Ian could now use the Evil King Flame Slayer Sword with blue flames, or even unleash the Beast Flame with Demon Realm Fire!
Of course, these were only superficial imitations. After the modification, the effects differed. At the very least, the Eight Wine Cups fired with Demon Realm Fire lost its time-freezing special effect...
Akainu naturally didn’t dare let the black flames skimming along the ground touch him, so he leaped into the air. But Ace, having received Ian’s signal, immediately launched a Fire Fist at the airborne Akainu, forcing him to twist midair to dodge.
Seizing the opportunity, Ian hurled a Lightning Spear at Akainu.
Unexpectedly, Akainu used Moon Step to sidestep at the last second, evading the Lightning Spear.
His combat experience was immense. When Ace attacked him with Fire Fist, he had anticipated a coordinated strike. True to form, using Moon Step a second early allowed him to dodge even the Lightning Spear’s high-speed attack.
“Flame Emperor!!!”
Seeing Ian’s attack miss, Ace immediately covered the gap. He gathered a massive ball of fire in his hands and hurled it at Akainu in midair, using a wide-area attack to negate Akainu’s Moon Step mobility.
At the same time, Ian poured out a massive amount of his Psychic Power, summoning a thundercloud above Akainu. A final bolt of lightning descended as a colossal pillar of light, striking straight down at him!
Akainu coated his entire body in Armament Haki to withstand Ace’s Flame Emperor, but while he blocked Ace’s ultimate move, Ian’s lightning bolt slammed him out of the sky, crashing him into the ground with a thunderous boom.
The residual lightning energy spread across the ground with a crackling hum, leaving Akainu lying there, charred black.
Ace walked over, panting, and looked at Akainu on the ground, asking Ian, “How is it? Did it work?”
But before Ian could answer, Akainu’s body suddenly moved. He pushed himself up with his hands, his face twitching, and gritted out through clenched teeth, “You two... you’re making me hurt...”
As he spoke, Akainu’s body began to roil. He fully transformed into magma, swelling larger and larger, until he became a magma giant before their eyes.
His Marine Admiral coat had been burned away. Normally, Logia users could incorporate their clothes into their elemental form, but Akainu abandoned that now. This magma giant had a head shaped like a ferocious hunting dog, claws like sharp flames, and a lower body still in human form. Thick smoke billowed from him, with liquid and flames churning violently across his body, making him look utterly terrifying.
His current appearance caught Ian off guard. The dog-headed, human-bodied form reminded him of a mythological figure—Anubis!
Akainu had gone all out. This magma form was appearing in public for the first time. The only ones who had ever seen it before were old-timers like Sengoku and Zephyr, and it was the origin of Akainu’s nickname. Now, to deal with two juniors, he was using it again.
Opening his mouth, Akainu spat out a stream of scorching magma at Ian and Ace. They quickly leaped aside to dodge, but the magma splashed onto nearby pirates and Marine soldiers locked in combat. Under the searing heat, they screamed as their flesh melted away, leaving behind charred skeletons...
Seeing such a horrifying sight, the surrounding pirates and Marines froze for a moment, then let out a panicked shout and fled in all directions.
Akainu didn’t even glance at the Marines he had accidentally killed. He swung his magma claws with a howl, aiming at Ian and Ace.
Transformed, Akainu was like a ferocious hound hunting its prey, exuding a suffocating power that made him even more savage and relentless.
Ian and Ace dodged his attacks as fast as they could, barely escaping. Ian was too slow once, and Akainu’s claw raked across his arm, leaving long, deep gashes with flesh split open. Ace, meanwhile, barely avoided Akainu’s bite, but the dog-headed giant whipped his head, slamming Ace out of the air and onto the ground.
Ace landed beside Ian, got up, and looked at Ian’s wounded arm, asking, “You okay?”
“I’m fine!” Ian shook his head. “This guy’s body is too big. Normal moves won’t work. Let’s hit him with that move!”
“Alright!” Ace immediately understood what Ian meant and nodded in agreement.
Akainu straightened up and charged at them again, but this time, he saw Ian and Ace standing their ground instead of dodging. They stood side by side, their hands joined together.
One white flame and one black flame blazed fiercely from their hands.
Ian and Ace, their eyes burning with equal fighting spirit, faced Akainu’s incoming maw and thrust their flames forward!
“Dog-Beating Cannon!!!”