Chapter 79: Chapter 80: Black Water.
Ignyr and Lucci's fists clashed, shaking the ground with a deafening boom.
The shockwave surged across the room, crackling against the air and sending sparks flying as the energy rippled outward.
This was a pinnacle duel of raw physical combat. The sheer pressure stirred the air violently, causing their hair and clothes to flutter wildly, while countless objects were hurled against the walls by the force.
"Ugh!"
The Celestial Dragon Patriarch, watching the fight from a distance, was hit by the shockwave. His chair slammed against the wall and splintered from the impact, sending the panicked patriarch crashing to the ground.
Even lying flat on the tile floor, the overwhelming pressure pressed down on him like a mountain — it felt as if his bones were cracking under the force.
"Aaaaargh!"
Lucci — roared in pain. Thick veins bulged on his forehead, and his face flushed red from exertion as he fought to stay upright.
Across from him stood Ignyr, calm and resolute.
The two glared at each other, fangs bared, fury and will pouring into every fiber of their being — and into their fists.
"The winner is decided!"
Sensing Lucci's power falter and the intense aura behind his fists weaken, Ignyr realized it was only a matter of time before his enemy collapsed.
Still, Lucci held on desperately, driven by duty and the will to protect the Celestial Dragon behind him. His body trembled violently, but he stood his ground.
"RAAAH!"
Ignyr let out a roar, his muscles surging with strength. His fists blazed forward with unstoppable force.
The pressure surged through Lucci's arms. His bones groaned — then shattered.
With a sickening crunch, the bones and tendons in Lucci's fists gave out, exploding into air with bits of flesh flying in all directions.
Ignyr's fists bulldozed forward, overwhelming Lucci's defense completely.
"AaaAAAAAA—!"
The pain was blinding. Lucci screamed as his arms were twisted back unnaturally, the joints and muscle torn apart by brute force.
One of his arms bulged grotesquely from behind his shoulder, barely hanging on due to the remnants of his tough fur-covered uniform. Without it, the arm would've been severed completely.
The explosive force blasted through Lucci, ripping a gaping hole in the thick wall behind him. The air distorted as the shockwave tore through, leaving nothing but devastation in its path.
As the dust settled, Lucci's strong cheetah Zoan arms were mangled. One arm was crushed beyond recognition, the other shredded — bones shattered, muscle pulped into bloody mass.
"Blueno! Move!"
Realizing defeat was inevitable, Lucci's first instinct wasn't for himself — it was to protect the Celestial Dragon behind him.
Despite the agony of his broken limbs, he shouted with everything he had, signaling to their final hope — Blueno.
At that moment, Blueno was engaged in a separate clash — one against the vengeful destroyer, Portgas D. Ace, known as Fire Fist.
It would be wrong to call it an even fight.
Ace's superior combat skills and Devil Fruit mastery rendered Bleno's Iron Body techniques almost useless.
"Tekkai: Smash!"
"Tekkai: Steel!"
"Tekkai: Spin!"
Even as Blueno used variations of the Tekkai (Iron Body) to harden his body, Ace overwhelmed him with pure power and technique.
Ace unleashed devastating fire-based attacks:
"Fire Fist!"
"Flame Gun!"
"Sunburst!"
The entire battlefield became an inferno — the floor scorched, the walls ablaze, everything charred by the clash of powers.
But Blueno, somehow, remained unburned. Relying on his Door- Door Fruit, he weaved between dimensional portals, narrowly avoiding Ace's flames every time.
Ace's first fireball only managed to scorch Blueno's tie — after that, Blueno kept moving, blinking through doors in space to avoid each attack with uncanny timing.
Then —
"Blueno, now!"
Lucci's desperate scream cut through the chaos. Ace and Bruno turned toward the sound.
What they saw made everything stop for a moment — Lucci, the strongest physique in CP0, defeated, arms destroyed. The others — had already fallen.
The once-proud elite unit was in shambles.
"Understood."
Blueno's face darkened. The strength of the Avengers was far beyond what they had prepared for.
Although it stung his pride, Blueno knew the mission was more important than honor. The plan had to proceed.
As Ace closed in, Blueno sliced the air open with his hand, summoning a portal — then vanished through it.
"Unforgivable, you mongrel!"
The Celestial Dragon, leaning against the wall in fear, gasped when he heard the sound of a door unlocking above.
Without hesitation, Blueno dropped next to the patriarch, grabbing him by the collar.
The Avengers were closing in fast.
Blueno swiped the air once more, opening a second portal. Without wasting a second, he leapt through it, dragging the Celestial Dragon with him.
"Blackwater!"
The moment the portal appeared, dark tendrils surged from behind Shiryu of the Rain and Devon, shooting toward the portal's edge.
The inky-black tentacles clung to the rim, coating the edges with a shadowy substance infused with Armament Haki.
The darkened frame began to vibrate — exactly as Ignyr had anticipated.
The frequency of the tremors increased rapidly, reaching a fever pitch — and then, the portal destabilized.
With a pulse of air and a vertical shimmer, the portal vanished — and Blueno and the Celestial Dragon were spat back out, falling unceremoniously to the floor.
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