Boom!
The ground below Akuma and Whitebeard started cracking up and sparks of white and black were bursting in the air around them.
"Ahhh!"
Whitebeard held his naginata with both hands as he forced it on Akuma's bat.
"Haaa!"
The power was too great for Akuma to hold back so he had to use every single muscle in his body to generate more strength.
The two weapons, a naginata and a metal bat were barely inches away from each other as if there was a force between them.
Grm!
The roars of thunder were heard all around the sea battle. Black clouds formed above the island where two individuals were fighting.
Boom!
Both Akuma and Whitebeard backed away from each other while maintaining enough distance.
"Fuu. This is what you should call power."
Said Akuma with a slight nod. He looked at his palms and then at Whitebeard.
"Haโฆ Haโฆ Haโฆ"
Whitebeard gasped for breath as he held his naginata with right hand.
Sweats rolled down his forehead. Him using his full strength was a huge burden on his old body.
"Damn it!"
Cursed Whitebeard. Wiping the sweat, he shook his head and then grinned at Akuma.
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ง๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ตโฆ Thought Whitebeard. He lifted his naginata and spun it in the air while charging towards Akuma.
Seeing Whitebeard rush at him, Akuma pulled the metal bat and then dash forward like swinging it at Whitebeard.
Boom!
Another explosion sounded from the island. Marco and the rest were watching the battle between Whitebeard and Akuma with grave faces.
"Fatherโฆ"
Marco gritted his teeth while his eyes were completely red. A teardrop flowed down his eyes.
"Don't you dare lose, old man!"
Marco shouted loudly from the bow of Moby Dick. His voice was clear to both Akuma and Whitebeard.
"Do you think I would ever lose! In your dream!"
Like a crazy beast, Whitebeard started increasing his strength and pushed Akuma back.
Akuma narrowed his eyes at such a display of power but ultimately, it was just a losing battle for Whitebeard.
No, more like a dying one.
A last struggle which was futile from the very beginning.
"As if this was all I got!"
Akuma's body immediately became translucent and some parts of his body mixed in the air.
"Heha Heha Heha Heha!"
The low and tiny voices rang throughout the whole island causing Whitebeard to stop his movements.
"What is it?"
A small white figure flew around Whitebeard. It was a ghost with a round head and two arms.
A devilish smile on its face while its eyes stared at Whitebeard with hunger.
"Heha Heha!"
"!"
Whitebeard sensed the sudden danger from this tiny ghost. Swinging his naginata, Whitebeard created a strong wind to push it away.
Unfortunately, there was not just one tiny ghost.
"Ha ha haโฆ Let me show you why I am more than a monster."
White smoke covered the island slowly as Akuma's upper body appeared before Whitebeard.
"Heha Heha Heha!"
Around him, there were hundreds of such tiny ghosts which all laughed together.
Alerted by the site, Whitebeard clenched his left fist and punched the space before him.
Crack.
The punch seems to crack the space like an open mirror. Very soon, the ground started shaking.
Boom!
The ground cracked open with the earthquake due to Whitebeard's devil fruit ability.
Strong wind pushed all the smoke around the island away from him.
But yet again, Whitebeard's fate wasn't with him.
A kick landed on his back throwing Whitebeard on the ground.
Behind, the lower half of Akuma stood like a broken statue.
The other half materialized from the white smoke and turned into a whole Akuma.
The hundreds of ghosts flew towards Whitebeard seeing the chance but another strong wind pushed them away.
Even from the ground, Whitebeard had punched with his right hand to create another shock wave.
Bam!
Standing up again, Whitebeard hit his naginata on the ground as a smaller shock rippled.
A trace of blood was visible on Whitebeard's lips. His body was showing the effects of using his full strength.
"I admire your courage, Whitebeard. Even though death is just next to you, how come your 'will' never die? You truly are a legend."
Akuma walked with small steps around Whitebeard maintaining a six meters distance.
"But I couldn't have survived a hundred year in imprisonment like you."
Whitebeard didn't keep his eyes away from Akuma while his other senses also looked out for any possible danger around him.
"Well said. It was really difficult to live in that cell alone for a hundred year without any food and water. I felt like dying any second."
Akuma remembered the memories of his past inside the cell.
Cold. Lonely.
There was also hunger and pain.
Never did he face such a condition after successfully becoming a real devil.
But that was also the reason he adapted to loneliness.
Akuma grew older and older inside that cell. His mind also changed to a certain degree.
When he thought of the twenty years after his escape from Impel Down, he would always be surprised.
The once evil, careful and strong. He became soft, careless and weak.
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ถ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆโฆ Akuma's eyes stared at Whitebeard.
"You are a variable I must kill if I want to bring my home here."
His deep voice sent chills in Whitebeard's body. Akuma leaped in the air and dropped down at Whitebeard.
"Die!"
Roared Akuma. His red eyes glowed brightly as he didn't hold back his killing intent.
"Ahhhhh!"
Whitebeard stomped and swung his naginata up to block Akuma's incoming attack.
Boom!
The clash with two Supreme Haki spread out of the island knocking out the weak willed pirates.
Even the ones fighting on the sea were affected, whether it was their own side or not.
The sun was now half below the sea horizon, the sky was black but light still kept coming.
It will soon be night.
Both sides have suffered huge losses. Pirates who died were in tens of thousands.
If counted more accurately, more than half the pirates would be found dead.
Boom!
The two individuals fighting on the island didn't show any sign of stopping.
"Haโฆ Haโฆ"
But one can make out that Whitebeard was already at his limits.
His body hurt a lot. His arms felt like they would fall down any moment.
His legs almost stop moving many times. Even his eyes were feeling heavy to open.
Yet, Whitebeard fought back against Akuma on equal strength.
Akuma was greatly shocked. He expected Whitebeard to be strong but this was out of his expectations.
๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต! ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ง๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐บ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ต?... Inside Devil's Contract, Rocky watched Whitebeard fight with wide open eyes.
"This man should not be allowed to live!"
Smoking his cigar, Rocky said in a serious tone. The workers around the controls gulped their own saliva.
Akuma and Whitebeard, their fight to death was on a completely different level.
"But Whitebeard, you can't win no matter what. The longer you fight, the more you are near your death."
In Rocky's eyes, Whitebeard was welcoming his death with open arms.
It was then when a shout gathered all the pirates' attention.
"Father!"
A figure riding a small boat powered by flames came sailing towards the sea battle at a fast speed.
"Ace!"
A tattoo on his back of the Whitebeard symbolโpurple bones formed in a cross behind a purple skull with a white mustache.
There was another tattoo on his upper left bicep that spelled "ASCE" vertically.
Yes, it was none other than the elder brother of Luffy. The second commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.
And the biological son of the "Pirate King", Gol D. Roger.
Portgas D. Ace!