Chapter 257: Akainu Chases

"Tsk, alright enough of that topic; you guys can lust after Freyja and Hancock once we've retreated from Marineford." Said Diddy lightly with a shake of his head as he swung his bo-staff, knocking away multiple marines while Freyja swooped in from behind, finishing the job with her deadly sharp nails.

"Retreat? Has our crazy little Captain finally had enough fun?" Asked Freyja mockingly as she spoke to Diddy as if he were a baby, causing him to grunt in annoyance before ignoring her.

"Hmph, of course not; I would love to continue fighting, except as you all can see, I've long since reached my limit; if I continue to try and fight, my body will literally start breaking apart. If it weren't for Nimbus acting as my skeleton and muscles, I'd be lying on the ground, unable to move. Do you think fighting all those admirals and the strongest man alive didn't come with consequences?" Remarked Diddy with a scoff as he folded his arms and eyed Freyja, only to suddenly lean back, dodging a marine before biting his arm off his body and then stabbing himself with it.

"Besides, It's not like I'm the only one who is long overdue for a rest; you guys sound fine, but you're all running on fumes at this point." Added Diddy with a faint smirk as he glanced between his crew, noticing their injured, weary, sluggish bodies, though the spirit in their eyes shone brightly.

"Hoho, you saw right through us, and here I thought we almost managed to fool you." Said Sebas with a soft chuckle as he attacked an incoming marine, but with his current condition, he missed, allowing the enemy to get close.

"Watch yourself, old man. If this is too much, you can always take a break." Said Mael with a faint smirk as he slashed down, cutting the rapidly approaching marine in half before glancing at Sebas, who nodded while chuckling.

"Hoho, I appreciate your concern, Mael, but a little bit of exhaustion isn't enough to stop old man; my body may be fragile, but my mind is fierce." Declared Sebas with a smile as he tapped his head while eying Mael, only for a thud to resound behind, prompting him to turn around and spot an unconscious marine.

"Tsk, so it seems." Muttered Mael with a click of his tongue as he burned the marine to ashes before aggressively attacking the enemies, promptly Sebas to do the same.

"Tch, Men." Muttered Freyja in slight annoyance as she glanced at Sebas and Mael before shaking her head, though funnily enough, she too became far more ferocious.

Watching my three future commanders engaging in an invisible contest, I couldn't help but chuckle in amusement before glancing at Scar as I nudged him with my bo-staff.

"C'mon, what the hell are you doing? Are you going to let those three leave you like this?" Asked Diddy curiously with a feral expression as he eyed Scar, who glanced at Mael, Sebas, and Freyja.

"No." Muttered Scar with a faint glint while shaking his head as he, too, fought more aggressively, causing corpses to hit the ground every few seconds.

'Heh, maybe I'll have four future commanders.' Mused Diddy with a smirk as he gazed between Scar, Mael, Sebas, and Freyja.

Although I focused mainly on those four, my other three crewmembers weren't a bunch of weaklings either, especially Grand; he was probably just as strong as Scar; the only difference was that Grand didn't have the same spirit or will as Scar. Unlike Grand, Scar had a rather strong desire to protect his family; it was the whole reason why he even bothered to ask me to train him, all to protect those close to him, which was admirable and worthy of respect, especially since he's never once slacked off on his training ever since then.

'Heh, when I had first met them, Grand would've easily beaten him, but now, he's not only caught up to him, he might've even surpassed him. Talent and hard work are a deadly combination.' Thought Diddy with a grin as he fought against marines and watched Scar through his haki while slowly retreating.

Scar still had a long way to go before he could reach the level of Mael, Sebas, and Freyja, and I truly hoped with all of my heart he'd reach their level of strength in the future; however, while I imagined fighting against my four powerful commanders, Akainu suddenly erupted into a violent explosion that shook the surrounding area.

Quickly shifting my focus to Akainu, I saw him throw massive blobs of magma into the air, causing me to frown as it began to rain drops of magma, causing both pirates and marines alike to scream in agony. Clicking my tongue, I clenched my fist before punching the air, using one of my seventy-two bian along with geppo, creating a wall of air that blocked the raining magma, while Sebas created an invisible shield above everyone except Mael, who was completely unbothered by the magma.

Glancing at Marco and his two fellow crewmates, I noticed all three were significantly injured; even Marco was having a tough time healing from all the injuries, though it's not like Akainu was unharmed; he was also injured, just not to the same degree as his three opponents.

"Tch, you pirates are mere nuisances that deserve to be erased from this world; your foolish Captain will die protecting his stupid crew. A fitting end for a loser like himself." Stated Akainu with a scowl as he slowly approached the Whitebeard pirates while magma flowed from his body.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" Yelled Ace furiously as he suddenly stopped before turning around and eyeing Akainu, whose scowl only deepened.

"I said you foolish pirates will die here along with your pathetic captain." Replied Akainu sternly as he eyed Ace, who gritted his teeth while staring at him furiously.

"Take that back. DON'T YOU DARE CARE POPS PATHETIC!" Yelled Ace while he clenched his fist, causing wisps of flames to emit from his body as his arm was engulfed in orangish flames.

Following Ace's little outburst, he suddenly punched Akainu with a massive flaming fist while ignoring his crewmate's warnings; Akainu attacked in the same exact way, and when their fists collided, to the surprise of many, Ace was forced back, but it wasn't because was weaker, it was because he as burned.

"Argh!" Stated Ace was in pain as he grabbed his fist, shocking everyone.

"What happened!?" "Ace… Ace was burned!" "Fire Fist Ace was burned!?" Exclaimed several pirates as they voiced the thoughts of nearly everyone present.

"Fool. I won't be allowing you brothers to escape; as a matter of fact, I won't be allowing any of you pirates to escape; you'll all be dying here. Alongside that pathetic Whitebeard." Declared Akainu aggressively as he eyed the thousands of pirates while Ace tried attacking him again in a fit of rage, only for the outcome to be the same.

'Tch, is he stupid or what?' Thought Diddy in annoyance as he eyed Ace, who was rolling on the ground while holding his hand in pain.

Seeing how apparent the fight between Ace and Akainu would be, I looked away and focused back on fighting my opponents, yet, not even ten seconds later, Luffy suddenly collapsed onto his knees after trying to pick something up, which Akainu took advantage of to quickly close the distance between the two of them while raising his magma fist into the air.

"I'll start with you, Son of Dragon." Stated Akainu coldly as he eyed Luffy, who only now noticed him.

Seeing Akianu about to kill Luffy, I gnashed my teeth and quickly coated my body in haki and infused my nervous system with lightning as I dashed towards him as quickly as I could; yet, I was too slow to arrive in time, and just when Akainu was about to kill Luffy, his figure suddenly vanished and replacing it was a small piece of paper. While entirely confused at what the hell just happened, I didn't have time to question it as Akainu attacked the spot where Luffy should've been, causing him to burn the paper, which caused him to suddenly reappear from thin air, yet a piece of paper once again replaced his figure.

'JANET!?' Thought Diddy with widened eyes as he turned and looked at Janet, who looked directly in his direction.

Realizing what was happening, I ignored Akainu and lunged toward the piece of paper, which was rather easy since Ace had taken his attention, allowing me to grab the paper out from the air before crumbling and throwing it to Jinbe, who I very much wanted to fight against sometime in the future.

"RIP IT!" Yelled Diddy as he eyed Jinbe while throwing the picture to Jinbe, who did so with a confused expression, causing a highly exhausted Luffy to suddenly appear from thin air.

With Luffy now decently far away from Akainu, I swiftly lunged toward the ground before raising Naga-sa, blocking one of his enlarged magma fists that was aimed at the two. However, I was in no position to face an admiral and was flung backward while rag-dolling across the frozen ground.

'Ugh, f-fuck, I-I'm really forcing myself here.' Thought Diddy as he stared at the sky before slowly standing back, nearly falling in the process.

"A-Alright, I think it's about time for your appearance." Muttered Diddy while leaning on his bo-staff as he looked at the frozen ground before taking a deep breath.

"PANDEMONIUM!!"