Chapter 80: Great Flame Ring - Flame Emperor! ! !
"Boom!"
Ace stood at the heart of the thundercloud, his entire body ignited in an astonishing blaze.
The terrifying heat distorted the air, causing the thunderous serpents that writhed within the clouds to recoil in fear.
"Let me show you the true power of the Logia Devil Fruit, as a reward, Enel," Ace said, laughter on his lips, but his eyes suddenly turning cold.
Strange ripples, with Ace at their center, rapidly spread outward.
"Buzz!"
Under Enel's disbelieving gaze, and the horror-stricken faces of Wyper and Gan Fall below,
Amidst the surprised, curious murmurs of Nami and the others,
The thunderclouds began to change.
"Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!"
The once roiling clouds, filled with lightning serpents, suddenly stilled. The unique rumble of Enel's Thunder Fruit vanished, leaving only the sight of lightning with no sound, no energy.
In the next instant, the black thunderclouds transformed—turning into flames. The sky, once filled with thunderclouds, now burned with fire.
"Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!"
The ground below, the trees, the very rocks ignited in a terrifying blaze. Streams of fire fell from the burning sky.
At this moment, the earth had become a fiery purgatory, with flames surging from deep within the ground.
The sheer heat distorted the space itself!
The sky, the land, the trees, and the rocks—everything, with Ace at the center, was engulfed by flames. The world had transformed into a sea of fire!
The Mera-Mera Fruit had awakened.
The very climate changed—it was now a world of fire.
"Is this... a miracle?" Gan Fall's face was twisted with fear as he gazed at the flaming world before him.
Sky, earth, forest, stone walls...
All had ignited in terrifying flames.
The forest was one thing, but the clouds, the ground, and even the rock walls burning defied all logic!
This entire space had turned into a world of flames—something only a god could create!
Compared to Enel, Ace was more like an omniscient and omnipotent deity.
"A truly incredible man," Gan Fall thought, looking at Ace, standing in the center of the inferno, like a fire god.
"No... impossible!"
Wyper, witnessing the blazing world, screamed in disbelief.
The sky, the ground, the stones—everything had become flames.
Enel's thunderclouds, created through the Ark Maxim, could be explained.
But this world of flames—it was beyond comprehension!
In an instant, everything had turned to fire.
This was a god-like power.
Was this the true strength of this Blue Sea man?
Wyper's fists clenched, then loosened in resignation.
Faced with such a miracle, even Wyper, proud descendant of the great warrior Kalgara, had no thoughts of challenging it.
This was the power of a god.
"This is... Mera-Mera Fruit's awakening?" Vivi murmured, staring at the fiery world, feeling the scorching heat rising in the air.
The awakening of Devil Fruits—Ace had told them of this.
When a Paramecia Devil Fruit awakens, the user can assimilate objects into their ability.
A Zoan Devil Fruit awakening grants immense vitality, resilience, and monstrous physical strength.
But a Logia Devil Fruit awakening can alter the very environment, transforming it to reflect the user's power, changing the climate.
The world itself becomes the ability of the Logia user.
In other words, once a Logia Devil Fruit user awakens, the world itself becomes their battlefield, their home ground. The user's attack and endurance undergo a qualitative leap.
Once the ability awakens, the user's ability to fight continuously reaches terrifying levels.
"Can I develop the Sand-Sand Fruit to this level?" Vivi wondered, her eyes locked on the flaming world.
"Yes... I can awaken too," she thought, her lips curving into a determined smile.
She believed she could, because she had Ace.
"Incredible..."
Robin's gaze lingered on the inferno, her eyes reflecting the endless flames.
Since the tragedy of Ohara, Robin had carried two shadows in her heart: Buster Call and Aokiji's Ice-Ice Fruit.
The power to annihilate everything and freeze the world had left her in despair for years.
Until she met Ace.
"Help me uncover the lost history, Robin, and be my historian."
"The weight of the blank century? I can carry it."
Those were Ace's words when they first met.
"Haven't found the history you seek? The sea is vast. Come with me, and we'll keep searching, Robin."
He said that to her in Alabasta when they didn't find the ancient history hidden in the Poneglyphs.
Robin smiled, a soft curve on her lips.
'Saul, I think I've found my place…'
——
"Is this Ace's true power?"
Conis' eyes sparkled as she murmured in awe, her resolve hardening in the process.
The vastness of Blue Sea was incomparable to Skypiea.
In the White Sea, Enel had driven Angel Island to the brink of despair.
But here in the Blue Sea, there were powerful people like Ace.
Following Ace, she knew she would grow stronger.
Strong enough to free her people on Angel Island from their numb acceptance of weakness.
And...
"Be my musician, Conis."
Ace's gentle smile played in her mind, her lips lifting into a bright arc.
——
"Even the earth is burning!"
Beside her, Raki stood in stunned silence, her eyes wide with shock as she stared at the inferno before her.
Raki had always yearned for "Vearth," the earth.
To her, the land represented life and hope.
Yet she had never imagined anyone could set it ablaze.
This endless Blue Sea not only held unending land but also such unimaginable power.
She pressed her lips together, a glimmer of longing flickering in her eyes.
I want to see the vast Blue Sea for myself...
"Be my chef, Raki."
Ace's gentle smile reappeared in her mind as she thought about the endless lands and islands in Blue Sea, the place where she could discover her purpose.
Raki's eyes shone with new resolve.
——
"No, it's impossible!"
Enel watched in disbelief as the thunderclouds he painstakingly conjured with the Ark Maxim were turned into clouds of fire.
The earth, the trees, the stone walls—everything had become the vessel for flames.
The entire space had transformed into a world of fire.
Enel's bloodshot eyes twitched in frenzy.
The true power of Devil Fruits?!
Was the real strength of Logia Fruits the ability to dominate nature?
His thunderclouds, created by his Ark Maxim, had been reduced to mere playthings.
How could he accept this?
"I am... I am...!"
Enel's ferocious gaze fixed on Ace, who stood at the heart of the inferno, reigning like a king of flames.
In his madness and sorrow, Enel's body—already ravaged and sustained only by his Lightning Fruit's powers—began to disintegrate.
Blood poured from his eyes, ears, and nose as his bones dislocated, yet he felt no physical pain.
The torment within had driven him to insanity.
"I am... God!"
With a deafening roar, Enel's body expanded, his Lightning Fruit releasing all of its remaining power.
"Two hundred million volts: God of Thunder!"
His form swelled, transforming into a massive, thunderous deity.
"It's not over!"
Enel screamed as he pushed his body to its limits, pouring every last ounce of power into the Ark Maxim. The flood of lightning caused the ship's massive hull to buckle, but Enel, blinded by his fury, was indifferent to its collapse.
He would make this man from the Blue Sea pay.
Frog in a well? What a joke!
He was God—Enel!
"Grrr!"
The Ark spewed out a final wave of thunderclouds. Enel, now a true embodiment of his Thunder God form, hurled himself into them.
"Take this!"
Enel shouted, thrusting his arms into the heart of the last thundercloud.
"Boom!"
Thunder roared as lightning surged through the clouds, forming a dense web of serpentine bolts.
But Ace merely smiled.
"You really think the power of your Thunder Fruit can stop my Fire?"
Ace's lips curled upward. After all, the awakening of a Logia Devil Fruit granted its user control over nature itself, bending the environment to the wielder's will.
But even the power of a Logia user couldn't transform another Logia's element.
Enel was trying to stop him with a foolish method, unable to comprehend Ace's ability to bend clouds to his will.
Looking at the deranged Enel, Ace's smile deepened.
The ability to shape nature was just the most basic power of a Logia user.
"Portgas D. Ace!"
Enel's voice crackled with hatred as his Ark Maxim, the vessel he had built to carry him to the endless land, began to crumble.
Everything he had worked for—the ship, his godhood, his powers—was being mocked, and denied by the man in front of him.
Unforgivable!
With a primal roar, Enel commanded the thunderclouds to gather.
"Boom!"
They coalesced into a massive black sphere, teeming with lightning.
"Raigo!"
Enel held the enormous black cloud aloft and bellowed in fury.
"What a terrifying storm."
Nami's usually composed face showed concern as she stared at the massive sphere of electricity, sensing the raw power within.
"Enel, he's planning to destroy everything."
Gan Fall wiped the cold sweat from his brow, watching in horror as the black cloud loomed overhead, threatening to obliterate Upper Yard and Angel Island entirely.
Wyper and the other Shandians exchanged anxious glances.
Was Enel planning to destroy Upper Yard?!
They wanted to stop it, but as they looked at the massive black cloud, charged with endless thunder and spreading across the sky, they were overwhelmed by a deep sense of powerlessness.
Raki and Conis' eyes trembled in fear and disbelief.
Enel, he really wants to destroy everything!
"Hahaha!"
Suddenly, a burst of laughter rang out, powerful enough to cut through the roar of endless thunder.
"I can't let you continue this and destroy the homeland of my chefs and musicians.
Besides, my historian wants to uncover the history of this place."
Ace's voice rang with laughter.
Hearing Ace's confident laughter, undeterred by the deafening thunder, Conis and Raki's eyes widened in awe.
Robin, too, pressed her lips together, her gaze fixed on Ace's distant figure, her eyes gleaming.
In the next moment, the laughter stopped abruptly as Ace's expression turned deadly serious. His arms crossed before him in a fierce gesture.
"Enough with the jokes! Blue Sea Scum!"
Enel's eyes flared red with fury at these words.
A joke?!
He had pushed his body to its limits, nearly collapsing from the strain of the Thunder Fruit, unleashing the might of his Thunder God form and the terrifying power of nature—only for it all to be dismissed as nonsense?!
Unforgivable! Absolutely unforgivable!
"Great Flame Commandment!"
As Enel descended further into madness, the world around them responded.
The sky, the earth, the towering trees, the rocky cliffs...
Every flame that burned in this inferno, as though summoned by the King of Fire himself, surged violently toward Ace.
"Whoosh!"
The flames engulfed Ace's entire body, and then, as though drawing strength from their fury, they condensed into a massive fireball, larger than Raigo and burning as hot as the sun itself. Ace hoisted it high above his head.
"Fire Emperor!!!"
Enel's face twisted with shock as he stared at the blazing orb, radiating with an unimaginable heat.
"How… how is this possible?!"
He muttered, his voice low and trembling with disbelief. In that moment, the god of lightning felt something foreign and terrifying.
Fear.
No, it wasn't just fear—it was as though the power of his own Thunder Fruit was warning him: if he couldn't overcome this, he would die!
The sheer proximity to death filled Enel with dread.
"Your little game of playing god is over, Enel."
Ace stood tall, holding the blazing Fireball that resembled the sun itself, and spoke calmly, his voice carrying a quiet finality.
Enel's face twitched violently, his entire body shaking with uncontrollable rage.
A game? Pretending to be a god?!
How much more was this bastard going to humiliate him?!
"You bastard!"
Enel's rage exploded in a deafening roar as he hurled Raigo down with all his might.
"Time's up, Enel."
With a simple motion, Ace launched the immense Fireball—like a burning sun—straight toward Raigo.
"Boom!"
In that moment, Gan Fall, Wyper, and the others watched in horror.
The women, including Nami, looked on with unwavering confidence.
Conis and Raki stared in shock.
The gigantic black thundercloud and the fiery sphere collided with a force beyond imagining.
Thunder and fire, crashing head-on.
"Boom!"
In an instant, a devastating shockwave erupted from the impact, sending ripples through the atmosphere as though reality itself had cracked like shattered glass.
The sky recoiled, the ground trembled violently.
"Ahhh!"
Enel screamed, pushing Raigo with every ounce of his strength.
But then his pupils contracted sharply.
"Crack! Crack!"
Splits began to spider across the giant black cloud.
"Boom!"
And in the next moment, his strongest attack, Raigo shattered into countless fragments.
The burning sun, Ace's Fire Emperor, rose triumphantly, shining with unrelenting intensity.
As despair consumed Enel, he was swallowed by the searing heat.
"Boom!"