"Luffy!"
Seeing Luffy blasted away by Moria's monstrous punch, Robin screamed, her voice torn with anguish.
Without hesitation, she sprinted in the direction where he had fallen.
"Cien Fleur: Wing!"
Realizing she wasn't fast enough on foot, Robin immediately activated her Devil Fruit ability. A flurry of arms bloomed from her back, forming majestic and elegant wings.
"Robin-san!" Brook had originally wanted to stop her. After all, Moria was also barreling toward the forest.
But before he could take more than a couple steps, Robin had already taken flight, too fast for him to intercept.
Within the empty sockets of his skull, Brook's soul fire flared. He clenched his jaw and followed her into the trees.
In the forest.
Luffy quickly scrambled out of the crater he'd left in the ground. The previous blow, while powerful, hadn't caused any lasting damage.
At the last second, he'd unleashed the power of the Lightning Flame. Though the impact launched him far, most of that force came from the explosive thrust of his own energy.
Moria, tracking the path of his punch, had almost reached the impact zone. But the dense foliage made it difficult to pinpoint Luffy's location.
Not that Moria cared.
The giant's grotesque face glared through the shadows, his eyes gleaming like lanterns, and a crimson maw full of jagged teeth gaped open with bloodlust.
His entire bulk thundered forward like a cannonball, charging blindly toward the forest in Luffy's direction.
His limbs smashed into the ground with such force that the earth cracked open beneath him, huge fissures spider-webbing outward.
Feeling the monster's immense presence drawing near, Luffy narrowed his eyes and slammed his palms into the ground.
The Lightning Flame erupted, no longer restrained, blazing outward in a deafening burst of light that ignited the forest around him.
Two massive craters formed where his hands had struck, the scorched soil smoldering black with heat.
The blast hurled Luffy high into the air, over a hundred meters, his body twisting mid-flight as his gaze locked on Moria below.
Just as Moria reached the scorched zone, Luffy vanished in a flash of fire.
Veteran fighter that he was, Moria instantly spotted the twin craters and looked skyward.
There he saw Luffy, plummeting toward him at breakneck speed.
"Heh heh heh..."
Moria let out a chilling laugh and swung a monstrous fist skyward.
The wind pressure alone screamed through the sky, like a hurricane lashing against the heavens, hurtling toward Luffy like a tidal wave.
Luffy brought both hands in front of him, knowing he had no choice but to face it head-on.
Funneling his willpower into the armored gloves, now cloaked in Haki, they blazed with orange fire that burst forth like a geyser, the heat rippling the air.
The X-Gloves, now supercharged with Mental Power energy, ignited like twin suns, illuminating every dark corner of this shadow-covered island.
A tremendous force radiated from Luffy's core in all directions, shaking the earth and sky.
The overwhelming surge of energy sent chills down the spines of every survivor still left on the island.
BOOM!
The flame blast collided with the incoming punch, unleashing an earth-shattering explosion. For a moment, it felt like time had stopped.
Then came the shockwave, blasting outward from the point of impact. Robin, who had just reached the forest, had to fold her wings tight around herself to shield against the storm.
High above, Luffy grinned with quiet confidence as he soared through the air.
That last full-powered Lightning Flame had sharpened his control over the fire even further.
He realized that if he fled now and recovered, he'd have enough mastery to defeat Moria's full-shadow form with ease the next time.
But finding a worthy opponent, one who could truly stand toe to toe with him, was rare.
And in this moment, Luffy had no desire to run. Even if it meant burning through the last of his strength, he wanted to fight to the very end.
He looked down at Moria, whose body trembled as he strained to stay upright, eyes locked on Luffy in pure defiance.
Maybe he feels the same way...
But Moria had no retreat. He was the final line of defense. If he fell, the entire Thriller Bark pirate crew would fall with him.
Luffy, on the other hand, had Robin. Even if he lost, she could get them both out alive.
Driven by different motives, the two warriors nevertheless reached the same conclusion, go all out.
No holding back.
"Damn it!" Moria growled, his face twisted in fury. Maintaining the power of five hundred shadows was draining his stamina and Mental Power. If he kept trading blows like this, he'd collapse first.
He had no choice.
"Doppelman!"
Summoning the last of his strength, Moria activated his fruit's ability. A second enormous figure, identical to himself, appeared before him.
Moria grinned savagely, jabbing a finger toward the descending Luffy.
"Get him, Doppelman!"
The weightless double moved with lightning speed. In a blink, it had crossed a hundred meters, flanking Luffy from one side. A flash of violet light gleamed as the two Moria figures prepared to strike.
With a feral smile, Moria's short legs burst with explosive power. He launched into the air, dirt and rock blasting from the impact. The Doppelman mirrored him, soaring upward as well.
High above, both figures extended their right arms, one real, one spectral.
"Shadow's Asgard"
Moria growled again. His left arm dissolved into shadow, while his double's right arm solidified into a titanic fist.
Even before the strike landed, the pressure from the combined fists made it impossible for Luffy to breathe.
The two massive punches, each powered by all of Moria's strength, converged on Luffy.
Under the suffocating weight of the attack, Luffy realized this was it.
If he held back now, he'd lose everything.
He shouted at the top of his lungs toward the sky:
"Robin!!!"
"Get underground!!!"
Robin, just about to dive into the fight, froze in midair.
Without hesitation, she obeyed.
With a flick of her right arm, her wing morphed into a massive fist and punched the ground below, blasting open a pit. Her wings vanished, and she dropped into the crater.
As she fell, she created a tunnel of arms that grabbed Brook, who had just arrived, and yanked him into the pit with her.
Above, the twin fists loomed, moments from impact.
Luffy saw that Robin had taken cover. It wasn't perfect, but he had no time to worry, he had faith in her.
As the pressure closed in, he shut his eyes. Arms stretched wide, body suspended upside down in the air, his hair trailing behind him.
He poured the last of his willpower into the X-Gloves.
The sapphire gems on the gloves flared with blinding light as waves of unstoppable energy gathered in his palms.
Luffy opened his eyes. He bit his lip, face contorted with strain.
"X BURNER!!!"
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