After Deuce and the others safely evacuated, Ace briefly drove back Gismonda and was about to pursue Guernica in his fury. Just as he prepared to move, Gismonda engaged him again while Guernica disappeared without a trace under cover of the remaining Marine forces.
Ace could only vent his protective rage on the red-masked agent before him. After all, this spider-haired bastard was equally responsible for the cowardly sneak attack that had injured his precious friends.
Gismonda proved skilled not only in Iron Body techniques but also in Finger Pistol applications. Having practiced the Six Styles for many years, he could execute numerous advanced variations with practiced ease.
"Finger Pistol: Scorpion Barrage!"
Using Life Return techniques, Gismonda controlled strands of his distinctive hair to transform into additional finger-weapons, combining them with his natural hands to launch a dazzling array of rapid-fire attacks in the blink of an eye.
Ace's explosive anger didn't cloud his judgment—instead, it heightened his mental focus to an unprecedented degree. Faced with the overwhelming assault, his combat instincts and Observation Haki merged like never before.
His fists, trailing flames that erupted from his elbows, created countless afterimages as each punch precisely intercepted Gismonda's finger strikes. The continuous impacts sounded like machine gun fire echoing across the battlefield.
After an extended fierce exchange, Gismonda was the first to change tactics. He continued using his hair to fire finger projectiles while his ten natural fingers formed claws, creating countless gleaming strikes through the air, still attempting to overwhelm through sheer volume.
However, Ace also shifted his fighting approach at that moment.
He clenched his fists, stepped forward, and rushed out like lightning. Without requiring conscious thought, he moved like a fish through water—graceful yet swift and efficient as he dodged and advanced through gaps in the wave-like assault pattern.
"What?!" Gismonda was shocked. He gritted his teeth, increased his attack intensity, and quietly stepped backward, trying to keep Ace trapped in the zone of maximum damage.
Unexpectedly, Ace abandoned his previous evasive movements. He quickly lowered his stance, suddenly accelerated, and charged directly through Gismonda's concentrated firepower.
Before Gismonda could feel even half a second of satisfaction over his enemy's apparently suicidal action, Ace suddenly looked up and locked his cold gaze on the eyes hidden beneath the crimson mask.
In a flash, Ace raised his Haki-darkened elbow and struck Gismonda's incoming claws.
Irresistible force erupted instantly. Ace's elbow strike, which gathered his full strength and fury, not only knocked away the enemy's claws but caused Gismonda to lose balance and stagger backward.
As Ace leaped upward, he drove his elbow into Gismonda's chin. The devastating impact caused countless cracks to spider across the crimson mask as Gismonda was launched skyward, tumbling helplessly through the air.
"Flame Commandment: Hellfire!"
Ace roared while airborne, swinging his hand to release blazing flames that had condensed around his fist, sending them cascading toward his aerial opponent like burning rain.
"Ahhh!" Gismonda suffered the fierce blow and screamed as the flames consumed him, his body swaying pathetically in midair.
When the enemy's charred figure began descending, Ace appeared below him like an avenging spirit.
He struck Gismonda's abdomen with his right elbow while grabbing him with his left hand as momentum carried them forward.
"Sacred Fire: Shiranui!" Ace's left hand exploded instantly like a artillery shell detonating at point-blank range.
Gismonda's screams were drowned by the explosion as he was blasted skyward once again.
Ace's fury remained unabated, and he had no intention of stopping his assault.
"Go to hell, you bastard!" he roared, raising his right hand high above his forehead as astonishing heat quickly condensed in his palm like a volcano preparing to erupt.
When Gismonda's powerless body fell before him, Ace ignored the bullets fired by surrounding Marines that passed harmlessly through his Logia form.
His eyes blazed with cold determination as he extended his hand with everything he had. Shocking golden-white flames suddenly erupted toward Gismonda like a raging torrent.
The fire carved a blazing trail through the air, quickly engulfing the CP0 agent's figure completely.
"Flame Commandment: Fire Serpent!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Tremendous roars accompanied rolling heat waves that spread in all directions. With Gismonda as the epicenter, massive amounts of fire and impossibly high temperatures expanded rapidly outward. The surrounding forest and earth were the first to collapse or ignite.
At that moment, let alone Gismonda, even someone with steel-like endurance would be instantly incinerated by the scorching temperatures that seemed to surpass ordinary flames entirely.
The Marines who had been firing to interfere from around the battlefield were shocked by this sudden horrific display. They all retreated from the rapidly spreading thermal aftermath, fearing they'd be caught in this devastating conflagration.
However, Ace's furious attack had such wide-reaching effects that many sailors suffered burns of varying severity because they couldn't withstand the intense heat radiating outward.
This unexpected situation made Isuka feel grateful that Marine forces had maintained sufficient distance from Ace's battlefield—no one had dared approach recklessly, otherwise the consequences would have been far worse than mere burns.
"Let's see if you're still planning sneak attacks," Ace said quietly, pressing down the brim of his hat as he surveyed the sailors who were helping each other and desperately trying to extinguish the forest fires spreading around them.
Turning his gaze toward Gion and the others in the distance, Ace exchanged a meaningful look with Marco and Cavendish before nodding. His figure quickly disappeared into the swirling flames.
"Time for us to leave as well," Cavendish announced. He and Marco, who had been confronting Gion and Maynard, simultaneously took flight and departed the battlefield at high altitude as if they'd coordinated the timing perfectly.
Gion looked at Maynard, who was nearly at the end of his strength, then glanced at the Marine forces that hadn't yet reorganized themselves. She sighed deeply and chose not to pursue further.
Meanwhile, on the more distant battlefield, Jerry took a deep breath and grimaced while rubbing his chest.
"Well, it seems your Marines and those two government agents couldn't stop us from escaping after all," he said with strained humor.
He'd been careless earlier and taken one of Aokiji's punches directly. Fortunately, Jerry had managed to lean sideways at the critical moment, avoiding the full power of the strike.
"Ice Ball!" Aokiji's flat voice rang out again as he raised his hand to send several extremely cold ice projectiles flying. If they connected, the target would be immediately frozen within a massive ice sphere.
"Give me a break!" Jerry complained under his breath, though his hands and feet didn't slow down at all.
While concentrating on maintaining his Observation Haki, he controlled ambient moisture to destroy the incoming icicles and secretly gathered strength, ready to dodge or counterattack at any moment.
It had to be acknowledged that Aokiji's combat experience and tactical adaptation were both top-tier. After discovering that Jerry possessed techniques capable of interrupting and destroying his ice abilities, it hadn't taken the Admiral long to adjust his approach.
While maintaining his foundation of Haki-coordinated punches and kicks, Aokiji would occasionally use various freezing techniques to disrupt Jerry's fighting rhythm and timing.
This tactical shift made Jerry considerably more defensive. Regardless of anything else, Aokiji's ice-based attacks possessed both tremendous control potential and lethal capability that couldn't be underestimated.
If he was frozen in place accidentally, he might face immediate defeat, so Jerry had to remain extremely alert at all times.
Even using his Observation Haki to glimpse the immediate future couldn't completely solve this problem. Aokiji clearly understood how to counter such abilities—his techniques constantly alternated between feints and real attacks, varying in both speed and range. Even predicting incoming strikes didn't guarantee Jerry could respond without taking damage.
Seeing his opponent had avoided another iron-hard punch, Aokiji launched his next attack without pause.
As they fought, he spoke with unsettling calm: "You really haven't realized it yet, have you? You're the primary target of this entire operation—both ours and the World Government's."
"What?!" Jerry was genuinely stunned, a metaphorical question mark appearing above his head.
Then Jerry processed this revelation and narrowly avoided the follow-up attack, unable to stop himself from shouting indignantly: "That's psychological warfare! Another kind of sneak attack!"
The admission that he'd been the main objective all along sent Jerry's mind racing as he continued evading Aokiji's relentless assault. If that was true, it meant this entire confrontation had been orchestrated specifically around capturing or eliminating him—a sobering realization that added new urgency to his escape efforts.