Chương 47: Bright Night (V)

Ace POV:

Something shifted inside Teach after that loud explosion. Ace had known this man for a long time. And one of the most striking features of this man was his smile. It seemed as if he always smiled.

Ace still remembered that time when they had ventured too far in Big Mom's territory. There were only ten men in that tiny ship. Teach was one of them when they got completely surrounded.

Yonko rarely engaged each other directly. Most of the time, even if a subordinate crossed into enemy territory, it would end with a warning, a mere slap on the wrist. But Big Mom was a different case. In Ace's opinion, that woman was simply batshit crazy. She had ordered to kill all of them. Totally forgetting that it will bring full on war. Even the Navy knew that Whitebeard loved his crew like his own family. And here was Big Mom, who had just ordered to start a war. She should know better than anyone what this meant. After all, they had shared the same Jolly Roger before.

As they got surrounded in every possible direction, Teach was afraid like the rest of the crew. But it was only for a minute. After that, the fear was gone, replaced with the same grin he wore all the time.

Ace remembered asking him, "Why are you laughing? Aren't you afraid of death?"

"Of course I fear death; I'm not a moron. But death is not something I can control. It depends upon fate. If fate allows me to die, then I'll die. If it allows me to live, then I'll live. And I don't think fate wants me to die today. So, what's the point of fearing it?"

Everyone took his words as a fun little anecdote, but unconsciously Teach had uplifted their spirit. They were less afraid. True to his words, it wasn't their fate to die that day. At the last moment, the first Sweet Commander, Charlotte Katakuri, had convinced Big Mom to let them go in order to avoid a full-blown war.

Ace didn't know why he remembered this story right now. But as he looked at Teach's cold, hate-filled face, he realized it was because he'd never seen Teach truly shaken before. But there was something else, too: maybe he was finally recognizing the madness in Blackbeard that he hadn't recognized before.

Teach spoke, his voice dripping with cold, ruthless fury.

"I'll have to take back my offer, Ace."

"Why's that?"

"That explosion just now was a signal... a signal that my entire crew is dead."

It seems Zephyr had done his job. And it was faster than he had expected. Will he come here? Ace knew that Zephyr had repeatedly told him that he would not interfere in their fight. But Ace has got to know a lot about the man in the last few days. And one thing that was sure was that the man always craved a good fight. He will not miss the chance to butt in.

As if reading his mind, Teach said,

"If you are thinking whether your partner will come here or not, then you can forget about it. My crew had gone through great lengths to keep that monster from coming after me. And I will not let their sacrifices be in vain. I will defeat you today, and you shall become the stepping stone for my rise in this world. The whole world shall know my name!"

But Ace didn't care about Teach's delusions of grandeur. He was here for justice, for Thatch, for Whitebeard's honor.

The darkness was getting fiercer every second. As a tendril of darkness tried to touch his legs, Ace swiftly moved away and made distance between them. Ace was significantly stronger in ranged combat. But whenever he was in range, Teach would use his weird power to pull him closer. Although he was also good at close quarter combat, Teach was much better. It was true that he hasn't felt pain for a long time. But it wasn't unknown to him. He had spent the first 17 years of his life without any devil fruit power. He had survived through the hellish training that Garp had put him through. He would survive through this. He will win today. He will not disappoint Whitebeard. Not until Whitebeard becomes the King of the Pirates.

"You're nothing but a murderer and a traitor, Teach," Ace spat, positioning his index fingers in a cross. "You're a blip in history. A mistake."

Cross-Fire

Flame concentrated on his fingers, compressing until it was as blinding as the sun—the intensity of a laser beam. It shot through the air. The fire incinerated anything that was in its path.

Teach tried to use the same maneuver he had used before and coated his body with his darkness. But this attack was not the same as before. The darkness was simply not strong enough to consume the flame.

The attack hit him dead in his chest. At the last moment, Teach had used armament haki to protect himself. But it was still not enough.

His huge body flew through the air as if he were nothing but a ragdoll. The simple aftershock of the attack created deep scorch marks on the ground. The ground smoked and blackened, the earth itself charred by Ace's fire.

Teach lay amid the rubble, breathing heavily, grateful he was still alive. His armament haki had saved him from being split in two.

It frustrated him; it frustrated him to his core. He had sacrificed so much to gain this power. He had to stay on that ship for decades; he had to kill his own friend; he had to sacrifice his own crew—and yet, he was not strong enough.

He didn't know it yet, but, as he was tortured in his own thoughts, his darkness was becoming stronger. Darkness consumed everything. And what better fuel could it have than its own user's hate?

Ace sensed it too—the more damage he inflicted, the more monstrous Teach's darkness grew. It was terrifying. But he knew that everything had a breaking point, and though Teach's endurance seemed limitless, Ace was determined to find that point before the darkness consumed his flame.

Without hesitation, Ace dashed forward towards where Teach was, flames propelling him like a rocket toward his target.

And, in that same moment, Teach had cleared his mind. His determination was surging through every part of his body. He was a believer in fate. And he believed that fate would not allow him to die today.

No, not today. Not until he had fulfilled his ambition.

As Ace closed in, Teach stood his ground, bracing himself. When Ace was inches away, his flaming body lunging toward him, Teach activated his counter.

Black Vortex

Ace's flames vanished in thin air as his body got pulled towards Blackbeard's hand. With a quick motion, Blackbeard grabbed Ace's neck and slammed it to the ground.

The power of the attack broke a few ribs inside Ace's body as blood poured out of his mouth. And yet he was smiling. He was fucking smiling! It infuriated Teach to his core.

"Why are you smiling?" Teach demanded, his voice laced with fury.

Ace chuckled, his voice rough but unyielding. "It's just as I thought. Your touch can't nullify my abilities if my haki is active."

Ace's words barely registered in his mind as he looked at where he had touched Ace. He hadn't noticed it before, but beneath his black hand, Ace's own neck was coated in a dark layer of powerful armament haki.

Teach himself didn't know that it was something that could be done. But he knew that something bad was about to happen. With blinding speed, Ace grabbed Teach's wrist with his blackened hand, not letting him escape. His other hand morphed into a blazing blade, hotter than anything Teach had encountered.

Teach could only watch in horror as Ace's hand moved with lethal precision.

A heartbeat later, a severed leg hit the ground beside them, as Blackbeard realized that there was nothing beneath his left knee.