Chapter 51: Power in the Depths vs Magma

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Akainu was currently jumping at great speed between the roofs of the houses of Alubarna in direction of the Grave of the previous Kings, where Nico Robin, Crocodile, and King Kobra were currently discussing the matter of the Poneglyph hidden within it.

His face, although not visibly different from moments ago, now had visible veins coursing through his forehead, as the frown on his face had deepened even further than ever.

Not only did Crocodile fool everyone in the Marines and tried to take over one of the Kingdoms affiliated with the World Government, he also seemed to be planning something even more vicious than that, as Akainu could see that he had entered the grave of the previous Kings of Arabasta, which meant that whatever thing he wanted to obtain lied deeply within the history of this Kingdom and its path.

Akainu, of course, knew that whatever Crocodile was trying to do, it was no good. And since he dared to fool the Marine, he could personally make sure he died a painful death by burning him alive using his magma abilities.

"Hmm...?" 

Akainu, who until now seemed to trying to expand his Observation Haki to the insides of the grave in order to understand what was happening inside, noticed a certain figure approach the grave with slow steps.

A black haired youth wearing a straw-hat seemed to be trying his best to approach the grave, however, probably due to the serious injuries on his body, it wasn't long before he collapsed on the grass unable to sustain the blood loss of his body.

"Straw-hat! I see... So this brat was actually allied with Crocodile, huh? Very well then, I will just roast the two of them!"

Soon, Akainu arrived at the grave and landed heavily on the ground, leaving a small trail of charred stone in the place where he just appeared.

*Tap*

*Tap*

*Tap*

His footsteps echoed within the silence of the cemetery, as his fist started turning completely red and the temperature on the surroundings also started increasing to an unbearable degree.

"Hmm... huh?" Luffy, who until now lied unconscious on the ground, finally manged to wake up after feeling the terrible heat that enveloped the surroundings burn slightly his skin. 

When he turned to look at his surroundings, he managed to spot the face of the approaching Akainu, who was already preparing himself to kill Luffy in just one strike before going for Crocodile.

"Hmm? Who are you, old man?"

"The one who will make you disappear, brat... Ha!"

Akainu, who saw Luffy's dumbfounded expression, launched a rapid punch covered in magma and tried to blast away Luffy's head in one go.

However...

*Kashin!*

A sword suddenly appeared from besides them and redirected Akainu's attack away from Luffy.

Not only that, but 1 second after that, Akainu received a kick right into his face, sending him flying several meters away until he crashed with a building and destroyed several walls before finally stopping.

*Caw caw!*

In front of Luffy, stood a man that had a beautifully carved metallic skull mask on his face that hid his appearance from everyone around him, his whole body was covered in long and majestic black robes that seemed to accentuate the mysterious aura that his presence alone gave off, and he was being surrounded by dozens of ravens that cawed every once in a while.

"Get out of here... I'll take care of him for the time being..."

"Ah!... You're... that raven guy, right? Who's that old man that you kicked away?"

"An Admiral, one of the strongest people in the Marine, and someone that the current you have no chance against. Don't worry, I'll be sure to take care of him while you escape from here... Besides, you have someone else to fight, right?"

"That's right! I have yet to kick Crocodile's butt... I must hurry up!!"

"Don't worry, you're still on time, though I could hurry up the pace a bit if I were you..."

"Shadow raveeeeeeeen!!!"

Suddenly, from far away, the voice of an enraged Akainu crossed the whole battlefield, making the mysterious Shadow raven to look once again in Akainu's direction.

*Click*

Suddenly, from within Shadow raven's clothes an enormous gun with started assembling bit by bit in just mere seconds, and soon, what seemed to be a giant Gatling gun was brought onto Shadow's raven arm before pointing directly in Akainu's direction.

Luffy, who was about to start running towards the entrance of the Grave where Crocodile was, turned to look at Shadow's raven weapon with glistening eyes.

"So coooooooool!!!

Suddenly, a giant fist made out of magma appeared from inside the building and was launched directly towards both of men.

However, a few seconds before the fist could hit them, Shadow raven's deep voice started speaking in a rather calm tone.

[Rokuogan Bullet-Storm]

*TATATATATATATATATATA---!!*

Soon, the Gatling gun on Shadow's raven arm connected directly with his hand, and started firing off hundreds of bullets that blew away the magma fist in just one second. Furthermore, right after that, every one of the bullets started piercing through the building where Akainu was standing just a few seconds ago, destroying it completely right away due to the enormous force behind the bullets, and turning a great part of it into mere dust.

Luffy, who was looking in awe at the amount of destruction with glistening eyes, suddenly had his expression return to normal once he remembered that he had yet to deal with Crocodile.

"Ah, what a problem! Thank you, Raven guy, I will go now!"

"Hmm..." The man just nodded while still looking at Akainu's direction.

It wasn't long before Akainu emerged from under the debris of the building, completely covered in dust and even a bit of blood from his own body.

"Damn you... These bullets are made out of Sea stone!! You dare to use our own equipment against me?!"

"I don't see why not"

"I'll crush you!!"

Akainu, who by fortune was able to dodge every bullet before, jumped high into the air and started launching several magma fists in direction of Shadow raven before falling like a meteor with his fist covered in a huge amount of magma upon Shadow raven.

*TATATATATATATA---!!!*

However, soon every one of the magma fist was blown away completely, and Akainu started being directly hit by the hundreds of bullets coming from Shadow's raven Gatling gun.

*Bam!*

Injured, Akainu fell to the ground and tried his best to stand up while ignoring most of his injuries.

"Damn it... I even used Armament Haki! Why did those bullets still cause so much damage to me?!"

"This weapon is made so that it can only be used by me, as no one else has as much control on Rokuogan as I do. This weapon works by using rapid bursts of Rokuogan to make the bullets inside the canon fly at enormous velocity, surpassing even the speed of normal guns by a lot. And thanks to them being made out of sea stone, their hardness is also incomparable to any normal gun, even you wearing your strongest attempt at Armament Haki could not be able to block all the damage from this weapon"

"Rokuogan... Who are you?! How do you know about that technique?!"

"My name is Thanatos, the one who lurks in the shadows hunting for that thing no one sees"

"Thanatos... So that's your name! In that case... I will make sure to kill you before you dare to mock the Marines any longer!"

Right at that moment, Akainu's body turned completely into magma and disappeared completely from his previous spot, only to reappear right away in front of Thanatos.

[Hell hound!!]

The fist of Akainu, which had acquired an even more deep red color due to the enormous heat residing within it, moved at a terrifying speed towards the chest of Thanatos and created an enormous expansive wave the moment it hit it.

Hell hound was an ability that allowed Akainu to pierce through the body of his enemies, and fill their body with boiling Magma in order to destroy them from inside during the course of the battle.

Unfortunately for him, the fist which was supposed to pierce through Thanatos chest was faced with what seemed to be and impenetrable wall that forced him to stop his attack.

"---!!!"

The chest of Thanatos, which had an enormous hole on the black robes that covered his entire body after receiving the attack from Akainu, had what seemed to be a pitch black armor that somehow managed to stop completely the attack without even receiving a scratch.

"Impossible... How did I fail to pierce through you?!"

"It's a sea stone armor combined with the strongest Armament Haki you will find in any other place, it's no wonder you can't break through it... though maybe if you use an advanced stage of the Armament Haki you might actually manage to inflict some damage..."

"You...!"

"Like this..."

*Bam!!!*

Out of nowhere, the fist of Thanatos had already impacted with Akainu's chest, sending of a devastating shock wave through his insides, and probably injuring many internal organs in the process.

Akainu, who's face was already brimming with unprecedented rage, fell to his knees and started gasping for air as the hit seemed to have drained his lungs completely.

*Ptchk!*

Suddenly, something pierced Akainu's back and made him fall to the ground, completely powerless.

It actually took some minutes before he managed to recover enough air to be able to speak without problems.

"What... what did you do to me?!"

"I pierced you with what I like to call a Devil-Fruit Destroyer, once it pierces through your muscles, taking it out is the most painful thing you might imagine. And since it's made out of Sea stone, you won't be able to use your abilities unless you take it out somehow..."

(Looks like this. Quite brutal UwU)

*Crack*

Soon, Thanatos approached Akainu and lifted his face by grabbing his hair, before looking directly into his eyes.

"Now, shall we move away? There will be a fight here soon, and since I don't want to interrupt them while they are fighting, I will have to drag you away from the main action..."

"Aaaargh!! if you want to kill me just do it fast! I won't beg to a filthy pirate like you!!"

"Now now, don't precipitate okay? I won't kill you, after all I still have some plans prepared for you in the future..."

At that moment, when Thanatos was about to drag Akainu away from the place, he suddenly turned to look into the distance before he turned to glance at Akainu, who seemed to be on the verge of losing his conciousness.

"I guess you're quite lucky, Captain Smoker is actually just a kilometer away from here... I guess he will take care of you for the meantime..."

"Urgh..."

"Tell him that I say hi"

*Wooooosh!!*

Akainu's body, which was being grabbed by Thanatos, was suddenly launched at an enormous speed through the clouds, and it wasn't long before it dissapeared into the distance.

*Sigh...*

"Another beautiful day of work well done"

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