Before anyone could fully process the scene, Ace materialized on the execution platform like a phantom!
Pale flames writhed around him, making the very air hiss in protest. Strangely, the wooden planks beneath his feet remained unburned, while the surrounding metal railings melted into glowing, molten slag.
His eyes, blazing with pale fire, were locked onto Teach, the killing intent within them so intense it felt tangible.
"A-Ace... you... how dare you come up here?!" Teach's pupils dilated in sheer terror, his shackles rattling as he scrambled backward, desperately trying to escape the terrifying heat radiating from the figure before him.
"Your... your eyes...!"
This Ace was utterly transformed. Gone was his usual lazy demeanor, replaced by a chilling, murderous aura. The pale flames surrounding him distorted the air itself.
"Teach." Ace's voice was low and raspy, carrying an unnatural echo. Each syllable seemed to raise the temperature around them. "It's time to pay your debt."
On the platform, Sengoku was the first to react. His power erupted, his body instantly transforming into a massive Golden Buddha, radiating a dazzling light. "Ace! You are a Warlord now! Think carefully! Do not act recklessly!"
"Heh! Fleet Admiral Sengoku, since an execution is to be carried out anyway, why not let me do the honors personally?"
Sengoku: "???"
Garp, who had been about to intervene, paused, his hand stopping mid-air as he scratched his head. "Well, Sengoku... the boy has a point. If he's going to die anyway, what does it matter who swings the blade?"
Tsuru: "...."
Seeing no further immediate opposition, Ace casually flicked his wrist. Pale flames shot forth like venomous serpents.
The executioner's long sword melted instantly upon contact. The terrifying flames consumed it entirely, leaving not even a speck of ash behind.
"Hiss..." Sengoku watched, stunned. "What manner of flames are these?!"
Teach had never felt death so palpably close. Snot and tears streamed down his face. "Spare me! Captain Ace! I was wrong! I truly was—" His pleas were cut short as Ace's hand, wreathed in pale fire, clamped onto the top of his head.
"Thatch is watching," Ace's voice was icy, devoid of all mercy. "Go and apologize to him."
"NO—!!!"
Teach's scream tore through the clamor of the battlefield, saturated with pure, unadulterated fear and despair.
He thrashed wildly, the steel shackles groaning and deforming under his frantic struggle. It was futile.
The pale flames, like living entities, instantly engulfed his entire body.
The flames appeared cold, yet contained a heat more terrifying than magma. Teach's skin blackened and flaked away upon contact, revealing the charring muscle tissue beneath.
"P-Please! Ace! Spare me!" His begging swiftly devolved into inhuman shrieks, Ace's impassive face reflected in his bulging eyes. "I was wrong! I was really—"
Before he could finish, the pale flames surged violently, utterly consuming his final cries.
Within the conflagration, Teach's form dissolved at a visible rate—first his clothes and hair, then his flesh and blood, until finally, even his bones crumbled to ash within the pale inferno.
The entire process was brutally swift, its cruelty sending a collective chill down the spines of every witness.
The public execution had been carried out in the most unforeseen way possible.
A sea breeze swept across the platform, carrying away the last remnants of ash. A final ember swirled in the air before vanishing, as if the man had never existed.
All that remained on the once-sturdy execution platform was a gaping hole, its edges still smoldering, molten metal oozing like lava. The battlefield fell into a dead silence.
Marine soldiers stood agape, their weapons clattering to the ground unnoticed. What kind of fire was this, that could erase a person so completely?
Everyone was stunned by this terrifying spectacle; even the Emperors and Admirals momentarily halted their movements.
Ace quietly watched the space where Teach had turned to ash. The pale fire in his eyes slowly dimmed. He let out a soft, weary sigh.
"Thatch..." he murmured under his breath, the final flicker of pale flame on his fingertip dying out. "It's finally over."
His voice was faint, yet carried the profound weight of long-awaited closure. The pale flames surrounding him receded completely, his eyes returning to their natural dark hue, with only the faintest ghost of a pale ember lingering deep within his pupils.
Akainu cast a cold glance at Ace, his magma-arm slowly reverting to normal. He snorted, turning towards the wreckage of the warships. "Dead is dead. The result is what matters."
His tone was devoid of emotion, as if commenting on the most mundane of outcomes. The process was irrelevant; the pirate's execution was the only thing that held weight.
Kizaru had, at some point, perched himself on a broken mast, legs crossed leisurely. "Oh my~ This saves so much trouble~ No fighting is best~ It's not like my salary will increase anyway~"
Yet, behind his yellow sunglasses, his eyes thoughtfully lingered on Ace for a moment longer.
Aokiji recalled the sight of those flames. "Truly terrifying flames. They appear cold, yet possess such extreme heat..." A flicker of speculation crossed his mind. "An Awakening?" he muttered to himself, but then shook his head slightly. "No... this feels more like a profound evolution of the Fruit's inherent abilities..."
After all, Logia-type Awakenings were notoriously rare and difficult to achieve; he knew this well.
The three Admirals, each lost in their own thoughts, tacitly allowed the fighting to cease. Seeing this, the Marine soldiers also sheathed their weapons and, while maintaining a wary distance, began rescuing their wounded comrades.
Every second counted; lives hung in the balance.
The previously taut atmosphere gradually eased, leaving only the sound of waves crashing against the ruins.
Kaido's massive Azure Dragon form coiled slowly in the air, his basketball-sized eyes fixed on the lingering pale embers on the platform. His dragon whiskers twitched slightly.
"Ororororo... Shouldn't the Mera Mera no Mi's flames be blazing red?"
He lowered his great head, sniffing carefully at the residual energy in the air, his azure scales rippling. That pale fire, deceptively cold yet containing such terrifying heat, sent a reflexive shiver of caution through him, the "World's Strongest Creature."
The moment Teach was consumed, Kaido had felt a primal instinct of danger—a threat even he could not ignore.
"What an intriguing power..."
A glint of keen interest flashed in his draconic eyes, but it quickly faded. Teach was dead. There was no more reason to stay. That pale flame warranted caution, the Marines were watching, and it was time to leave.
The massive dragon head lifted, and a deafening roar echoed across the battlefield: "WITHDRAW!"
....
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