Samuel and Ace stood in the center of the empty arena.
It was common for challengers to appear after the scheduled matches, so most of the audience had stayed.
Demaro Black, the commentator, seemed accustomed to the situation, but he frowned at the number of challengers.
"We have a challenger! Or rather… two challengers?! Are they here to challenge Lycoris, the winner of the previous match…? Wait, is that Samuel?! What are you doing, old man?!"
"Uhahahaha! I'm borrowing the arena!"
He sent the two fighters back to the waiting room and turned to face Ace.
Ace, intrigued, was touching the wall that separated the audience from the arena.
"What is this? It's cold."
It was transparent, but it wasn't glass. It wouldn't even crack when he punched it. There weren't any seams. It was a mysterious, cold wall.
It surrounded the circular arena, forming a cylinder, but it wasn't covered. Perhaps it was to avoid making the giants feel claustrophobic.
"Want to try breaking it? I'll be impressed if you can."
"No… I'd rather focus on you."
"Alright. Then let me explain the rules."
"Rules? I just have to make you say "uncle", right?"
"Uhahahaha! You've got guts!! That's right. But remember, killing is forbidden here."
It was a match, after all. It couldn't escalate into a deathmatch.
And it was the Witch who had set the rules. They couldn't ignore her, especially in her own territory.
In the world of pirates, hierarchy was paramount. They had to obey their captain's orders.
"I understand," Ace nodded.
"Good. Then… Let's begin!"
Samuel's body grew larger.
He transformed into his hybrid form – a jaguar, the model of his Cat-Cat Fruit.
"You're a Devil Fruit user?"
"Yeah, you too?"
"Yeah, but I'm not a Zoan."
Ace pointed his index fingers at Samuel, igniting them with flames.
Samuel was ready to fight. There was no point in waiting.
"Fire Gun – Hiken!"
He fired a barrage of flame bullets from his fingertips.
Samuel, using Soru, dodged them.
"A Logia! You're eating good food!"
Samuel, without slowing down, charged at Ace, his fist coated in Armament Haki.
Ace dodged at the last moment and, without creating distance, began to spread flames around him.
"Flame Ring –"
An ordinary attack wouldn't harm a Logia user, but with Haki, he could touch his true body. And Samuel was a seasoned fighter.
He continued to attack, knowing that Ace was preparing something.
Ace blocked Samuel's punch, but his Armament Haki was incredibly hard. His arm went numb.
But Ace wasn't simply defending.
"– Fire Pillar!!"
"Soru!!"
A massive pillar of fire erupted around Ace.
He had intended to trap Samuel, but he managed to escape at the last moment.
Samuel, stopping just before the flames, dropped to his hands and knees, coating his entire body in Armament Haki.
"Tekkai – Kiba Sen!"
"Whoa?!"
He charged into the fire pillar, his Haki-reinforced body protecting him from the flames, and attacked Ace.
Ace, caught off guard, reinforced his arms with Armament Haki, but he was still sent flying into the wall.
The impact knocked the wind out of him, but he focused on compressing the flames in his arm.
"!!"
"Fire Fist!!!"
Samuel, sensing the attack, leaped into the air. Ace's Fire Fist slammed into the wall.
But the transparent wall was unharmed. There wasn't even a scratch.
Samuel, landing gracefully, watched as Ace distanced himself from the wall.
"Damn… He's fast."
"You're doing well. Most would have been defeated by now."
Samuel, despite charging through a pillar of fire, was relatively unharmed. His clothes were singed, but that was it. He must have noticed that Ace lowered the flames when he thought Samuel had dodged, and used that opportunity to attack.
Zoan Devil Fruit users were generally physically durable, but Samuel's mastery of Armament Haki, honed through countless battles, was impressive. Ace had realized that he couldn't defeat him with brute force.
"What a fierce exchange! Samuel's on the offensive, but he's one of Twilight's oldest members! He's practically an executive! And this young'un is still holding his own! Who is he?!"
"Stop calling me an old man, Black!!"
"Shut up! There's nothing wrong with calling an old man an old man!"
Ace, distracted by Samuel arguing with Black, the commentator, slapped himself to refocus.
"And it seems we have confirmation! The one fighting Samuel is Ace, the "Fire Fist"! With a bounty exceeding 300 million berries! No wonder he's so strong!"
Ace, his focus restored, clenched his fists, coating them in Armament Haki.
Samuel, wary of Ace, lowered his stance and charged.
Their fists collided, and Ace, receiving minor cuts from Samuel's finger pistol and claws, began to spread flames around his feet.
"Flame Ring –!"
"Trying the same trick? It won't work twice!"
Samuel tried to create distance.
But as he stepped back, an explosion struck him from behind.
"What?!"
"I don't use the same trick twice."
Small fireballs, "Fireflies", were floating around, hidden among the flames on the ground. It was one of Ace's techniques.
He used the Flame Ring as a distraction, forcing Samuel to create distance, then attacked with the Fireflies he had set up beforehand.
Samuel, unable to fully dodge the attack, watched as Ace swung his arms.
"Sacred Fire – Shiranui!"
A spear of fire shot towards Samuel.
If it hit, it would pierce through his flesh and burn him from within. But Samuel, despite being off-balance, managed to dodge it.
"What?!"
"I've lived many times longer than you! You can't defeat me that easily!!"
Ace, concentrating flames in his arm, prepared to attack again, but Samuel interrupted him, dispersing the flames with Rankyaku.
It was difficult to imbue Rankyaku with Haki. If he had, Ace's arm would have been severed.
His attack interrupted, Ace hesitated for a moment.
And Samuel wouldn't miss this opportunity.
"Tekkai – Sai!"
He charged at Ace, his hardened body a projectile. This time, he aimed for Ace's abdomen.
Ace's body, cracking under the impact, was sent flying into the wall.
"Gah! Ugh! Damn…!"
"No time to complain!"
Ace barely managed to dodge Samuel's relentless pursuit. He was off-balance, but he tried to regain his footing, moving towards the center of the arena.
The difference in speed was significant. Ace couldn't keep up with Samuel, who was using the Six Powers.
But he understood how Samuel was moving.
It would be reckless to try to replicate it now, but he couldn't fight without matching his speed.
He had to find another way to compensate.
"Sacred Fire – Shiranui!"
He swung his arms, throwing two more spears of fire. Samuel dodged them, and charged at Ace.
The spears of fire slammed into the ground near the wall, stopping their advance.
He couldn't hesitate.
"Fire Leg – Hikyaku!"
Ace enveloped his legs in flames and charged at Samuel. Samuel, surprised, grinned and met Ace's attack head-on.
He swung his claws, coated in Armament Haki, but Ace, sliding at the last moment, passed through his legs and swung his right arm.
He aimed his fist, from below, towards Samuel's upper body.
"Fire Fist!!!"
"Whoa–?!"
Samuel was engulfed in flames – but for a split second, they weren't touching.
It was difficult to land a blow at such close range. Samuel, continuing his movement, passed through Ace's attack unharmed.
Ace, regaining his footing, turned to face Samuel – and was stunned to see him standing before him.
"W-what?!"
It was a simple trick.
Ace, after passing through Samuel's legs, slid towards the Sacred Fire – Shiranui he had thrown earlier. He detonated it with a kick, using the explosion to change direction and close the distance again.
He wouldn't miss this time.
He coated his fist in flames and swung.
"Fire Fist!!!"
This time, Samuel was undoubtedly engulfed in flames.
Ace's attack, slamming Samuel into the wall on the other side of the arena, continued to burn relentlessly, fueled by his willpower.
Finally, a clean hit.
But Ace didn't think he had defeated him. Samuel, covered in burns, stood up again.
…But something was different.
He sat down, cross-legged, his body returning to its human form.
"I lost."
"…Why? You can still fight! Are you looking down on me?"
"No. This is just a match. If we continue, I won't be able to hold back."
He had said it before the match began, but killing was forbidden.
And it was the Witch who had set the rules. They couldn't disobey her, especially in her territory.
In the world of pirates, hierarchy was paramount. They had to obey their captain's orders.
"I'm a carnivorous Zoan, so my aggression increases when I fight. I had to stop before I lost control."
"I see."
It was surprising that he was still able to move after taking Ace's full-powered Fire Fist, but perhaps he was worried about losing control and killing Ace.
It was a match, after all. They could fight, but they couldn't kill.
"W-w-what?! Samuel's been defeated! This is a rare occurrence in Twilight's history!"
Black, the commentator, was jumping up and down in excitement. He was also the radio host, but even he had never seen anything like this.
"So, who will be the next challenger? Will it be one of the top fighters from the Einherjar or the Valkyries?! Or will it be the leader of Twilight, Kanata?! This is a rare match! I've never seen anything like it!!!"
Samuel, hearing Black's words, stood up and addressed Ace.
"Well, defeating me doesn't mean you'll get to fight Kanata. You'll have to defeat at least one more person."
"…Who will it be?"
"Well… Let's see… Those who are currently on this island…"
He began counting on his fingers, thinking about who was available.
But then, he seemed to have lost interest. "You'll be contacted," he said vaguely.
Ace sighed, exasperated.
"Are you sure that's okay?"
"Uhahahaha! It's fine! We're just here to fight! We leave the thinking to those who can!"
It was something only a massive organization like Twilight could do.
Samuel said Ace would be contacted within a few days. "I should recover by then," Ace said.
Samuel held out his hand, and Ace, surprised, looked at his face, then grasped his hand firmly.
"That last Fire Fist was impressive. You might actually get to fight Kanata."
"…You're not worried about me fighting your captain?"
"No, it's pointless to worry. She's much stronger than you think."
When was the last time she had fought seriously? Samuel hadn't seen it in almost two decades.
She trained diligently every day, but it was meaningless without a chance to use it. Even if they knew it was necessary to prepare for the final battle, humans couldn't continue something without a goal in sight.
That's why Samuel thought it was good for her to have a chance to blow off some steam.
"Now, who will it be…? Teach? Or Ragnell? That would be rough…"
Samuel muttered this as he left the arena.