"I-is this a Mythological Zoan?"
Captain Gas muttered softly, glancing at the Komodo man beside him. The scaly man shook his head slowly, his vertical pupils fixed on the giant black skeleton towering before them. He couldn't be sure either.
Before they had a chance to think further, Sakazuki had already charged.
The young captain's magma fist shot out from his right side, targeting the most exposed part of the Paramecia woman's head. Sakazuki moved despite his body still being covered in wounds. The magma in his clenched fist glowed brighter than before.
The Paramecia woman leaped backward, her threads extending once more to bind Sakazuki.
But this time, Sakazuki had learned his lesson; he transformed his entire arm into molten magma, causing every thread that touched him to melt instantly.
At the same moment, Seven moved within his Susanoo.
The giant skeleton, coated in Haki, stepped forward. Its four bony arms moved in unison; two of them drew chakra swords formed from purple energy.
"Sakazuki, deal with that woman," Seven commanded from within Susanoo's chest cavity.
One of Susanoo's arms swung toward the Paramecia woman. Not to kill her, but to fling her away from his two companions. The force of the swing hurled the woman to the other side of the plaza.
Sakazuki followed without needing to be told twice.
Now it was just Seven against the two of them.
The Komodo man lunged first. His full transformation made his body nearly three times the size of an ordinary human. His giant claws, coated in Haki, struck Susanoo's ribs.
DANG!
Weapon Haki on the surface of the skeleton withstood the attack. Small cracks appeared on the struck bone, but immediately closed back up.
Captain Gas attacked from the opposite side. A thick cloud of poisonous gas spewed from both his hands, enveloping the entire Susanoo skeleton in a greenish mist.
The gas didn't penetrate.
The layer of Haki on the surface of Susanoo's bones repelled the poison like glass repels water. The greenish mist flowed over the skeleton's surface, searching for a gap, but found none. Chakra and Haki formed an invisible wall between the gaps in the bones.
"It's not working," Captain Gas muttered, his eyes widening.
Seven countered. Susanoo's two swords swung down from above, targeting both opponents at once.
The Komodo man ducked, avoiding the horizontal slash that sliced through three building pillars behind him.
Captain Gas transformed his body into gas to let the swords pass through him, but the layer of Haki at the tips of the swords struck part of his gaseous form, forcing him back into solid form as he grimaced in pain.
Seven raised both Susanoo swords high, then swung them downward simultaneously. The slashes didn't stop at the tips of the blades.
Purple energy waves extended from both sword blades, shooting forward, tearing through the ground and splitting the remaining stone structures they passed through into two pieces.
The Komodo man rolled to the side. Captain Gas transformed into a thin mist and dispersed into the air, evading the slash that destroyed three buildings behind them.
Both attacked again simultaneously. The Komodo man from the front with his double claws, Captain Gas from the back with high-pressure gas blasts.
Seven spun his Susanoo. The two front arms parried the Komodo's claws with swords, while the two rear arms swung slashes toward Captain Gas. The rhythm of the battle shifted rapidly. Four arms moved independently, attacking and defending in two different directions at once.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Claws met bone. Swords met scales. Every collision sparked Haki sparks that lit up the night.
Seven formed a hand seal within Susanoo. Susanoo's skull mouth opened.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu."
A giant fireball erupts from Susanoo's skull, sweeping toward Captain Gas.
The bearded man is forced to transform his entire body into gas to avoid fatal injury, but the fire's heat burns through part of his gas, causing him to revert to human form with burn scars on his arms and face.
"Damn it!"
Seven didn't pause. The hand inside Susanoo formed another seal.
"Katon: Gouka Mekyaku."
A colossal wall of fire erupted from the skull's mouth, far larger than the Goukakyuu. The wave of fire swept across the entire western side of the plaza, forcing the two opponents to scatter even further apart.
When the Komodo man was separated from Captain Gas, Seven saw his chance. One of Susanoo's arms struck the Komodo man with a flat punch, sending him flying southward, away from his comrade.
Seven turned Susanoo to face Captain Gas, who was now alone.
To finish off a Logia user who could transform into an element, a regular fire attack wasn't enough. His Haki was still basic; his attacks sometimes hit and sometimes missed. He needed something unavoidable, something that burned without needing to touch.
His eyes throbbed.
"Seven." Matatabi's voice echoed softly in his mind. The blue fire cat stared at him with its yellow-green eyes. "Are you sure you want to use it? Your body isn't ready to bear the burden."
Seven didn't answer Matatabi. His eyes were fixed on Captain Gas, who had already begun to transform into a greenish mist, preparing to flee.
Seven's left eye throbbed again. The blood vessels around his eye bulged.
"Amaterasu."
Black flames appeared.
The flames materialized directly at the focal point of his left eye, right on Captain Gas's body.
The intense black flames burned silently, clinging to the Alliance captain's body. Whether his body turned to gas or returned to flesh, the black flames continued to burn.
"AAARRGGHH! WHAT IS THIS?! IT WON'T GO OUT!" Captain Gas screamed, rolling on the ground, shifting his form repeatedly. But the black flames paid no heed. It kept burning. Unquenchable.
Seven raised his hand and the black flames stopped spreading, but they didn't go out. Captain Gas lay there with burns covering half his body, no longer able to fight.
At that very moment, a sharp pain struck Seven's head. His vision blurred. Blood seeped from the corner of his left eye, trickling down his cheek.
Seven turned Susanoo back toward the Komodo man who had just risen from the rubble where he'd been flung.
"Shunshin."
The entire frame of Susanoo vanished from where he stood and reappeared right in front of the Komodo man in the blink of an eye.
The scaly man didn't have time to react. His vertical pupils dilated.
Susanoo's two swords swung from opposite sides simultaneously. The crossing slashes struck the Komodo man's chest, whose scales were already riddled with cracks from the prolonged battle. The Haki-coated chakra swords sliced through his defenses.
The Komodo man collapsed. His scales slowly returned to human skin.
Seven took a heavy breath. The Susanoo surrounding him flickered. The black bones cracked from the skull downward, then shattered into shards of purple energy that vanished into the night air.
His legs wavered slightly. He wiped the blood from his left eye with the back of his hand.
All around him, the city square was in ruins. The gashes left by Susanoo split the entire area. The ground struck by Gouka Mekyaku still smoldered. Amaterasu's black flames still burned faintly on the body of the fallen Captain Gas.
Footsteps from the east.
Sakazuki emerged from behind the rubble, dragging the unconscious Paramecia woman's body with one hand. His own body was covered in wounds, but he walked upright.
His eyes took in the scene before him. The square, now flattened. Two pirate captains lying on the ground. The strange black flames. And his superior standing in the center of it all, blood flowing from his left eye, breathing heavily.
"Rear Admiral."
"Is it over?" Seven asked, his voice slightly hoarse.
"It is."
Seven nodded slowly. His legs wavered for a moment.
In his mind, Matatabi snored softly. "I told you so."
Seven didn't reply. He just stood there, letting the night breeze cool his face, wet with sweat and blood, amidst the still-smoldering ruins.