The sight of Akainu hovering in the air gives the High Princes the memories of the way years ago. The blood that spilled on the ground still lingers in their senses. It plays in their minds as if it happened yesterday, the cries and shouts of their people dying, and these men were the reason.

And now, history repeats itself. Every second that passes by, more people are getting hurt, dying, all because of the ideals these two vehemently pursued.

The sinister smile on Akainu never faded. He looks at them with smugness as if he had won the war and that only death awaits them.

Below Akainu is a ship surrounded by black fog acting like a barrier that prevented anyone from approaching even below the sea. This is why the Sea Kings told Luffia that they cannot approach the ship. It's filled with a deadly aura poisonous enough to get any creature's head spinning.

All of them get off the Sea King's back as they carefully close the distance, just safe enough to get away should Akainu attack them. The three High Princes are in their hybrid form, wings flapping to keep their position mid-air, and so as the Princesses except for Luffia who is floating unsteadily next to Zoro.

"I should have killed you three when I had that chance." Akainu grits the words between his teeth, hands clenching so hard while looking at the three women in front of him. It's one of his regrets that he never moved so quickly to finish these three. It would have made things easier for him had they been killed.

"You will die today." Ann badly wants to burn this man alive. She can never forget how her parents perish because of this man.

"No. You all will die today. Today marks the end of Raftel! Everyone will die. They will all pay for the things they took away from me!" Akainu's hatred is rooted deep in his soul.

Many things happened to him. He was shunned by his people just because he does not wield the power that they held the most important for a ruler to have.

Al Draig.

It was a blessing to them but a curse to Akainu. It was a shadow in his existence, always a reminder that he will never be someone great because that power was never bestowed on him.

Looking at the three sisters brought the unsurmountable loathe he still has against the three Magical Kingdoms. The three now wield the power that he sought after and one he couldn't have.

Who is supposed to blame for the predicament he has to go through? The prophecy? The Rareborn princess? It seems to be shallow to blame only them.

He might as well blame everyone in Raftel. Not just Daerenians but the other two Magical Kingdoms for never supporting him. He blames the Beast Kingdoms for their silence when the issues of silent oppression are present in Daerene.

Just what is so great about Al Draig? It is a powerful part of the tradition but what if he has more power than the wielder? Yes, that's the solution he thought of. All he needs is to be more powerful than any rulers present and topple them to to the ground.

"Rareborn Princess is no more. So as your father! Soon, you will follow him! No more! Al Draig users will die and no more will follow!"

"It is the power that you wanted and now, you want to eradicate it from the world?" Marco asks, baffled.

"At first, yes! It would have been great if I can wield it, but now that I think about it, what use will I have for a power that is lesser than what I have? Better erase it from the world and so as all of you!"

The way he laughs sounds like a madman who has lost sight of hope. It is more than just being evil, he's crazy, lost, and drunk in the power that he wields.

"He's... He's full of hatred." Luffia winces when she and Akainu's eyes meet. When she saw him earlier, the hatred for what happened to her parents and her people slowly consumes her. But that hatred slowly submerges into her heart when she saw Akainu's eyes.

More than hating him, she feels a little sorry for him. It seems that he's not just after the power, but the sheer desire to fulfill the frustration accumulated.

The presence of the six of them is a bitter reminder to Akainu of the Kingdoms that shunned him. Ipraecia, Beogia, Vaelon, Verid, Huidel, and Daerene.

And once more, they stand in his way to achieve what he wanted. Once, he was driven to the wall. His first attempt of eradicating these creatures failed, but no more. This time, there's no Rareborn Princess to stand in his way, no High Kings and High Queens. What's in front of him are mere High Princes that never had the taste of what despair feels like.

It is a must that he will let them feel it. More than what he felt before.

The power of magma courses through his veins. A power that he obtained from selling his soul to the devil. It's boiling like his hatred as if he's hell himself.

The High Princes and Princesses brace themselves for the attacks of Akainu. Balls of boiling magma rain down upon them, and they defend them spectacularly. The attacks are fast, testing their abilities to stay alert to dodge them. At first, there's nothing special about the attacks that Akainu's been sending on them.

It's the attack that comes after those that had their hairs rising from shock.

Suddenly, black whips wrap around their legs. Each of them felt the black whip draining them of their energy and before they knew it, the six of them are pulled away from each other, completely separating from each other.

The three beastly High Princes are pulled to the left while the three Princesses are pulled to the right.

Alarmed, the High Princes tried to cut the whips off their bodies only to find out that they cannot cut it at all. It's black magic that they've never seen before. Looking at the other side, they can also see the Princesses struggling to get free from the whips while dodging the attacks of Akainu.

"Damn you!" Kidd's anger resurfaces, the fire on his wings flaring crazily.

"Burn it, yoi!" Marco shouts. Without further explanation from the Ipraecian High Prince, Zoro and Kidd followed suit, using their fires to burn the whips.

Just as they managed to somehow free themselves of them, it was a second too late for the darkness now serves as a barrier, separating them from the Princesses.

"Ann! Burn them!" Marco shouts, hoping his mate will hear it.

"On it!" Thankfully she did and the next thing they see is Ann's fire burning the black barrier while Sab is casting magic spells to negate its effects. Ordinary magic won't work on this power. The magic power needed to negate it is higher than they expected. Had it been other creatures, they might find themselves against the wall.

As soon as the barrier was burned, they don't have time to celebrate because a dragon-like magma is coming at the six of them. Its mouth is wide open, dripping with boiling magma like a beast from hell hungry for its prey.

"Firefox sword style..." Zoro steps in front of them, swords were drawn. "Flame Split: Crossing of the Six Paths." The dragon-shaped magma was cut like paper.

"Zoro!" Luffia warns him when another attack is launched from the side. This time, Sab is quick to release a spell to block the attack, earning an appreciative nod from Zoro.

"We can't always be on the defensive." Kidd voices out. If they continue like this, who knows how long it will take for them to defeat this man. The more time they spend here, the more their people are in danger.

"Agreed."

The High Princes are in the front, bracing themselves to launch a counterattack while the Princesses are behind to support them. As much as the Princesses wanted to be on the aggressive side, their powers are not stable.

Ann's fire is constantly bursting out of nowhere and sometimes it dies out. She has to rely on Marco to use his fire to stabilize hers. The connection between them is sufficient enough for him to send her telepathic words to calm her down.

Sab on the other hand cannot cast the ancient spells of Huidel even if she wants to. What she can only do is to release magical powers from within. The overwhelming magical power stored is enough to make up for the lack of complexity of the spell cast. It does not help that her powers are more powerful when on land, not when on air.

And Luffia. Daerenians are known for their prowess in magic. When they were training with Rayleigh, he said that Daerenians are more elusive when it comes to detailing what kind of spells they can cast. And the far clearer detail they know is that Al Draig is from Daerene.

The days they spent with Rayleigh are not enough to have them master the powers that laid dormant in them for years. They do not know what kind of sealing spell their mother gave them, but whatever it was, it must have let the magic accumulate inside them.

Marco initiated the counterattack against Akainu by flying near him, sending a whip-like kick coated with his fire. This made Akainu fly back to compose himself but Kidd is quick enough to pincer an attack to the left side, claws are out as he yells curses at Akainu.

And with Zoro's hybrid form, he sends a dragon twister attack against their enemy, effectively slicing his chest. The wound is not deep enough to render him incapable but it was enough to allow the princesses to launch their attacks.

Ann, Sab, and Luffia followed their mates to attack Akainu non-stop. The exchange drags into a few minutes but it feels like hundreds of attacks have been sent from both sides.

The exchanges are so fast that they sent ripples in the air and the sea. Whatever Akainu did to his body is proving to be a challenge to them. Despite the numerous attacks that they launch against him, he doesn't seem to be fazed. Instead, his smile grows wider every second that the battle drags.

It's as if he's enjoying the frowns on their faces. Noticing this, Marco told everyone to back off for a moment.

"HAHAHA! This is it?! Your parents will holler in their graves for having useless children!" All of them growled but said nothing.

Even though he's taunting them non-stop for being weaker than he expected, they forced themselves to stay calm. They cannot launch an all-out attack against him when they know he could be leading them to a trap that will exhaust all of their magical powers.

"All damn useless! The powers that your parents bestowed upon you all put them to shame! No wonder they died by our hands." Akainu made sure to target the weakness that can break their calmness to pieces.

"Their blood spilled on the ground. All looking at me as they die. Do you want me to describe what they all looked like when they fell?"

None of them managed to say anything. Their expressions are enough for Akainu to feel satisfied. He wants them to feel the pain of losing the people they loved to the person standing beside them.

"I can vividly remember all of them dying in agony. They cannot defeat me, the person they shunned! The person they thought as unworthy now stands before them, wielding power beyond their imagination! Oh, I loved how their blood watered the grounds of Raftel. More blood will be spilled, mark my words. The world will raze to the ground under me!"

"Not if we can stop you here!" Ann's voice echoes with hatred.

"You can't even defeat me with the six of you joining. Such a shame." The grin on his face never faded. His eyes are still mocking them.

"Prepare. We will attack him with intent to kill." Zoro is the one who said this. And this signals the other High Princes to smirk as if their instincts are free. It's time to go all out against Akainu.

"I thought you would never say that." The grin on Kidd's face grows wide, and so as his wings. "It's been a while since I've been in this form." He said. The last time that he was in this form was when Sab was about to be executed. His beastly instincts went wild, and he looked like a demon that walked from hell to the realm of men to wreak havoc and spread death.

'Just in time.' Achilles who was staying on the sidelines joined them in their group. He didn't join them because he's standing guard in case Akainu sneaks a trap behind them. 'It is time to let him pay for the sins of murdering our Kings and Queens'

Just like Kidd, Achilles also transformed. His silver fur shines in the darkness engulfing the area. A pair of red wings on his back and a silver-like crown formed on his forehead that reminds them of the ores from Beogia. And his size is almost twice what he originally looks like that Sab almost didn't recognize him.

With Achilles beside Kidd, it is time for Kiyone to also join Sab by her side. One thing they noticed is the glows from the nine tails and a crown-like halo on top of her head.

"Time to hunt," The feral grins from their faces brighten from the thought of finally being able to let the beastly side of them run amok.

The amount of magic above the sea causes tremors. It is time for them to prove to Akainu that they are not as weak as he thinks.

Ann breathes in, calming her nerves before extending her hands to the sides. Fire start emitting from her palm forming into balls till it extends and forms into an omega-like symbol in front of her.

Sab summoned a staff and raises it. An invisible light gathers around the tip to condense a magic circle.

"Let's go!" Marco shouts and in a blink of an eye, he and Kidd arrived at Akainu's back. Marco leads the charge by sending a kick to the enemy's head followed by Kidd's claws.

Akainu doesn't have enough time to dodge everything especially when Zoro's swords are already pointing at his throat. With no time to brace himself, he took the hits simultaneously and can only form a barrier made of lava just in time to fend off Zoro's attack to minimize the damage.

The three back off a little that allows the twins to send their attacks against Akainu.

This time, the attacks directed are incorporated with their own Al Draig just like what Rayleigh taught them. The force sends Akainu flying with the lava barrier destroyed in the process.

With the perfect opportunity presented, the three High Princes with Achilles wasted no time to follow Akainu and attack him from all sides. From the first glance, they are winning and it is only a matter of time before Akainu falls.

That's what they thought.

"Something is wrong." Luffia frowns. She feels that something is not right. Her instincts are screaming at her that they have to fall back for now.

'No. Tell your mates to fall back now!' Kiyone shouts at Sab.

"What?" They didn't have time to process everything because a second later, they found themselves trapped in a dark cage.

Sensing the danger, the three High Princes started falling back but the lava barrier Akainu built prevent them from returning. Slowly, the barrier expands till it forms into a sphere, caging them inside.

"Hahaha! How naive!" Akainu's laughter echoes inside their cage. He didn't even look like the wounds affect him at all. Droplets of blood soak his clothes and decorated his face yet he can still smile. "Do you think that I will let you finish me? You all will die!"

"You are wounded." Zoro answers.

"Yes. And so will your mates be. Your death will be different. You will die from the pain and agony of watching them die!"

Horror immediately creeps into their faces and can't help but look at their backs where their mates are.

'They are not weak as you think they are.' Achilles growls. The words are directed to the High Princes but it seems that Akainu took the words as if it were for him.

"Really? Teach will be taking care of them in a bit. You didn't even think why we remained here instead of going to Raftel? Hahaha! Like I said, too naive!"

The three High Princes did not have time to be worried or be angry at Akainu for the next thing they see are the temperature rising. The lava walls are closing in, narrowing the space of the cage.

They know that if they stay here and do nothing, they might peril. The only way to get out of this cage is to kill Akainu. With that in mind, Kidd attacks only to be shocked as his attacks not only did not work but just slips into Akainu's body.

"Surprising, isn't it?" Kidd instantly falls back but not fast enough to dodge a punch from Akainu.

"You... What did you do to your body?" Kidd can't help but ask. They know Akainu can generate lava like a magic cast. No one expected Akainu to be the lava itself.

"I went through lengths of measures to obtain this body! And as soon as I have your mates, I'll be eating their powers too. The youngest one seems more useful. You've not mated with her yet, right? Perfect! I can turn her into my slave and that will grant me powers like the Ancient High Kings!"

"You will die here." Zoro's rage is reaching heights he never thought it would. He just got his memories from the time he marked Luffia and now someone is threatening her. There's no way he can leave this man alive now.

"Is that so? I let you all attack me earlier just to let your guard down. Now, how are you supposed to kill me now?"

Even if the three of them have affinities to fire, getting an element on a higher level of density is a different case. If it's really true that Akainu's body is made of lava and the earlier attacks he took are fake, then they cannot easily kill him. Their attacks will just pass through his body and they will risk being an easy target when in proximity.

"Time to meet your pathetic parents, dear High Princes."

And for the first time, they felt the terror of facing an enemy that they might not defeat.