Chapter 45

Hepha was facing three Vice Admirals by herself. Luckily for her, it's the injured ones. Augur was dealing with the one who was most heavily injured, a Logia user of some kind. Vash was fighting the giant Vice Admiral.

The battle destroyed the warships even more. Great big chunks of wood scattered about along the sea, making the makeshift platform for the battle bigger. Marines were standing by the side, rifles aimed at Vash, Hepha, or Augur. The other officers helped out in fighting close combat from time to time.

The lower ranking marines were not hasty. They didn't shoot at will. They were afraid they would shoot their allies, so they kept their eye open for a clear and safe shot. Those shots are the only ones they took.

They provided great annoyance for Hepha. So, after recovering some more of her Haki as she fought, her Conqueror's Haki burst out. All the lower ranking marines around them collapsed. Some of the marine officers collapsed as well.

"Conqueror's Haki!" One of the Vice Admirals recognized what Hepha did.

"As expected of a pirate with a bounty as high as yours!"

Seeing the danger Hepha possessed, the three Vice Admirals she was fighting seemed to have been filled with renewed strength. They were determined to bring down the pirate in front of them, but Hepha is proving to be a tough nut to crack. Still, she struggled. The Vice Admirals were no joke.

Augur similarly struggled like Hepha against his opponent that ate a Logia Devil Fruit that turned its user into clouds. Augur doesn't know how to use Armament Haki yet, so he was racking his brains to try and think of a way to deal with his opponent.

Vash struggled the most. He was fighting a giant that was way too quick for his size. The giant Vice Admiral blocked every shot from Vash even after he made his bullets bigger. At some point, Vash and Augur stood back to back and faced each other's opponents.

"You holding up alright, Augur?"

"I admit, I'm at a loss," Augur confessed. "What if we switched?"

"Think you can take this giant?"

"Better to fight an opponent I can actually harm."

"Fair point."

Vash and Augur exchanged opponents. Vash shot a few bullets at his new enemy and discovered the same thing Augur did. The Vice Admiral was a Cloud Human that could create lightning and block their sight.

He would have been a much more terrifying opponent for Vash if the latter didn't master the basics of Observation Haki. Despite having his sight blocked by thick clouds, Vash was able to feel the presence of his opponent.

'This is it. I need to grasp Armament Haki, or I die.' Vash kept trying to use Armament Haki on his shots to harm the Logia-using Vice Admiral. Hepha having heavily injured the Vice Admiral made it a lot easier…

Compared to his earlier opponent, Augur was having an easier time. It frustrated him to see his shot simply go through his target harmlessly. To see his bullets get blocked by thick skin and what he guessed was Armament Haki was much easier to take.

Augur still didn't know how to use Observation Haki. He was currently still trying to awaken it. His current strength relies on his Devil Fruit as well as his shooting skills. Having a giant target makes it easy to not miss, but the giant Vice Admiral was no pushover.

The giant Vice Admiral swung his sword at Augur, who avoided by warping to a different place… only to be hit by a solid kick from the giant.

"Augur!" Hepha shouted after seeing Augur take a heavy blow.

"You're fighting us!"

Hepha barely blocked the sword that swung at her with her large hammer. She felt one of her opponents sneak behind her. She jumped out of the way, only to be punched by her third opponent as she was in midair.

Hepha was sent flying and crashed on a small mountain of wooden debris on the side. It wasn't a heavy blow, however. Hepha instantly got back up.

"Damn it." Hepha huffed.

"Calm down, Hepha! Focus!" Vash shouted at her in the middle of his battle, still trying to use Armament Haki. "Augur is fine!"

Vash's words put sense back into Hepha's mind. Vash was right. Hepha calmed down, focused, and used Observation Haki to feel Augur's presence. It was still there. It didn't disappear. Augur was fine. Hepha decided to focus on her three opponents to try and finish the fight as soon as possible.

"Nice hammer you have here!"

One of the Vice Admirals that Hepha was fighting picked up Clear Sky which returned to its original small form. It was left behind when Hepha was punched away.

"You don't deserve using a weapon like this." The Vice Admiral sneered at Hepha, pointing the hammer at her.

Despite Clear Sky's value to her, Hepha wasn't worried or agitated that it was in the hands of the enemy. She breathed in, and used the new ability of her hammer.

The Vice Admiral gloating at Hepha let his guard down. The hammer in his hand flew up, largened, became heavier, and spun on its own. He reacted too late. The hammer smashed into his head, crushing it to red paste.

"No!"

"You'll pay for that, War Hammer!"

The other two Vice Admirals Hepha was fighting weren't expecting such an attack from a hammer. They've never heard of a weapon that can act on its own, and it cost them dearly.

Hepha, through her study of Vash's Living Metal, was able to upgrade Clear Sky with it. Now, her weapon had some of the properties of Vash's Living Metal. Namely, the ability to be controlled by the one it bonded with.

Clear Sky flew in the air and returned in Hepha's hand. She grinned devilishly at the two remaining Vice Admirals who quickly accepted their colleague's death for now. Mourning in a battlefield was asking for death. Hepha's fight resumed, hammer against swords.

…

Similar to Hepha, Augur was kicked away to a pile of wooden debris. He got up, but he was injured. He was slightly dizzy. He looked around and saw that Vash and Hepha were still fighting.

Then, Augur felt the ground rumble. He felt like the source came from behind him. Without hesitation, Augur warped away. It was the correct decision, because the spot where he was at less than a second ago was smashed by a giant fist.

Augur clicked his tongue. The amount of times he brushed against death in this confrontation was more than the amount of danger he ever put himself in his whole life. He grinned at the feeling of having his heart pump the blood that was quickly rushing through his body, enhancing all his senses.

"What a troublesome Devil Fruit you have!" the giant Vice Admiral remarked as he stared at Vash. "You can't be allowed to grow any stronger!"

In response, Augur raised his rifle and shot a bullet at the giant's head. The Vice Admiral was able to tell what kind of attack Augur tried to do with Observation Haki, so he raised his arm at the same moment Augur did. Augur's shot was blocked by a hand covered in Armament Haki.

The Vice Admiral didn't let up in his assault. With a speed betraying the size of his body, the giant lunged at Augur for another smash attack with his fist. Augur warped away and shot another bullet, which the Vice Admiral blocked in the same way.

Their exchange continued. Augur wasn't able to gain an upper hand because the Vice Admiral knew where he intended to attack. Similarly, the Vice Admiral couldn't gain an upper hand because he can't predict where Augur would warp to.

…

"This is futile!" The Cloud Logia Vice Admiral said to Vash as their fight continued, He was just letting Vash's bullets pass through him.

Vash looked like a mess. His red coat was battered and torn. One lens of his shades was gone, shattered after being punched squarely in the face. He looked like he was suffering from a burn since he was hit by lightning earlier.

Still, Vash didn't lose the fire behind his eyes. He stared at his opponent as he focused. He still hasn't given up on figuring out how to use Armament Haki. Ace did always say that a tough battle was the best training.

"You can't defeat me. I'm a cloud human. Give up!"

It was obvious that the marines would much rather have pirates surrender to them. There was more glory - and money - to be earned in capturing pirates alive rather than dead. It was the same case right now. The Vice Admirals wanted Vash, Hepha, and Augur to give up.

But, they won't.

Then, Vash felt it. His will took shape. It extended to his weapon as he raised it, aimed at his opponent's shoulder. He fired.

The Vice Admiral that Vash was fighting was about to let the bullet hit him when he felt something wrong. His instinct screamed at him to dodge. It was a good thing he did. He was just in time to avoid the bullet, but not completely. Vash's bullet grazed the side of his shoulder.

"You-!" The Vice Admiral clutched his bleeding shoulder. He looked shocked that Vash was able to hit him. "Was that what you were doing? You were treating me as practice?"

"Well, my captain did always say that battles are the best training," Vash said, equally surprised that he managed to hit his formless opponent. He held on to that feeling he felt just now before pressing the trigger.

"Damn you!" The Vice Admiral looked insulted that he was treated like a training tool by a pirate. He rushed forward at Vash, but he felt his legs go numb. He had to steady himself.

"Ohh? Hepha made a terrifying thing," Vash commented after seeing his opponent's wobbly leg.

"Wh-What the hell did you do?" The Vice Admiral glared at Vash. "Your bullet… poison?"

"Bingo." Vash raised his Evolver.

The Vice Admiral turned into clouds and spread out around Vash. The clouds turned black as lightning formed within. Vash had to do something, anything. He shot at the clouds. He felt the same thing he did earlier. His will took shape on his weapons. Vash learned Armament Haki.

The clouds reformed into the Vice Admiral. There were two bullets in his gut. He collapsed on the ground, bleeding and defeated.

"Damn you, Stampede…"

The paralyzing poison that coated Vash's bullet took effect. The Vice Admiral lay there unmoving. Vash was victorious.

…

'No, this isn't it!'

Hepha was frustrated as she fought the two remaining Vice Admirals. After killing the other Vice Admiral earlier, the two in front of her seemed to have gone berserk. They attacked wildly, every hit could possibly injure her heavily.

But, Hepha wasn't frustrated at her opponents. Nor was she frustrated at the difficulty of the battle. Rather, she was frustrated with herself.

'Ace's attack was stronger, but it didn't even come close to me!'

Hepha was remembering the time Ace defeated her with Divine Departure. Ever since then, she was curious what he did with that attack. Opportunities to try and replicate it don't come often as she was busy with Vash's Living Metal, plus there were no opponents to really test it out on.

"Die!" The Vice Admirals were getting more desperate.

Hepha shook herself out of her thoughts and focused on the fight first. Her two opponents were slowly gaining an upper hand, so Hepha decided to make the fight easier before trying to do what Ace did.

Their attacks clashed. Swords against a hammer. Hepha blocked the attacks coming her way by attacking.

"Nile's Flow!"

With every swing of her hammer, Hepha's attacks grew stronger and faster. In the end, her attacks were pushing her enemies away. Hepha pushed them away from each other to try and take one of them first.

"Mayan Smash!"

Hepha brought down her hammer that was coated in Advanced Armament Haki on a downwards strike on one of the Vice Admirals she pushed away just now. Her previous strike on him was so strong that his sword broke.

"Tekkai!"

Seeing the large hammer coming down on him and he had no weapon to defend himself with, the Vice Admiral used Iron Body coupled with Armament Haki to defend himself.

"You idiot! Don't take it!" the other Vice Admiral screamed at his colleague, but it was too late.

Hepha used Clear Sky and smashed the Vice Admiral apart. Only his arms and legs remained. Hepha looked at her remaining opponent and showed him a feral grin.