170 Is this guy a monster?

"Boom!"

Behind him, a circular halo formed by lightning floated above Nicholas's head, with bursts of lightning shooting out from it and nine thunder drums surrounding it.

At his feet, a purple-black thunder dragon roared continuously, coiling around Nicholas and emanating a chilling aura.

At this moment, Nicholas was even more powerful than in his previous semi-divine state.

Moreover, as the halo of lightning behind him shimmered, a strange ripple spread outwards, attracting ions from the air to gather around it.

As Nicholas appeared like a deity, violent changes were also occurring in the sky above. The dark clouds, previously dispersed by Whitebeard, reassembled, and the surrounding celestial phenomena rapidly changed, with the coverage of dark clouds expanding visibly to the naked eye.

It was as if a storm was brewing over the sea.

"This power!"

Watching the changes on the distant island, John giant, who was still broadcasting diligently on the small boat despite the fluctuating waves, was dumbfounded.

Then he heard a voice from afar.

"Vice Admiral John giant!"

"We received orders from headquarters to evacuate from this area. What's coming next is beyond our intervention!"

Another dilapidated warship appeared, and the creaking hull and the mast wrapped in iron made one wonder if the ship would sink in the next moment.

Facing the voices of his subordinates, John giant wasted no time and immediately stepped back onto the warship, then ordered everyone to sail away from this dangerous area.

On the desolate island.

"Sizzle!"

Amidst the flashing lightning, Nicholas stepped on the thunder dragon, overlooking Whitebeard on the ground.

At this moment, Nicholas's imposing aura was terrifying, as if he had completely transformed into someone else.

At this moment, he seemed to be the master of thunder!

Facing Whitebeard below, Nicholas extended his palm, and a ripple appeared.

"Sizzle!"

With a piercing sound, countless metal particles flew out from the island below. It seemed as if an invisible hand was controlling them. Soon, dense metal particles floated around Nicholas like a river, swirling around him.

"Thunder Metallurgy!"

Electricity surged along the metal river, colliding between the metal particles. Under high temperature, the metal particles quickly changed shape and merged together.

In the blink of an eye, a giant sword hundreds of meters long floated in front of Nicholas.

Nicholas reached out his hand as if grasping the giant sword in front of him, his eyes cold as he looked down at Whitebeard, lofty and aloof, like a deity.

In the next moment, Nicholas swung the hundred-meter-long giant sword fiercely towards Whitebeard.

"Although I don't know what's happening, kid, your current appearance really annoys me!"

With a loud roar, Whitebeard raised his halberd, and almost instantly, a halo formed on the blade due to the vibration force.

The next moment, the two weapons clashed fiercely.

Blinding light flashed, and immense power collided, shattering the air between them. The ground under Whitebeard's feet shattered with a rumble, making the already dilapidated island even more devastated.

This was a power far beyond ordinary, turning the already broken island into a mess.

"Haha!"

With a loud shout, Whitebeard swung his halberd, and the vibrational force, along with the sharpness of the weapon and Whitebeard's terrifying strength, actually cut Nicholas's giant sword directly in half.

With a sound of breaking through the air, the severed half of the giant sword rotated in the air and plunged into the ground in the distance.

Facing the broken weapon, Nicholas's eyes were cold. Then, with the replenishment of the surrounding metal particles, the giant sword in his hand was restored.

Nicholas raised his hand again, controlling the giant sword towards Whitebeard.

"Boom!"

The hundred-meter-long giant sword swung down, splitting a huge crack of several kilometers on the shattered island. Rocks and soil flew everywhere, and a small mountain in the distance collapsed with a rumble.

However, after this sword strike, it seemed to have struck empty space. Whitebeard also realized that something was amiss.

He dodged to the side when Nicholas attacked.

"Nicholas!"

Whitebeard roared at Nicholas, but received no response.

At the same time, another metal particle gathered in Nicholas's other hand, forming a metal ball the size of a walnut.

Grasped between Nicholas's thumb and forefinger.

"Sizzle!"

Lightning flashed on his arm, appearing around the metal ball and then, at the same time, the metal ball was instantly ejected.

"Hum!"

In an instant, the void trembled, and as the metal ball flew rapidly through the air, it left a trace.

"Railgun!"

At this moment, as the metal ball flew out, a huge airflow with a diameter of several meters appeared in the air, demonstrating the formidable power of this strike.

"What is this?!"

Whitebeard's pupils shrank as he sensed the danger.

With lightning flashing, the swift attack crossed space and appeared in front of him.

The tremendous power of the attack could be roughly sensed, capable of easily shattering a mountain.

"Boom!"

Faced with this speed of attack, Whitebeard had no time to react. Subconsciously, he raised his fist and quickly enveloped it with Armament Haki and his Tremor-Tremor Fruit ability, then collided fiercely with the attack.

In an instant, a terrifying explosion erupted, surging airflow spreading in all directions like radiation.

Whitebeard's massive body also grunted, flying backward.

After a moment, Whitebeard stood up, but at this moment, his arm looked particularly terrifying, with his five fingers showing a strange curvature, and even some of the flesh on his hand was missing.

"Gurarara, this is truly terrifying!"

Saying so, Whitebeard raised his halberd and stepped forward, charging towards Nicholas once again. Nicholas remained expressionless, unleashing bolts of lightning towards Whitebeard.

"Rayleigh, something's not right. Get the ship further away!"

After saying this, Roger leaped from the bow of the ship towards the direction of the island.

"Hey, Marco, there's movement with Roger's pirate group over there!"

Jozu, watching Roger's sudden action, quickly shouted to Marco.

"Marco, I'll go help Whitey!"

With the light of Enma and Ame-no-Habakiri in his hands, Marco spoke up, apparently knowing the horror of the opponent he had faced before. Although he wasn't a match for him, helping Whitebeard relieve some pressure wouldn't hurt.

But before they could act, Oro Jackson stood in front of them.

"Rayleigh, what do you mean by this!?"

Marco asked with a dark expression, clearly having witnessed the scene where Whitebeard was severely hit by Nicholas's Railgun earlier.

"It's nothing, just a warning for you to take the ship further away. The battle over there is beyond your interference. Getting involved in that level of combat will only drag Whitebeard down. Also, the kid should show some respect for his elders."

After saying this, Oro Jackson changed course and sailed away.

As Marco hesitated, the sound of Whitebeard's voice came from the island.

"Marco!"

"Dad!"

Marco responded loudly to Whitebeard.

"Now, as captain, I order you to take the members of the Whitebeard Pirates and leave this place!"

Then, another loud rumble came from the island.

After hearing this, Marco gritted his teeth and ordered everyone to move away from the area.

At this moment, on the island, with Roger joining in, the battle had become frenzied.

Facing Nicholas, both Whitebeard and Roger seemed a bit bewildered. Despite their joint efforts, they could only barely suppress Nicholas.

Unbeknownst to them, time was quickly passing by, but the three of them had lost all sense of time.

In the blink of an eye, from day to night.

The spectators on the sea were already numb, watching the flashes of lightning, slashes, and vibrations on the island, making the area incredibly bright.

"Is that guy a monster?"

"Even Dad and Roger teaming up can't suppress him."

"This is insane."

The members of the Whitebeard Pirates were dumbfounded, while Toki, holding a baby, looked at the constant thunderous sounds without revealing her thoughts.

As the night faded and the first rays of sunlight rose from the distant sea.

The battle on the island continued. The original island was now barely visible, with only large rocks on the sea serving as the footholds for Whitebeard and Roger, while Nicholas remained suspended in the air.

"Huff~ Roger, are you still holding up?"

Holding Ace, Roger looked at Whitebeard on a boulder a hundred meters away and asked loudly.

"I'm fine!"

"Is that guy still Nicholas?"

Roger couldn't help but curse as he dispersed the lightning that shot towards them. It could be said that after fighting for so long, Nicholas hadn't said a word, and his whole demeanor was like a perpetual motion machine, showing no signs of exhaustion.

Roger had tried to attack Nicholas's will with his Conqueror's Haki, but when he and Whitebeard simultaneously attacked with their Conqueror's Haki, they found that Nicholas's will was like a Deity, pure, pristine and utterly majestic, not at all like a human at all, and even his own Conqueror's Haki was shattered by the majestic aura emanating from him.

[AN- I love cliffhangers so much 😈]