171 Mysterious Swordsman
"Trouble ahead, Whitebeard."
Roger couldn't help but say in a deep voice as he looked at Nicholas hovering in the air.
At this point, Nicholas could be said to no longer be Nicholas. If one must describe it, it would be a thunder entity with Nicholas's appearance.
No emotions, no consciousness, solely relying on Nicholas's instinct to fight, yet incredibly powerful.
If previously Nicholas had utilized the full power of the Thunder-Thunder Fruit, now he was pushing its abilities to a hundred and fifty percent!
In the battle between Roger and Whitebeard, Nicholas had actually been observing from a third-person perspective.
For him, this state could be considered his first time entering it. Unlike the semi-divine mode, which he could fully control and decide when to exit or enter, this state was beyond his control. In other words, it was like hiring a substitute player; the account was still yours, but someone else was controlling it. To regain control, one would either have to kick out the substitute and take over themselves or wait for the substitute to disconnect.
Nicholas was also constantly pondering this situation. Under this state, he found himself unable to control his own body, and his will seemed to be squeezed into the corner of his body.
Fortunately, the substitute currently lacked consciousness and acted more on instinct.
Although he lacked the skill and combat awareness compared to his former self, he explosively unleashed the power of the Thunder-Thunder Fruit far beyond his previous limits.
It was like unleashing many ultimate moves; Nicholas needed to establish a connection with the thunderclouds in the sky in advance for most of his attacks, but now he could summon them at will. That's why, facing the combined force of Whitebeard and Roger, he could persist until now.
It seemed like he was acting according to instinct, and that instinct was the instinct of lightning.
Although it sounded unbelievable, it was Nicholas's most immediate feeling at the moment.
According to the most widely circulated theory on the sea, Devil Fruit awakenings only occurred in the Zoan and Paramecia types.
One of the effects of awakening a Paramecia Fruit was the ability to influence the surroundings, transforming them into substances corresponding to the ability. Awakening simply required fully developing the ability to its extreme.
On the other hand, awakening a Zoan Fruit was more dangerous because a slight mishap could turn one into the animal represented by the ability, much like the Jailer Beasts in Impel Down.
However, if successful, it would grant incredibly enhanced physical abilities and resilience.
It could even be said that Zoan Devil Fruits were a shortcut to rapidly increasing the strength of ordinary people. By consuming a Zoan Devil Fruit, even a regular person, as long as they kept training and enduring beatings, could quickly integrate the power of the Devil Fruit within them through continuous combat and hardships.
As for the Logia type, Nicholas could probably guess why there was no mention of awakening.
Because the so-called awakening of the Logia type was likely the process of merging one's will with the natural elements represented by the Devil Fruit ability. However, one's will would not only have to face the elemental power represented by the Devil Fruit but also the will of the entire world.
Individual wills were too insignificant compared to the will of the world, and the most likely outcome was assimilation and loss. The fate of those assimilated was to return to nature, becoming part of the natural elements.
Of course, very few people could achieve this.
"Awakening of the Zoan type allows one to voluntarily transform into the animal represented by the fruit, making the ability even more powerful. Awakening of the Logia type, on the other hand, is probably about aligning oneself more closely with the elements themselves?"
"One slight mishap, and you're completely back to nature!? While a Zoan awakening turns you into an animal at worst, a Logia awakening would just scatter your ashes into the wind. Logia types seem to have it rougher than the Paramecia ones, don't they?"
Nicholas was already feeling too tired to make sarcastic remarks.
Meanwhile, the divine-like Nicholas outside was sent flying by the combined force of Whitebeard and Roger, crashing into the sea with a thunderous roar. A massive amount of mist rose from the sea, plowing a deep trench in the water.
It was evident that the two intended to use the seawater to restrain Nicholas.
"Whitebeard, I'll hold him off! You seize the opportunity and use Seaquake!"
Roger shouted at Whitebeard, then rushed forward, chasing after Nicholas on the sea surface.
He had realized that the current Nicholas was using a substitute.
A genuine Nicholas wouldn't possess such power. This mode consumed immense energy every moment, which ordinary humans couldn't withstand, let alone hold on for so long after fighting alongside Whitebeard.
Considering Nicholas's age, even exaggerating, he wouldn't be able to maintain this state for such a long time. Even he felt like he was reaching his limit.
"Heaven's Punishment!"
With the wind howling in his ears, Roger exerted his full strength as he arrived in front of Nicholas, slashing down with his sword.
"Clang!"
The purple thunder dragon under Nicholas bit down on Roger's sword, then dissipated in just a moment under Roger's blade.
"Crackle!"
Then, Nicholas's chest twisted abruptly, a terrifying gash extending from his left shoulder to his right abdomen, almost severing him in half. The entire lightning-formed body buzzed, and in his emotionless eyes, a hint of confusion seemed to appear.
"Boom!"
The surroundings shook again as an invisible shockwave spread out with a deafening roar, causing numerous fragmented islands to be sent flying into the air.
This island, after the battle of the three, finally found its liberation.
"Seaquake!!"
With Whitebeard's furious roar amidst the rumbling, seawater surged towards all directions. In the blink of an eye, a huge depression several tens of miles in radius formed on the sea surface beneath the feet of the three, revealing the submerged lower half of the island, soaked in seawater for countless years.
"You bastard, if you can survive this time, I'll treat you to a damn good drink!"
Roger swung Ace, slashing towards Nicholas relentlessly.
Armament Haki, Conqueror's Haki, all released, pressing down on Nicholas, momentarily suppressing him.
"Slash!"
Although suppressed, the lightning robe on Nicholas's body and the mysterious lightning runes on it continued to flicker. After avoiding Roger's slashes, Nicholas raised his hand, unleashing arcs of electricity directly towards Roger.
At the same time, Nicholas turned into lightning, charging towards Roger.
In the blink of an eye, amidst the flashes of lightning, the two collided fiercely hundreds of times in the air.
Lightning was split open by Roger, and attacks were effortlessly deflected by Nicholas.
Suddenly, the 'Nicholas' who hadn't spoken a word or made any sound throughout, let out a roar.
It wasn't a sound that a human could make; rather, it was a thunderous roar echoing through the sky, a roar belonging to nature itself.
Accompanying the roar, a gale swept through, visible shockwaves appearing in the air, making Roger's expression serious as he stood with his sword in front of him.
"Roger, it's coming, stop him!"
Just then, Whitebeard's voice suddenly came, and at this moment, he was already in the air with his naginata in hand.
His previously almost crippled fingers had also been straightened out.
With Whitebeard's words, a rumbling sound came from afar, followed by waves as high as hundreds of meters rushing towards the position where the three were.
The battle was about to end!
"Boom!"
However Nicholas in an instant compressed 90% of the surrounding lightning and released it in an instant.
"Ugghhhh"
Because they were caught off guard, both Roger and whitebeard were swatted away hundreds of meters, their bodies started turning stiff.
"This is bad"
Roger's face turned ashen.
Nicholas looked at both of them with his indifferent eyes, next he split the giant hundred metre sword into thousands of regular swords and enhanced them with lightning.
Both roger and whitebeard could sense their impending end….
"DAD NOOOOO"
"CAPTAINNNN"
"Railg-"
Just as the both were about to meet their demise, a Shwooshing sound came from the north with a horrendous amount of pressure…
"King of Hell, Three-Sword Serpent: 103 Mercies Deity Damnation"
Instantly appearing in front of Nicholas, a swordsman with one sword in his mouth and one in each of his hands, sliced Nicolas instantly.
Everyone who was watching this was surprised, even roger and Whitebeard were stunned!
Nevertheless, they both met eyes and responded right away.
In a flash Whitebeard held Murakumogiri like a baseball bat and threw Roger who was squatting on Murakumogiri towards Nicholas.
Roger instantly appearing above Nicholas swung ace with all his might towards Nicholas.
"GURAAAAAA"
Meanwhile whitebeard grabbed the air like a cloth and using all his might swung towards Nicholas
*BOOOOMMMM*
Accompanied by billions of tons of seawater crashing down from above, the figures of Nicholas and Roger were simultaneously plunged into the depths of the sea.
As the fluctuating seawater subsided, occasional flashes of bright light could be seen in the deep sea.
"Whoosh!"
After a long time, accompanied by the sound of the water breaking open, a figure leaped out from beneath the surface, and it was Roger.
And on his shoulder was the tightly closed-eyed Nicholas.
"Woo, that was close, if it weren't for that guy…"
Remembering the swordsman, both looked at him…
