"The second round begins!"
The faint voice had barely dissipated in the air when Nicholas stomped fiercely on the ground.
"CRACKLLLEEEE!"
Accompanied by the shattering of the earth beneath his feet, lightning surged towards Whitebeard in an instant, sounding like the cries of thousands of birds. In the blink of an eye, Nicholas appeared in front of Whitebeard.
"Thunder Bird Style!"
Nicholas's voice was icy as he spoke, and lightning once again surged wildly around him, spreading out in all directions.
Facing Nicholas's approach, Whitebeard didn't want to make direct contact easily. He could feel that the lightning around Nicholas had become even more ferocious, with immense energy contained within it. If he were touched by Nicholas, although he wouldn't be injured, his movements would definitely be affected. This was the instinctive influence of lightning on living beings, something that couldn't be easily changed.
Even with Armament Haki defense, he would still be affected.
So, Whitebeard chose to defend directly. With Observation Haki activated, even Nicholas's lightning-like speed couldn't hit him.
Seeing that he couldn't paralyze Whitebeard with lightning, Nicholas decisively switched to offense. After all, the battle between strong opponents depended on who could control the rhythm of the battle. Now was his time to attack; he couldn't afford to miss the opportunity!
"Thunder Dragon!"
"Thunder Rhino!"
"Thunder Bird!"
"Swarm of Bees!"
"Thunder Zeal!"
"Five Billion Volts, Electric Discharge!"
With each command from Nicholas, lightning manifested and surged forth, thundering through the air. Thunder dragons roared, thunderbirds cried, thunder zeal surged, and the scent of burning filled the air as lightning streaked towards Whitebeard.
"Ho ho ho, Kid, you're quite impressive!" Whitebeard, forced to continuously defend against Nicholas's attacks, couldn't help but chuckle.
High-speed movement made him break a sweat.
As for evasion, it was out of the question. He was Whitebeard after all!
"It's time to wrap this up. Three Thousand Thunders - Heavenly Thunder Net!"
Nicholas calmly spoke, his fingers moving as if manipulating an invisible giant net. In the next moment, the massive electrically charged ions, previously dispersed due to the large-scale lightning attacks, collided at Nicholas's command, generating even more intense and widespread lightning.
"Crackle!"
In the blink of an eye, lightning crackled in the air, forming a colossal net spanning the sky, enveloping the area for kilometers around Whitebeard. It exuded a dense aura of destruction.
"Is this...?" Whitebeard's eyes revealed a hint of interest. It seemed that the powerful attacks just now were merely feints, and the true lethal move was only now being revealed.
The colossal electric net, encompassing kilometers around, seemed to entangle Whitebeard, leaving him nowhere to hide.
"Gurararara, quite a remarkable move! But..." Whitebeard laughed heartily, "I am Whitebeard after all!"
With that, he raised his colossal Supreme Grade naginata, readying for a powerful strike.
"Boom!"
Accompanied by a thunderous roar, a colossal slash flew out from Whitebeard's position, crashing into the distance and finally landing on the sea.
With a deafening explosion, a massive crater appeared on the sea's surface, and the water surged violently, with waves dozens of meters high crashing in all directions.
"Aha, what an exhilarating battle!"
Atop the turbulent sea, Roger sat cross-legged on the figurehead of the Oro Jackson, gazing at the battlefield on the island, unable to contain his excitement.
And on the island, the fierce battle erupted once again.
Whitebeard, having absorbed the blow from Nicholas's Heavenly Thunder Net, didn't look as relaxed as it seemed. His clothes were torn and tattered, revealing his muscular physique, and there were marks of lightning strikes on his body.
"It's been a while since I've had such a good fight!"
Whitebeard, holding his great nagiinata, once again dashed forward at high speed, leaping into the air and raising his nagiinata high towards Nicholas.
At this moment, Whitebeard was completely immersed in the battle.
Nicholas, on the other hand, remained calm. Facing Whitebeard's powerful downward strike, he raised his right hand abruptly.
"Crackle!"
The air emitted a creaking sound under the tremendous pressure as the two clashed. Surprisingly, Whitebeard's great nagiinata did not come into contact with Nicholas's hand.
"Gurarararara, no Armament Haki entanglement this time? Is this your ability, little guy?" Whitebeard asked.
"Mm."
Nicholas admitted openly.
Then, he raised his empty left hand abruptly.
"In harmony with the natural order, I channel the might of the heavens! Thunder, heed my call!"
"Boom!"
In the sky, thunderclouds roared, lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled deafeningly, shaking the heavens.
As Nicholas gestured with his left hand, a colossal lightning pillar spewed forth from the thunderclouds, crashing towards Whitebeard, who was still locked in combat with him.
"Crackle!"
"Crackle!"
The lightning surged, and a massive bolt of lightning materialized in the air, striking down towards Whitebeard. The intense heat and dense electric arcs caused the ground to blacken and smoke.
This scene exceeded everyone's expectations. Whitebeard was actually hit head-on by such a powerful attack.
This sight immediately drew exclamations from the crew of the Moby Dick, their faces turning pale.
"Dad!"
"Marco, quickly!"
With a tense atmosphere, the crew of the Whitebeard Pirates immediately wanted to go ashore to assist Whitebeard.
"Stop everyone!"
With a thunderous shout from Marco, everyone halted. As the first division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Marco was in charge of the ship in Whitebeard's absence.
"That's Dad's battle. We have no reason to intervene. What we need to do is to trust Dad!"
Meanwhile, on the tattered and seemingly silent warship, Vice Admiral John Giant and others remained serious, watching the battlefield on the island.
They were well aware that this kind of battle was no longer something they had the right to interfere in.
In Vice Admiral John Giant's hands, there was a Den Den Mushi used for monitoring, and it was diligently recording every scene on the island.
At the same time, in a large conference room of the Marines, Sengoku, Tsuru, and several other Vice Admirals were watching the scenes transmitted by the monitoring Den Den Mushi.
The lightning continued to crackle as the scene unfolded, gradually revealing a towering and sturdy figure amidst the dissipating lightning.
[AN- I decided to change Macdonald to John giant for obvious reasons hope you guys accept this]