"Nicholas, today I'll make sure you don't leave here alive!"
Blackbeard snarled at Nicholas, clearly furious. Nicholas had completely disrupted his plans. If not for Nicholas's interference, Blackbeard would have already obtained Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit, and no one would have been able to stop him.
But now, lacking the powerful offensive capability of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, Blackbeard realized his chances of victory were slim in the current situation. He had already decided that if the fight with Nicholas didn't go well, he would find a way to escape and look for another powerful Devil Fruit.
As these thoughts raced through his mind, Blackbeard gathered a massive amount of dark energy in his hands. The dark energy, swirling like a vortex, spread from under his feet, and everyone, sensing danger, quickly backed away from the area.
In an instant, the large area was left with only Nicholas and Blackbeard.
Around Blackbeard, the dark energy swirled like dense black flames, while Nicholas was surrounded by lightning, appearing as if it were a battle between darkness and thunder.
"Come here, you!"
Blackbeard stretched out his hand and made a grabbing motion toward Nicholas. Nicholas immediately felt a powerful gravitational pull emanating from Blackbeard's palm, almost dragging his entire body toward him.
The pull was incredibly strong. Even Nicholas couldn't fully resist it, and his body was drawn toward Blackbeard.
As Nicholas was about to be grabbed by the throat, a cruel smile appeared on Blackbeard's face. To him, if he managed to grab a Devil Fruit user, no matter how powerful their abilities were, they would be like helpless chicks before him.
Under the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit, all Devil Fruit abilities were rendered useless!
Boom!
Just as Blackbeard was about to grab Nicholas's throat, something unexpected happened. The Nicholas he had pulled in began to glow brightly, and with a loud bang, Nicholas exploded in place. Lightning filled the area around Blackbeard, enveloping him completely.
A moment later, Blackbeard emerged from the smoke, his hair singed and his mouth spewing black smoke. He glared at Nicholas in the distance, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
He had thought he'd grabbed Nicholas's real body, but it was just a product of his Devil Fruit powers. Damn, these old guys are all so sneaky!
"Zehahaha, you're aware of the Dark-Dark Fruit's ability to neutralize other powers, aren't you, Nicholas? But so what? No matter how cunning you are, if I manage to grab your real body, it's over for you. I can afford to make mistakes countless times, but you only need to slip up once, and it's game over!"
In Blackbeard's view, Nicholas couldn't completely negate the gravitational pull of the Dark-Dark Fruit. If he could catch Nicholas's real body, there'd be no mercy.
"You're naive, Teach," Nicholas replied, smiling at Blackbeard, who was brimming with confidence.
Blackbeard didn't waste more words. He used the same tactic again, unleashing a surge of gravitational pull from his hand, and Nicholas's body was once again drawn toward him.
This time, to be extra cautious, Blackbeard also gathered a large amount of dark energy in his other hand, ready to strike Nicholas the moment he got close, leaving him no chance to escape.
Nicholas's body, uncontrollably, was pulled toward Blackbeard. But he didn't panic. As he got close, he suddenly swung his sword.
The unexpected move caught Blackbeard off guard, and at such a close distance, there wasn't enough time for him to react.
Slash!
A spray of blood erupted from Blackbeard's chest as he let out a shrill scream and was sent flying.
"You…!"
Blackbeard lay on the ground, screaming in pain. After a moment, as his chest wound began to slowly heal, thanks to the powerful recovery ability of his Mythical Zoan Fruit, he looked at Nicholas with shock in his eyes.
He hadn't expected Nicholas to break his Devil Fruit ability this way.
If he continued to try using gravitational pull to control Nicholas, unless he could simultaneously restrain Nicholas's arms and legs, letting him get close would pose a great threat to him.
"Are you surprised? You really don't learn, do you, Teach? As I said, I know just as much about the Dark-Dark Fruit as you do.
Back in the day, Rocks was able to dominate the seas, even suppressing Roger, Whitebeard, and Shiki, not just because of the Dark-Dark Fruit but also because of his formidable mastery of Haki and physical strength.
If it were Rocks, I wouldn't dare to get caught so easily. Your ambition, I must admit, is impressive, but your combat experience is lacking. The fact that Shanks ended up with a permanent scar from you was just him being careless."
Hearing Nicholas's words, Shanks, who was nearby watching his men beat up some guys, felt a few veins pop on his forehead.
"You bastard! Even so, with the powerful vitality of my Mythical Zoan Fruit, you can't kill me that easily."
Blackbeard smirked and slammed his hand on the ground.
As his palm struck, dark energy spread across the ground, devouring everything in its path. Nicholas quickly took to the air to avoid the darkness.
Floating in the air, Nicholas looked down indifferently at everything being consumed by the darkness below, unfazed.
It had to be said that the Dark-Dark Fruit's abilities were indeed powerful. For instance, Blackbeard's current move, the "Dark Hole," sucked everything it touched into the darkness and crushed it with intense pressure. It was like a small black hole, extremely dangerous.
Seeing this, Nicholas raised his hand in the air and slashed it down toward where Blackbeard was standing.
The next moment, a sound like a roaring beast filled the air, and even the surrounding space seemed to shake. Then, massive bolts of lightning crashed down from the sky.
If Devil Fruit powers were suppressed at close range, then he'd attack from a distance.
Seeing this, Blackbeard couldn't help but laugh, "Idiot! How dare you use Devil Fruit powers against me?"
Although he hadn't expected Nicholas to use his Devil Fruit powers now, it didn't matter. Without hesitation, the dark energy around Blackbeard surged upward to meet the descending lightning.
The black energy swallowed the lightning as soon as they touched. Blackbeard was about to gloat when he suddenly sensed a great danger from behind. He tried to turn around to defend himself, but he was too late.
Thud! The sharp blade pierced through Blackbeard's chest, the sound of steel cutting through flesh echoing. Thick blood dripped from the blade.
"Ahhh!"
Blackbeard's face twisted in agony. The intense pain seemed to tear through his nerves.
Without thinking, he instinctively tried to grab Nicholas with his dark-covered arm, but Nicholas swiftly withdrew his blade and distanced himself from Blackbeard.
Blackbeard lay on the blood-soaked ground, writhing and howling in pain. The excruciating sensation in his chest kept transmitting through his nerves, and there was no way to alleviate it.
No matter how special his body was, even capable of consuming multiple Devil Fruits, as long as he still had a sense of pain, that would be his greatest weakness. Especially when facing opponents with strong physical prowess and Haki, this weakness would be magnified many times over.
Nicholas clearly wasn't the type to let his opponent recover. As Blackbeard struggled on the ground, Nicholas transformed into lightning and charged at him.
"Huh?"
Sensing the danger, Blackbeard braced himself, but before he could act, he was struck by the lightning that Nicholas had become.
Boom!
A wave of air burst forth as Blackbeard, hit hard, was sent flying once again, spraying blood as he went.
By some coincidence or fate, Blackbeard landed not far from Fujitora.
Understanding who the enemy was, Fujitora wasn't about to let Blackbeard go easily.
"Journey to Hell!"
Fujitora slightly unsheathed his sword using his thumb, and in silence, a precise circle of gravity descended from the sky, stopping Blackbeard mid-air and slamming him into the ground.
Boom!
The sudden impact caused the ground to crack as Blackbeard was forcefully slammed into the dirt.
"Gah!"
The sudden change in direction, combined with the powerful downward force of gravity, caused Blackbeard to spit out a mouthful of blood.
The unexpected heavy blow made Blackbeard want to curse everyone.
None of them fight fair.