Fatal weakness!

Boom!

The Spiked club, carrying the force of a thousand tonnes, smashed 'Nicholas's' head and upper body, then slammed heavily into the air.

The immense impact stirred up a fierce wind, making the already devastated Flower Capital even more desolate.

Before the tremendous force dissipated, the 'Nicholas' whose head had just exploded reappeared amidst the flickering lightning.

Perhaps by coincidence or perhaps intentionally, Nicholas, with his upper body reformed, happened to step onto Kaido's Spiked club.

His emotionless gaze seemed to mock Kaido.

Although it happened in an instant, before top-tier fighters like Charlotte Linlin, it was enough to reveal much.

"Emperor's Edge!"

Wielding Napoleon, Zeus and Prometheus wrapped in flames and thunder, Charlotte Linlin's attack traced a fierce trajectory in the air, stirring up waves of energy as it struck towards Nicholas.

Charlotte Linlin understood that the best way to deal with Devil Fruit users was to eliminate them with haki. Otherwise, based on the performance of the Lightning Doppelganger, they couldn't be killed.

As Charlotte Linlin's slash approached, the air around Flower Capital emitted a mournful cry. The black-red arcs of electricity shimmering on Napoleon's blade spread like spiderwebs in the surrounding space.

"Hmm, what a terrifying combat instinct..."

Seeing Napoleon's approach, Nicholas remained calm.

With a slight flick of his wrist, his long sword, like a deer's antler, blocked the path of Napoleon's slash.

Clang!

The clash between the long sword and Napoleon's blade sparked, and a black-red thunder burst forth from the collision.

Charlotte Linlin's monstrous strength, amplified by Haki and her rage, was fully transmitted through the blade to Nicholas.

Nicholas indeed felt Charlotte Linlin's overwhelming fury. Utilizing the terrifying power transmitted through Napoleon's blade, he was sent flying once again.

Nicholas stabilized himself in mid-air, then descended like a meteor to the distant ground.

Boom!

As Nicholas landed, the ground beneath his feet shattered, indicating the force had been transmitted underground.

At the same time, a faint smirk appeared at the corner of Nicholas's mouth.

Facing Charlotte Linlin's fury, Nicholas realized why Kizaru always seemed so lazy.

Because it was truly satisfying to outmaneuver opponents with speed. You could hit them, and they couldn't even touch your clothes. It easily made things dull.

Seeing Nicholas vanish once again, Kaido became alert. He swiftly retracted his Spiked club and swung it towards his side.

Clang!

A spark flashed and disappeared.

The slashed longsword was firmly blocked by Kaido's Spiked club, unable to advance further.

"What a touching display of friendship."

Nicholas leaned forward, looking at Kaido.

"Worororo..."

Kaido chuckled coldly, then opened his mouth, gathering flames.

Nicholas noticed the rapidly gathering heat in Kaido's mouth and, without hesitation, leaped away again, reappearing in the distance.

Seeing Nicholas dart away, Kaido's eyes flashed red and he decisively stopped gathering heat in his mouth, instead swinging his Spiked club towards his back.

Purple-red lightning flashed.

Accompanied by the piercing thunder, the thunder clones surrounding Kaido and Charlotte Linlin were instantly shattered by the Spiked club, sending electric plasma flying in all directions.

As he glanced at the thunder clones reassembling, Kaido smirked and pointed his club at Nicholas.

"I have to admit, your Thunderbolt Fruit ability is indeed quite useful. It's just a shame it has one fatal weakness."

Nicholas narrowed his eyes, staring intently at Kaido.

In this world, there are no abilities without weaknesses.

Just like the Rubber Fruit or the Nika fruit, which counters thunder.

That's the weakness of the Thunderbolt Fruit.

But Nicholas had never cared about this so-called weakness.

Because...

In his view, a Thunderbolt Fruit developed to its fullest extent couldn't be countered by something like the Nikyu Nikyu no Mi.

"A fatal weakness?"

Nicholas tilted his head, looking at Kaido. "Then show me how you counter it."

Before Nicholas finished speaking, he advanced with his sword once again.

Kaido's cold smirk faded, his eyes glowing red as he quickly detected the flickering arcs in the air, locking onto them.

"It's precisely because it's a fatal weakness that I won't easily reveal it to you!"

Kaido, who had grasped Nicholas's movements, swung his Spiked club with all his might, sending a conqueror's haki-infused shockwave rushing towards Nicholas.

Perhaps due to the infusion of conqueror's haki, the shockwave was extremely fast, arriving in front of Nicholas in the blink of an eye.

However, the speed of the shockwave was still slightly inferior to that of lightning. Even with conqueror's haki, Nicholas easily dodged it.

Seeing Nicholas's figure disappear once again, Kaido became wary, retracting his Spiked club at lightning speed and then swinging it to his side.

A black-red arc flashed.

The longsword that appeared out of nowhere was struck by Kaido's swung Spiked club.

Sparks flew everywhere.

Once again, Nicholas's attack was blocked.

Facing Nicholas, Kaido had changed his usual fighting style, showing no openings and giving Nicholas no chance.

In this state, Kaido could use his top-tier observation haki to predict any of Nicholas's attacks and his formidable armament haki to ensure Nicholas's attacks were blocked.

Moreover, Charlotte Linlin was also by his side.

However—

Kaido had still overestimated Charlotte Linlin, who had spent years hoping to rely on her children to become Pirate King.

In this crucial battle, that hag Charlotte Linlin unexpectedly got entangled with Nicholas's thunder clone due to anger.

Watching Charlotte Linlin, aided by the speed of lightning, dragging around another "Nicholas" like walking a dog, Kaido almost spat out blood.

At the same time, he began to doubt whether allying with Charlotte Linlin was the right choice.

Having a pig teammate who dropped the ball at such a critical moment was very dangerous.

"Ah! Running around like a mouse, never-ending...!!"

Charlotte Linlin angrily watched the "Nicholas" retreating again, roaring furiously. The terrifying sound made many people subconsciously cover their ears. And at some point, Charlotte Linlin's eyes underwent a complete transformation, with concentric irises appearing outside her pupil.

Among the crowd watching from afar, there was even a feeling that Charlotte Linlin was being played by Nicholas as if she were clapping along.

They all witnessed, from the perspective of bystanders, how effortlessly Nicholas dealt with the attacks between Kaido and Charlotte Linlin.

Even relying on just a thunder clone, he managed to restrain Charlotte Linlin.

"Kaido! What about the fatal weakness you mentioned!? Show it to me!"

Nicholas once again pressed his sword against the Spiked club, looking at Kaido mockingly.