Omae wa mo shindeiru

After shooting out that lead bullet, Nicholas withdrew his "sight" from Woodrow, as he had already seen the image of Woodrow being headshot.

With his observation, Haki developed to its utmost, and Nicholas could briefly glimpse into the future. In other words, when he's overpowering his opponents, Nicholas could just like some big shot, strike once, and then leave without looking back, leaving behind a sentence like "おまえは,もう死んでいる!(You are already dead!)" and the fallen body of his enemy.

Seeing Ralph transform into a giant bear charging at him at lightning speed, Nicholas casually surged with electric energy, summoning a long sword made of lightning into his hand.

Seeing Nicholas choose to confront him head-on, both Ralph's and Jack's eyes lit up with excitement.

Ralph was pleased because the opponent chose the most irrational tactic, confronting him head-on despite his transformation.

Jack was pleased because if Nicholas confronted Ralph head-on, Jack's chances of survival would increase even more. Perhaps he dared entertain the thought that he might even injure Nicholas and then retreat unscathed.

However, the thought of killing Nicholas was no longer in Jack's mind; he might be a psycho, but he wasn't stupid enough to ignore the vast difference in their strengths.

Seeing Ralph charging towards him, Nicholas's eyes suddenly gleamed with red light. He first glanced to his left, quickly glimpsing Jack attacking from the left, then returned his gaze to Ralph charging from the front.

In a split second, Nicholas made a choice, leaving behind a slowly dissipating afterimage in his original position, his figure disappearing from the sight of both Ralph and Jack. For a Devil Fruit user with the Goro Goro no Mi, his speed was almost comparable to that of the Pika Pika no Mi, allowing him to move faster than even the keenest eye could follow, thanks to his mastery of Observation Haki.

This is why Nicholas considered the pre-New World Supernovas still immature; although they had potential, they had not yet fully matured.

As Nicholas vanished, Jack and Ralph's gazes frantically searched the surroundings for Nicholas's presence. Jack, being an expert in assassination, knew very well what it meant to lose sight of the enemy in his line of sight.

When Nicholas reappeared, he was already in front of Ralph, wielding his lightning sword and slashing towards Ralph.

Seeing the sword coming at him, Ralph could even feel a slight tingling sensation on his skin—the instinct of a living being guiding him.

"Planning to take me out first? Very well, let's see how strong the infamous pirate of the New World truly is."

Ralph's combat instincts quickly kicked in; with his claws covered in Armament Haki, he swiped at the lightning sword that Nicholas swung at him.

In that moment of clash, Nicholas's attack also arrived, with the trajectory of his lightning sword intersecting with Ralph's claw.

"Oh? Is this the beastly intuition brought by your transformation?"

Seemingly lengthy, but actually just a moment, Ralph's instantaneous response surprised Nicholas.

Although the transformation granted Devil Fruit users some emotional influence, it also amplified various attributes and granted them beast-like combat instincts.

However...

When the difference in strength between the two parties is too great, all seemingly spectacular maneuvers appear pale.

In the instant of intersection between Nicholas's lightning sword and Ralph's armor Haki-clad claw, the lightning-infused sword easily cleaved through Ralph's claws, which were also infused with Haki.

Simultaneously, Nicholas's lightning sword, imbued with the sharpness of lightning, slashed diagonally across Ralph's chest, causing a massive wound.

As Nicholas landed behind Ralph, Ralph, with his chest slashed and blood gushing out like a fountain, looked at the wound with an incredulous gleam in his eyes.

"It seems your body is quite resilient. I thought the earlier strike would completely cut you in two."

At this moment, Nicholas's voice came from behind Ralph, sounding like praise but carrying a mocking tone to Ralph's ears.

For Ralph, his powerful physique was his pride, and hearing Nicholas' words made him realize how insignificant it was in the eyes of his opponent.

Enveloped in rage, Ralph turned around and swung his arms with all his might, intending to land a blow the size of a cast-iron pot on Nicholas's face!

"It seems like you still haven't recognized the absolute gap in strength between us."

In an instant, a thousand hits!

Nicholas's figure, standing in place, suddenly disappeared into thin air, replaced by a black shadow swiftly moving around Ralph's body.

And when Nicholas's figure appeared again in his original position, Ralph remained in the punching stance.

"What's this move called?"

Ralph looked at Nicholas and asked calmly.

"The holy fist of the north star! It delivers a thousand blows in an instant, overwhelming the opponent like a storm of attacks. Of course, I added a little something to it, infusing the lightning's power into the opponent's body during the attack. When the attack ends, the lightning infused into the opponent's body erupts, causing secondary damage"

"Quite an apt name," Ralph said, before his massive body collapsed backward, raising a cloud of dust.

Thanks to his robust physique and the enhancement of his body's qualities by the Devil Fruit ability, this strike didn't immediately kill Ralph. However, it could only be considered as barely clinging to life. Severe internal injuries had left Ralph completely unable to move, and his life was ebbing away, with death being inevitable sooner or later.

"I never imagined... you... could be... so strong. Truly... unwilling to accept..." Ralph's eyes, lying on the ground, turned towards Nicholas, and he uttered with great difficulty, staring at him with a gaze filled with resentment and unwillingness.

For Ralph, he initially thought the Sabaody Archipelago would be his new beginning, but it turned out to be his end. Only after facing Nicholas head-on could he truly understand where the gap lay. Moreover, he realized how ludicrous their previous idea of hunting Nicholas to gain fame was.

Nicholas looked down at the barely conscious Ralph and said calmly, "Actually, your potential is quite impressive. With a few years of honing in the New World, you might pose some threat to me if you joined forces. But for now... heh... even without mastering Haki, who gave you the courage to dare to hunt me down?"

With that, Nicholas paid no further attention to Ralph, who was nearing death, and turned his gaze to Jack, who stood there in a daze.

At this moment, even Jack the Ripper, who could make women afraid to step out after sunset in many places thanks to his reputation, had his eyes wide open in disbelief.

In his view, Ralph charged forward, then Nicholas's figure disappeared, and when Nicholas reappeared, Ralph's chest had been slashed, blood still spurting out.

Then Ralph punched at Nicholas, Nicholas disappeared again, and Ralph ended up kneeling.

Obviously, Ralph used his own life to realize the gap between him and Nicholas, while Jack the Ripper realized the gap between them through the selfless dedication of his two good friends, Woodlaw and Ralph.

Thus, out of the five supernovas originally intending to make a name for themselves in the New World through Nicholas, three had already fallen into Nicholas's hands in the Sabaody Archipelago.

As for Bedeck, who was responsible for collecting the bodies, he had become numb to it.

At the same time, deep down, he also made a silent resolution. Once this incident was over, he would return to his hometown. The Grand Line was just too dangerous.