At first, they thought the flames on King's back had extinguished, but they quickly overturned this notion, as the air above him seemed distorted.
That was a phenomenon caused by gases rising under high temperatures. Further down, flames of a starkly different color were burning on King's black garments.
It turned out his flames had never extinguished; they had only changed color, making them less obvious than before. In the reflection of the blue sky and sea, King's blue flames gave an illusion of being extinguished.
Information about Blackbeard was limited and came from Drake, but Drake was not a fruit-conversion ability user, instead purely granted powers by Arceus. The sealing ability of the Dark-Dark Fruit was completely ineffective on her.
King had contact with Blackbeard, but at that time, he did not transform, so it was only now that Blackbeard's Dark-Dark Fruit sealing ability began to take effect on King.
Although his Aerodactyl abilities couldn't be fully unleashed, this was not a problem, as he had more than one trump card.
As a Lunarian, he and Shaina were naturally born with the innate talents of their race.
Wings and flames were their external expressions.
When the flames burned, their defense power increased, and when extinguished, their speed increased. This was a stance Lunarians developed to adapt to different situations, but their stances were not limited to this.
Flames were their toys. For Lunarians, controlling flames was their instinct. After gaining freedom, King and Shaina continually trained to become stronger.
For ordinary Lunarians, regular flames were their limit, but Arceus broke the cap for King and Shaina, providing them with more possibilities.
King's blue flames were one such manifestation.
There are many reasons for the blue flames in nature; both the degree of combustion and the material being burned can change the flame's color. But the flames on King had just one reason—temperature.
In this form, the flames of Lunarians could not be extinguished. It should be said that they wouldn't actively extinguish the flames. As long as the flames could burn, he could simultaneously possess the defense of his previous flame form and the speed of his flame-less form.
According to a certain universal race's perspective, he had now surpassed ordinary Lunarians to become a Super Lunarian.
Since Blackbeard could influence his state, he would switch to a state that Blackbeard couldn't affect.
"The second round, begins."
The limitations of bodily functions were usually to protect the body. Previously, the flame mode of Lunarians was an example; if they balanced speed and defense, their bodies might not endure, thus evolving this ability.
But now, King broke this limit; his body could now bear the burden. If there was a downside, it would be a lack of stamina.
Boom!
The flames erupted, and King's wings were completely covered in flames. The nearly colorless flames stabilized into a dark blue, and the searing heat forced Yamakaji and Strawberry to take two steps back.
This is the third stance of a Super Lunarian—Attack.
The higher flame temperature compensated for their original lack of attack power, bringing them infinitely close to a six-sided warrior.
"Annoying fellows, go die with that guy! Kienou!"
Unlike the cat-and-mouse bullying the weak, King first locked his target on Momousagi. Though she was a woman, in King's eyes, she was the toughest opponent to deal with.
Like a scythe, the blue flames slashed outward. Although Momousagi dodged the strike, her bangs, merely because they were near the high-temperature slash, were singed into a crisp, emitting a scorched stench.
Seeing Momousagi evade the flying slash, King didn't mind and continued to swing his blade at her.
Clang! Clang!
The blades clashed repeatedly, and Momousagi was forced into a passive defense. As an Admiral Candidate, her Observation Haki wasn't weak, but her body had trouble keeping up with King's speed.
She could only barely defend against his continuous slashes.
After all, an Admiral Candidate was not an Admiral. There was a certain gap between them, but it wasn't enormous. If absolutely necessary, they could temporarily fill that position.
Similar to Setsuna and Mandfeish's outbursts, they also had methods for short-term power bursts.
But one couldn't always treat them like Admirals; otherwise, during the world conscription, she and Chaton should both have been promoted simultaneously.
As Momousagi parried King's fierce onslaught, a wail reached her ears. The first slash hadn't missed entirely but had struck Blackbeard, who, set ablaze by blue flames, let out a horrible howl again.
King knew it might not kill him, but it was enough to cause him immense pain.
Crack!
After another parry, Momousagi found her blade stuck. Upon closer inspection, King's weapon had transformed into a Shark-toothed Blade.
With a twist of the wrist, Momousagi's weapon was sent flying by King; she hadn't anticipated that he would use such a tactic during a duel.
"Despicable... Is this also being a swordsman!"
"Knife or sword, it's just a style of combat. They're just weapons, nothing more."
King's Shark-toothed Blade seemed almost designed to deal with swordsmen, often creating unexpected effects. After disarming Momousagi, the shark teeth on King's blade clamped shut, and he swung once more at her.
Without her weapon, Momousagi had no choice but to evade, hoping to recover her weapon. However, taking on the blue flame mode King without her weapon, she couldn't break free, especially since the effects of the Dark-Dark Fruit were gone, and King had re-entered his Human-Beast Form.
Under the dual enhancement, Momousagi quickly fell into crisis.
Snap!
Strawberry and Yamakaji appeared simultaneously, crossing their blades to block King's attack. When Momousagi was fighting King, they hadn't been idle; King merely ignored their attacks, letting them strike his body.
Those feeble attacks couldn't harm King in Blue Flame Mode. Finding this chance to intervene was quite challenging for them, yet the result was not favorable.
Clang!
Splurge!
Their weapons were simultaneously repelled. Yamakaji barely dodged King's slash, but Strawberry wasn't so lucky.
Although he dodged the blade, he couldn't evade King's wings. The wings of the Aerodactyl were like sharp razors, and Strawberry's Armament couldn't withstand King's attack.
"Vice Admiral Strawberry!"
Strawberry collapsed weakly to his knees, King's wing retracting from his chest.
A mass of blood poured from Strawberry's mouth, but not a drop flowed from the wound on his chest, as the ghastly gash had long been sealed by King's flames...