But no matter how fast Blackbeard fled, he could never outrun the speed of lightning. In an instant... the slash arrived!
BOOM!
With a deafening roar, the powerful Chidori Slash slammed heavily into Blackbeard's body.
A spray of blood erupted from his mouth. Blackbeard was sent flying backward, carving a long trench in the ground as he crashed.
"It hurts! It hurts so much!" Blackbeard howled in pain on the ground, his body contorted. Arcs of lightning still danced across his form, sizzling and crackling.
"Incredible!" Ace, his own face bloodied, stared at Ryuuto in astonishment.
Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Ace slowly sat up. He watched Ryuuto standing there, his hair fluttering in the wind, and couldn't help but think, *It feels like Ryuuto has gotten even stronger!*
"Damn you! Damn you!" Darkness surged from his body, swallowing the residual lightning. Blackbeard leaped back to his feet. His constitution was truly monstrous; even after suffering double the pain, he could get right back up, a testament to his inhuman resilience.
"Ryuuto, is it too late for me to join you now?" Marshall D. Teach asked, a fawning smile spreading across his face.
"Now?" Ryuuto stood with his sword ready, a nonchalant smirk playing on his lips. "A little late for that," he said lightly. "Your ambition conflicts with mine."
The moment Ryuuto finished speaking, Blackbeard swung his arms, and a torrent of trees and rubble erupted from the darkness before him.
"Liberation!" he roared, sending everything his darkness had swallowed hurtling toward Ryuuto.
"Just as I thought. You wouldn't give up so easily," Ryuuto chuckled, lightning surging in his hand.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
With every powerful beat of his heart, streaks of violet-tinged electricity gathered on his arm.
"Blade of the Thunder God!" Ryuuto shouted as the Divine Lightning of Extinction instantly formed in his right hand.
The violet lightning extended from his arm to his sword, Yuki-bashiri, completely enveloping the Black Blade. The sword trembled, suddenly erupting with an aura of annihilation as tendrils of violet energy rose from the electrified blade...
[Lightning Arts] proficiency has reached the Master level. Ryuuto could now partially use the power of the 'Thunder God,' allowing him to wield the might of the Divine Lightning of Extinction without worrying about excessive energy consumption.
"Slash!"
With a simple downward swing of Yuki-bashiri, a flash of blade energy shot forth—a powerful, explosive slash of violet divine lightning.
BOOM!
The instant it made contact, all the debris Blackbeard had unleashed was obliterated into dust. But the slash didn't stop there. It continued its path, cleaving a distant foothill in two before finally vanishing from sight.
"What?! What kind of power is this?!" Blackbeard felt the slash's aura of annihilation and it was as if he were being stared down by a prehistoric beast. A profound sense of danger flooded his heart.
Hancock recognized that familiar aura, and her thoughts drifted back to the past. Her face suddenly flushed red, and her eyes grew moist.
Nami stood nearby, her beautiful eyes fixed on Ryuuto. She wasn't surprised in the slightest; in her eyes, there was nothing Ryuuto couldn't do.
Ace, now sitting cross-legged, watched Ryuuto in shock.
"It seems Ryuuto's strength has really grown by leaps and bounds without me even realizing it," he murmured to himself. He could feel an incredibly dangerous presence from that violet blade of lightning.
"Captain, let's go!" A voice suddenly spoke beside Blackbeard as a figure materialized out of thin air.
Blackbeard froze for a second before his face lit up with ecstatic joy. He then shouted arrogantly at Ryuuto, "Zehahaha! Ryuuto, the next time we meet, victory will be mine!"
It was Van Augur, who had appeared to rescue his captain after seeing he was outmatched. But Ryuuto had no intention of letting him have his way. He was already prepared for this. Van Augur had successfully rescued Burgess from him once before; it wouldn't happen again.
"Van Augur, so you finally decided to show yourself!" Ryuuto barked, instantly swinging Yuki-bashiri down toward Blackbeard and his subordinate.
Boundless Divine Lightning of Extinction erupted from Yuki-bashiri, splitting into countless tendrils that shot out in all directions.
Sizzle!
The violet electricity crackled violently, filling the air with the smell of ozone and burning. In a mere moment, the lightning formed a massive cage, threatening to engulf both Marshall D. Teach and Van Augur!
Everything happened in an instant...
"Let's go!" Having delivered his parting shot, Blackbeard grunted at Van Augur, ready to depart.
Van Augur placed a hand on his captain's shoulder and his lips began to move...
Shhh!
With a sound like tearing air, Blackbeard and Van Augur vanished.
But just as they disappeared, Ryuuto's violet lightning cage fully formed.
THWACK!
Just as Nami was about to cry out in alarm, a loud impact echoed through the area.
"So painful, so painful!"
Blackbeard's agonized cry followed. Inside the cage of Divine Lightning, the figures of Blackbeard and Van Augur reappeared. Both had blood trickling from their mouths, their expressions grim.
Clearly, their spatial jump had failed.
They were trapped inside the cage of Divine Lightning.
"Just as I thought," Ryuuto said softly, a hint of satisfaction in his eyes. It was his first time using the Divine Lightning of Extinction in this manner, but his gamble had paid off.
The lightning could suppress a Logia user's elemental transformation; its inherent power acted as a form of suppression. It could not only negate conceptual Paramecia abilities like Hancock's, but it could even lock down a small area of space. Within the range of his Divine Lightning, a spatial jump like Van Augur's was simply impossible.
"What's going on?" From beneath his wide-brimmed hat, Van Augur's single visible eye revealed deep unease. Dressed in his formal attire, he stared coldly at Ryuuto. In a single motion, he raised the sniper rifle in his left hand, aiming it squarely at his opponent. This was the first time his Devil Fruit ability had ever failed.
"If we can't escape, then we'll just have to fight with everything we've got!" Marshall D. Teach roared, his eyes fixed on Ryuuto. After a brief moment of panic, the ruthless leader that he was took over. He clenched his fists, his expression turning serious as an endless torrent of darkness erupted from his body and surged toward the sky.
"Come on! Show me what you've got!"
Pointing at Ryuuto, Blackbeard directed the swirling darkness to clash against the Divine Lightning of Extinction.
BOOM! BOOM!
The power of darkness and the divine lightning collided again and again.