It wasn't just Rowen's lightning, across the entire world, there were very few Devil Fruit abilities that could truly make Kaido take them seriously. His body's toughness had been forged countless times by both time and the world's strongest warriors. In this regard, pretending to be modest would be a mockery.
BOOM!!
Just as that thought flashed through his mind, a thunderbolt struck down, slamming directly into Kaido's chest.
He could have dodged it, but he didn't.
The terrifying might of 'Zenith Tempest – Prison of Bright Heavenly Thunder' had already been proven by the lives of tens of thousands during the Anger Legion Incident. Individually, a single bolt wasn't frightening, what was terrifying was the sheer number of them!
If one feared lightning erosion and constantly tried to dodge, avoiding strike after strike, it would only break one's fighting rhythm.
In other words, that would be cowardice!
And what did the Soryu (Azure Dragon) love most? To strike when you're weak, to kill while you're faltering!
"Can't back down!"
Kaido reaffirmed this thought. Then, focusing his senses, he realized Rowen had vanished.
"He's behind me!"
Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) flared a violent warning. Without hesitation, Kaido spun around and threw a punch, just as Rowen's kick came flying in to meet it head-on.
Shigan — Nameless Thunder!
But just then, another figure burst out of the void, electric arcs dancing violently around his fingers as he reached forward to grab.
Two Rowens?!
"A thunder clone?!"
Kaido instantly recognized the technique, he'd never seen it personally, but he'd heard of it. Back during the Sabaody Incident, when Rowen and Kizaru teamed up to drive back Rayleigh, keen-eyed observers had witnessed it, and remembered it with dread.
The combination of Rowen's unreasonable Observation Haki range as a Thunder-Lightning Human and the absurd versatility of lightning itself had created this equally unreasonable method of attack.
From the early days, when the clones looked like rough, waxy humanoid outlines, to now, when they appeared as lifelike replicas, Rowen had truly mastered this technique to perfection.
"Just a clone!"
Kaido growled, swinging his leg in a brutal front kick. Before the clone could lay a finger on him, it was blown apart into a burst of crackling lightning.
Then, with his other hand, he snatched at the real Rowen's ankle, his palm closing like an iron vice.
BOOM! BOOM!
Two clones exploded at once. Anyone else would have been thrown into chaos by these suicidal copies, but Kaido was ready. Not only did their self-detonation fail to break his defenses, his expression didn't even waver.
Shua!
At that moment, yet another "Rowen" leapt out of the void. The static electricity that had been lingering in the air suddenly condensed, coalescing into a solid form right before Kaido's eyes.
It was impossible to defend against completely.
Thunder Ship-Chopping Blade!
Kaido instinctively raised his arm to block, but the punch only grazed his forearm's scale armor before sliding downward at terrifying speed. And from Rowen's inverted elbow, a gigantic blade of lightning flared into existence, so close it nearly touched Kaido's face.
The punch had been a feint. If you blocked it, your guard would be completely open.
"Get lost!!"
As the thunder blade came down toward his head, Kaido roared. A violent gust erupted around him, turning into countless wind blades that shredded the clone and the lightning blade together, leaving not even a chance for self-destruction.
That was the unique power of the Soryu (Azure Dragon) Fruit, to control the atmosphere itself. He couldn't create a perfect vacuum, true, but even limited dominion over the air was enough.
Dispelling the attack with a single shout, Kaido's eyes darkened. He felt like he was being toyed with.
"Soryu (Azure Dragon)! Is this all you can do, hide and sneak around?! Face me head-on!"
His answer came in the form of twelve blinding beams of white light.
Thunder clones surrounded Kaido in a perfect circle, raising their hands toward the heavens.
KRA-KA!!
Bolts of lightning surged skyward, and the dark sky turned suddenly bright, bright as day.
God's Cry Hall — Twelve Guardian Palaces: Sacred Radiant Judgement!
From within the churning thunderclouds, a colossal spear of lightning slowly descended, its blade of pure light so massive that even a small portion of it could eclipse much of the Holy Land.
Its overwhelming power was comparable to the Nine Dragons Falling Sun technique. But unlike the giant-scale Raigo – Thunder Greeting: Nine Dragons Falling Sun, which focused on sheer destruction, Sacred Radiant Judgement was pure, cutting power, an unstoppable frontal strike.
"Damn that Goro Goro no Mi (Thunder-Thunder Fruit)!"
Kaido's eyelids twitched uncontrollably as he cursed under his breath.
Lightning, unlike magma or ice, has no fixed upper limit to its energy, it can continuously stack upon itself. This is why Rowen's offensive power is recognized as the greatest in the world, and why, even after defeating countless opponents, he has all but secured the title of "World's Strongest."
Because lightning, this element, can multiply its force infinitely.
Akainu can raise his magma's temperature and volume, yes… But could magma ever achieve lightning's infinite layering, its sheer scalability?
Impossible.
It's true that no Devil Fruit is inherently weak, only weak users. But still… their starting points are inherently different.
Even among Logia-type fruits, only a rare few possess this characteristic, and the Goro Goro no Mi just so happens to be the strongest of them all.
The Strongest Logia.
That ancient title, nowadays, not a single soul on the seas dares to question it.
BOOOOM… RUMBLE!
The colossal spear of lightning descended slowly, or at least, that was how it seemed to onlookers.
To Kaido, facing it head-on, it felt instantaneous: in the blink of an eye, that divine spear was already above his head.
The razor-sharp energy made his scalp tingle and his scales crawl.
If this hit directly, Even his scale armor, no, even his bones, wouldn't survive intact.
"Damn that Soryu (Azure Dragon)…! When did he grow even stronger again?!"
He had believed that, after achieving inner clarity, his strength had grown significantly, that this time, he would surely win.
But now, as he faced this Sacred Radiant Judgement, Kaido finally understood what "bottomless" truly meant.
You grow stronger, And so does your opponent.
How delightful. How terrifying. How fitting.
Zzzzt!!
Though described in many words, the sequence happened in an instant.
The lightning spear engulfed Kaido in blinding light.
Then, without slowing in the slightest, it pierced deep into the Red Line, like a hot knife through tofu, continuing to burrow downward.
Was he… Trying to split the Red Line in half?!
Watching the impossible unfold, Kong (the Commander-in-Chief) handed Lucci to the CP0 agents nearby, his eyes wide with shock.
Thankfully, his worst fear did not come to pass. Because just as the spear reached one-third of the way through the Red Line…
It exploded!!!
"DOWN! Everyone, down!!"
The instant sense of doom hit him, and Kong's battlefield instincts as the Supreme Commander kicked in. His thunderous roar carried across the entire battlefield. Within moments, except for the bewildered CP0 agents, every Marine and every Allied Kingdom soldier under his command threw themselves flat on the ground without hesitation.
And then…
All sound vanished.
Everywhere the eye could see, endless lightning illuminated the world. Heaven and earth had inverted; night became as bright as day.
Nothing could be heard, not even one's own thoughts. Even the mind went numb, dazed by the electric storm. When debris rained down, pelting their bodies, there was only a distant, dull pain.
In the Room of Flowers, the entire tower shuddered and crumbled amid the quake.
The ornate gardens below, once immaculately designed, were now reduced to ruin, bricks and rubble flattening every flower and sculpture in sight. The scene… was apocalyptic in grandeur.
Im stood by the shattered window, hands clasped behind her back. The glass panes had all blown out, shards glittering across the floor.
As she gazed upon the devastation, Im's eyelids trembled, her lips quivered.
"Ha… ha ha… ha ha ha ha!!"
Orrick laughed weakly beside her.
"Tell me, why do you think he did it? What's his goal?"
"Kaido? That brainless brute? If not for his thick bones, even I wouldn't bother looking at him."
"Oh? Tell me then, Lord Im!"
Orrick's eyes blazed with madness; his laughter turned frenzied.
"What does he want?! What is he trying to do?!"
At those words, Im's hands clenched tightly… then relaxed… Clenched again… then slowly relaxed once more.
"You still have a trump card, don't you? Besides me."
"You think he wouldn't have predicted that?"
"...Heh, heh heh… hahahahahahaha!"
THUD!!
Suddenly, a dark shadow flickered across the room, Orrick's body was hurled violently into the wall, knocked out cold.
The black silhouette holding him released its grip, drawing in the scattered glimmers of energy from the air…
Then sank directly into Im's shadow.
Truly into it.
As if her shadow were a deep, bottomless pool, the figure simply sank straight down… And vanished completely.
(End of Chapter)
This novel is finished, and I have posted all the advanced chapters on my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395