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The formation was tight. Inazuma stood with his back to Kuma, alert and tense. In front of him was Dragon, a man of unfathomable depth. And sandwiched between Dragon and the legendary "Dark King" Rayleigh was Fisher Tiger.
Inazuma, Ivankov, and Fisher Tiger. These three were the weakest links in the chain. In Arthur's eyes, they held no value, no challenge. They were chaff to be winnowed out first.
But Inazuma and Tiger were flanked by monsters. Only Ivankov, exposed on the right flank, had an opening.
A target.
Arthur grinned, a look of joy spreading across his face. This was what life was about. Finding pleasure in the chaos of battle. The sea was an endless theater of miracles and violence, and he was the lead actor.
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The massive lightning hand descended. The reaction was instantaneous.
SHING!
A glint of cold light flashed across Rayleigh's glasses. Without hesitation, his longsword thrust diagonally upward, aimed straight at Arthur's heart.
Fast. It was impossibly fast. It defied logic that a retired pirate could move with such blinding speed.
The blade pierced the electric aura with a high-pitched scream, then went silent, leaving only a faint afterimage in the air.
Ivankov, despite his eccentricities, wasn't slow. He injected himself with male hormones, his body bulging with muscle. Twisting like a serpent, he left a trail of afterimages as he vanished, reappearing instantly at Arthur's right side. His gloved, massive arm swung down, aiming to shatter Arthur's extended limb.
"Face Spectrum! Newkama Kenpo: Death Wink!!"
"Pad Cannon." Kuma's deep voice was eerily calm. He had removed his glove, and with a swift motion, compressed the air into a paw-shaped bomb aimed directly at the back of Arthur's skull.
Inazuma's scissor-hands snapped open, attacking from the left. His fruit could cut anything like paper, but against a human body reinforced with Haki, it was a different story. Still, coated in Armament Haki, his blades were lethal.
"Dragon Claw!!" Dragon moved like a phantom, his gaze cool and decisive. He chose a frontal assault, his fingers hardened into a claw that could crush steel, swooping down to crush Arthur's skull.
Fisher Tiger, channeling the peak of Fish-Man Karate, punched with everything he had, aiming for Arthur's spine.
Front, back, left, right, up, down. Six directions. Six lethal attacks launched simultaneously with terrifying precision. It was as if they had rehearsed this moment for years.
There was nowhere to hide. No way to dodge.
Even if Arthur's lightning hand crushed Ivankov, he would be stationary, a sitting duck for the other five attacks.
"AHAHAHA! NOW THIS IS INTERESTING!!"
Arthur's face, wreathed in demonic violet markings, split into a terrifying grin.
The tribal patterns on his skin pulsed violently, expanding and contracting. His muscles hardened, becoming indestructible.
In his Ultimate Form, every attribute—strength, defense, speed—was amplified to a godly tier.
Dodge? Arthur had never intended to dodge.
THUD!!
A dull, heavy sound echoed through the sky. The lightning hand ignored the incoming threats and slammed into Ivankov with catastrophic force.
Ivankov had no time to defend. The playful grin on his heavily made-up face vanished, replaced by sheer terror. He couldn't comprehend how raw power could be this overwhelming.
Instinctively, he pulled his punch, crossing his arms over his chest to block the blow that could topple a mountain.
It was useless.
He was swatted like a fly. His body became a blur, smashing into the plaza of the Celestial Dragon residential district below. The solid stone ground shattered like a spiderweb, and his body plowed a long, deep trench through the earth.
One hit. One down.
But in the split second Arthur took to crush Ivankov, the other five attacks landed.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
A massive explosion shattered the ground beneath Arthur's feet.
Kuma's air bomb detonated against the back of his head. Dragon's claw clamped onto his lightning horns. Rayleigh's sword pierced his chest. Tiger's fist slammed into his spine. Inazuma's scissors clamped onto his left arm, straining with all their might but failing to even break the skin.
Touch and retreat.
In an instant, the five attackers leaped back dozens of meters, staring in disbelief at the scene before them.
Arthur stood his ground, encased in a phantom demon avatar made of pure lightning.
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"Dragon!!!"
Ivankov lay in the rubble, nearly obliterated by the force of the blow. He weakly opened his eyes, blood gushing from his mouth. He raised a trembling hand, reaching out towards the blurry figures of his comrades.
Then... a grin spread across his bloodied face.
His hand dropped, fingers stiffened into needles, and stabbed into his own carotid artery.
"Hee-haw! Emporio Healing Hormone!"
The dying Okama Queen sprang from the debris, spinning in the air and striking a pose. He was back, fully healed, brimming with vitality.
The six fighters regrouped, their expressions grim. They formed up again, ready to face the invincible monster with even greater resolve.
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Arthur slowly lowered his hand. The lightning demon avatar faded. He touched his chest, where a single drop of blood welled from Rayleigh's strike, and rubbed his head, throbbing from Dragon's blow.
The wound on his chest healed visibly, closing up in seconds. The pain in his head lingered, a dull ache.
"Getting hurt... that just proves this fight isn't pointless!"
Arthur wasn't angry. He was ecstatic.
The pain, the blood—it stimulated his lust for battle.
A man grows stronger to face stronger enemies, to see more beautiful sights. If you are truly invincible, what is the point of living?
Whitebeard was the truly lonely one. No companions left, his peers dead or retired. The new era had no ship for him. If not for his iron will and his sons, loneliness would have driven him mad.
Arthur was approaching invincibility—perhaps he was already there. But he wouldn't go mad. If there were no opponents, he would find them. If he couldn't find them, he would create them.
One isn't enough? Make two. Two aren't enough? Make an army. An army isn't enough? Make the whole world your enemy.
So what if he was invincible? So what if he had no rivals?
Loneliness was the price of growth. It couldn't be stopped. But Arthur had his own way of dealing with it.
"Resurrected?" Arthur looked at the bouncing Ivankov, then swept his gaze over the other five. His smile was predatory.
"Good. If you're alive, I can kill you again!!"
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