One Piece: I wield thunder and lightning

Staring at Luffy in the distance, Nicholas's eyes darkened. "Nika, you should know... before your host reaches a certain level of strength, you can't fully display your power.

Or do you really think, just because of your existence, this kid can defeat both me and that other guy?"

Boom!

Luffy spread his legs into a solid stance, stomping heavily in midair. His nose flared with a breath of air, showing a clear attitude.

Nicholas narrowed his eyes. Truth be told, he didn't want to kill Luffy, especially since Dragon and Garp were allies.

Even though Dragon had basically let Luffy grow wild, suddenly killing his son would definitely create a rift, even if Dragon didn't say anything. As for Garp, there's no need to guess—if it was Luffy being executed in Marineford instead of Ace, Garp would have definitely acted.

"Since you're already dead, why not stay a peaceful spirit?!"

Whoosh!

Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, Im's figure turned into a blur, charging at Luffy.

Clearly, Im had no such reservations. She absolutely couldn't allow someone to swoop in and take advantage when her battle with Nicholas reached its final moments.

As someone who knew the Devil Fruit best, Im was fully aware that ordinary attacks wouldn't work on Luffy.

Her hand formed a blade as she chopped downward. In that instant, her hand seemed to transform into a famous sword, aimed straight at Luffy's head.

Luffy clenched his fist, black and red lightning—the sign of Conqueror's Haki—crackling around it as he threw a punch forward.

Boom!

Before fist and palm even touched, they clashed in midair. A loud explosion rang out as shockwaves, mixed with terrifying Conqueror's Haki, burst skyward from their bodies.

The once-clear sky grew dark again. The intense aura flooded the battlefield, causing many of those fighting to freeze for a moment, their movements becoming sluggish.

Several fighters instinctively created more distance between themselves. When masters are engaged in combat, even the smallest disturbance can lead to a mistake, and a mistake means defeat. Defeat, in turn, means death.

If small changes could have such a massive impact on the battle, then the collision of these two mighty Conqueror's Haki users was all the more terrifying.

Crack, crack…

At the epicenter of their clash, the very air seemed to tremble.

Im's hand-knife pressed downward, while 'Luffy,' gritting his teeth, used all his strength to push his fist upward, trying to knock her away. His fist trembled under the strain.

Boom!

Suddenly, Im was sent flying through the air, crashing into the faraway Pangaea Castle.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With several loud crashes, Im smashed through multiple walls of the castle, reducing half of it to ruins.

Almost at the same time, a fist came hurtling towards Nicholas.

However, the punch only hit empty air. Nicholas's body vanished like a bubble, leaving nothing but a fading afterimage.

Seeing the vanishing shadow of Nicholas, 'Luffy's' pupils shrank. Before the shadow completely disappeared, he ducked his head, narrowly avoiding a crescent-shaped slash that whizzed up from below.

After sensing the slash, Luffy immediately stretched his arms and grabbed hold of a cloud, pulling with all his strength. Using his rubber-like elasticity, he swung away from the attack.

In midair, 'Luffy' gathered his legs together and stretched them downwards, aiming for Nicholas's face.

"Jet Stamp!"

Nicholas dodged easily, sidestepping the elongated legs, and countered with a swift slash aimed at the airborne Luffy.

Though killing him might be too extreme, cutting him down wouldn't be unreasonable. After all, even Dragon and Garp would have no grounds to complain about that.

In fact, they might even thank Nicholas for it. No one would want their son or grandson possessed by some strange entity, even if that entity happened to be the Sun God or the legendary Joy Boy.

"Heh heh! This is too much fun!"

Luffy swung from the clouds like a pendulum, grinning widely down at Nicholas.

"Can't be reasoned with, huh?" Nicholas muttered, watching the swinging 'Luffy.'

Inside the Holy Land.

In the ruins of Pangaea Castle.

Everyone on the battlefield in Mary Geoise had their eyes fixed on the scene. They knew that the World Government's 'greatest warrior' was beneath the debris.

Although Im had been blasted away by Nika, those who had seen her fight knew that it was never hard for her to kill them.

But compared to the concerns of the alliance, the World Government was in a state of confusion.

"How can an un developed Nika have such power?!"

The Five Elders stared at the ruins of Pangaea Castle, completely bewildered.

Clunk—

A human-sized stone rolled down from the top of the castle's rubble.

The sound wasn't particularly loud, but it seemed to trigger a chain reaction. One after another, noises began to echo from within the ruins.

Then, the debris was suddenly blown away in all directions, sending a rain of stone scattering across the area.

All eyes were fixed on the center of Pangaea Castle.

There, a massive straw hat, frozen for hundreds of years, slowly emerged.

The moment Shanks saw the straw hat, his pupils contracted violently. It was exactly the same as the straw hat Roger had once worn.

If such a straw hat had appeared anywhere else, Shanks wouldn't have been so shocked. But for it to emerge from the very core of Mary Geoise, inside Pangaea Castle, was something he couldn't comprehend.

Standing atop the hat, Im slowly rose to her feet.

The once pristine armor she wore was now dirty and torn, with a large wound across her back slowly healing.

Despite her battered appearance, the crown on her head remained perfectly intact.

Ignoring everyone around her, including the Five Elders, Im calmly reached down and touched the now-tattered straw hat.

For just a brief moment, a complicated look crossed her usually emotionless eyes.

But that expression vanished almost instantly.

Im lowered her hand and looked up at the two figures in the sky.

In her golden eyes, there was an icy coldness that showed complete indifference to everything.

"Men... none of them are any good!"

As she spoke, the straw hat beneath her crumbled into dust, scattering in the wind.