Cavendish shouted with tremendous force, his aura becoming increasingly violent and powerful.
In the blink of an eye, he seemed to transform into a being of pure energy—his entire body radiating blue and white light while shocking electrical currents surrounded his form, rapidly extending to encompass the sword in his hands.
Previously, when Cavendish had entered his fusion state with his second personality, King had personally experienced the dramatic increase in both strength and speed that resulted from this transformation.
At this moment, sensing his enemy's unusual posture and the suddenly intense oppressive presence, King's eyes grew quietly serious behind his mask.
"Come on then, birdman! Watch me turn you into roasted chicken!" Cavendish allowed a faint smile to cross his features.
With a tremendous explosion, a powerful shockwave erupted from the air beneath Cavendish's feet. Fierce winds whipped around him as his figure appeared before King in an instant like a flash of pure light. Cold steel gleamed as violent high-voltage electrical current wrapped around his blade, and he slashed downward with devastating intent.
King appeared calm and composed beneath his mask, his movements remaining steady and precise without changing due to Cavendish's taunts or aggressive assault.
When both fighters' swords collided, King suddenly twisted the weapon in his grip, and his blade instantly transformed into a serrated edge with a row of saw-like teeth appearing along its length.
In a flash, Cavendish's sword became caught on the saw teeth, was pulled free from his grasp, and thrown into the distance.
This sudden development completely interrupted the devastating technique Cavendish had been preparing to execute.
"What?!" Cavendish's face filled with complete astonishment. Before he could react properly, he suddenly felt sharp pain erupting in his abdomen.
King had taken advantage of Cavendish's momentary distraction and swung his weapon smoothly, thrusting forward with all his might in an unstoppable piercing attack.
Even though Cavendish had transformed into the Thunder God form and maintained his protective Lightning Armor, King's potentially fatal thrust—enhanced with advanced Armament Haki—was clearly not to be underestimated.
However, due to the presence of his Lightning Armor and Cavendish's instinctive Haki-enhanced defense, he managed to stretch out both hands in time to grasp the blade tightly, preventing King's sword from completely piercing through his body.
"Combat doesn't have to be restricted by any particular form or fighting style!" King's calm voice emerged from behind his mask as the strength in his arms increased dramatically, as if he wouldn't cease until he had run Cavendish completely through.
With his powerful thrust continuing, Cavendish was pushed backward at alarming speed, heading directly toward the outer wall of the skull fortress behind him.
"Hmph!" Seeing that he had suffered significant disadvantage due to his momentary carelessness, Cavendish didn't panic. Instead, a hint of genuine madness flashed through his eyes as the violent aura surrounding his body erupted completely.
"You asked for this!" Blood trickled from Cavendish's lips as he suddenly grinned with predatory anticipation.
Witnessing this dramatic change, King felt an inexplicable chill rising from the soles of his feet while a powerful sense of crisis surged through his heart instantaneously.
He decisively stopped his forward momentum and prepared to withdraw his sword while kicking his enemy away, but it was already too late.
Completely ignoring the blade that had pierced his abdomen, Cavendish advanced instead of retreating. He lunged forward in a single motion, not caring whatsoever about the sword that had penetrated deeper with his movement, and tightly grasped King's waist with both hands.
"Thunder God: Maximum Output!"
As Cavendish's roar echoed through the clouds and reached the heavens, the sky and earth changed color dramatically.
Violent lightning erupted from Cavendish's body, connecting heaven and earth while illuminating the entire battlefield. Even people on distant islands throughout Wano Country could observe this extraordinarily brilliant light.
Countless bolts of electricity, with Cavendish and King as their epicenter, suddenly spread outward to cover an area of nearly a hundred meters. They resembled thunder dragons emerging from ancient caves or spirit serpents weaving back and forth, coiling and twisting while exploding continuously as if there would be no end.
Deafening sounds continued without pause, and time seemed to stretch for an eternity. An indeterminate period passed before the shocking display of countless lightning flashes suddenly gathered together, forming a massive sphere of pure electrical energy that surrounded both combatants.
Then the lightning sphere gradually contracted at a speed visible to the naked eye before finally sinking completely into King's body and disappearing without a trace.
There was no final explosion, nor was there any spectacular climactic ending, but anyone who witnessed this technique would harbor no doubt whatsoever about its tremendous destructive power.
Wherever the lightning had reached, countless charred craters and deep pits now marked the ground. Not a single intact surface remained in the entire affected area, while anything struck by the core of this technique showed no signs of life whatsoever.
King—originally dressed entirely in black—now had wisps of dark smoke rising from his motionless form.
Cavendish slowly loosened his hands that had been gripping his enemy's waist and transformed into pure electricity, flashing to one side. He dropped to one knee while clutching the sword wound that penetrated completely through his body, coughed twice, and murmured in low tones:
"Since you believe that fighting doesn't have to be restricted by form or style, becoming a roasted bird must be exactly what you wanted, right?"
"As long as there's any possibility of electrical conduction, my lightning can penetrate through any opening!"
As he spoke, Cavendish slowly stood and walked toward the location where his thrown sword had landed.
Occasional faint flashes of electricity could be observed at the site of his abdominal wound—this was how he was locally paralyzing the injury and providing emergency treatment to prevent excessive blood loss.
Across the battlefield, Pleasures and Waiters who had endured numerous attacks while wandering among the "Ice Oni" victims stared at the horrifying electrical display with their mouths hanging open. Many actually paid a heavy price for this distraction and were knocked down by nearby "Ice Oni" while they watched.
"That was Lord King, wasn't it? Was he actually defeated by that brat? How is that even possible?!"
"Oh! We found a Beast Pirates loyalist over here—come help beat him up!"
"Get him! Queen treated us like garbage, and you're still taking their side!"
This didn't prevent them from engaging in heated discussions about the outcome of the duel between both fighters, which caused considerable confusion throughout their ranks.
The final confrontation between Cavendish and King had undoubtedly attracted the attention of most people present. However, aside from the numerous lower-ranking pirates who had been manipulated by Queen's schemes, only Skull, Tama, Farul, and Kotatsu—who remained on the Black Nova's deck—were watching closely. The other major combatants paid little attention to this particular outcome.
Realizing that the battle had reached its conclusion, Farul—who had been hiding aboard the Black Nova following Cavendish's earlier instructions—flew out eagerly, intending to welcome his master back to safety.
Skull didn't attempt to stop the horse because he understood that even though Cavendish was seriously injured, no one remaining on the nearby battlefield could match his current capabilities.
He glanced at Tama, who remained speechless with amazement, then shifted his attention to Kotatsu's expressive features.
Noticing the mysterious light flashing in the cat's eyes, Skull scratched his distinctive afro and asked with curiosity: "Kotatsu, are you doing another live broadcast?"
"Meow!" Kotatsu nodded excitedly, obviously having fallen completely into the abyss of broadcast entertainment and unable to extricate himself from this new obsession.
"So you were watching them just now?" Skull observed, pointing toward Cavendish while continuing his inquiry.
After receiving a positive response from Kotatsu, Skull raised his hand and patted his own head while speaking with complete indifference: "Alright, there's nothing to be embarrassed about—feel free to do whatever you want."
But at that precise moment, a tremendous roar suddenly erupted from the battlefield, its volume completely unmatched by anything previous.
"Go to hell! I want to avenge Brother King!"
The moment Jack finished his furious declaration, there was a loud crash of something heavy hitting the ground with tremendous force.
"Sister Carrot!" Tama, who happened to be attracted by the distant commotion, witnessed the scene and couldn't help but scream with genuine alarm.
The battle was far from over, and now Jack the Drought—enraged by his comrade's defeat—was about to unleash his full fury against the young mink who had been holding her own against him until this moment.