At first, they thought the flames on King’s back had been extinguished, but they quickly dismissed that idea because the air above King seemed to be distorted.
This phenomenon occurs when gases rise due to high temperatures. Looking further down, they could see flames of an entirely different color burning on King’s black attire.
It turned out that his flames had never gone out—they had simply changed color, making them less noticeable than before. Against the backdrop of the blue sky and ocean, King’s blue flames created the illusion of being extinguished.
The limited information about Blackbeard came from Delia, but Delia was not an Ability User whose Devil Fruit was modified. Instead, her ability was solely granted by Arceus, rendering Dark-Dark Fruit’s sealing powers completely ineffective on her.
King had also come into contact with Blackbeard before, but at that time, he had not transformed. So, it was only now that the sealing powers of Blackbeard’s Dark-Dark Fruit took effect on King.
Although this prevented his Aerodactyl ability from being fully unleashed, it didn’t matter—he had more than one trump card.
As a Lunarian, he and Shayna were born with the innate gifts of their race.
Wings and flames were their external manifestations.
When their flames burned, their defense increased; when their flames were extinguished, their speed increased. These were forms that the Lunarians had developed to adapt to different situations—but their forms did not stop there.
For Lunarians, flames were their playthings. Controlling fire was instinctual for them. After gaining their freedom, King and Shayna had never stopped training, all with the goal of becoming even stronger.
For an ordinary Lunarian, regular flames were their limit. However, Arceus had shattered the limits of King and Shayna, granting them greater possibilities.
King’s blue flames were one such manifestation.
In nature, there are many reasons why flames appear blue—factors such as the degree of combustion and the substances being burned can change the color of flames. But for King, there was only one reason—temperature.
In this form, the flames of a Lunarian cannot be extinguished—or rather, they would never extinguish them willingly. As long as the flames continue to burn, they retain both the defensive capabilities of their previous Flame Form and the speed of their Extinguished Form.
If one were to use the terminology of a certain cosmic race, at this moment, he had transcended the average Lunarian—he had become a Super Lunarian.
Since Blackbeard could affect his previous state, he would simply switch to a state that Blackbeard couldn’t affect.
“Let’s start the second round.”
The limitations of bodily functions usually exist to protect the body. The previous Lunarian flame mode was an example of this—if they tried to balance both speed and defense simultaneously, their bodies might not withstand the strain. This was why such an ability evolved in the first place.
But now, King has broken through that limitation. His body could now endure this burden. If there was a drawback, it would be that he couldn’t maintain it for too long.
Boom!
Flames erupted as King’s wings became fully engulfed in fire. The nearly colorless flames gradually stabilized into a deep blue hue. The intense heat forced Yamakaji and Strawberry to take two steps back.
This was the third form of the Super Lunarian—Attack.
The higher flame temperature compensated for their original weakness in attack power, bringing them infinitely closer to being an all-round warrior.
“Annoying pests, just die along with that guy! Imperial Ghost Flame!”
Unlike the way a cat toys with a mouse, bullying the weak, King immediately locked onto Momousagi as his primary target. Though she was a woman, in King’s eyes, she was the most difficult one to deal with.
The blue flames slashed outward like a scythe. Though Momousagi dodged the slash, the high-temperature of the slash still burned the hair near her forehead, filling the air with the acrid stench of burning.
Seeing that Momousagi had evaded his attack, King remained unfazed and continued swinging his blade at her.
Clang! Clang!
Blades clashed repeatedly as Momousagi was forced into passive defense. As an Admiral Candidate, her Observation Haki was not weak, but her body struggled to keep up with King’s speed.
Faced with his relentless slashes, she could only barely defend herself.
Admiral Candidates were not quite Admirals—they were a step below, though not by an enormous margin. If there were no other available options, they could temporarily fill that role.
Similar to the explosive power bursts of Setsuna and Mandrell, they also had ways to temporarily unleash a surge of strength.
But they couldn’t always be regarded as Admirals—otherwise, during the World Military Draft, both she and Chaton would have been promoted at the same time.
As Momousagi struggled to block King’s fierce onslaught, a bloodcurdling scream reached her ears. The initial slash had not completely missed—it had struck Blackbeard instead. Engulfed in blue flames, he let out another agonizing wail.
King knew this wouldn’t be enough to burn him to death, but it was more than enough to make him suffer.
Crack!
After parrying yet another strike, Momousagi realized that her blade had gotten stuck. Upon closer inspection, she saw that King’s weapon had transformed into a serrated shark-tooth blade.
With a flick of his wrist, King sent Momousagi’s weapon flying. She had never expected him to resort to such a move in the heat of their clash.
“Despicable! Do you even call yourself a swordsman?!”
“A sword, a blade—it’s all just different styles of combat. In the end, they’re merely weapons, nothing more.”
King’s shark-tooth blade was practically designed to counter swordsmen, often catching them off guard. After disarming Momousagi, the serrated teeth on his blade closed once more as he swung it down toward her again.
Weaponless, Momousagi had no choice but to evade. She wanted to seize the opportunity to retrieve her weapon, but facing King in his blue-flame mode without a blade, she couldn’t break free. Moreover, with Dark-Dark Fruit’s effect gone, King had reverted to his Human-Beast form.
With both power boosts combined, Momousagi quickly found herself in danger.
Clang!
Strawberry and Yamakaji appeared simultaneously, crossing their blades to block King’s attack. While Momousagi had been fighting King, they hadn’t been mere spectators—King had simply ignored their attacks, allowing their weapons to land on him.
But their attacks had been completely ineffective against King in his blue-flame mode, so finding this moment to intervene had already been difficult. However, their interference came at a price.
Clang!
Squelch!
Their weapons were knocked away simultaneously. Yamakaji barely managed to dodge King’s slash, but Strawberry wasn’t as lucky.
Although he avoided the blade, he couldn’t evade King’s wings. Aerodactyl’s wings were as sharp as razors, and even with his Armament Haki’s defense, Strawberry couldn’t withstand King’s attack.
“Vice Admiral Strawberry!”
Strawberry collapsed to his knees, powerless, as King pulled out his wings from his chest.
Copious amount of blood poured out from Strawberry’s mouth, yet not a single drop flowed from the gruesome wound on his chest—it had already been cauterized shut by King’s flames.
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