As Sherwin and the Felynes were playfully bickering while continuing their journey, a sudden presence appeared abruptly aboard the Dodo Advance.
Sherwin and the others instantly froze in place and turned toward the source.
There, sitting cross-legged on the ship railing, was a man wearing a white headscarf and bare-chested.
Unlike the Skypieans, he bore no white wings on his back. Instead, behind him was a set of drum wheels—the same kind depicted in Japanese myth for the thunder god.
Resting casually across his shoulder was a staff made entirely of gold.
He also had long, dangling earlobes that reached down to his chest, resembling braids or the cords of a hood.
With such a distinctive appearance, there was no mistaking his identity—the self-proclaimed "God" of Skypiea, the user of the Logia-type Rumble-Rumble Fruit—Enel.
"..."
Enel had originally intended to make a grand "divine entrance" to shock Sherwin and his companions.
But as so many eyes turned toward him at once, even he felt a moment of discomfort.
However, he quickly regained his usual lazy—and arrogantly detached—demeanor.
"Yehahahahahaha… So you can use Mantra, too? No wonder you managed to defeat my four priests. In that case, you shall serve as my new priests."
Enel paid no attention to the fact that his subordinates had been defeated. Instead, he extended what he believed was a generous offer.
"I can forgive your previous disrespect toward God—and your sin of joining the Shandians and that old man, Gan Fall, in invading God Island.
Furthermore, I will grant you the honor of accompanying me to the Infinite Vearth.
How about it, Blue Sea dwellers? Even most Sky People would never receive such divine favor."
From his words, it was clear that the Shandians and Gan Fall had already reached God Island, and were likely engaged in battle with Enel divine soldiers at that very moment.
In other words…
All Sherwin and his group needed to do now was defeat Enel, and their expedition to God Island would be complete.
With a flash, Sherwin appeared directly before Enel, a rubber-coated shield materializing in his left hand. Without hesitation, he swung it straight at Enel smug face.
Overconfident in his Devil Fruit powers, Enel didn't even try to dodge. In fact, he was planning to use this chance to show the foolish Blue Sea man what "divine power" truly meant.
And then—
BANG!
Sherwin shield landed squarely on Enel face, smacking him clean off the Dodo Advance.
What just happened?!
Crashing onto the ground below, Enel wore a stunned expression, unable to comprehend the fact that he—the so-called God—had actually been hit.
Feeling something hot and wet beneath his nose, Enel instinctively wiped at it. When he saw the smear of nosebleed on his hand, realization struck him like thunder.
"You… You actually dare to strike a god?!!!"
"It just a Logia-type Devil Fruit," Sherwin said as he leapt down from the ship, a crooked grin tugging at his lips. "And yet you've got the nerve to call yourself a god?"
He stopped before Enel, smirking."Well, we've got our own god over here too… Klee! Use Flame Fist!"
"Klee Meow is here, nya!"
=(==(=ω=(=ω=)=o
The tiny plush Felyne leapt high into the air, swinging her paw mid-flight. A massive flaming cat paw burst forth like a falling meteor, crashing down toward Enel with blazing fury.
The fiery paw was so enormous that even the nearby Hunter was caught in its strike zone.
Sherwin: "..."
Faced with such an overwhelming attack, Enel immediately turned into a bolt of lightning and darted far out of range.
Watching Sherwin being engulfed by Klee Meow Flame Fist, Enel burst out laughing.
"Yehahahahaha! Foolish Blue Sea man! I am lightning itself! How could mere flames ever touch me?! Die at the hands of your own ally!"
But his laughter quickly faded.Something was wrong.
Through his Mantra, he could still clearly sense Sherwin presence—and his "voice" hadn't wavered in the slightest. It didn't sound like someone who'd been burned at all.
Then he heard it—Sherwin calm, steady voice rising from within the flames:
"Bankai—Zanka no Tachi, West—Cloak of the Setting Sun, Meow!"
As Klee Meow soft, childish voice echoed from the sky, the raging flames that had swallowed Sherwin suddenly began to shrink. Within moments, they condensed into a cloak of fire that wrapped snugly around his body.
For Klee Meow, who had already awakened her Fruit ability, controlling flames so that they wouldn't harm allies was an easy task.
Otherwise, the Dodo Advance (Magnamalo) form wouldn't have been able to use her flames as its skeletal framework.
Still…
"Klee, take the fire off me, will you? It getting a bit hot," Sherwin said helplessly, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
When the flames only covered one arm, it didn't feel like much. But once they wrapped around his entire body—no matter how careful Klee Meow control was—it was unbearably hot.
"Sherwin-nii, you're such a spoilsport, meow!"(=｀3=)
The little plush Felyne landed back on Sherwin shoulder, pouting, but obediently dispersed the flames.
"Hmph!"
Enel expression darkened slightly. Deep down, he had to admit—his control over lightning wasn't nearly as precise as Klee Meow mastery over fire.
Realizing that his opponent also possessed the powers of a natural element, Enel dropped his earlier arrogance and launched an attack first.
"Judgment of God!"
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation Meow!"
A massive pillar of lightning clashed head-on with a roaring wave of flame, the two forces colliding in mid air.
In an instant, lightning and fire intertwined, their brilliance illuminating the entire sky severalfold.
When the flashes of lightning and fire dimmed, Sherwin was still completely unharmed, firmly holding down that other Logia-type Felyne.
The "divine punishment" had been effortlessly blocked. As the self-proclaimed "God," Enel expression darkened.
He raised the golden staff in his hand and struck the thunder drum on his right shoulder—
"Thirty Million Volts — Thunderbird!"
"Explosive Spark · C1 · Spark Sparrow Meow!"
A much smaller flaming sparrow was flung out by Klee Meow. It was instantly swallowed by the electric light of the thunderbird, but in the next moment—
Boom!
The Spark Sparrow exploded from within the thunderbird, blowing it apart into scattered bolts of lightning.
By now, Sherwin had neatly put away Snow Walk — which he had just been using as a sword-and-shield combination — back into his pack. Then he deliberately stepped aside, leaving Enel entirely to Klee Meow to deal with.
This action only made Enel, the self-styled God, feel all the more insulted and belittled.
"Sixty Million Volts — Thunder Dragon!"
This time, Enel didn't even bother striking the thunder drum on his back. He simply lifted his golden staff, pointed it toward Klee Meow, and released an enormous thunder dragon.
"Fire Release — Golden Fire Dragon Technique Meow!"
A female Rathian as large as the thunder dragon appeared, summoned by Klee Meow.
But this time, the flames that made up the Rathian were no longer orange-red—they had turned into a dazzling golden hue.
The two dragons—composed of completely different elements and forms—clashed and tangled together. In just moments, the victor was decided…
Enel Thunder Dragon was forcibly torn in half by Klee Meow Golden Fire Dragon, which then dissipated once again into scattered lightning.
Yet the Golden Fire Dragon that had done all this was almost completely unharmed. It spread its wings wide, lifted its head, and let out a mighty roar.
"Rooaaar—!"
It was clear that when Klee Meow had summoned the Golden Fire Dragon, she had used the awakened form of her Devil Fruit.
Unaware of this fact, Enel face had gone as dark as charcoal—while Sherwin stood off to the side, still making sarcastic remarks.
"Looks like our Fire God is stronger than you, Thunder God~"
The next instant, a violent bolt of lightning came crashing straight toward Sherwin.