"Pfft!"
Enel was sent flying high into the air by the massive golden sphere, tumbling helplessly before crashing back down.
"..."
He silently stared at the Ark Maxim, wrapped tightly by Luffy's rubber arms, finally realizing why that stubborn pirate hadn't fallen. Luffy had used the golden ball's weight to anchor himself onto the ship, rebounding with his elasticity to smash the same ball into Enel's face.
Enel's expression twisted with disgust as he gritted his teeth.
"What an infuriating bunch of fools."
...
The moment Enel was struck and sent crashing down from the Ark ignited cheers across the island.
"Enel's defeated! That pirate from the Blue Sea won!"
"He lost! Enel lost!"
"god is finished! Sky Island is saved!"
From Angel Island to Shandia's ruins, jubilant voices rose as people shouted in relief and disbelief.
"Did Luffy actually win?" Zoro muttered, resting a hand on his sword's hilt, his eyes narrowing with unease as he tracked Enel's fall.
Beside him, Wyper—his body wrapped in bandages—watched keenly. "No… Enel's not done yet."
...
"I am an undefeated god! How could I lose!"
Falling through the sky, Enel extended his arm toward the Ark Maxim, his voice cold and venomous.
"God's Judgment!"
ZAP!
A violent bolt of lightning shot from his hand, connecting him to the Ark. His body turned into pure electricity, reforming atop the Maxim once again.
"Rubber boy, you just don't know when to quit!"
Enel glared at Luffy, who stood panting, body trembling and drenched in sweat.
"Damn it, you're still up!"
Luffy gritted his teeth, spinning the golden sphere chained to his arm. "Gum-Gum Jet Golden Revolver!"
"Two Hundred Million Volts—Raigo!"
Enel absorbed the last thunderclouds lingering above the island, his body swelling into a massive lightning giant. His voice rumbled like thunder itself.
"Enough! I've had it with your Gum-Gum this and Gum-Gum that!"
The golden ball came crashing toward him. Enel roared and slammed his glowing palms forward, trying to push it back.
RUMBLE!
The impact shook the sky. Even in his lightning form, the conductive power of the gold trapped him—he couldn't escape.
That punch—Luffy's strike with the golden sphere—was comparable to a full-power "Gum-Gum Giant Pistol" in his future third form, maybe even stronger. It was this very battle that would later inspire him to develop Gear Third.
"Pfft…"
Enel coughed crimson lightning, body jerking violently as he was hurled back hundreds of meters, barely managing to halt the golden sphere's momentum.
In another world—one without Shirogai Yamikuro—Enel would never have fought this desperately. To him, Luffy was just another mortal from the Blue Sea. As a god, he had no need to risk his life.
But now, Shirogai existed.
And Shirogai had made a deal with him—one Enel couldn't escape without fulfilling.
To fight Shirogai was suicide; the lightning god already knew that truth.
...
"Damn it…"
Luffy crouched on the deck of the Ark Maxim, his arms trembling as he strained to pull the golden sphere. "Big Ears is way too strong… I can't move it!"
"Rubber boy, you're finished!"
Enel had lost all restraint. The calm arrogance he once wore was gone—now replaced by fury and desperation. He no longer cared about his plan of annihilation or his so-called divine destiny.
The only thing left was victory—and the promise Shirogai made him: a chance to pilot the Maxim to his dreamland beyond the Blue Sea—the Land of Finality.
"El Thor… God's Sword!"
Enel clutched the golden sphere in one hand, pulling two tridents from the Ark with the other. Lightning surged between them, fusing them into a single massive blade of gold.
"So you're afraid of slashes, huh? Then I'll cut you in half!"
He swung down with a thunderous arc—
BANG!
But Luffy released his foothold at the last instant, catapulting himself forward like a bullet.
"Gum-Gum Jet Bell!"
His forehead smashed squarely into Enel's chest.
"Ugh…"
Enel's mouth opened wide, eyes rolling back as lightning flared wildly.
"Hehe! I just realized!" Luffy grinned, legs wrapping around Enel's fallen sword. One arm stretched back like a slingshot. "You're holding that gold now, Big Ears. Can you even dodge this? Gum-Gum Jet Bullet!"
"Hmph!"
Enel's instincts kicked in. He dodged just in time, snarling as his lightning blade melted into molten gold.
"El Thor—Golden Chain!"
The golden sword liquefied into a thick chain of electricity, wrapping around Luffy's legs and binding him tight.
"Ah! Big Ears, not this again!"
Luffy kicked and squirmed, glaring down at the glittering chain. "I'm starting to look like a golden statue!"
Now, between the giant sphere and the golden chains, Luffy might as well have been the most expensive pirate alive.
"Now, you can't escape!" Enel shouted, gripping the chain and yanking hard.
But before he could fling Luffy off, the rubber pirate twisted the chain around Enel's neck, locking it tight.
"Big Ears! You're not shaking me off that easy!"
"Damn it! Isn't this what you wanted—gold? You Blue Sea pirates are all the same!" Enel clawed at the chain, gasping as sparks crackled around his neck.
"With all this gold, your crew could live like kings! Let go of me!"
Luffy glared up at him, eyes blazing with conviction. "We didn't come here for gold! Sky Island, your people… they're worth way more than treasure!"
Enel's grip faltered. Veins bulged across his face as he gasped for breath. Why… why couldn't he breathe?
The answer was hidden high above—among the thunderclouds infused with Shirogai's Smoke Fruit power. Shirogai had laced the air with a faint trace of the Land of Finality's aura. Enel, by absorbing the thunderclouds, had poisoned himself.
It was a trap, one Shirogai set long before the battle began.
...
"How magnificent."
Far below, Shirogai Yamikuro stood upon a cloud near the White Sea, his gaze fixed on the golden bell entwined in vines—the legendary Shandora's Light.
The Poneglyph beneath it gleamed faintly. Shirogai smiled faintly. "I'll deal with that later. For now…"
He raised his fist, eyes glinting as the bell shimmered before him. "Let's announce the fall of a false god."
He struck.
"Ding—dong… Ding—dong…"
The sound of the great bell echoed through the heavens, rolling across Sky Island like a divine proclamation.
...
Up above, Enel's body hung limply, the golden chain tightening around his neck as his lightning flickered out.
"So heavy…" Luffy groaned, gripping the chain as the Ark began to tilt.
"God… is hanged in the sky!"
"The false god is dead!"
"The Blue Sea man hanged him!"
"We're free! Sky Island is free!"
Tears streamed down faces across the ruins as the bell's sound washed over them.
"Ding—dong… Ding—dong…"
The melody resonated like heaven's own song.
"This… this is the sound of Shandora's Light!" cried a Shandian elder, collapsing to his knees.
"It's the true sound of God!" another shouted.
Wyper trembled, staring up through tear-blurred eyes. "Great Warrior Kalgara… do you hear it?"
...
Meanwhile, two ships sailed through the mist of the White Sea, their crews looking up in awe as the faint chime reached their ears.
"Old man, you hear that? Sounds like bells in the distance."
"Yeah… let's head that way."
The echo of victory lingered in the clouds above.
The age of the false god had ended.