"Get… out of my WAY!!!"
Crimson flames, wrapped in hardened Armament Haki, burst forth like a blazing meteor tearing open the sky.
Sanji's kick was powerful enough to level a small hillside.
And that kick struck perfectly, right at the very center of the massive thunderstorm vortex!
BOOOOM!!!
Flames and lightning collided, erupting into blinding steam and scorching light.
The terrifying suction force of the thunder vortex stalled for an instant under this violent "external shock."
Then, the entire vortex structure began to collapse. Countless strands of lightning scattered outward, and the massive cloud body… truly began to dissipate!
"Oyaya! It… it actually worked!" Haredas gaped.
Nami's eyes were wide with awe. It was her first time seeing such an elegant fusion of Haki, flames, and kicking technique.
"Hmph."
Rehn adjusted his glasses, wearing a smug everything-was-planned smile.
"Sanji's power is naturally extraordinary. Minimal stamina, maximum destruction… clearing the navigation route efficiently, this is the battle philosophy of Lord Renzo's command!"
But before Rehn could finish boasting about "efficiency", something changed.
"Yahahahaha…"
A voice, brimming with divine mockery, echoed as if descending from the heavens themselves.
"What… what was that sound?!" Nami's excitement froze instantly.
'That laugh…'
'That laugh!!!'
She snapped her head upward, pupils shrinking to pinpoints.
Above the vortex Sanji had just shattered,
The supposedly clear, unbroken "domain of the gods"… split open.
No, not split.
A colossal column of lightning, thicker than the entire island of Weatheria itself, shone with pure, sacred gold.
"El Thor"
The lightning pillar fell at a speed beyond visual perception, and its target was not Weatheria.
Not Sanji.
But the lingering flames of Sanji's kick.
RUMBLEEEEE!!!!
The deafening roar shook the entire White Sea.
Golden lightning and crimson fire clashed in midair, but the flames lasted less than half a second before they were swallowed whole.
A violent shockwave blasted outward like a ring-shaped storm.
The Weatheria ship rocked wildly, tilting like a leaf in a hurricane.
"AAAH! Hold on! Hold on to something!!"
Haredas and the scholars clung to the ground in terror.
"What is happening?!"
Rehn hugged a meteorological device as if it were his lifeline, his proud "efficiency theory" now utterly meaningless before this apocalyptic lightning.
"W–What kind of monster is that?!"
Sanji flipped backward in midair and landed firmly in front of Nami, shielding her.
His expression grew darker than ever.
His Haki-coated right leg was… numb.
In that clash… he'd lost.
Completely.
"Nami-swan, are you okay?"
"I…" Nami didn't answer.
She was trembling, not from the blast, but from pure terror.
Her eyes locked onto the sky where the lightning faded.
A figure was descending.
Bare-chested.
Balloon pants.
Four massive taiko drums strapped to his back.
And ridiculously long earlobes.
His hand propped up his chin as he surveyed Weatheria with the condescending gaze of a god looking down on insects.
When his gaze fell upon Nami's shocked, horrified face, he grinned.
That signature laugh rang out again:
"Long time no see, thief girl from the Blue Sea."
"I was wondering what kind of 'pest' dared to set a fire in my backyard… turns out it's one of your friends?"
"E… E… Enel!!!"
Nami squeezed the name out through clenched teeth.
The man who once ruled Skypiea, called himself "God", and wielded the logia Rumble-Rumble Fruit…
The tyrant who should have been defeated by Luffy and disappeared into the sky.
He came back?!
"Huh? Enel?"
Sanji blinked.
The name was unfamiliar, but the overwhelming pressure was not.
Rehn frantically searched his mental archive.
"Enel… Skypiea… former 'God'… Rumble-Rumble Fruit… Logia…"
"Wait!"
Rehn's expression twisted.
"The records say… he was defeated by Straw Hat Luffy?! Why is he HERE?!"
"Defeated?" Enel chuckled as if hearing the world's funniest joke.
"God cannot be defeated. God merely took a short trip to the moon."
He landed on Weatheria's deck, ignoring Sanji and Rehn entirely.
His eyes were fixed, only, on Nami.
"How nostalgic. I only returned to deal with that rubber brat… to settle old scores."
A spark crackled at his fingertip.
"Didn't expect to run into one of his crewmates first."
"You!" Nami shouted despite trembling.
"If Luffy beat you once, he'll beat you again!"
"How laughable."
Enel's smile sharpened dangerously.
"You think I'm the same man I was a year ago?"
"The moon," Enel said, almost poetic.
"A wonderful place. Vast, desolate… filled with ancient technologies you mortals can't comprehend."
"And…"
He raised his golden staff.
At some point, its surface had become coated in shimmering, metallic, blue-glowing dust.
"Moon Dust. A substance that nullifies all insulation."
Enel stared at Nami.
"Do you still believe that rubber boy is my 'natural enemy'?"
"You're wrong."
"When I was on the moon, I found this."
He pointed his golden staff upward.
"I call it Conductive Ore. It adheres to anything… and lets my lightning bypass all 'properties.'"
"Rubber? With my new power, rubber will fry even faster than ordinary flesh!!"
Then he turned, locking eyes with Sanji.
"You. Her new ally? You dare raise your foot against God? Brave little insect."
A cold droplet of sweat slid down Sanji's forehead.
The pressure from this man… was comparable even to the Admirals he'd glimpsed at Marineford.
But, "Nami-san is my goddess."
Sanji spat out his cigarette, flames roaring up his right leg once more.
"I don't care if you're a 'god' or a 'moon alien'…"
"Diable Jambe."
"You want her, you go through me first!"
"Yahaha. Flames again? How dull."
Enel didn't even move.
He simply raised his hand.
"Behold, the divine lightning of the moon."
"100 Million Volts: Lunar Dust Cannon!!!"
Blue lightning, blended with moon conductive ore, erupted like a massive thunder cannon.
"Sanji!!" Rehn screamed.
"FLAMBAGE… SHOT!!!"
Sanji unleashed his strongest flaming kick head-on.
BOOOOOM!!!!!!
Weatheria's land between them detonated and vaporized on impact.
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu