Taking advantage of the moment Rayleigh paused his attack, Enel leaped from the Ark Maxim.
Drawing lightning from the storm clouds, he transformed into a massive, dozens-of-meters-tall Thunder God crackling with electricity.
The next moment, Enel opened his eyes in his giant form.
A white flash blinded the area.
Clang.
Rayleigh watched the lightning dance along his blade, his caution growing slightly.
This was just the power of Enel's gaze in his Thunder God form—it was not even a real attack yet.
Then, Enel thrust his hand into the nearby storm clouds.
After churning the clouds violently, he slowly pulled his hand back.
He pulled out a massive lightning trident that was dozens of meters long—even taller than his giant Thunder God form.
He gripped the weapon with both hands and aimed the prongs directly at Rayleigh, locking onto the pirate with his Observation Haki.
"Divine Judgment!" Enel's cold voice echoed like a real god passing judgment on a sinner.
As soon as he spoke, a lightning bolt as thick as a barrel blasted down from the clouds.
"Hmph, simple lightning cannot stop me."
Rayleigh was not looking down on the Rumble-Rumble Fruit—which was a top-tier Logia Devil Fruit—but rather Enel's current level of strength.
Right now, Enel was not a real threat to Rayleigh, even though his powers were annoying to deal with.
Even if Enel lost, he could easily run away.
Coating his longsword in Conqueror's Haki, Rayleigh swung his blade upward to strike the falling lightning.
BOOM!
The sword beam crashed into the lightning in mid-air, and both attacks canceled each other out. At the exact same time, Rayleigh rushed forward.
He aimed his blade directly at Enel's real body, which was hidden inside the giant Thunder God form.
"Do not even think about it!" Enel roared, looking like an angry god.
Gripping his giant trident with both hands, he thrust it violently forward, trying to push Rayleigh back.
Rayleigh did not hesitate against Enel's attack.
With his blade wrapped in Conqueror's Haki, a simple, straight slash brutally shattered the tip of the lightning trident.
CRACK!
But before Rayleigh could follow up with a downward strike, the tip of Enel's trident formed together again.
Looking closely, one could see several threads of lightning stretching from Enel's back deep into the storm clouds.
These threads constantly fed power to Enel's Thunder God form, allowing him to use his abilities without running out of energy.
Boom!
Enel repeatedly stabbed his trident at every part of Rayleigh's body.
At the same time, he controlled lightning from the sky to constantly strike at Rayleigh's head.
Although these attacks did not cause any major injuries, Rayleigh found himself overwhelmed.
He had no good way to fight back against the endless strikes.
However, Rayleigh understood the situation clearly.
Such a sudden, massive boost in power could not last very long.
Even using the storm clouds as an energy source, there was no way Enel could keep up this giant form forever.
Rayleigh's guess was exactly right.
While in his Thunder God mode, Enel could use lightning attacks almost endlessly, but this form drained a massive amount of his physical stamina.
Plus, pulling lightning from the clouds meant using his own body as a pathway for the electricity.
Because of this, Enel could only keep his Thunder God form active for about ten minutes.
If the battle grew more intense, the time limit would be even shorter.
Pushing past his body's limits would cause the wild lightning from the clouds to damage Enel's own body, potentially leaving him crippled.
Normally, Vice-Admiral Raleigh would never let Enel use this dangerous move.
Enel knew that even if he fought until his Thunder God mode wore off, he still would not be able to heavily injure Rayleigh.
Because of this, he had no choice but to take a massive risk.
A bolt of black lightning, overflowing with destructive energy, formed in Enel's hand.
The extreme strain of this attack forced his body to exit the Thunder God mode instantly.
As the black lightning grew stronger, Enel's face turned completely pale.
The surge of violent energy and the intense feeling of danger made Rayleigh's pupils widen in shock.
"You have got to be kidding me!"
Even a top-tier fighter like Rayleigh felt that his life was in danger from the black lightning in Enel's hand.
Bzzzzzt— Seeing the fully formed black lightning, Enel knew he could not hold onto it for very long. The second it was ready, he threw it directly at Rayleigh.
"Taste this, damn pirate!" Enel did not try to hide his pure urge to kill the older man.
Under Rayleigh's shocked gaze, the lightning bolt slammed violently into his body.
BOOM!!!
The black lightning seemed to move faster than the speed of light.
It appeared right in front of Rayleigh the instant Enel threw it.
If his captain, Roger, did not have similar high-speed attacks, Rayleigh might not have been able to react in time.
However, reacting in time did not mean he could dodge it.
Rayleigh's blade, heavily coated in Conqueror's Haki, clashed against the black lightning.
Roaring electricity blasted wildly through the air.
A terrifying mushroom cloud erupted exactly where Rayleigh was standing.
The violent winds blew away the surrounding storm clouds, creating a massive, empty hole in the sky that spanned hundreds of meters.
A ray of sunlight broke through the hole in the clouds, shining down on Enel and giving him a golden glow.
Kneeling on the deck of the Ark Maxim, Enel gasped heavily for breath.
His eyes were locked on the center of the explosion.
The extreme drain on his body made it impossible for him to even use his prized Observation Haki.
He was not completely sure if Rayleigh was dead, but since the pirate took the hit directly, there was no way he survived without a scratch.
"Whew, that was close. I almost died."
A voice filled with both relief and deep anger rang out.
As the thick smoke cleared, a human figure that looked like a piece of burned coal appeared in Enel's line of sight.
Logically, this burned figure had to be Rayleigh, the man he was just fighting.
But right now, no one would be able to recognize him as the dashing and elegant first mate of the Pirate King: "Dark King" Silvers Rayleigh.
The longsword in his hand had shattered to pieces, unable to handle the power of the black lightning.
His clothes had been completely burned to ash by the intense heat.
His hair was fried and curly from the high temperature, and his body had just taken a direct shock of several hundred million volts.
If Enel's overall strength was not so much lower than Rayleigh's, the pirate might have actually died from that attack.
"It seems I am the one who survived." A cruel, angry smile twisted the corners of Rayleigh's mouth.
Moving as fast as roaring thunder, Rayleigh launched his counterattack.
He kicked Enel directly in the stomach, the massive force sending the young Marine flying backward.
He crashed violently against the wooden hull of the Ark Maxim.
The heavy impact made blood drip from Enel's nose and mouth, and his head spun dizzily.
Rayleigh had absolutely no intention of letting Enel go.
As Enel wobbled and struggled to stand up by leaning against the wall, Rayleigh appeared right in front of him again.
A fist coated in hard Armament Haki punched Enel right in the face.
A sharp, cracking sound echoed out as Enel's nose bone shattered completely.
Rayleigh reached out his right hand, grabbing Enel tightly by the throat and lifting him off the ground.
Just as the Dark King was about to deliver the final, killing blow, a cold voice filled with murderous intent rang out from behind him.
"Enough, Rayleigh!"