The lightning strike was like the curtain rising on a grand drama, its thunder the drumbeat of war.
With that thunder, all of Birka plunged into chaos and panic.
"Enel! Was that your doing!? You killed my customer!" a middle-aged man shouted from under his awning, looking at the charred corpse in horror.
With only tens of thousands of residents, everyone knew Enel—who, despite his Rumble-Rumble Fruit powers, was not respected, just seen as a troublemaker dreaming of Fairy Vearth.
Like a child watched by neighbors, even if he gained world-ending power, to them he was still just a kid.
"Huh?" Enel, sitting atop a building, veins bulging, snapped, "Old man, do you want to die!?"
"You've gone too far, Enel! It was one thing when you just messed around, but now you've killed in public—I'll tell the elders. They'll judge you!" others shouted, furious.
To them, these outsiders had entered legally, spent money, behaved—and were welcome. For Enel to strike down a customer was intolerable.
"Idiots. These Blue Sea people are pirates—criminals from below. Did you really think they'd behave forever? I'm just protecting everyone in advance!" Enel sneered. "Go tell those old geezers if you want. If they interfere, I'll kill them too."
Enel's priests shuddered—things were getting out of hand. The elders still ran things, and most Sky Islanders respected them. If conflict broke out, the island could be destroyed.
The priests agreed with Enel's logic but didn't want Birka destroyed—it was their home. Even young and rebellious, they weren't heartless enough to wipe it out.
Enel too wasn't completely unrestrained—he obeyed some order, having grown up here.
But even self-control has limits. With more and more people berating him, Enel snapped. "Noisy insects!"
Thunder crashed down, blasting the street.
The Explorers, previously just watching, ran in terror. Still, one unlucky third-tier Explorer couldn't dodge in time and was struck.
In an instant, he was charred and twitching on the ground.
If Enel had been serious, he'd have been instantly killed. That's the terror of lightning.
Not every One Piece local could use Haki. Without Armament Haki, a lightning strike was like being hit by a high-voltage current—instant heart failure.
This wasn't manga logic—here, lightning could kill.
The fallen Explorer didn't even get up before another bolt struck.
Enel wasn't targeting him—just cleansing the street in a rage, intending to kill everyone.
After a few more hits, the unlucky Explorer's life was extinguished, leaving a corpse.
"Lord Enel!" Shura called out, trying to intervene. "But this is—"
"Shut up!" Enel snapped. "Just a bunch of lowlifes daring to question a god's authority—shouldn't I deliver divine punishment!?"
Shura, seeing Enel's rage, dared not speak further.
Thunder rained down like the end of days. Screams and cries filled the air, the stench of burnt flesh and a sickening sweetness lingering.
Watching this hellish scene, Body Killer grinned fanatically. "Yes, this is the power!"
Enel wasn't surprised, thinking his friend was admiring his divine might. He felt no discomfort at the people's suffering—only a sense of liberation.
He'd suffered enough disdain; now, killing freely felt amazing.
If he'd known it'd feel this good, he'd never have held back. Just kill all the lowlifes.
With Body Killer's help, he'd made great progress on the Ark Maxim—he could leave Birka and continue his work elsewhere.
"God, save us! Enel, you're a demon!" a man cried, holding his daughter's charred corpse.
They'd grown up together—how could Enel kill so mercilessly?
"You'll be punished by heaven!" someone cursed, crawling in blood after being half-crushed by debris.
"Punished by heaven?" Enel laughed twistedly, feeling utterly godlike, high above all.
"I am God. I am the heavens! Who can punish the heavens?"
He spread his arms, thunder swirling, striking everywhere—not just one street, but the whole island.
Just then, his Observation Haki sensed mortal danger—a mist-piercing arrow shot through the thunder net, aimed at Enel atop the building, like a mythic arrow fired at the sun.
At hypersonic speed, a kilometer meant nothing. The arrow was imbued with dark red Ryou, a harbinger from hell.
BOOM—
The building exploded under the arrow's force, smoke billowing skyward.
Only after the tower fell did the sonic boom echo down the street.
At the far end stood a muscular man in black, drawing another arrow, his Haki suffusing it like water.
Everyone was stunned—when the thunder stopped, all eyes were on the archer.
"You think you're the heavens?" Gusion's cold voice called into the smoke. "Then I am Calamity."
He'd planned to wait for the Divine Space Pioneer to show before acting.
But he hadn't expected Enel to start a massacre. Clearly, the Divine Space Pioneer was lower than he'd hoped—probably watching from above while Gusion couldn't bear the scene.
He was forced into the open first, but it didn't matter—whoever came at him, he'd take them on.
"Calamity?" came an angry voice from the smoke, thunder clearing it away.
Enel floated in midair, bleeding from his shoulder—his Observation Haki hadn't saved him, caught off guard while smug.
He'd managed to dodge partially, but the arrow still grazed him, causing serious injury.
He glared at Gusion. "Body Killer, is it him?"
Body Killer crawled from the rubble, dusting himself off, a bit surprised. "Yes, that's my enemy."
Enel's face darkened. "Body Killer, I can't keep our agreement. This guy dared make a god bleed—I'll kill him myself."
Body Killer frowned but nodded. "He's yours."
Gusion's strength had exceeded expectations. Kaido hadn't come, but Gusion had improved rapidly, even learning Ryou.
If the arrow had been aimed at him, Body Killer would already be dead.
But now he was ready—Gusion wouldn't get another chance.
Gusion didn't exchange words; he loosed another arrow. With his ghostly power, the Barbarian King Bow's shots roared like dragons, flames swirling toward Enel.
Enel took it seriously now, moving with lightning speed, his Logia form dodging the attack.
He'd learned: his powers couldn't block these Haki arrows—he had to dodge or be killed.
As Enel and Gusion clashed, Enel's priests flew in.
They hadn't realized the enemy's strength, still believing in Enel's invincibility and rushing to block Gusion.
They thought they only needed to delay him for a moment for Enel to deliver a killing blow.
But to their surprise, Enel prioritized dodging Gusion's arrows.
Gusion didn't even move as the four priests charged.
Looking at the corpses on the street, he coldly said, "Get lost."
In an instant, dark red Conqueror's Haki exploded out.
The four priests hadn't even attacked before their eyes rolled back and they fell from the sky.