A bolt of lightning tore the night, snaking down like a dragon. In its glare the Marines on the sea could be seen gaping in shock.
Countless sailors drew a sharp breath.
Nothing about today felt human.
He was steering the weather.
Wind, rain, thunder.
Could a person really do this?
Unease spread across every battleship. A hollow powerlessness rose in men's chests.
"He is terrifying."
"His strength is already neck and neck with that mystery man, Liuyun."
"I think this Rakuya is even worse than Liuyun. Worse in the scary way."
"To command the storm, to hold thunder in hand, and to ignore the sea's restraint. This is beyond anything we know."
Murmurs rolled as the fleet shrank from Rakuya's thunderous might.
"Steel Bone. Garp. Borsalino. Have you ever tasted a true lightning strike?"
Rakuya looked down over the void, eyes sweeping the scene. His shout cracked across the waves.
"Come, lightning."
The air itself sparked. Thunder blossomed. Rakuya gripped a living bolt in his palm. He looked like a war god, his figure cutting a dashing line as every gaze turned toward him. For a heartbeat he became the only point on the sea.
Under a pitch black sky, a lone figure held lightning. The world flashed white.
He hurled it.
A deafening peal split the night. The bolt writhed from his hand, a jagged serpent lashing across the sky toward a stunned Borsalino.
"Damn it. What power is this?"
Cold sweat ran down Borsalino's back. His mind raced. An instant before the strike hit, his body turned to photons.
Crack.
The bolt carved through the air. Shockwaves rolled. The void shuddered. Air burst apart and the lightning fell upon the photon flow.
When the glare faded the photons reknit into a human shape. Borsalino stood pale, chest scorched where the strike had landed, a spray of blood painting the deck.
His hair stood on end. His hands were grimy with black ash.
"Good reactions, kid."
Rakuya gave a thin smile. Another lance of lightning gathered in his hand and streaked out.
"Again?"
Borsalino's eyes went wide. Panic seized him. He turned to light and fled at speed.
"Afraid already?"
Rakuya's gaze deepened as he watched the golden stream retreat. His smile cooled.
"Repulsion. Divine Light Arrow."
Space flexed. An invisible bow formed out of twisted air. Rakuya drew with his left hand. A formless arrow took shape. The air trembled around it. With a release of his fingers the shot flew.
The arrow keened across the heavens. The atmosphere stalled for a breath. A white wake ripped behind it.
Impact thundered outward, a pressure wave rolling in all directions.
"Watch it!" Garp roared to Borsalino.
Warned, Borsalino felt danger spike so sharply his scalp tingled. He dissolved again to photons, desperate to slip the path of the arrow.
Boom.
The Divine Light Arrow flashed past and detonated at his flank. The blast was towering.
Boom.
The photon stream scattered under the concussion. When the light gathered again Borsalino vomited blood. His body was slick with red as he tumbled from the sky.
Kuzan saw him fall. He inverted, launched an ice pillar beneath himself, and used the reaction to rocket up, catching Borsalino before stepping down through the air with Moonwalk to land him safely.
With Borsalino handled, Rakuya turned to Steel Bone Kong and Zephyr.
His eyes were indifferent. Lightning coiled between both palms. "You two should taste thunder as well."
"Damn it."
Garp's pupils tightened. His expression changed hard. He flickered aside, leaving his spot in an instant.
Steel Bone saw and could only yield ground. He stamped into Moonwalk and dove for the ocean's surface.
"Running?"
Rakuya's stare went cold. Both arms snapped forward. Dozens of bolts burst across the air like a storm of fireworks.
Several chased on.
"Fleet Admiral, move!" Cold sweat slid down Garp's spine. He kicked Steel Bone hard.
Their bodies collided with a heavy thud and sprang apart on a cushion of force. Borrowing the rebound, they slipped a hair's breadth past the spearing thunder.
"Hah."
Garp's chest heaved. Sweat slicked his brow.
The man in the sky was a monster. Garp was not his match.
Against the grandeur of nature, human flesh felt very small.
Steel Bone and Garp traded a look and dropped fast.
In the blink of an eye they reached the surface, then used Moonwalk to bleed off the pull of the earth.
They set down, then looked up again with lingering fear.
All around, Marines stared skyward, eyes wide at the figure who seemed more god than man.
Their hearts quaked.
"Can a human do this?"
"When did our world gain such a titan?"
"Even together the fleet admiral and the admirals cannot bring him down. How strong is he?"
"To batter the fleet admiral and the others this hard under a pile of top fighters… he might be worse than Whitebeard."
Steel Bone's face was iron. If he had been a heartbeat slower he would have been reduced to cinders.
"Troublesome," Garp muttered, never taking his eyes off the sky. He could not see a solution.
"Down here we are safer than up there."
"Let us see what else he has. Being invincible in the sky does not mean he is the same on land."
The admirals tried to settle their own hearts.
Rakuya heard them clearly.
He vanished.
"Where did he go?"
"Damn it, where is he?"
"He was there a second ago. How did he disappear?"
Pupils tightened across a hundred faces. Anxiety spiked.
Rakuya flowed through the sea as its sovereign, using his water-assimilation power. He stepped out before Steel Bone without a ripple.
"Steel Bone Kong. Do not think dropping to the surface makes you safe. In the sky I am invincible. On land, I am the same."
"What?"
Steel Bone saw him and a chill raced through his bones.
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