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BOOM!
Enel was caught completely off guard—blasted into the ruins by a single punch that exploded in a cloud of dust and debris.
Wyper dragged himself from the rubble just in time to see it, his eyes wide with disbelief. He needed Seastone just to land a blow on Enel. And even then, it was nearly impossible. Enel's Mantra, combined with the speed of lightning, was simply too fast.
Who was this man?
Even for a surprise attack, this was unbelievable.
The man was young—perhaps in his early twenties—tall and powerfully built, with short-cropped hair and eyes that seemed to hold the light of stars.
He now occupied the space Enel had just held, perfectly calm. Yet Wyper felt an immense, crushing pressure radiating from him.
It wasn't a conscious display of power.
It was an aura that radiated from him as naturally as breathing.
"WHO DARES??"
A furious roar echoed from the ruins. The rubble began to crack and shift as arcs of raw lightning erupted from within, levitating chunks of stone into the air before they disintegrated into dust.
The electricity surged outward.
Then, it converged into a single, blinding beam aimed straight for Jin.
"100 Million Volt Discharge!"
The lightning was a beam of pure destruction.
Everything in its path—the ancient ruins, the very earth—was annihilated, blasted into nothing. It was an unstoppable force.
"Look out!" Wyper yelled. He struggled to move, to help, but his body was broken. He had nothing left.
He could only watch as the beam struck its target.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The thunderous explosion shook the very foundations of the sky island.
Arcs of electricity lashed out in every direction as a tidal wave of dust and debris rolled across the landscape.
"Yahahahaha—!"
Enel strode out of the wreckage. His cheek was swollen, and a trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth. The image of calm superiority was gone, replaced by a ragged fury.
His laugh was choked with rage.
"To dare to harm a God... I will execute you in the most excruciating way imaginable!" he bellowed.
"You and what army?" a voice cut through the smoke.
Enel's eyes went wide. Before he could even think to turn his body to lightning, a figure appeared before him, and another fist slammed into his face.
WHAM!
Enel was helpless against the blow. He was sent flying once more, crashing through several more crumbling structures before embedding himself in a solid wall.
Wyper, who had been bracing for the worst, could only stare in utter shock.
The young man was completely unharmed. In fact, lightning was still coiling around his body, held in place by some unseen force.
If the first punch was a fluke, the second was proof.
This man was strong. Terrifyingly strong.
Who was he?
His appearance, his clothes—they weren't like those of the Skypieans.
Wait...
Wyper suddenly remembered the voice that had challenged God.
It's him. He survived the Ordeals?
———————————————
With a shower of stone, Enel tore himself from the wall. The searing pain in his cheeks made him grit his teeth. He couldn't believe it.
He, a God, was injured.
Twice!!
His left and right cheeks had now each been introduced to a fist.
His long face was now a round one.
This time, he didn't spout any nonsense about being a god. The two punches seemed to have knocked some clarity into him.
"Who are you?" Enel demanded.
"The man who's going to beat you," Jin replied.
"You are strong," Enel declared, extending a hand. "You have earned the right to bear witness. Come with me... to God's Country."
"God's Country?"
"That's right!" Enel's eyes burned with a fanatical light. "God's Country! The Endless Vearth! The scriptures say it is the homeland of the gods, a land of endless soil! And I, who wield the thunder of a God, am destined to rule it!"
Jin frowned. To an ordinary person, it would sound like the ravings of a lunatic. But Jin knew from the story that the moon—the Endless Vearth—did indeed hold ancient ruins, the likely ancestral home of Skypieans.
"The Endless Vearth exists," Jin said. "I'll give you that. But God's Country? A god? If you're a god... then I suppose I must be one, too."
"That you acknowledge the Endless Vearth pleases me," Enel said, his voice dropping. "But to claim that you are also a god... that does not. There can only be one God. And no one understands what it is to be a god better than I do! I am the one true God!"
His voice rose to a fever pitch. He pointed a finger at Jin, and his wrist transformed into pure lightning as a torrent of blue electricity shot forth.
"El Thor!"
A blinding flash of light and heat erupted from Enel's hand as the air expanded at the speed of sound.
The blast tore across the ruins.
"Thunder Fist!" Jin yelled.
He threw a punch of his own, the Haki-bound lightning surging forward at his command.
BOOOOOOM!
The two bolts of lightning collided in a massive explosion.
And through the heart of the blast, a fist emerged.
This time, Enel was prepared. His body dissolved into a blinding mass of crackling lightning.
But the fist broke through.
Enel was stunned.
He couldn't believe it.
He was hit again. He was sent flying, his elemental form collapsing as he crashed to the ground.
CRASH!
The earth shattered beneath him.
How??
Enel was completely bewildered. He was in his elemental state. No physical attack should have been able to touch him.
How could that fist have possibly hit him?
Did this man truly possess a power that could counter a god?
Could it be...?
Was he a god, too?
It was the only explanation.
Only a god can defeat a god.
But there could only be one God in this world!
And that was him!
"UNFORGIVABLE!" Enel roared in fury. "I'LL KILL YOU!"
He grabbed his golden staff and struck the large drum on his right shoulder.
"30 Million Volt Hino!"
A massive bird of pure lightning erupted from the drum and soared toward Jin.
"There you go again, losing your temper," Jin said, shaking his head. "A god should have more composure than that. All you do is brag. Let me show you what it means when they say human potential is limitless."
He threw a simple punch, not even bothering to coat it in Armament Haki. The raw force of the blow shattered the thunderbird.
The residual lightning crackled across his skin, but his body, like divine steel forged in a thousand fires, withstood the shock.
Wyper was horrified. He had fought Enel. He knew the terror of his lightning. His entire party had been wiped out in an instant.
Untouchable. Unstoppable.
But this man... was he even more of a monster than Enel?
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