Faced with Enel's blatant provocation—using his golden staff to poke directly against the mask—the eyes behind the ram-skull visage remained as still and deep as an ancient well, utterly unmoved, as though the thing being touched was not his own face at all.
But the CP agents at his side could not tolerate such an outrageous insult toward a God's Knight.
This was nothing short of trampling on the dignity of the World Government itself—especially right in front of them, its so-called "dogs."
"Impudent!"
"Enel! Put down your weapon immediately!"
"You dare show such disrespect to our lord?! Do you want to be erased by the World Government?!"
The agents barked out furious reprimands. Some of them even reflexively drew their weapons, gun barrels snapping up to point at Enel—despite knowing full well that it was likely meaningless.
Faced with the clamoring of these "mortals," Enel not only failed to restrain himself—he escalated.
He didn't withdraw the golden staff. Instead, as if playing an instrument, he casually tapped the cold ram-skull mask again and again.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Each light knock echoed with mocking intent. His face was full of amusement and ridicule.
His pupils slid sideways, casting a contemptuous glance at the CP agents who looked as though they were facing a mortal enemy.
"Annoying," he said arrogantly, as if shooing away a swarm of buzzing flies. "A bunch of small fry."
"In front of 'God'—" Enel's voice abruptly rose, infused with unquestionable, absolute authority,"—you don't have the right to speak!"
The instant the words fell—
HMMMM!!!
A vast, pale-blue shockwave erupted violently from Enel's body!
It wasn't lightning.
It was pure, overwhelming spiritual pressure—
Conqueror's Haki!
Though it lacked the cataclysmic, heaven-crushing weight of Gern's domineering presence, it was saturated with Enel's unique brand of divine arrogance and judgment—sharp, flamboyant, and tyrannical.
"Thud! Thud! Thud!"
As if struck by invisible sledgehammers, the CP agents who had just been shouting collapsed en masse. Their eyes rolled back as they dropped unconscious like wheat before a scythe.
Even the Yakuro Kingdom's old king and his ministers—already injured and lying farther away—were overwhelmed by the sudden terror of that pressure. Their eyes flipped white as well, and they completely lost consciousness.
In an instant, the entire dock fell silent.
Aside from Enel and the God's Knight, not a single person remained standing and conscious.
The pale-blue shockwave swept past, whipping the Knight's dark cloak up and backward—
Yet he himself stood firm, unmoved. Clearly, this burst of Conqueror's Haki had not inflicted any real damage on him.
However…
Behind the mask, those once-unwavering eyes froze—just for a fraction of a moment.
Through the mask's hollow eye sockets, a trace of something flashed across his gaze.
A faint, almost imperceptible flicker of surprise.
And… confusion.
Conqueror's Haki?
Those who possess the disposition of a king are invariably proud, unruly, and destined to refuse subservience—overlords, tyrants, or chosen prodigies of the heavens.
Couple that with Enel's extreme arrogance on display—his god complex, his utter disdain for all things beneath him…
Someone like this… someone like this…
How was it possible?!
How could such a man willingly submit beneath another?
How could he be content serving as nothing more than a mere Marine rear admiral—following the orders of that so-called "Heaven-Shaker," Gern?
It defied logic.
It outright contradicted the very nature of a Conqueror.
At the same time, Enel tilted his head while staring at the God's Knight, who still stood unaffected. His golden staff remained pressed against the mask, his irritation deepening.
"You still standing?" he muttered. "Looks like you're a tiny bit stronger than those scraps of trash, huh?"
Hearing the taunt, the God's Knight let out a quiet, almost inaudible sigh behind the mask.
Perhaps it was boredom at this pointless clash.
Or perhaps—just perhaps—Enel had finally piqued a sliver of his genuine interest.
And then—
Before that sigh fully faded—
The wrist gripping the massive scythe moved.
Just slightly.
The next instant!
A razor-thin, pitch-black slash—so fine it seemed capable of cutting light itself—flashed into existence and vanished just as quickly!
Its speed surpassed the limits of human vision, so fast one could doubt whether it had truly happened at all.
And when the world caught up—
The God's Knight was already dozens of meters behind Enel, his movement ghostlike and soundless.
No longer was the scythe casually slung over his shoulder. He now held it diagonally at his side, blade angled toward the ground, the curved edge flowing with the sheen of Armament Haki.
Yet behind the mask, his eyes did not show satisfaction.
Instead, they narrowed.
For the first time, they carried unmistakable seriousness—and weight.
Because—
That strike, executed with absolute confidence, one meant to kill in a single blow—
Had missed.
"Impressive Observation Haki," the God's Knight said slowly. His voice remained low, but a faint note of surprise had crept in.
He turned his head, sharp gaze locking onto Enel, who still stood where he had been.
Enel's body had not moved.
But a clean, diagonal gash ran straight through the center of his form.
Within that "wound," brilliant blue-white lightning crackled and hissed.
In the infinitesimal instant before the black slash could land, Enel—relying on his near-transcendent Observation Haki, Mantra—had already foreseen the attack and partially dispersed his body along its trajectory.
Lightning could not be cut by blades.
Now, the two halves of Enel's "split" body twisted, arcs of electricity dancing as they seamlessly rejoined, restoring him to his original form.
He turned his head to look at the God's Knight standing dozens of meters away, a smile spreading across his face—the cruel, mocking grin of a cat toying with a mouse.
"For a quiet little bug who likes to act mysterious," Enel sneered, "you sure think a lot in that head of yours!"
"Shocked?" he continued, openly mocking the Knight's unspoken thoughts."Thinking, 'How did he dodge that'?"
"Too bad," Enel said with relish. "In front of 'God,' your pitiful killing intent and movements shine like a lighthouse in the dark! Foolish mortal!"
The ram-skull-masked Knight listened in silence, offering no rebuttal.
He merely adjusted his grip on the scythe, his presence growing sharper, denser—more dangerous.
He admitted it.
He had underestimated this so-called "God's" mastery of Observation Haki.
That reaction was no longer simple prediction.
It bordered on momentary future sight—yet wasn't quite the same.
In that instant—
He had been completely seen through.
And Enel, smiling broadly, found the fight had become just a little more interesting than he'd expected.
But only a little.
...
In truth, maintaining high-intensity Observation Haki in combat consumes enormous stamina and mental energy.
But Enel—born as he was—did not suffer from that weakness.
As long as he didn't tell anyone that he could hear their thoughts, this advantage remained nearly insurmountable.
Aside from single-minded simpletons like Luffy, or monsters like Gern who surpassed him by too vast a margin to be read—
Very few people could deal with him.
After all, no one guards against their thoughts being overheard unless they know it's possible.
And Mantra—this ability—was, at present, unique to Enel alone across the seas.
So long as he kept silent about it—
It was effectively an unrevealed trump card.
...
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