At the docks.
Enel looked down at the crowd from above, his eyes filled with an aloofness that seemed to regard them as insignificant ants. The moment Conis saw Enel, her body trembled violently, instinctively shrinking behind Ryan, her wings pressed tightly against her back.
"Who's this guy? He looks so punchable," Mikita frowned as she looked up at Enel in the sky.
"He's just an edgelord," Ryan slowly straightened up, raising his head to look at Enel in the air. There wasn't a trace of fear on his face—instead, a meaningful smile curled at the corners of his lips.
This guy came here himself. Interesting.
Enel's gaze lingered on Ryan for a moment, his electric-blue eyes flickering with an imperceptible ripple before he spoke in a commanding tone: "So it was you who blocked this God's Divine Sanction?"
"You mean that little lightning bolt just now?" Ryan raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "I wouldn't even call that a massage—too weak to be called a 'God's Sanction.'"
"How amusing." Enel tilted his head slightly in midair, his brow furrowing faintly as he studied Ryan with detached indifference, a scornful smirk tugging at his lips. "To withstand a single bolt from this God, you must possess some strength. I shall grant you the honor of serving as my Divine Official, to govern these ignorant mortals in my stead."
"Divine Official?" Ryan let out a derisive laugh, his eyes brimming with disdain as he glanced back at Conis, who was still trembling behind him. "Angel girl, I'll take care of this so-called 'God' who's been oppressing you."
Hearing Ryan speak of "taking care" of him, Enel's expression turned haughty, his lips curling into a sneer. "Foolish mortal. You dare challenge a God just because you have a shred of power?"
Ryan couldn't be bothered to entertain Enel's arrogance. He tilted his chin toward Daz Bones and said curtly, "Protect Angel girl."
Before the words had fully left his mouth, Ryan kicked off the ground with explosive force, his body shooting toward Enel like an arrow. At the same time, his right hand tightened around the hilt of his sword, a sharp aura radiating from his entire being.
Seeing this, Enel's face showed undisguised disdain, his lips even curling into a cold smile. A mere mortal's flesh and blood could never touch one who wielded the power of lightning. This charge was nothing but a futile struggle.
"Drawing Slash."
Ryan's right elbow dipped slightly as the hilt rotated halfway in his palm, his thumb pressing against the guard to give a light push. The blade slid free with a soft metallic shing, its cold gleam already faintly visible.
Enel's expression abruptly tightened—an unprecedented sense of danger surged through him. His body instantly transformed into a streak of blue-white electricity as he flashed backward, leaving only a crackling trail of sparks in his wake.
"Swish—"
Ryan's blade still managed to graze Enel's scalp, severing a few strands of his blue-white hair and leaving a shallow cut on his skin. Blood immediately seeped out, sticking to the severed strands.
"Hey, not bad reflexes!" Ryan remarked, Flame Clouds forming beneath his feet as he steadied himself midair.
The Drawing Slash was a lethal close-quarters technique—ordinary people wouldn't even have time to react, let alone dodge. Yet Enel had managed to evade it.
The speed granted by the Lightning-Lightning Fruit was truly absurd!
"You… how could you wound me?" Enel reappeared to the side, raising a hand to touch his scalp. His fingers came away sticky with warmth, and when he brought them before his eyes, the sight of bright red made his pupils constrict in disbelief.
He was the one and only God of Sky Island. The Lightning-Lightning Fruit allowed him to become lightning itself—immune to mortal weapons, untouchable by mere fists. When had he ever suffered such an injury?
"What's wrong? Been playing 'God' for so long you actually think you're invincible?" Ryan sneered. "You're just a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, bullying Sky Islanders who don't know Haki. Did you really think you could do whatever you wanted?"
"You dare?!" Enel clenched his fists, electricity crackling between his fingers as his shock instantly turned to fury. "You insignificant insect! You dare lay hands on a God's body!"
Boom! Boom!
Two heavy drumbeats sounded as Enel struck the drums on his shoulders. The chaotic currents surging around his body suddenly coalesced, twisting into a massive thunder dragon several meters long, its head reared high in an intimidating display.
60 Million Volts・Thunder Dragon!" Enel roared, swinging his arm forward. The thunder dragon lunged at Ryan with jaws wide open.
"Is this all you've got?" Ryan scoffed. Instead of dodging, he charged forward, stomping hard against the Flame Cloud beneath his feet and shooting toward the thunder dragon like an arrow. His left hand suddenly sprouted peach-colored Scales, and just before the dragon's maw could snap shut, he swung his arm horizontally—his scaled fist smashing squarely into the dragon's head.
BOOM!
The thunder dragon's electric form instantly shattered, its massive body exploding into scattered sparks. Enel's eyes widened sharply, his heart lurching—he clearly hadn't expected his lightning to be physically dispersed!
Before he could process this, Ryan was already closing in, riding the momentum of his punch. The longsword in his right hand carved a cold arc through the air, aimed straight for Enel's throat. Every hair on Enel's body stood on end as he instinctively transformed into blue-white lightning, darting backward with a whoosh before teleporting behind Ryan and thrusting his right hand forward.
30 Million Volts・Thunder Bird!"
Three shrieking thunder birds tore through the air, their beaks crackling with jagged electricity as they shot toward Ryan's back at speeds several times faster than the thunder dragon. Yet in the next instant, a layer of peach-colored Scales emerged across Ryan's back, their edges gleaming with a cold, unyielding luster like impenetrable armor.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The three thunder birds collided with the Scales and instantly disintegrated, their sparks fizzling harmlessly against the surface without leaving so much as a scratch before vanishing entirely.
"That's it?" Ryan didn't even turn around, his stride unbroken as he tilted his chin slightly, his voice dripping with casual mockery. "Nice try. Felt like a tickle."
Enel's face drained of color.
Impossible! 30 million volts—and it couldn't even breach his defense?!
"Out of tricks already?" Ryan shook out his sleeves, the Scales on his back slowly receding as he scoffed. "With skills like these, you dare call yourself a God?"
"You insect! How dare you judge a God!" Enel's face flushed a mottled purple, the currents around him crackling violently as he glared at Ryan. "What do you know?! This is God's Authority—a realm you groveling earthbound vermin could never comprehend!"
Boom-boom—Boom-boom—
Before he could finish, a rapid drumbeat like a torrential downpour erupted. Enel's entire body became engulfed in surging electricity, the blue-white radiance illuminating half the sky like daylight.
The next instant, countless bolts of lightning rained down like a storm—thick as frenzied silver serpents, thin as piercing silver threads—all converging toward Ryan in a dense, relentless barrage.