"Come out, Law!"
"Stop running! Is this all the 'Surgeon of Death' is capable of after betraying us? Yahahaha!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Inside the massive hemispherical ROOM, the towering Thunder God brandished his Spear of Lightning, thrusting downward and sweeping side-to-side. Under his relentless assault, the research institute had been reduced to a skeletal wreck of twisted metal and scorched stone.
Smoker had been sent flying to parts unknown during the initial onslaught, and Sanji had disappeared into the wake of those terrifying gale-force winds, likely buried under a mountain of rubble.
"Dammit! Dammit all!"
Law was in a dead sprint, casting frantic glances back at the looming silhouette of the Raijin.
WHOOSH—
The Spear of Lightning, thick as a temple pillar, came crashing down with suffocating air pressure.
"Shambles!"
Law barked the command and vanished, a mangled piece of machinery appearing in his place.
KABOOM—!
The earth groaned as a third of the spear buried itself in the ground, kicking up a wall of choking dust.
"Hah... hah..."
Law materialized behind a jagged remnant of a wall, but before he could even catch his breath, the next strike was already upon him.
"Scurry along, little rat!"
The Raijin turned his head, his voice a low, mechanical rumble. The Spear of Lightning swept horizontally across the floor toward the left, accompanied by the howl of wind and thunder. The sheer pressure preceding the spear was enough to flip multi-ton slabs of masonry into the air.
Even the habitually stoic Law couldn't help but curse under his breath. "That level of Observation Haki... give me a break!"
CRASH—!
The impact carved a trench dozens of meters long into the earth, sending a plume of debris into the sky. Law had swapped positions just a second prior, narrowly avoiding being flattened.
"Gone again. That Op-Op Fruit ability is certainly slippery."
The Raijin scanned his surroundings, noting that the massive hemispherical 'curtain' still enveloped him.
This was Law's domain. As long as he remained within this sphere, Law's slashes possessed absolute cutting power, and he retained the ability to teleport. This was true spatial displacement, an ability to breach the fabric of space that was fundamentally superior to the "budget" versions used by Aeridar or Bartholomew Kuma.
THUMP... THUMP... THUMP...
"Law, all of Punk Hazard is under my surveillance. No matter where you hide, I will find you!"
The majestic Thunder God marched toward the exit of the institute. His massive frame smashed through any architectural obstacles in his path, but they did nothing to slow his steady, predatory pace.
Outside the institute, Law leaned against a rocky outcrop. Since the facility was largely carved into the mountainside, the exterior was a sheer cliff face.
"Hah... hah..."
Law gasped for air, sweat dripping from his forehead. Hearing Enel's voice, he muttered bitterly, "What a monster... he's monitoring the entire island!"
Suddenly, the translucent dome that had blanketed the area shrank rapidly and vanished.
"D-dammit... my stamina... it's gone..." Law's face was a mask of exhaustion. His legs gave out, and he slumped into the snow. He couldn't even maintain his grip on Kikoku, letting the blade sink into the drift beside him.
"Oh?"
The Raijin came to a halt, looking around with a cold sneer. "Yahahaha! Out of energy, Law? I suppose maintaining a sphere that large was too much for you to handle!"
"Enel! Your opponent is me!"
Luffy's voice rang out abruptly from behind the Raijin.
"Still standing, are you...?"
The Raijin turned, a hint of surprise in his rumbling tone. There, suspended in mid-air, was Luffy in his Gear 4 state, jetting forward at high speed.
ZIP—
Luffy vanished like a ghost and reappeared instantly behind the Raijin's head.
"Gomu Gomu no... Rhino Schneider!!!"
Luffy's legs, retracted like high-tension springs, snapped outward, slamming his heels into the Raijin's skull.
CLANG—!
The sound was like a giant bronze bell being struck. A ring of vapor expanded as the Raijin's head snapped forward. The massive body stumbled two steps, nearly face-planting into the snow.
WHOOSH—
The Raijin recovered instantly, swinging a massive hand backward in a retaliatory swat. The physical manifestation of lightning in his palm kicked up a localized gale.
Luffy kicked off the air, nimbly darting through the gaps in the giant's fingers and diving straight for the Raijin's chest.
"Gomu Gomu no... Leo Bazooka!!!"
Luffy thrust both palms forward, unleashing terrifying kinetic energy at point-blank range.
BOOM—!
The air shrieked with a thunderous explosion. A visible shockwave rippled outward, shaking the very atmosphere.
STOMP... STOMP... STOMP...
The Raijin's mountain-like body shuddered and was forced back several paces. Over a dozen cracks spiderwebbed across the lightning armor on his chest.
"Impressive strength, Straw Hat!" The Raijin looked down at the fractures, let out a mocking laugh. "But it's useless! My defenses aren't that easy to break!"
As he spoke, countless fine arcs of electricity danced across the cracks. In a matter of heartbeats, the "wounds" knit themselves back together, leaving the armor pristine.
Enel's True Raijin Mode was the ultimate evolution of his standard form. In the past, his Raijin form simply made him a larger target for Haki users. But True Raijin was different. This outer shell of "solidified" lightning was a nigh-impenetrable fortress. Unless an attacker could shatter the armor entirely, they couldn't touch Enel's actual body. Even worse, the armor was self-repairing.
"Dammit, the defense is too high. These hits aren't enough!" Luffy gritted his teeth. "I have to use King Kong Gun again!"
ZZZT—ZZZT—!
The Raijin extended his arm, pointing his left index finger at the hovering Luffy. Lightning began to spiral around his fingertip in concentric rings.
"I developed this move specifically for you. I even brought along a few thousand steel balls forged from a new alloy," the Raijin said coldly. "Eat this... Railgun, Straw Hat!!!"
"Oh no…!!!"
Luffy looked at the glowing fingertip and felt his scalp go numb. A sense of absolute crisis flooded his mind. Instinctively, he crossed his arms in front of his face.
SHING—!
A blue-white streak of light erupted from the Raijin's finger. It was so fast it transcended human sight, a mere flash in the dark.
KABOOM—!
Luffy was struck with the force of a falling star. He was blasted through multiple walls, hurtling out of the institute entirely. He flew half a kilometer through the air before slamming into a massive iceberg.
RUMBLE... RUMBLE...
The hundred-meter-tall iceberg collapsed instantly, triggering a massive avalanche of ice and snow that buried everything within several hundred meters.
"Law! You're next!!"
The Raijin bellowed, raising his Spear of Lightning toward the heavens.
RUMBLE... RUMBLE...
In response to Enel's roar, the clouds above swirled violently. Lightning serpents writhed through the dark sky, and the rolling thunder became a continuous drone.
"200 Million Volts: True Amaru!!!"
The Raijin swept his spear forward, pointing it at Law like a conductor's baton.
BOOM—!
A colossal dragon of lightning erupted from the clouds, a True Dragon of legend made of pure electricity. In a thousandth of a second, it crashed down onto the snowy ground outside the institute where Law knelt.