The battlefield of Drum Island was chaos incarnate. Snow whipped through the air as mountains shook from the tremors of titanic blows. The Angel Pirates were clashing against the might of the World Government, and everywhere one looked, there was a storm of destruction.
Above it all, two elements still clashed—light and lightning.
Kizaru lifted one hand lazily, forming a circle with his thumb and index finger. "Shall we keep going, eh?" His tone was casual, almost bored, but the intensity in his gaze betrayed the stakes. A concentrated beam of light burst forth.
Enel tilted his head with a smirk, letting the laser zip past him, scorching the air where his skull had been moments ago. His wings beat, carrying him forward in a flash. In his hands was his gold long staff, glinting faintly in the filtered sunlight.
He raised it overhead and swung.
Kizaru was ready to let his body dissolve into photons. There was no armament haki, so allowing the strike to pass through him harmlessly and counterattack would be fine—or so he believed. The blow connected, solid and heavy, with his upper jaw.
The crack of impact echoed like a thunderclap. Blood sprayed from Kizaru's nose as his body was sent careening across the sky. The force alone sent shockwaves downward, rattling the battlefield below. Fodder marines shielded their eyes and dug into the snow as the winds whipped violently around them.
Enel twirled the pole once and leaned it casually against his shoulder. "Oi, oi, Admiral-san. Don't tell me the great light of the Marines can be struck so easily. That would be… disappointing."
Kizaru righted himself midair, touching his face where blood smeared his fingers. His casual demeanor faltered, if only slightly. "Now that's unusual… I didn't sense any Haki at all." His sharp eyes locked onto the staff. "A regular pole without haki shouldn't have been able to do that. Unless…"
Enel's grin widened like a predator cornering its prey. "You've already guessed it, haven't you? This staff isn't merely gold."
Kizaru narrowed his eyes. "Don't tell me… seastone."
Gasps echoed among the marines who overheard. Even some of the now returning crewmates of the Angel Pirates looked up in surprise. Seastone—used not as cuffs, bullets, or prison shackles, but as a weapon? And Enel was making contact with it while using his devil fruit unrestrained?
"How clever," Kizaru murmured, voice lower now. "But how are you holding it? Devil fruit users can't even brush seastone without feeling their strength leak away."
Enel raised the staff with a flourish, lightning coursing along its golden surface like serpents. "Oh, this?" He spun it easily in one hand. "Escanor melted it down. Noon, when the sun was at its fiercest—he smelted the seastone and reforged it. Then we coated it with gold and other metals, a nice little shell I can manipulate and touch."
Kizaru's mouth opened slightly, stunned. "You smelted seastone… into a regular pole?" It seemed like a great waste of such a valuable material.
Enel chuckled. "Not just a pole. A conduit. The core of the weapon channels seastone's energy outward fusing it with the electricity from my devil fruit upon input. That's only because the tip, however—" He scrapped it against his armament covered palm, and sparks flew. "—is pure seastone. The very thing I just slammed into your face, Admiral."
The light-man fell silent, calculating. If what he says is true, then… this isn't just a weapon. It's a countermeasure to every Devil fruit user on the seas. There's a weakness however. "That's still severely limiting in use. You can only attack with a particular point of the weapon, even if you can channel your devil fruit through it, it's easy to evade if you know about it."
"Of course," Enel continued, lightning sparking along his shoulders, "this design is a bit crude too. I'd prefer something like a warhammer, honestly. Something with a bit more oomph. But alas, Escanor is our shipwright, not a blacksmith." He shrugged as if mocking the absurdity of the situation. "Still, it does the job, doesn't it? At least until we find a weapon's smith to bring on the crew."
Kizaru let out a low whistle. "Yare, yare… this isn't good." His hand shimmered with light, gathering photons into another concentrated laser. "If I try to take it, I'll weaken myself since I can't manipulate the gold around it to block the seastone's effects. If I ignore it, I might get smacked again and again. What a troublesome opponent you are. I can't think of a way to properly deal with you."
Enel's wings spread wide, crackling arcs exploding outward. "Then stop thinking. I didn't come here to let you philosophize." His grin sharpened into a feral snarl. "I came here to kill an admiral."
With a thunderous boom, he shot forward.
Kizaru, though more serious, didn't seem to take that claim all too seriously.
The heavens split as thunder and light collided once again, explosions illuminating the sky like miniature suns.
Meanwhile, below the heavens, another battle played out.
Erza stood tall, Benihime n her hands. The crimson katana radiated a chilling aura, its blackened blade seeming to drink in the very light around it. Across from her, Gion steadied her breathing, blood dripping down her temple as she raised Konpira once more.
Their swords clashed, Armament Haki sparking as steel shrieked against steel.
"Your style," Erza said through clenched teeth, "is impressive. Refined. But predictable." She pressed forward, each slash faster than the last. "A swordswoman who relies on form alone will never surpass me."
Gion grunted, parrying blow after blow. "And you… your strikes lack the weight I expected from someone wielding a supreme grade blade. Perhaps you're not ready to handle it."
The words only made Erza's eyes narrow. She unleashed a heavy swing, forcing Gion backward. The marine vice admiral slammed into a boulder, cracking it in two, snow raining down around her battered body.
Supreme grade swords, she knew, all carried their own will and feeling. Ace radiated authority. It could only be wielded by those with the will of a King. Murakumogiri carried a feel of impending destruction. Yoru felt like the void, Ryujin Jakka unbearable heat, Gryphon felt like insight itself. Each required a wielder worthy of its will.
And Benihime? It radiated nothing but death. It could only be drawn in a field of death.
The blade looked to be almost purring. As if it enjoyed feeling marine lives slip away into the unknown abyss of afterlife. The blood on the snow seemed to add to the ethereal red beauty Erza possessed.
Gion's thoughts raced as she slowly rose to her feet. That explains Blood Queen Irene… why she was always surrounded by corpses. That blade demands it. But how can this girl—barely in her twenties—draw it without being consumed?
Her eyes widened in realization. Is it because she's Irene's daughter? The blade sees its master in her?
The thought lingered only a moment before Erza's slash came crashing down.
"Fall."
The impact exploded in a crimson arc. Gion felt her strength leave her body as she was hurled backward, crashing into the snow. Consciousness fled as Erza's aura loomed over her like a reaper's shadow, her life hovering in the balance.