"Mundo… that's the uncle's name?" Luffy muttered.
"It sounds… familiar."
Nami's eyes widened as realization struck. She covered her mouth with trembling fingers, staring at Fenric in disbelief. That legendary man from ten years ago… he's the one who saved us?!
"Oi, Nami!" Sanji pressed urgently. "What do you know about this guy?"
Her expression grew solemn. "Ten years ago, at Marine Headquarters, a man killed a Celestial Dragon. The World Government put a bounty of two billion berries on his head."
"What?!"
The Straw Hats were stunned.
But their shock didn't matter. All the tension on the battlefield now coiled between Fenric and Admiral Kizaru.
Kizaru tilted his head lazily, golden light rippling from his body. "Mundo… ten years without seeing you. I wonder how much you've grown."
The glow around him flared—an omen that he was about to strike.
"Uncle!" Sentomaru suddenly rushed forward, axe in hand. "Let me handle this! I'm the most defensive man in the world. I'll capture him myself!"
Kizaru paused, his light dimming slightly. He stepped back, curious to see how Fenric would respond after ten years in hiding.
Fenric regarded the charging Sentomaru with faint amusement. "So it's Sentomaru. You've grown bold. Ten years ago, you didn't even have the courage to stand in my way. And now you dare to try and capture me?"
"Don't underestimate me!" Sentomaru snarled. "Ten years of training—you'll be surprised!"
Fenric shook his head. "Sorry. I'm not interested in playing with you."
He raised his hand.
Buddha's Palm.
Invisible force slammed into Sentomaru mid-charge. His momentum stopped dead, his body twisting in midair before he was hurled backwards, vomiting blood.
One strike.
Sentomaru was down.
Though still alive—his Armament Haki had tempered his defense—he was beaten soundly.
The Straw Hats froze.
"What kind of technique is that?!" Brook exclaimed, sockets wide.
"This uncle is ridiculously strong!" Usopp stammered.
Even Luffy and Sanji grew grim.
Kizaru's expression darkened. "What a frightening attack… but Sentomaru is one of my subordinates."
In the next instant, Kizaru's body erupted into dazzling light.
With a burst of speed, he swung his glowing leg toward Fenric.
Fenric's instincts screamed. Danger. Don't take this lightly.
He cloaked his body in Armament Haki, every inch of him hardened. His eyes sharpened, tracking the trajectory.
Though Kizaru's Devil Fruit gave his energy attacks the speed of light, his physical body could never truly reach it. Even so, his kicks were inhumanly fast—beyond most eyes to follow.
But not Fenric's.
With nerves honed to the extreme, he could see projectiles faster than bullets, and catch them with his bare hands. Kizaru's kick, though terrifying, was still within reach.
"Boom—!"
Fenric braced, intercepting the admiral's shining leg with his forearm.
He didn't budge.
"Admiral Kizaru," Fenric said calmly. "Ten years have passed, and you haven't grown at all."
Kizaru's smile thinned. "Ohh? Being underestimated again. Tell me, Mundo—have you ever been kicked… at the speed of light?"
His body blurred.
Kizaru dissolved into golden photons, vanishing from Fenric's front and reappearing instantly behind him. His leg, charged with blinding energy, swung down.
Fenric spun, arms crossing just in time.
BOOM—!!!
The impact hurled him like a cannonball. He tore through three houses before crashing beneath a mound of rubble.
"Uncle!!" Luffy shouted in panic.
The Straw Hats recoiled. That single kick—had it landed on them, they would've been crippled, if not killed.
But Kizaru's gaze sharpened behind his sunglasses. "Armament Haki that strong? Even my kicks can't break it outright. Terrifying…"
The ruins trembled.
Debris lifted into the air, revealing Fenric standing unscathed beneath the wreckage. Dust fell from his shoulders as he rose, his aura steady, his smile calm.
"Admiral Kizaru," Fenric called out. "Your so-called kick at the speed of light… isn't impressive at all."
As he spoke, arcs of electricity coiled around his body, lifting him into the air.
"It just so happens… I have a light-speed attack of my own. Why don't you try this?"
He raised his left hand.
"Zzzzt!"
Lightning entwined the ring on his finger, dark clouds gathering overhead.
The sky blackened. Thunder rumbled.
A bolt of lightning crashed down, engulfing Fenric. His entire body glowed with silver-white current, his eyes blazing like stormlight.
He hovered in the air like a wrathful god of thunder, divine and terrifying.