"Don't you all want my life?"
Fenric leveled his trident at the massive Navy fleet, standing alone yet unshaken. His voice boomed across the sea:
"Then don't waste my time—come at me all at once!"
This wasn't empty bravado. It was his mission—his rise demanded the world's attention. To carve his name into history, Fenric needed to stand high-profile, dazzling, undeniable.
Akainu's lip curled as he snorted.
"Arrogant brat. You got lucky defeating one admiral, and now you think the Navy is beneath you!?"
He wasn't alone in his thoughts. To most, Fenric's challenge was nothing short of madness.
The Navy's strength was legendary—the three admirals stood among the world's top powers, and even Whitebeard himself never claimed he could fight the entire Navy alone.
Yes, Fenric had crushed a vice admiral just moments ago, but that was still far from proving he could face the full might of Marineford. To demand they come at him together? That was arrogance bordering on insanity.
Fenric, however, only shook his head.
"Enough talk. Let our hands speak."
He rose slowly into the air, his left hand clenching as he invoked the Thunder God's Ring.
Boom—!
Thunderclouds churned above, roiling into an endless sea of black. Lightning licked across the sky, and darkness swallowed the sun. The pressure was suffocating, as though heaven itself was collapsing onto the Sabaody Archipelago.
"What is this…?" A sailor's voice cracked with fear.
"This is no ordinary storm," Garp muttered, his face grim. "It's a Devil Fruit ability—thunder, perhaps."
Akainu's expression darkened. The mocking disdain on his face gave way to a solemn scowl as the storm raged overhead.
Crash—!
A pillar of lightning split the heavens, crashing down on Fenric himself. Sparks wrapped his entire body, coiling and snapping like serpents of pure destruction. Hovering in the air, cloaked in divine thunder, Fenric looked less like a man and more like a god descending upon the mortal world.
"Coby… he looks like a god," a trembling young recruit whispered behind Garp. "Do we really… have to fight him?"
Fear rippled through the ranks. Humanity's oldest instinct—fear of thunder—was clawing at their hearts.
Even Akainu, even Garp, even the hardened Admirals bore grave expressions.
"Thunder Fruit…?" Akainu muttered, unsettled. In his memory, the fruit's last wielder had been a tyrant on Skypiea, but not even that man could command storms of this scale.
"Be cautious," Kizaru suddenly warned. His voice was sharper than usual. "This isn't just the Goro Goro no Mi. It's one of Mundo's many powers. He can summon storms and rain lightning upon entire fleets. New recruits, withdraw immediately—if you stay, you'll be slaughtered!"
The warning sent a ripple of panic through the sailors.
Then—
Gurgle… gurgle…
The sound of molten magma bubbling filled the decks.
Hiss!
A drop of lava fell, burning a hole clean through the planks.
Akainu's voice was low, rumbling with restrained fury.
"This man cannot be allowed to live any longer!"
His arm transformed into molten fire, smoke billowing as magma dripped like liquid death.
"Great Eruption!!"
He swung, and the air itself seemed to ignite.
A colossal fist of lava, roaring like a volcanic explosion, hurtled toward Fenric. Even before it struck, the searing heat boiled the atmosphere, warping the air and pressing down with overwhelming force.
Fenric's gaze sharpened. He knew this move well—Akainu's fists were powerful enough to clash evenly with Whitebeard.
There was no room for carelessness.
The trident shifted to his left hand. His right drew back, flames blooming in his palm.
Whoosh!
Fire swirled into a roaring inferno, condensed into the blazing mark of the Buddha's palm.
With a thunderous strike, he thrust it forward.
Boom—!
The flaming Buddha Palm Technique slammed into Akainu's Great Eruption. The clash tore the world apart.
Sound exploded like heaven and earth colliding. The shockwave blasted outward, uprooting trees, flattening the shore, and rocking massive warships as though tossed by a hurricane.
When the smoke cleared, both attacks had been torn asunder—Akainu's magma fist shattered, Fenric's flame palm dissipated.
But Akainu's strike had a second form.
Shhhhhh!
Countless magma bombs split off, raining down on the archipelago like fiery meteors. Each one carried the force to annihilate a warship.
"Not good!"
Rayleigh leapt forward, sword flashing as he cleaved the falling projectiles, intercepting them before they could slaughter the helpless.
"Much obliged, old man," Kizaru called, his tone tinged with irritation as he glanced toward Akainu. "Fleet Admiral Sakazuki… don't forget, I'm standing here too. Do you mean to kill me along with him?"
Then his eyes returned skyward, narrowing at Fenric's lightning-wreathed figure.
"That attack of yours… to break Sakazuki's fist with a palm… Mundo, you really are a monster."
Murmurs spread like wildfire among the Navy.
Akainu's Great Eruption could level mountains. There were perhaps fewer than five men alive who could withstand it.
And this pirate—this Mundo—had shattered it head-on.
Shock, disbelief, and fear etched themselves onto countless faces.
"A new ability…? Just how many powers does this man have!?"
"No human should be able to wield so much. He's… a monster!"
Even Fujitora, face unreadable beneath his blindness, let out a long breath.
"In ten short years… Mundo, your strength has reached such terrifying heights."
High above, Fenric's laughter rolled with the thunder.
"Akainu, if that's the best you can muster, then your fists are nothing to fear!"
Akainu glared upward, his voice like molten stone.
"Mundo… I'll bury you myself!"
"Save the funeral rites for your own men!" Fenric roared back. "I won't play with you any longer!"
He raised his trident.
Ooooom!
The sea itself answered.
Waters surged and writhed, as if possessed by fury. Then, with a deafening roar, a wall of ocean rose from the horizon. A tsunami—towering, unstoppable, swallowing the sky.
The Navy's faces blanched.
"A… a tsunami?! Impossible!!"
Warships rocked violently as the tidal wave bore down, its shadow engulfing the fleet.
Fenric stood above them, wreathed in thunder, trident in hand, his voice thundering over the storm:
"I am the God of Thunder—
and the God of the Sea!"