Chapter 77: Ordeal of Balls
Knuckle squinted, assessing the bizarre Priest before him.
The man had a hairstyle that looked like spider legs sticking out in all directions, dark skin, and a nervous tic of biting his lower lip.
He stood on a high vantage point, clearly trying to look down on them arrogantly, but because he kept rolling his eyes back into his head, his gaze was unfocused and his posture awkward. The whole effect was... deeply unsettling.
Knuckle began to doubt his judgment. He leaned over, whispering to Kyle, "Kyle, are you sure... this guy is a Priest? I feel like he's missing a few screws up there." He tapped his temple meaningfully.
Kyle suppressed a laugh, nodding seriously. "Positive. That's Gedatsu, the Priest of the Ordeal of Swamp. Don't be fooled by his looks."
Inside Gedatsu's head, however, a storm was brewing.
[Those Blue Sea dwellers! What's with those expressions?! What are they saying? Are they looking down on me?! I am a noble Priest! I'm furious! So furious! I'll show them! I'll make them pay!]
Gedatsu's facial muscles twitched violently. Though he didn't speak, his vivid expressions broadcasted his inner monologue loud and clear.
"Kyle," Knuckle groaned, facepalming. "Maybe... you should take this one? I can't get motivated to fight a guy who looks like an idiot."
"Don't underestimate him," Kyle warned, his voice dropping. "This is the Ordeal of Swamp, with a 50% survival rate. He looks... special, but he's strong. He uses Dials for traps and acceleration."
Kyle quickly explained that Gedatsu also possessed Mantra (Observation Haki) and was proficient with Jet Dials and Milky Dials.
Jet Dials on his shoes and elbows gave him explosive speed and punching power, while Milky Dials created Swamp Clouds that suffocated anyone trapped in them.
Seeing Kyle wasn't going to step in, Knuckle sighed and walked to the center of the clearing.
He took a deep breath and roared at the Priest above. "Oi! You with the rolling eyes! I'm your opponent! You ready to get your ass kicked?!"
His booming voice startled Gedatsu mid-rant. The Priest jumped, his eyes rolling back even further.
[H-How dare he speak to me like that! What is that shouting?! Take this!]
Though silent, Gedatsu moved fast.
His Milky Dials sprayed white cloud-mist, instantly forming a sphere—a Swamp Cloud Burger.
With a swing of his arm, he hurled the suffocating cloud straight at Knuckle.
Knuckle watched the incoming cloud. It looked like normal Island Cloud, but he knew better. This was the "Ordeal of Swamp." It would be sticky and inescapable.
In a flash, Knuckle dodged to the side.
Using the momentum, he kicked off the ground, blurring into a streak of motion as he charged Gedatsu.
Gedatsu, using Mantra, had predicted Knuckle's path.
As Knuckle leaped, Gedatsu hurled a second Swamp Cloud Burger, aiming precisely where Knuckle would land.
But Gedatsu's pupils shrank. Knuckle's actual speed was far beyond his Mantra's prediction!
Before the cloud could even leave Gedatsu's hand, Knuckle was in his face!
[So fast!]
Panicking, Gedatsu shoved the Swamp Cloud Burger directly into Knuckle's chest.
WHUMPH!
The cloud hit solidly, the sticky, swamp-like substance enveloping Knuckle's upper body, trapping him.
Gedatsu grinned, thinking he'd won. But a second later, his smile froze.
"HAAAA!"
Knuckle roared, his Aura exploding outward!
The Swamp Cloud Burger, strong enough to suffocate a normal man, was blasted apart from the inside by Knuckle's raw Nen, scattering into harmless mist!
And Knuckle's fist, carrying unstoppable momentum, punched through the mist straight for Gedatsu's face!
[Monster!]
Terror seized Gedatsu. Instinctively, he activated the Jet Dials on his shoes!
VROOOM!
A powerful jet of air blasted him backward in an awkward, almost comical posture, barely dodging Knuckle's fist by a hair's breadth.
[Close! Too close! Is this guy a monster?! Why is he so fast?! Am I going to lose? No, I am a Priest...]
Shaken, his mind filled with frantic thoughts again. But before he could plan his next move, a massive sense of danger screamed from behind him!
"What?!"
He whipped his head around. Knuckle had appeared behind him like a ghost!
The first punch had been a feint—bait to force him to move. The real attack was here!
"Too slow!"
Knuckle shouted, his fist—size of a sandbag—slamming into Gedatsu's face without resistance.
POW!
It sounded like a sledgehammer hitting a melon. Gedatsu was launched like a cannonball, crashing into a massive tree trunk with enough force to shake the leaves down.
He slumped to the ground, out cold, without even a groan.
Kyle saw it clearly. Knuckle had pulled his punch at the last second. Otherwise, Gedatsu's head would have exploded.
"Let's go," Knuckle said, dusting off his hands as if he'd just taken out the trash. There was no joy of victory on his face.
Upper Yard. God's Shrine.
Enel, watching everything through his Mantra, rested his chin on his hand. He clicked his tongue, disappointed by Gedatsu's instant defeat. "Useless."
He looked down at the other three Priests. "You're up."
The Second Priest, Satori, a rotund, ball-shaped man, laughed in his strange, high-pitched voice. "Ho ho, hoooo~! Watch me toy with these ignorant Blue Sea dwellers!"
He stepped onto a ball of cloud and floated away toward his trial zone.
Kyle's group continued through the dense jungle of Upper Yard.
The trees were ancient skyscrapers, vines weaving a complex maze. Without guidance, getting lost would be easy.
Soon, they reached the second zone.
It was filled with floating, spherical clouds of various colors and sizes. Some hovered, some sat on the ground. They looked harmless but radiated danger.
"Watch out for the balls," Kyle warned. "Most are traps. Explosives, blades, snakes... touch one, and it goes off."
"Ho ho, hoooo~!"
A round figure descended slowly on a cloud. Satori.
He grinned, his voice echoing. "Congratulations, Blue Sea people! You've reached my Ordeal! But I am not a failure like Gedatsu. Your journey ends here! Ho ho, hoooo~!"
Kyle turned to the silent Shoot. "Shoot. This ball is yours."
Shoot didn't speak. He just nodded.
He assessed the opponent's strange body and movement, then, without warning, activated his [Hotel Rafflesia]!
Instantly, three disembodied, floating hands materialized around him.
With a thought, the hands shot out like missiles, attacking Satori from three different, impossible angles!
Satori's smile froze. His small eyes went wide with shock and confusion.
[W-What are those?! Hands? Flying hands?!]
He couldn't understand the ability, but his Priest instincts screamed danger—do not let those hands touch you!
Shoot's hands were fast, agile, and coordinated, cutting off Satori's escape routes like an invisible cage closing in on the round man.