[Sky Island – Outskirts of God's Island – War Clouds Gather]
Dark clouds pressed low, heavy as stone. The entire White Sea seemed frozen beneath an atmosphere thick with dread—on the verge of tearing itself apart.
Shandian warriors, clad in feathered armor and faces painted in fiery tribal hues, gripped ancient spears. Their eyes burned crimson with fury, brimming with killing intent.
Opposite them, the Angel Island legion stood ready: white-winged knights and templar warriors brandishing gleaming lances, their silver armor flashing like shards of lightning. Behind them, priests murmured desperate prayers, voices trembling with fear.
Between the two forces stretched only a sea of clouds—yet countless eyes met across the divide, seething with hatred. The air crackled, ready to ignite.
And yet—
High above, within the churning heart of the thunderclouds...
A solitary golden figure hovered amidst the storm, bathed in boiling lightning, watching the battlefield below with cold amusement.
Enel.
Just days earlier—
A strange fire had erupted in the Shandian granary, its flames crackling not with ordinary heat—but with eerie blue-white lightning.
The Angel Island holy spring was struck by a bolt from a clear sky. The priests shrieked in terror, declaring it a divine omen.
Night watch sentinels were found stunned and disoriented, their spears turned against one another—as if possessed.
Fear. Suspicion. Rage.
Enel, like a phantom weaving fate from shadow, had nudged both peoples of the White Sea toward the brink of annihilation.
And today—was the final spark.
"Go,"
Enel whispered, a cruel smile curling his lips as his slender fingers flicked.
Snap.
A single bolt—thin as a thread, nearly invisible—shot from his fingertip, slicing through the sky.
Crack!
The negotiation tower exploded in a burst of splintered wood and stone!
In an instant—
"Shandia ambushed us!!!" the Angel Island legion screamed in panic.
"Angel Island! War begins!!!" the Shandians roared in fury.
War drums thundered.
Battle cries shook the heavens.
Blood and fire erupted across the ancient skyborne battlefield.
[Battlefield of the Gods – All-Out War]
BOOM—!
Spear met sword.
Lightning rent the clouds.
Shandian warriors charged with primal cries, feathered spears driving into the ranks of white-winged angels.
The silver-armored legions of Angel Island pushed back, holy lances cleaving through the front lines with brutal precision.
Crimson droplets sprayed across the soft white sea of clouds—blooming like macabre flowers in the storm.
Just as the chaos reached its zenith—
BOOM!!!
A deafening thunderclap split the sky—like the hammer of a vengeful god crashing down!
From the heart of the White Sea, a golden-blue pillar of light erupted, piercing heaven and earth alike!
The ruins trembled. The very air shuddered. Warriors on both sides froze, staring upward in stunned horror.
[Enel Appears]
Lightning scattered like shattered glass.
Golden earrings gleamed.
A pale cloak whipped in the gale.
Enel stood atop the storm itself—feet planted on writhing torrents of raw electricity.
Bare-chested, his muscles carved like divine marble, his skin traced with writhing arcs of lightning.
His golden hair whipped in the tempest. His eyes—cold, arrogant, fanatical—gazed down like those of an ancient deity about to deliver judgment.
His voice crashed across the battlefield, heavy with contempt:
"Listen, you filthy angels!"
"Listen, you wretched Shandians!"
"From this day forth—"
"The old gods are dead."
"I, Enel—"
"Will become the one true god!!!"
BOOM!!
The declaration echoed like divine decree.
CRACK—!!
A bolt of lightning—tens of meters wide—slammed into the battlefield's center like a hammer of judgment.
The air detonated. The clouds shattered.
Warriors screamed as the surge threw them like ragdolls—charred, smoking, broken upon the earth.
Ruins. Corpses. Lightning.
Hell itself had descended upon the White Sea.
[The Battlefield Was Filled With Wails]
Angel Island soldiers fell to their knees, faces twisted in despair.
Shandian warriors bled from their eyes, fury curdling into terror.
Under Enel's dominion, resistance crumbled like ash.
He looked down with utter disdain upon the writhing masses beneath him.
Spreading his arms, he summoned arcs of electricity between his palms—coiling into a blazing, concentric ring of divine wrath.
His voice cut through the storm, absolute and final:
"Traitors. Fools. The corrupt."
"All shall be erased."
"The new order… begins."
[From the Direction of the Warship]
A storm raged.
Lightning crackled.
On the deck, sea wind lashed tattered banners.
Ronan stood with his hands clasped behind his back—his gaze as calm and unyielding as a glacier.
He silently looked up, his eyes locked on the arrogant blond figure floating high above—Enel, the self-proclaimed "God" of Skypiea.
Rett gritted his teeth, his body trembling—not from fear, but fury.
"Damn it… that bastard finally shows his face!"
His fists clenched until his knuckles cracked, his expression twisted with barely contained rage.
"How long did you think you could hide, huh? Scuttling around like a rat, playing god from the clouds?!"
He whipped his head toward the motionless figure beside him—Ronan—and gave a sharp, almost manic wink.
"Boss… wanna blast this clown out of the sky? My fists are itching to knock that smug grin off his face!"
Ronan's lips curled into a faint, icy smile. His eyes gleamed like honed steel.
"Since he calls himself 'God'…"
He paused, then stepped forward and stamped lightly on the bow of the ship.
Boom!
The air beneath his feet compressed violently, cracking like the roar of an awakened leviathan.
"—then let him taste the absolute justice of Divine Punishment."
[Air-Air Fruit: Rapid Pressure Rush]!
BOOM!!!
A colossal updraft erupted beneath him. His black cape snapped like a war banner as his body shot skyward—a black meteor streaking toward the heavens.
Straight toward Enel, who hovered midair, laughing with divine arrogance.
On the deck below, Rett squinted at the vanishing silhouette, lips twitching.
He held back for a long moment… then muttered under his breath,
"Boss…"
"…is the 'god' you're after always this chuunibyou?"
He dragged a hand down his face, exasperated.
"Flowing blond hair, giant earrings, riding electric clouds like some over-the-top stage magician… and calling himself the One True God?!"
He snorted. "Did he get electrocuted by the wrong telephone pole as a kid? The flashiness is painful."
A few battle-scarred veterans standing nearby couldn't help but chuckle.
The mood on deck lightened—just a little.
High above, Ronan—mid-ascent—heard every word.
A vein throbbed on his temple.
His eyes narrowed. His expression darkened.
[Mood: –1]
[Anger: +5]
Through gritted teeth, his voice colder than arctic wind:
"A kid who's never faced true despair…"
"…let me teach you your first lesson."
BOOM!!!
He accelerated—violently.
The air behind him shattered into a spiraling shockwave, his form slicing through the sky like a blade forged from wrath itself.
Above, Enel sensed the incoming force. One eyebrow arched. A cold grin spread across his face.
"Heh… an ant."
He raised his hand, fingers splayed wide.
Lightning coiled around his palm, twisting into a searing golden bolt.
[Thunderbolt: Lightning Arrow]!
SNAP!
A spear of divine electricity lanced through the sky—aimed straight at Ronan's heart.
But Ronan didn't flinch.
His black eyes reflected the oncoming lightning—calm, focused.
With a mere flick of his fingertip, the air around him imploded.
[Air Deflection]
The Lightning Arrow veered off course at the last instant, as if swatted aside by an invisible giant.
"…"
Enel's pupils shrank.
His chest tightened. A sharp, unfamiliar sting shot through his pride.
"Why…? Why won't my lightning touch him?!"
"This—this is impossible!!"
Fury warred with disbelief inside him—but beneath it, a mad, obsessive voice began to scream:
I will become stronger!
I will surpass everything—even this!!
Ronan tore through the sky, wreathed in a vortex of collapsing air—his technique now manifesting as a visible spiral of pressurized force: [Spiral Burst Pressure]!
Enel roared, summoning thunderclouds to forge a colossal lightning spear. He hurled it downward like a judgment from the heavens!
Clash!!!
Lightning met compressed air in a cataclysmic collision.
Electricity shredded. Wind screamed.
The White Sea churned violently. Clouds exploded outward in towering plumes.
The entire Sky Island shook.
From the Shandia villages to the ruins of Upper Yard, every soul looked up—stunned, awestruck, trembling before the battle of gods.
On the warship's deck, Rett gripped the railing, eyes blazing.
A slow, fierce grin spread across his face.
"Boss…" he whispered, voice thick with anticipation.
"…give that poser in the sky the beating only a real god could deserve!"
The war drums thundered.