"A god?"
Hearing that, Gern let out a soft chuckle and casually tossed the weapon back to Enel.
Enel caught it. With a flick of his wrist, the spear spun and reshaped itself back into a long staff.
Yet his heartbeat was racing out of control.
Because only now did he truly realize something—
It wasn't just the man standing in front of him.
Even the three Blue Sea intruders behind Gern radiated a terrifying pressure.
Especially the tall woman with long orange-red hair.Her gaze never left Gern for even a moment, yet Enel's Observation Haki screamed a warning.
At this distance—If she wished it, she could kill him instantly.
"Who… exactly are you?"Enel's voice was low. He gripped the golden staff tightly. Lightning still danced around his body, but he no longer attacked recklessly.
Gern didn't answer right away.
He slowly raised one hand, palm facing upward.
Vmm—crack!
The air trembled.
Pale white fissures spread outward from his palm, and the surrounding space shattered like a mirror.
Enel's pupils shrank violently.
He felt an unprecedented pressure—
Not the violent fury of lightning, but something far more primal, far more absolute.A power that felt as though it could tear the heavens and earth apart.
"This is… what kind of ability?!"
"Vibration," Gern said calmly, closing his fingers as the cracks vanished in an instant."But compared to that…"
He suddenly stepped forward.
Enel instinctively retreated half a step—
Yet Gern didn't attack.
He brushed past Enel's shoulder and continued walking toward Bika's central divine palace.
"Enel," Gern said evenly,"your talent in Observation Haki is impressive. But your so-called title of 'god' is nothing more than ignorance born from a well."
Enel's expression darkened instantly.
He slammed the golden staff into the cloudstone ground.
Lightning exploded outward, thunder raging as electric marshlands spread around him.
"Don't lecture me like you understand everything!!"His voice merged with the roar of thunder, shaking the entirety of Bika."Humans are humans! Earth is earth! Gods are gods!!
"You and I both possess the qualifications of a god—but I do not acknowledge your right to judge me!!"
Gern didn't turn around.
His reply was calm, yet it pierced through the thunder like frozen steel.
"If your 'godhood' amounts to ruling a single Sky Island—bullying a group of weaklings who don't even understand Haki…"
He tilted his head slightly, his gaze sharp as a blade.
"…then it's laughable."
"A true 'god' stands at the very top of the world."
Enel's pupils contracted violently.
The top of the world?
The Blue Sea?The boundless continent?Or… something even farther beyond?
His fingers trembled faintly.
Facing Gern, he found himself unable to summon courage.
Or rather—
Since becoming a "god," this was the first time he had felt something at all.
Fear.
The very word he loved to throw at mortals.
[Humans do not fear gods. Fear itself is god.]
Yet now—
Standing before Gern, Enel felt like the mortal.
That realization shattered something inside him.
In the next instant, rage swallowed reason whole.
Enel's face twisted again, lightning erupting wildly around his body like a furious deity descending to the world.
"Hmph! Easy words!!"He sneered, golden staff pointing straight at Gern."You, who also wield the power of a 'god'—have you already conquered the Blue Sea?!"
Gern finally stopped.
He slowly turned his head, the corner of his mouth lifting into a near-arrogant curve.
"I have never called myself a 'god.'"
Before the words could settle—
BOOOOM!!!
Conqueror's Haki erupted like a world-ending tsunami.
The sky twisted violently.Dark clouds churned as violet arcs of Haki lightning ripped the heavens apart like raging dragons.
The earth cracked.The air screamed.
Even Enel's lightning was forcibly suppressed beneath this overwhelming will.
Enel's body froze.
It was as if an invisible hand had seized his heart.
Blood congealed.Muscles spasmed.He couldn't move a single finger.
"No… impossible…"A hoarse sound scraped out of his throat as his pupils shrank to pinpoints.
What is this…?!
Why won't my body move?!
I'm a god!The supreme being who commands lightning itself!
How could I be crushed by the presence of a Blue Sea man?!
At that moment—
Amid the annihilating pressure, Gern's voice fell like a hammer of judgment.
"Because—"
"I stand above gods."
The words fell.
Bang.
Enel's knees slammed into the ground.The golden staff clattered away.
He knelt.
Enel… knelt.
Staring at his bent knees, a ringing filled his ears as the world spun violently around him.
"Defeat?"
"No… this can't even be called a battle.He was crushed completely—without even being worthy of a strike."
Gern looked down at the dazed Enel and smiled.
"If you truly want to become a 'god,' then stop hiding in a corner of the sky…"
"…and go see the real world."
"Become a true… god…"Enel repeated softly.
Seeing the opening, Gern pressed on.
"Come with me, Enel.I'll show you the real world—and make you understand…"
"What kind of power a 'god' should possess."
"What kind of power… a god should possess…"Enel fell silent for a moment—then suddenly burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha!!"
"Sorry—haven't you misunderstood something?"He lifted his head sharply, staring straight at Gern as he forced himself to stand under the crushing pressure.
"Why would I become a god…"
"I already am a god!!!"
With that roar, a pale blue aura erupted from Enel's body.
The range was small—but unmistakable.
It clashed directly with Gern's Conqueror's Haki.
"Conqueror's Haki?!"Tesoro's pupils shrank."In this situation… he actually awakened it?!"
"Gern provoked it on purpose."Snake Princess leaned against her massive serpent, eyes fixed on the man she loved at the center of the battlefield.A knowing smile curved her lips as she murmured softly,"Unfortunately…"
"There are levels—even among kings."
"I knew it!!"Gern's laughter thundered across the battlefield, his grin stretching wide as near-fanatical battle lust burned in his eyes.
BOOOOM!!!
Enel's Conqueror's Haki surged like a raging tide, black lightning bursting from his body as the clouds above were torn open by a violent裂缝!
"Someone as arrogant as you…"Gern's voice was low, exhilarated."…how could you not have this kind of potential?! Enel!!"
The two Conqueror's Haki collided violently in midair!
Violet-black lightning and blue-tinged thunder intertwined madly.The air wailed under unbearable pressure.
The ground beneath them shattered inch by inch.Rubble floated—then was instantly crushed into dust.
Cold sweat streamed down Enel's forehead.
He had only just awakened his Conqueror's Haki.Though this unexpected power was ferocious—
Before Gern's overwhelming will, it was like a candle flickering in a storm.
And Gern proved a single truth—
If you don't cultivate Haki, you see me as a frog at the bottom of a well, staring at the moon.If you do cultivate Haki, you see me as a mayfly glimpsing the sky.
"You… monster…"Enel's voice trembled, lightning around him flickering as if it might go out at any moment.
Gern's eyes sharpened.
His Conqueror's Haki surged once more.
"You must join me…"
"Because you belong to my 'Calamity'—"
"—the Thunder."
Pop.
A crisp shattering sound rang out, as if some fragile balance had broken.
Both waves of Haki vanished simultaneously.
But Enel's body swayed back and forth, completely drained.
His pupils lost focus.His legs gave out.
And finally—
Bang.
He collapsed straight onto his back, unconscious.