On Sky Island, Observation Haki was also known as the Mantra, or Heart Net.
In addition to being a Thunder-Thunder Fruit user, Enel possessed an exceptionally powerful Mantra.
Especially when combined with the Thunder-Thunder Fruit, his Mantra allowed him to hear sounds across several islands.
Ever since the Upper Yard had been brought to the White-White Sea, it had become a sacred land for the nearby Angel Island, a territory where the gods were said to reside.
Someone had trespassed into his sacred land.
As its god, Enel naturally couldn't remain indifferent.
Moreover, Enel was far more ruthless than the previous generation of gods.
Therefore, he immediately used the Thunder-Thunder Fruit to unleash "God's Sanction," intending to destroy the intruders.
There was just one unexpected development.
According to what he sensed through his Mantra, the "God's Sanction" that had always been unstoppable had actually been avoided.
"Interesting. It seems the intruders this time are much more interesting than the previous ones. But that's not bad. They can just help me pass the time."
After his initial surprise, Enel once again laughed playfully.
He tossed the rest of the apple into his mouth, core and all, and chewed it down.
Then, with great interest, Enel transformed into a bolt of lightning and flew out of the palace.
Green smoke lingered through the air, and dust filled the surroundings.
When the thunderous roar finally faded, a terrifying crater twenty to thirty meters in diameter had appeared in the forest.
Wings flapped.
The paper pterosaur that had been targeted by the lightning strike had not disappeared. Instead, it remained intact in midair.
"That was close. I really need to react quickly. Otherwise, things could have gotten troublesome."
Looking down at the enormous crater blasted into the forest below, Lafayette said that it had been dangerous, but there was a playful smile on his face.
The speed of lightning was naturally terrifyingly fast.
However, there was still a brief process between the lightning gathering and the actual attack.
To ordinary people, that process was far too fast to react to.
But Lafayette had mastered Observation Haki.
For him, it was enough.
Just moments ago, when Lafayette sensed the lightning gathering in the sky through Observation Haki, he immediately controlled the paper pterosaur and moved out of the attack's range.
Kaito and Neferpitou, who were sitting on his shoulders, also looked down at the enormous crater in the forest.
Suddenly, the sound of thunder and lightning rang out again from the sky.
This time, however, it wasn't another lightning strike.
Instead, a figure rapidly took shape within the surging lightning.
Almost at the same moment, the three people aboard the paper pterosaur—Kaito, Lafayette, and Neferpitou—shifted their gazes away from the crater below and looked toward the figure forming in the air.
The figure created from the lightning was none other than Enel.
People from the Blue Sea?
Enel, who had traveled through the air via elementalization, immediately recognized the identities of the three people aboard the paper pterosaur.
There was no mistaking it.
Among the people of Sky Island, only a very small number lacked wings like him. They could even be considered unusual.
When Enel noticed that none of the three had wings on their backs, he naturally concluded that they were people from the Blue Sea below.
However, Blue Sea people and Sky Island people were no different in Enel's eyes.
As a god, Enel regarded both Blue Sea people and Sky Islanders as mere mortals.
Their only purpose was to entertain him.
The moment Enel condensed his body, his elementalization ended.
Although he was a Thunder-Thunder Fruit user, that didn't mean he could simply remain suspended in midair.
Therefore, while looking at the three people, he casually prepared to take out the Milky Dial from his pocket and create a cloud platform to support himself.
Swish!
A sharp sound tore through the air.
While Enel was looking at the three of them, the three of them were also able to see Enel clearly.
In an instant, Neferpitou, who was sitting on Kaito's shoulder, moved like an arrow released from a bowstring.
She immediately sprang toward Enel in the sky.
Her petite figure shot rapidly through the air.
At the same time, Neferpitou activated her Devil Fruit ability, transforming from her delicate girl form into her mature catwoman form.
The helplessness of mortals before their god.
Neferpitou's speed was extremely fast.
But to Enel, who had mastered an exceptional Mantra, her movements were immediately revealed.
Yet Enel didn't care about Neferpitou's attack at all.
In fact, a mocking expression even appeared on his face.
How could mortals possibly resist a god?
He seemed to have already witnessed the despair that would appear on his opponent's face after she discovered that she couldn't hurt him.
Boom!!!
Neferpitou had no idea what Enel was thinking.
The moment she reached him, she immediately wrapped her right hand in Armament Haki and slashed her sharp claws toward his face.
Although her claws had not even been extended yet, the power Neferpitou unleashed was already terrifying.
With a sneer on his face, Enel didn't even have time to react.
Neferpitou's attack struck him directly.
His entire body was sent flying.
The impact was so powerful that Enel spun through the air like a falling meteor.
He rapidly plummeted from the sky and crashed into the forest below.
Boom!
A dull impact echoed through the forest.
Silence.
Whether it was Neferpitou, who had launched the attack, or Kaito and Lafayette, who remained aboard the paper pterosaur, all three stared silently toward the place where Enel had fallen.
There, Enel's body had smashed into the ground, creating a large crater.
His head was tilted awkwardly to one side, and he was completely unconscious.
"Captain, this Thunder-Thunder Fruit user seems kind of weak."
After a while, Lafayette finally broke the silence, speaking with a helpless expression.
The development of events had been far too unexpected.
Originally, he had imagined that their encounter with a Thunder-Thunder Fruit user would result in an intense battle.
He had never expected that the Thunder-Thunder Fruit user would be knocked unconscious so easily after just one move.
"Weak? Not really."
Kaito sighed.
"It's just that this guy is far too arrogant."
Although he had expected Enel to suffer during his battle with Neferpitou because of his arrogance, the current result made him realize that he had still underestimated just how arrogant Enel was.
Based on Enel's actual abilities, even if his physical fitness was only average, his excellent development of the Thunder-Thunder Fruit, combined with his equally impressive Observation Haki, should have allowed him to put up a decent fight.
Whether Enel could actually win was another matter.
But at the very least, he should have been able to fight Neferpitou.
Unfortunately, Enel was simply too arrogant.
Kaito didn't know whether Enel understood the existence of Armament Haki or not.
But even if he didn't, when faced with an incoming attack, he could have at least dodged.
Instead, he didn't dodge.
He didn't even defend himself.
That was simply too much.
With such overwhelming arrogance, Enel had brought this defeat entirely upon himself.
And judging from the current situation, he had not been wronged in the slightest.
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