Chapter 48: The Priest's Attack

Chapter 54:

The Priest's Attack

"Your maaaaajesty," a goat-man with wings bleated. "Your priests have returned."

"Good," the man leaning on a plush couch answered. He had short-cut blond hair mostly covered by a white bandana and nothing to cover his toned torso. Baggy orange and black pants covered his legs to his bare feet and his earlobes were stretched down to his chest until ending with a gold piercing each. Instead of wings, he had a circular pole with four drums stylized with three tomo each protruding from his back. "I have a warning for them. Send them in."

"Right awaaaaay, my Lord."

"There it is," Luffy smiled. "The forbidden land where God lives." Having followed Conis' instructions to paddle around the island to the Lovely Street docks before taking Milky Road 2, the more-courageous Straw Hats had found their way to Upper Yard. Now they were at the entrance, two burning torches marking the island's limit while strange statues flanked either side of the path. Further up ahead, deserted ships lined the edges of the river.

"Well this looks about as welcoming as to be expected," Gin commented.

"Let's go!" Luffy cheered. Zoro, Gin, Coby, and Sanji heaved, their paddles propelling the Merry through the Sea Clouds and into Upper Yard. Barely a minute passed before they were attacked.

Out of the canopy of giant leaves above them fell large blades, swinging down like great pendulums to cut them as they had every ruined boat that sat on the shores, entire galleons chopped in half like sticks of warm butter. Zoro responded quickly, dropping his oar on the deck of the ship to jump up and slice through the wood holding each blade and trusting the others to beat them away. Robin worked the breath dials temporarily rigged to the Merry, keeping it moving at a constant speed as the men beat off the traps, Luffy, Gin, Coby, and Sanji being forced to work together to redirect every blade Zoro cut away into the milky clouds below them.

"It's a good thing Long-Nose isn't here," Robin commented in her ever-calm voice. "He would have been crying his head off."

"I almost wish we'd dragged him along just to see that," Amy chuckled darkly. Unfortunately, their talk ended there as the next round of traps began: huge wooden spears being fired at the ship. Working quickly, idling taking note that there were too many for the others to deal with without several impaling the deck, Robin searched out and moved the launchers with liberal use of her Devil Fruit power. The spears' courses were shifted every way but toward the cloud path the pirates were on, allowing them smooth sailing until the sky-lampreys arrived to try to eat them.

Luffy took care of the giant blood-suckers, punching each of them away as the other males got back to rowing. Finally, they were given a choice between four doorways: the Ordeal of Swamp, the Ordeal of Iron, the Ordeal of String, or the Ordeal of Spheres.

"Looks like we have a choice to make," Gin muttered. "Don Luffy, your decision?"

"Enie meeny miney mo..." Luffy muttered, his fingers pointing at each entrance in turn until they landed in the second tunnel from the left. "...and you are it. To the Ordeal of Iron!"

"Heave!" Sanji yelled as Grace turned the rudder. The Merry steadily drifted through the tunnel until light engulfed it once more. The Straw Hats found themselves on one of four crisscrossing paths, theirs steadily climbing upward.

"I'm glad you didn't choose the Ordeal of Spheres, Captain Luffy," Coby grunted through the rowing. "It looks like that path was a waterfall... or would it be a cloudfall? Either way, I'm not sure the Merry would have survived it."

"Of course she would have," Luffy waved off. "Merry's the toughest, most bestest ship on the seas. She can handle anything!"

"I wouldn't go quite that far, Captain," Robin warned. "I think the Merry may be nearing the end of her life."

"No she's not!" the teen denied. "I say that Merry will reach the end of our trip, one way or another, and that's final!"

"Whatever you say," Robin replied, holding up her hands in a sign of surrender, "but I think right now you should look ahead of us." Luffy twisted around and sprung up to sit on the figurehead. Ahead of them was a small lake of maybe 15 meters in diameter. On the shore sat a giant dog whose fur was a pale gold and whose height was over twice Luffy's. Sitting on the dog's head was a tan man in a green wife-beater, loose gray pants, and pointy-ended sunglasses. Tattoos spiraled down his right arm in red ink and wings slightly larger than average grew from his back. He had no hair save for a small beard and his crossed arms rippled with muscles. Leaning against his right shoulder was a sword the length of his torso, a large ball on the end of the handle.

"What's that bear-guy from Buggy's crew doing up here?" the captain questioned as soon as his eyes landed on the overly-large animal.

"You're thinking of Ritchie the Lion Tamer," Coby corrected. "That's a dog, not a lion."

"Are you sure? It really looks like that lion from that town."

"Welcome," the man greeted in a smooth baritone. "I am the Skybreeder, Ohm, and this is my dog, Holy. You have chosen the Ordeal of Iron. I must warn you, though, that you have chosen the hardest of the Ordeals. If you wish to talk with God Eneru, you must survive my ordeal, but it has a 0% survival rate."

"Good going, Luffy!" Sanji yelled, kicking his captain in the head. "Because you your stupidity, Robin-chwan, Amy-chwan, and Grace-chan could to get hurt!"

"I see that you care about each other quite a bit," Ohm commented, his dog barking in agreement. "It's good to see that, but I can also see that many sins weigh you down. I will free you from those burdens, and only in death will you truly find fulfillment."

"Hell no!" Luffy yelled. "I'm the man who'll be the King of the Pirates! I can't do that if I die here!"

"Such a large goal is quite a burden. I'll free you of that, too."

"I got this-" Luffy began, but Zoro stopped him.

"Allow me, Captain," the green-haired man said, Wado Ichimonji stopping the teen's forward motion. "He's a swordsman like me. I'll deal with him."

"Let us do this, then," Ohm offered. "Choose two of your members to battle me and Holy. If both of you win, then I will let you pass, but if either of you lose, Holy or I will kill you all. And if any of the others interfere, I will call the other priests to help me kill you."

"That's a pretty big assumption about his power," Amy thought aloud. "He thinks he could take us all on."

"Shrimp and I will handle this," Zoro told the others. "He trained that dog and I trained Coby, so this is a battle of masters' pride. Are you ready, Shrimp?"

"Yes, Zoro-sensei," Coby answered. "I'll make you proud."

"Meet us on the shore," Ohm ordered. "You don't want to damage your ship, do you?"

"At least he's polite," Coby muttered as Robin used her powers to drop a vine to them. Taking a deep breath, Zoro swung, yelling "AaaaaaAAaaaAaah!"

"What was that?" Amy question as Coby swung over as well, shouting his own manly cry.

"Yelling while swinging from a vine is a man's fantasy," Gin answered as he, Sanji, and Luffy nodded sagely to the words. "No man may call himself a true man if he swings silently without need to hide."

"…You guys are morons," Grace commented through a rice cracker. The three men fell, clutching their hearts.

On the shore, Zoro held Wado Ichimonji and Kitetsu III, his most prized sword pointed at the priest. In response, Ohm unsheathed his own sword and threw the sheath behind him. Holy barked and trudged to the side, Coby carefully watching his movements. There was silence.

In an instant, all four combatants surged forward. Zoro and Ohm locked swords as Coby activated his ability and charged Holy at a gallop with his horns. The giant dog responded by standing on his back two feet and catching Coby's top horns with its paws. Like their masters, the two began a dual of strength.

"You are strong, Blue Sea Swordsman," Ohm complemented. "And your student is well-trained. To be able to match Holy in strength, even with an ability like that, is truly impressive."

Zoro did not respond. He grunted, separating from the priest and attacking with a flurry of attacks that Ohm deflected with his longer sword and the smallest of movements.

The contest between Holy and Coby was ending. The dog twisted, throwing the boy toward a tree. While in the air, Coby flipped around and shrunk into his Hybrid Mode. His feet landed on the bark of the tree as he pulled out his blades.

"Bull Needles!" he called, pushing off the tree. Holy jumped over him, Coby twisting around to catch the attack he expected to be there. He wasn't disappointed as the dog's fisted paw impacted with his cross-block. The force pushed the younger man back until the dirt under his foot gave way with a soft "click". A white barbed wire shot out a tree to his left, forcing the young teen to change into his human form and roll out of the way before retaking his battle stance and Hybrid Mode.

"I see your student has learned the true meaning of the Ordeal of Iron," Ohm commented, him and Zoro leaping away from each other covered in superficial cuts. The dirt under the pirate clicked and Zoro ducked, avoiding the wire that shot over him to be embedded in a tree. "Those wires are made of Iron Cloud and are triggered by pressure plates I have set up all around this area. That is why I have a 0% survival rate.

"I don't give a damn," Zoro grunted. "Coby and I will defeat you. It doesn't matter what tricks you have up your sleeves."

"What a lofty goal. Shall I free you-?"

"Shut up!" Zoro cut him off. He ran forward, preparing an attack. Ohm scowled, not happy about being interrupted, and swung his sword. The blade wavered, become fluid as he swung so it struck like a whip.

"Aizen Whip!" Ohm declared. The new attack caught Zoro by surprise, but he managed to avoid being skewered. Instead, he received a gash on his right side.

"Zoro-sensei!" Coby yelled in worry. Holy swept in, punching its distracted opponent in the side.

"Coby!" Zoro fretted. "Damn it. I guess now is as good a time as any to test out my new attack."

"What are you saying?" Ohm questioned as Zoro resheathed his Kitetsu.

"Sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, heart," Zoro incanted ominously. "These six things ground us in the ways of good, evil, and neutrality. And, of course, each of these can be either pure or impure. These are the 36 earthly desires."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"You have a sword, while I have a cannon. You cannot win."

"You are delusional. I'm done with you. Be freed in death. Aizen Whip!"

"One Sword Style: 36 Caliber Phoenix!" Ohm's sword rushed forward, but Zoro's attack would not be deterred and cut through the Iron Cloud weapon. Ohm only had time to gasp before the flying slash reached him, cutting deep into his chest.

"Why is it that you wish to live so badly?" Ohm panted, supporting himself with the handle of his sword. Blood oozed from his wound, a gash that went across his stomach. It wasn't life-threatening, but the blood loss would incapacitate him for several days.

"I have people I can't let down," Zoro told him. "My friends are counting on me; I can't just go and die on them." Ohm had no words. He simply tumbled to the ground and blacked out.

Meanwhile, Coby and Holy were still duking it out. The dog's paws were covered in superfluous cuts while Coby had a black eye and a small limp in his right leg from where the dog had punched him into a tree. The area around them was filled with barbed wire since Holy kept triggering them to try to stab the younger swordsman.

"Dammit!" Coby cursed. "Just go down already!" At the word "down", Holy dropped to all fours and barked.

"Uh, sit?" Holy sat. "Roll over?" The dog did so. "Knock yourself out?" Bringing up one paw, the large dog socked itself in the jaw, knocking itself unconscious. "I can't believe it," Coby awed. "That guy trained his dog so well that it'd listen to any order it was given!"

"Hey, Shrimp!" Zoro called. "You done over there?"

"Y-Yes, Zoro-sensei!" Coby replied. He limped over to his teacher, triggering another wire trap that Zoro batted away with Yubashiri. Once he was within arm's length, Zoro gave the boy a hard pat on the back.

"Good job, kid," Zoro smiled. Bleeding and bruised, master and student swung back to the Merry, again yelling.

"Dammit," Zoro cursed as he landed, pain flaring up in his injured side. "We should've had Chopper come since he's our doctor."

"You two take a rest," Gin told them, Coby gratefully falling to lie against the railing. "Sanji and I will handle the rowing till you're back up. Your orders, Don?"

"Keep going," Luffy answered. "God should know we're coming, so we won't bother knocking. Robin, hit the dial-things!"

"Right away, Captain."

"Lord Eneru, Ohm had been defeated."

"HaHAA," Satori laughed. He was a rotund man with flowing red hair and an orange hat. Round sunglasses hid his eyes and a white jumpsuit covered his body. Wings also sprouted from his back. "That weakling got what was coming to him! Please, my Lord, let me go deal with these criminals that have dared to enter your holy land!"

"No," Eneru answered. "These Blue Sea Dwellers have caught my attention. They paid the toll coming in, but have chosen to attack Upper Yard to take me down."

"What?!" the remaining priests yelled. To think that there were people foolish enough to believe that they could defeat God!

"And then they defeated the only Ordeal with a 0% survival rate," Eneru continued. "I wish to see the faces of these interesting mortals, but first, I think that I'll go get the rest of them." With a flash of light and a whiff of ozone, he vanished.

End of Chapter 54

I hope this fight scene was satisfactory. I don't think it's one of my best, but I still hope it was good enough.

Read and Review!

-SwordOfTheGods