Chapter 12: Suppressing the 'God'

Outskirts of Upper Yard - White Sea Battle Zone

Boom—!

Thunder tore through the skies as the White Sea churned violently.

Soldiers from Angel Island clashed fiercely with Shandian warriors, blood and gunpowder mingling in the chaotic battlefield.

Yet as Enel appeared and unleashed his initial display of thunderous might, morale on both sides plummeted, fear spreading rapidly.

Just then—

Guts' Elite Forces mobilized!

Puck bared his teeth in a fierce grin, blade in hand.

With a sudden movement, his entire body erupted with Armament Haki, generating deep shockwaves through the air.

"All units, hear my command!!!"

His iron-clad voice boomed across every corner of the battlefield.

"Suppress the extremists by force!"

"Prioritize civilians protection!"

Dozens of elite marines roared in unison, their weapons sheathed in Armament Haki as they charged in formation.

Clad in Marine uniforms, their fighting spirit burned like wildfire, carving a straight path of steel through the White Sea battlefield.

Puck led the charge at the forefront.

Every strike carried the weight of overwhelming force and justice!

Though the extremist Shandian warriors fought fiercely, they crumbled before the marines' unstoppable suppression tactics, being forcibly subdued one after another!

These were no ordinary marines.

They were the absolute elites who had followed Guts and Puck to eradicate over a hundred pirate crews across the East Blue.

Puck blocked a sneak attack from two Shandian warriors with his arm, pivoted on his foot and drove a crushing elbow into one's chest.

Then he roared furiously.

"Open your damn eyes and see—We Marines aren't here to steal your land!"

"Nor to help Skypieans oppress you!"

Puck cleaved through the mist ahead with a mighty slash, his voice thundering like war drums.

"We—are here to end your meaningless slaughter!!!"

"No innocent blood shall be spilled—not in the skies, nor anywhere beneath them!!!"

"This is our—JUSTICE!!!"

As his words fell—

They seemed to press down upon the entire battlefield's momentum.

Even Skypieans officers and some Shandian warriors paused momentarily amidst the chaos.

The elite marines seized the advantage.

Swiftly suppressing and apprehending the extremist Shandian warriors, they methodically cleared the battlefield, extinguishing the most radical sparks of rebellion at their source.

...

—Meanwhile.

High Above the White Sea

At the zenith of the sky—The true battle that would decide Skypiea's fate had only just begun!

BOOM—!!!

The skies split, a sea of thunder roared!

The churning White Sea transformed the skies above Upper Yard into a hellscape of clashing lightning and air.

Two figures—one blue, one black—collided violently in the skies.

On one side: Enel, wielding the might of thunder itself, roaring with divine wrath.

On the other: Guts, master of air, the merciless executor of absolute justice.

Enel's body was wreathed in crackling lightning, electric currents coiling around him like vines, ready to unleash devastating explosions at any moment.

Though he had only just begun to grasp the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and hadn't fully developed its potential yet, the sheer destructive force of his lightning attribute alone was enough to intimidate most opponents.

With a furious roar, he shouted.

"10 Million Volts!!!"

CRACK!!!!

Hundreds of lightning pillars converged into a swirling spear of blue light, tearing through the White Sea as it roared towards Guts.

The thunderbolt split the sky with an ear-piercing sonic boom, aiming straight for Guts' chest.

But Guts merely narrowed his eyes—

His right palm lifted slightly, fingers slowly spreading open.

Reverse Blast!

The air abruptly imploded! —Space itself seemed to distort!

BOOM!!!

The lightning spear was violently shredded by a visible layer of reverse airflow the moment it came within three meters of Guts.

The radiance shattered and arcs of electricity scattered wildly!

The entire sky split apart like torn paper!

Enel's pupils widening, his heart feel as if it had been violently squeezed.

"This isn't just simple suppression...It's absolute control over the very flow of air...!!!"

Enel erupted in fury!

With a furious roar, he forcibly compressed all the lightning in his body, his form swelling violently.

Thunder God Form·Lightning Transformation Burst!!!

RUMBLE—!!!

Enel's flesh completely transformed into a body of pure lightning.

The dazzling blue currents raged to their limits, his speed accelerating beyond the naked eye's ability to track.

He became a streak of lightning that pierced skies, trailing a long tail of electricity as he lunged forward with impossible speed.

The lightning tore through the air, seemingly intent on shredding Guts' body in a single strike!

And Guts—Merely took a single step.

Blast Pressure Step!!!

The air collapsed and exploded! —His figure shot upward like a meteor!

WHOOSH!!!

At the last possible moment, Guts vanished from his original position, evading the fatal blow.

CRACK CRACK CRACK!!!

Enel, in his 'Lighting Form', howled with rage as violent lightning danced like ten thousand serpents, engulfing the entire sky.

His figure flickered—lightning exploded!

A blue lighting spear transformed into a beam of ultimate light, instantly piercing the clouds as it stabbed towards Guts' heart.

Against an ordinary man, this strike would have reduced them to charcoal in an instant!

Yet—

Guts' gaze remained cold as ice.

He did not dodge.

He did not retreat.

Instead, the instant the thunder spear was about to strike his body, he raised his right fist.

'Armament Haki·Hardening'

HUM!!!

A visible ink-black sheen instantly coated his entire right arm!

BOOM—!!!

The thunder spear slammed violently into his Haki-clad fist!

Lightning scattered for an instant.

Explosions of light tore apart the air! 

But what shocked all witnesses was—Guts' stance did not waver in the slightest!

His right fist, struck head-on by the thunder spear, stood firm as bedrock.

Enel's pupils trembled violently.

"Wha... what?!"

"My lightning... actually—can't penetrate?!!"

He couldn't believe his eyes!

Lightning attacks, in theory, were invincible against all matter.

Whether steel, stone, or even the flesh of mighty warriors—all would be instantly reduced to ashes upon contact with lighting.

Yet this black-haired man before him—Had actually used that bizarre power.

To block an attack from his Lighting Form with his bare hands?!

'What is that power?'

Enel's heart pounded wildly.

Meanwhile, Guts slightly retracted his fist, residual sparks flickering across his knuckles as they trembled faintly.

"Pure energy attacks? You're too naive."

His gaze locked onto Enel like a blade, his voice low and dangerous.

"—You don't understand at all what a true power really is."

Enel stared fixedly at the pitch-black fist, gnashing his teeth, his mind reeling like a tidal wave.

He roared furiously, "What is that?!"

"That black power... why... can't my lightning... pierce through it?!"

Guts chuckled lightly, "Want to learn? I'll teach you."

But in the next moment.

Guts had already appeared behind Enel.

In his palm, a spiraling current of air compressed to its limit swirled like the scythe of Death.

[Air Blast·Collapse]!!!

BOOM—!!!

A terrifying explosion of imploding air pressure!

The Armament Haki-enhanced impact struck Enel's back directly!

"ARGHHHH—!!!"

Enel screamed as if struck by an invisible hammer and was sent flying violently.

BOOM!!!

Blue lightning crashed down, slamming into the ruins of a floating island at the edge of the White Sea.

Debris scattered, thunder raged uncontrollably, and the White Sea trembled like a tsunami.

Half-buried in the scorched ruins, Enel spat blood, his eyes wide with shock and fear.

Guts stood with his hands behind his back, his black cape billowing fiercely, his cold gaze fixed on the battered Enel below.

His voice, like a merciless judgment from the heavens sounded from the sky.

"A God?"

"You're just a brat who just gained power and can't even control it properly..."

In the ruins, Enel lay amidst the rubble, his body trembling violently, residual lightning flickering across his skin.

He gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot with rage.

Humiliation!

Disgrace!

A so-called "god," struck down by a mere mortal!

But amidst the agony and fury...

Enel suddenly sensed—

In that moment of air tremors, every subtle shift in airflow guided by Guts, every release of power's rhythm...

As if, amidst the clash of air and lightning, it awakened something deep within him—an instinct.

'Observation Haki/Mantra'

He began faintly perceiving the battlefield's, emotional tremors and the subtle fluctuations of energy.

Enel's eyes blazed with fanatic light.

"This is...the path of the GOD!!"

His lightning-wreathed body quivered faintly in the ruins.