The thunderclouds hung low over the temple.
The air in Upper Yard began to carry the sharp smell of ozone.
Birds and beasts fled the ancient trees where they had roosted, and the magnetic field of the entire island went haywire beneath that calamitous pressure.
Enel had called himself a god for years, but he had never felt his authority trampled like this.
The four priests were the foundation of his rule over God's Country. Through Mantra, he had sensed all four life signatures vanish within a few breaths.
It was as if someone had dragged a god's majesty down and ground it into the mud.
Enel's entire body became a blinding streak of white-hot lightning, punching a huge hole through the roof of the Golden Temple.
A muffled boom burst overhead.
The lightning fell like a spear from the heavens and slammed into the open ground before Sabo and Ace.
The savage heat melted earth and stone into a glassy crater.
Barefoot, Enel hovered half a meter above the charred ground.
His chest was bare, his earlobes hung to his chest, and four drums marked with three tomoe were fixed behind his back.
He tapped the Golden Staff lightly against the ground, sparks dancing at its tip.
His gaze swept over the four fallen priests before settling on Sabo and Ace.
"Lowly Blue Sea People who know no reverence."
Enel's voice resonated through the lightning, echoing across the forest.
"You have the right to live only because God permits you to breathe."
Sabo adjusted his top hat and rested his right hand on the alloy pipe at his waist. He looked far from nervous.
"I've seen plenty of people call themselves gods out at sea. Those bubble-helmeted fools in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, for instance."
A mocking