"Mr. Kuta."
"Uta."
Even knowing how strong Kuta was, every member of the Red Hair Pirates tensed at the sudden turn of events.
The thunder came and went in a flash. When they lowered their hands and opened their eyes, they saw a deep crater, as though a meteorite had struck, with scorching lava bubbling inside.
Above the crater floated a transparent bubble shimmering with silver light.
Seeing Kuta and Uta standing there unharmed, everyone in the Red Hair Pirates breathed a sigh of relief.
Perhaps one bolt of lightning had failed to stop Kuta, or perhaps something truly had been enraged. As the young man pressed on, more bolts snaked across the sky like crawling centipedes.
They filled the heavens, a terrifying sight.
Shanks watched the lightning with a glint of madness and excitement that no one else noticed.
"So this... this is the realm of gods?"
He could not see it, but he knew something above them was trying to stop Kuta from piercing the boundary between reality and illusion.
That unseen thing might be the god Kuta had spoken of, or it might be the rules of this world.
If Shanks was to break his own shackles and reach the realm of gods, he would encounter it someday too.
That was why he was so excited.
After all, experiencing it firsthand was far more real than hearing someone else describe it, wasn't it?
"Enough!"
Everyone was still on guard against the inexplicable lightning when Kuta shouted.
His voice drowned out the thunder, sweeping away the apocalyptic force bearing down on them. The crushing weight on their hearts vanished in an instant.
Kuta stared coldly at the Illusory Eye only he could see. At his brow, the red flower pattern came alive.
In that same moment, an illusory