"Crackle!" The eagle's beak and the halberd's tip met with a tremendous explosion. A blast of air swept outward, clearing away every obstacle between Kado and Enel.
"Die, Kado! Take your glory to the coffin with you!" Enel roared, quietly putting more strength into his grip and intensifying the lightning.
"You're the one who should die, Enel! Be a good boy and let this old man kill you!" Kado retorted. The black coating on his eagle's beak grew darker as he concentrated all his Armament Haki on its tip, preparing to fight Enel to the death.
"Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!"
Electricity and sparks flew where the halberd met the beak. Both sides continued to pour out their strength, and the battle reached a stalemate. The exhaustion on Kado's face, however, grew more obvious, while Enel seemed unaffected and appeared to have strength to spare.
"Pfft!" At last, the tip of Enel's halberd pierced Kado's eagle beak. Enel swung his arm hard, hurling Kado's lightning-wreathed bird body to the ground. Kado slammed straight into the temple's signboard, smashing the two characters for "temple."
"Huff! Huff! Huff!" On the ground, Kado's charred body heaved for breath, unable to recover for the moment. As he continued gasping, the blackened skin on his body kept peeling away, revealing tender new skin beneath. His wounds also continued to heal until he was fully restored.
"Phew! It's been too long since I last fought. These old bones of mine can hardly keep up with you youngsters anymore." As he spoke, Kado stood up. His wounds had vanished, as though he had never been hurt.
"Give me a break, old man. Speaking of which, how did your wounds disappear? Is that another one of your abilities?" Enel remarked as he looked at Kado's fully restored body, surprised enough to ask.
"It's another one of my abilities: the awakened state of a Zoan Devil Fruit. It greatly enhances my recovery and vitality," Kado explained, narrowing his eyes.
"Awakening? Can my fruit do that too? Can I do it too?" Enel pondered seriously after hearing him.
"Don't joke around. If Logia fruits were that easy to awaken, wouldn't experts be a dime a dozen?" With that, Kado beat the wings on his back again, transformed his right hand into an eagle claw, and pushed off with both legs, charging at Enel.
His claw grabbed, tore, chopped, and raked, catching Enel somewhat off guard as he defended himself.
"Bang!" The eagle claw swept Enel's Golden Staff aside. The staff spun several times through the air before landing point-first in the ground not far from Enel.
"Pfft!" Enel clenched both hands into fists and struck Kado in the stomach with lightning, making him spit out a mouthful of congealed blood.
"Bang!" Before Kado could react, Enel's whipping kick swept heavily into his head, sending him flying into the temple. Another commotion erupted inside. Their clash had already left the temple battered and broken, no longer as magnificent and radiant as before.
"Bang!" Kado punched away the timber and stone tiles weighing him down, then stood up, shaking his head with his right hand.
"Hm!" Kado suddenly sensed danger and blocked with both arms. Enel appeared before him in an instant and swept his lightning-wreathed right leg into his arms, sending him skidding several meters and carving two deep furrows in the ground.
"Human-Beast Awakening Form-activate!" Kado's skin and features became beastlike, while his build grew more human. He vanished from Enel's sight in the blink of an eye and, before Enel could react, punched him in the stomach, sending him flying.
"Cough, cough! Impressive. My eyes couldn't react at all." Enel covered his mouth and coughed several times, coughing up congealed blood as he spoke.
"This is the awakened state. In this state, my speed reaches a level the naked eye can't follow. Even if you're a Rumble-Rumble Fruit user, your nerves can't possibly react as fast as lightning, can they?" Kado said, clenching his right hand into a fist.
"Haha, true. No matter how fast my reactions are, they can't match the speed of lightning. But that only matters if you can outpace me. Before my Mantra, you have nowhere to hide," Enel said confidently to Kado, closing his eyes.
"Whoosh!" A streak of black light rushed in front of him and reached for his head.
"Hm... this is..." Enel sensed Kado's path and used the staff in his right hand to knock the eagle claw aside. But the next instant, a black leg, part beast and part human, chopped into the right side of his body, sending him flying again.
Lightning flashed as Enel stood up. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his left thumb, then went to meet Kado once more.
Blue-white lightning and black streaks of light clashed again. Each of Enel's blows carried a torrent of lightning, driving Kado back again and again.
"Enel..."
"Kado..."
The two roared as their fists collided, sending another shock wave sweeping through the surroundings. The temple could no longer withstand their attacks and collapsed completely.
"Lightning: Thunder Metallurgy!" The Golden Staff was smelted into a long halberd, which stabbed into Kado's stomach before he could react. Carrying a massive electric current and searing heat, the golden halberd scorched his flesh, sending thick white smoke billowing up.
"Aah!"
"Crack!" Kado screamed and endured the pain as he severed the halberd with his right claw. He dropped to one knee, panting heavily. An invisible energy swirled around him, and his wound slowly healed.
Kado had not done this without paying a price: a massive loss of stamina. He had little stamina left now, and what he was consuming was his life itself. The additional wrinkles on his face were proof of that.
"I see. So this is the price of Awakening? Looks like you can't hold on much longer, Kado," Enel said, seeing the changes in him.
"I'll deal with you before that happens." Kado did not deny Enel's words, replying instead.
"Haha, that depends on whether those old bones of yours can hold up." Enel laughed. He then quickly put distance between himself and Kado, choosing to attack from afar.
Bolt after bolt of lightning shot from his hands and struck around Kado, who dodged the attacks while closing in on him.
Lightning burst behind him. In the blink of an eye, Kado rushed to Enel's side with the lightning close behind him, curled his five fingers into a fist, and punched at him.
"Bang!" Holding the staff in his left hand, Enel spun the Golden Staff with both hands and blocked Kado's fist. The collision produced a tremendous boom. Immediately afterward, Enel intensified the current and sent it through the Golden Staff into Kado, leaving his whole body powerless and sending him flying.
"Bang!" Kado was hurled to the ground not far away.
"100 Million Volts: Thunder God! Kado, let me send you to the afterlife with this move." Enel transformed into a gigantic figure composed entirely of lightning and spoke to him.
With that, Enel brought his right fist down on Kado with boundless lightning and overwhelming force, crushing him back down as he prepared to stand again.
"Roar!" Kado roared, trying to make one final stand, but it was no use. The lightning swallowed him whole.
A long time passed before the lightning faded. Kado lay motionless, charred black, in the deep crater blasted out by the lightning. Nearby, Enel walked over and silently looked at Kade.
"How much longer are you going to watch from over there? Aren't you coming out?" After staring at Kado for a while, Enel suddenly spoke.
"Flap! Flap! Flap!" A blood-red figure flew over from nearby, landed close to them, and spoke.
"You noticed me a long time ago, didn't you? Why didn't you say so?"
The blood-red figure finally revealed his appearance, showing a delicate, handsome face. It was Luo Chen, who had come to take revenge on Kado.
"Would a giant dragon care about an ant watching it?" Enel did not directly answer Luo Chen's question, saying this instead.
Luo Chen fell silent at his words. Indeed, after witnessing Enel and Kado's battle, he clearly understood that they were beings he could not defeat as he was now.
If Luo Chen's current strength was around fifty million, then Kado and Enel's strength was at least three hundred million. He was self-aware enough to know that.
A few years later, Enel's strength would be at least five hundred million, and only Luffy, with his protagonist's halo, could defeat him through his incredible power.
"In that case, do you need my help? That way, you won't have to bear the crime of killing your master." After a moment of silence, Luo Chen spoke again.
"Hahaha! Do you think a god cares what the world thinks? Still, since you came for revenge too, I can leave him to you," Enel said, first bursting into laughter.
"By the way, your ability looks rather rare. How about it? Would you like to join us and become one of the priests under my command?" Seeing Luo Chen's blood-red ability, Enel grew somewhat interested and extended an invitation.
"If I say no, will you attack and get rid of me?"
"Haha, of course not. A god is more broad-minded than you imagine."
"Is that so? Then... I agree." After considering it briefly, Luo Chen agreed.
After seeing those two monsters fight, he urgently needed a safe haven where he could cultivate and grow stronger. So when Enel invited him, Luo Chen accepted without much hesitation.
Compared with Kado, who had cultivated for decades, and Enel, whom Kado had taken as a disciple from childhood and who had eaten the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Luo Chen felt neither discouraged nor despairing. He knew that, compared with those monsters, all he lacked was time to grow.
"Then I'll leave this to you. I'll go deal with some small fry first. Oh, and there's a grand feast coming up. I hope you won't miss it." With that, Enel turned into lightning and left.
"Is that so? A grand feast... I'm looking forward to it." After speaking, Luo Chen also got moving. He glanced at the deep crater before him, bent his knees, and jumped inside.
In the crater, Kado lay on the ground, unable to move. He lifted his head with difficulty, looked at Luo Chen, and said:
"What, he didn't dare come? He didn't want to personally send his own master on his final journey?"
"He doesn't feel anything about that sort of thing. But since I wanted revenge on you too, he gave me the chance," Luo Chen said coolly, walking over and looking at Kado.
"I see! That does sound like him. I remember you: the sinner I personally judged half a year ago." Hearing Luo Chen's words, Kado stared blankly for a moment before speaking again.
"Hahaha, a sinner? That's right. Before you, everyone is a sinner, whether they're guilty or not. There's no use saying any more now. Let me bring your glorious life as a god to an end, Kado." As he spoke, Luo Chen came to his side and looked down at him.
"Haha, true enough. Do it, Blue Sea man," Kado said with a loud laugh.
"Then, don't you have any last words?... Is that so? I understand. Demon Sword: Godslayer!" Luo Chen had intended to ask if he had any last words, but when he saw Kado's silent expression, he understood and struck.
A blood-red blade tore across the sky, carrying the annihilating intent of death and slaughter. It pierced Kado's chest and heart, ending his life.
Thus ended the life of Kado, the god who had ruled Birka for decades.