"Hey!!! What did you do? My comrades are falling one after another."
A Shandia warrior pointed his gun at a divine soldier before him and spoke.
Around them, several Shandia warriors lay on the ground, their fates unknown.
"Meeh! This is a Slash Dial you won't find on Sky Island. It came from Birka, so let me give you a taste of its power too."
With that, the divine soldier rushed at him in the blink of an eye, swinging his gloved right hand.
The warrior hurriedly lowered his gun and held his shield in front of him.
"Meeh! Idiot, a shield is useless against me! Slash!"
The divine soldier flashed past him. With a swish, both the warrior and his shield were cut open, and blood stained the cloud stream below red.
Whoosh!!!
The divine soldier continued along the cloud stream in search of a new opponent.
Somewhere in the forest, amid a mass of treetops, Enel stood. Suddenly, as though sensing something, he turned toward the place where Shura had been.
"Did you get careless and get killed? Shura, you underestimated sky combat after all! Let me avenge you, then. 80 Million Volt: Inazuma!"
With that, Enel's left hand turned into lightning and blasted upward. Before long, the lightning faded.
"Hmm, that burst of energy just now killed seventeen people. Did a few divine soldiers die too? What trash."
Through his Observation Haki, he sensed that his lightning had instantly killed more than a dozen Shandia warriors, but the aftershock had continued along the cloud stream, killing several divine soldiers speeding along it as well.
"Forget it. I won't bother with them. In the end, trash can't survive my game anyway. It's only a matter of time."
Enel then shook his head and continued on his way.
Southwest of the forest, near Robin's location.
Whoosh!!!
Whoosh!!!
Whoosh!!!
Five or six divine soldiers charged at a Shandia warrior.
"Out of the way, out of the way..."
As he spoke, the warrior Genbo aimed his cannon at them and fired.
"Bang!!!"
A heavy, dark iron cannonball took them all down. Genbo spat on the ground and said disdainfully.
"Small-fry divine soldiers like you can't block my path."
He continued forward when a voice suddenly reached his ears.
"A very unusual cannonball. That's metal iron from the Blue Sea, isn't it?!!!"
"Hmm!!! Who's there? Come out!"
Hearing the voice, Genbo immediately grew alert and spoke as he scanned his surroundings.
Rustle!!!
A fat, thick hand gripped the wall, and its owner revealed himself. It was Oyama, the divine soldier commander.
Ever since Enel had ordered everyone to the Sacred Land Upper Yard to settle things once and for all, he had sent most of his men to find and deal with their own opponents. He himself had brought these few divine soldiers to lie in ambush within the Shandia ruins and wait for prey. Finally, after Genbo took down his subordinates, he couldn't resist appearing before him.
"Hmm! It's you, Oyama, divine soldier commander. What are you doing here?"
Seeing that it was Enel's subordinate Oyama, Genbo raised his cannon, aimed it at him, and demanded an answer.
"Heh heh heh!!! What am I doing here? Why, waiting to welcome you, of course. Genbo, warrior of Shandia."
Hearing his question, Oyama chuckled and explained.
"Then go die!!!"
Genbo fired his cannon straight at him.
Bang!!!
The cannon boomed, and an iron cannonball flew from its muzzle, whistling toward Oyama.
Whoosh!!!
Faced with the cannonball, Oyama didn't panic. He simply pushed off with both feet, his thick, fat body leaping nimbly into the air. He performed a backflip and caught the cannonball between his legs, then somersaulted several more times before throwing it back at Genbo.
Boom!!!
"Cough, cough, cough!!!
How can I fall here?
The cannonball struck Genbo head-on, sending his fat body flying into a wall with a heavy crash.
He struggled to his feet and silently said to himself.
"Is that so? Since you still won't go down, I'll finish you with my strongest ultimate technique!"
With that, Oyama leaped over with his fat yet agile body, then pulled out a belt covered in Slash Dials and charged into Genbo.
Splurt!!!
Splurt!!!
Splurt!!!
Gash after gash appeared on Genbo's body, blood spurting from his wounds. Even the wall behind him was cut open. At last, Genbo lost consciousness and fell.
"Tch, finally dead? You really were tenacious, Shandia warrior! Now it's time to deal with another person, the intruder from the Blue Sea!"
After seeing Genbo fall, Oyama turned and left in another direction. Robin was on her way there, but she knew nothing of what had happened and didn't know that danger was drawing closer to him step by step.
"So you've come, warrior Kamakiri."
A defiant, confident, and arrogant voice rang out. The warrior Kamakiri had arrived on a waver when he suddenly heard a familiar voice beside his ear, making him stop.
Click!!!
Kamakiri immediately drew his gun, aimed at him, and asked.
"You're...? It's you! Enel, what are you doing here?"
Once he got a clear look at his face, Kamakiri was greatly surprised. He tightened his grip on his gun and asked again.
"Heh heh heh, what am I doing here? Why, taking part in this survival game just like you, of course."
As though he'd heard something amusing, Enel burst out laughing, then explained to him without a care.
"A game? You call this a game? Bastard, don't joke around! We came here ready to die to take your head, not to play games with you."
Hearing that Enel regarded their coming here ready to die as a game, Kamakiri grew agitated and shouted at him.
"Is that so? In this game, the Shandians, the intruders from the Blue Sea, the priests, and the divine soldiers all have different goals.
But to me, it's nothing important. It's merely a trial game to select the strongest.
So can you be the one to win in the end, Kamakiri?
Oh, right. Your goal is merely to take my head.
How about this? I, a god, will give you five minutes. During that time, I won't defend myself at all. Consider it a reward for successfully making it here. How about it?"
Seeing how agitated he was, Enel merely picked at his ear, unconcerned, and continued speaking. He held up a hand with five fingers extended and spoke as though bestowing a favor.
"You bastard..." Kamakiri gripped the gun's handle with both hands, accelerated and leaped in front of him, then thrust his spear with all his strength, piercing Enel's head.
"Well? Keep attacking. Since I, a god, have said it, I won't go back on my word."
Enel's expression didn't change as he told him to keep attacking, not taking Kamakiri seriously at all.
Soon, Kamakiri tried other ways of attacking, but none did him any harm. Enel simply sat with his eyes closed, showing no sign of making a move.
Splurt!!!
He tried once more to pierce the top of his head with his spear, hoping to hurt him, but...
"Haah..." Apparently unaware that a spear had pierced his head, Enel yawned like someone who had just woken up and stretched before looking at him and speaking.
"Oh, it's you. Sorry, sorry. It was just so boring that I accidentally fell asleep. What, you haven't given up yet?"
Wisps of electricity flickered above Enel's head as he grinned and spoke to him.