In a town on Sky Island, the residents gathered together, seemingly discussing something.
"Hey, what do you all think? I think God was threatened and forced into this by that man named Enel. He might be in grave danger right now. I'm going to save him. What about you?"
A man spoke to the companions beside him.
"Yeah, I'm going too."
"Count me in."
"Me too. I'm going to save Lord Gan Fall."
One Sky Island resident after another voiced their agreement. Before long, they reached a consensus and prepared to head to the temple together to save God Gan Fall, who had been coerced by Enel.
"Wait, everyone, please stop! Let us White Berets handle this. Please trust us."
A loud voice rang out. A group of guards in blue uniforms and white military caps approached and stood before the White Sea residents. A captain stepped forward and addressed them.
The crowded, noisy gathering quickly fell silent and looked at them.
"Captain McKinley, are you going into action?"
"That's right. After all, we're members of God's Guard too. We'll save Lord Gan Fall even if it costs us our lives, so leave the rest to us! Wait here for news of our safe return."
Captain McKinley spoke to the excited White Sea residents.
"No, please let me help too. I want to do something for our god as well."
The man from earlier spoke up again. As a member of Sky Island, he wanted to contribute to Sky Island too, and save their beloved god.
"That's right, I'm going too."
"Me too."
The others stirred and chimed in one after another.
"You... all right, you can come along too."
Captain McKinley looked at them and felt how desperately they wanted to save Gan Fall. Moved, he agreed.
"Yeah!!!"
Cheers rang out from the crowd, celebrating that their god could finally be saved.
In the town on Sky Island, the White Sea residents followed the White Berets toward the temple in a fury, intending to confront Enel and demand to know how they had forced their god to give up his position.
Meanwhile, at the temple.
"Lord Enel, here's the microphone. Shall I connect it for you?"
Ohm handed Enel the microphone he had taken from Gan Fall and asked respectfully.
"No need. I'll do it myself."
Enel took the microphone from Ohm, connected it to the broadcast across Sky Island, and tapped on it.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
"Huh? What's going on? There's a sound again. Whose voice is that?"
Hearing the loudspeakers sound again, the White Sea residents voiced their confusion.
Soon, an unruly, arrogant voice rang out.
"Residents of Sky Island, I am your new god, Enel. Do not interrupt what I'm about to say, or else..."
"Who are you? Are you the one forcing our god, Lord Gan Fall, to step down?"
A young man's voice cut him off completely.
Crack!
A massive pillar of lightning engulfed the area where the man stood, utterly destroying it.
"Ah!" The man barely had time to let out one final scream before he vanished completely, leaving only a huge, scorched crater where the lightning had struck.
"Ah!"
The women screamed, and everyone nearby stared in terror at the black crater Enel had created.
"I told you not to interrupt me. Now, to continue, I hereby announce the formation of God's Army, under my command as Thunder God Enel. All of you are my servants. I will not tolerate opposition, or you'll meet the same fate as that man."
"Gulp!"
The residents swallowed and listened in fear and terror to Enel's proclamation. Remembering what had happened to the man, no one dared speak up or oppose his decision.
"Now, listen carefully to what I'm about to say, and don't interrupt me like that man did."
"Hey, turn on the Visual Dials."
"Yes, sir."
A soldier activated the Visual Dials throughout Sky Island, and images appeared.
Inside the temple, Enel spoke into the microphone again.
"What follows is the important part of what I have to present. Listen carefully. First is an image of me, Enel. Burn it into your memories."
In the sky, the images showed an unruly man with four small drums on his back, a headscarf, and a long golden staff in his hand.
After today, everyone would be plunged into endless terror under his rule.
The image changed to a bald, middle-aged swordsman holding a long blade.
"He is Priest Ohm, the priest in charge of the Ordeal of Iron, which has a survival rate of zero percent."
The image shifted again to a jolly-looking man shaped like a ball, wearing an orange hat.
"He is Priest Satori, the priest in charge of the Ordeal of Balls, which has a survival rate of ten percent."
It changed again, showing a man in a flight cap sitting cross-legged on a three-jo bird.
"He is Priest Shura, the priest in charge of the Ordeal of String, which has a survival rate of three percent."
The image changed once more, revealing a man with a spider-like hairstyle, constantly flexing and extending his arms.
"He is Priest Gedatsu, the priest in charge of the Ordeal of Swamp, which has a survival rate of fifty percent."
After that, he introduced the fifty divine soldiers.
Finally, the image settled on a handsome black-haired, black-eyed youth.
"Lastly, his name is Luo Chen. He is also a priest..."
"Finally, I have one more order to announce. Whoever defeats him can become the new priest. Now, Luo Chen, I know you're listening too. Your next order is to put down their uprising, dead or alive. Do you hear me?"
Click!
The microphone was disconnected. Enel tossed it to a subordinate, strode to the divine throne, and sprawled into it.
"God, is that really all right? Can Lord Luo Chen handle the Sky Island residents' uprising?"
A divine soldier asked Enel, sounding somewhat worried.
"Yes, it's fine. If he's dealt with that easily, then there's no need for him to be a priest. Besides, I'm very curious about his ability."
Enel picked up an apple and took a bite as he spoke.
"I think I've seen that boy named Luo Chen somewhere before."
"Yeah, me too."
"He's one of the Blue Sea People, isn't he? He doesn't have wings on his back. It seems..."
The people pondered, then slowly turned their heads toward the man standing in front of the loudspeaker.
"That's right, it's him! He's Priest Luo Chen. We can become priests if we defeat him!"
Comparing the person before them with the man in the image, they recognized Luo Chen as that priest, one of Enel's subordinates.
"Quick, capture him and take him to Enel. We can exchange him for our god."
"Right, don't let him get away! Surround him and save our god."
The Sky Island residents quickly surrounded Luo Chen. Even though Enel had demonstrated tremendous power, they had not given up on saving Gan Fall. They wanted to capture Luo Chen and exchange him for Gan Fall.
"Whew! Honestly, he's played me again."
"Then let you witness the glory of the Priest of Blood!"
Luo Chen sighed and shook his head. Then he looked at the White Sea residents surrounding him and spoke.
"Stand back! He's not someone you can defeat. Leave him to us."
McKinley shouted at the residents to get back and ordered his men to surround Luo Chen.
"Will you surrender, or do we have to capture you ourselves, Priest Luo Chen?"
McKinley spoke to him. The divine soldiers surrounding Luo Chen drew their weapons and watched him warily.
"How could I surrender without a fight? I'm a priest too, after all! Let me see what God's Guard can do!"
Luo Chen shook his head and rejected the choice outright. He beckoned to them, signaling them to attack.
"Stubborn fool! Get him! Show this priest what God's Guard can do!"
"Charge!"
The members of the White Berets took out Cloud Dials and built cloud pathways around him.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Cloud paths shot toward him. Luo Chen turned and dodged them, but before he could react further, more than ten divine soldiers attacked him with all manner of Dial weapons.
"Let me cut you in two, just like this! Slash Dial-Slash!"
A divine guard grinned viciously and slashed down at Luo Chen from above.
"Is that so? Too bad, you can't. Blood Inscription-Demon Guardian!"
Luo Chen leaned back and seized the hand holding the Slash Dial with his left. With a finger of his other hand, he touched the spot between the guard's brows. Blood-colored power flowed, leaving a rune on the man's forehead.
"Ah!"
The divine guard fell with a scream.
"Whoosh!"
"You let your guard down! Flame Dial-High-Heat Flame!"
Another divine soldier stabbed at him with a crimson shortsword. Luo Chen reacted, spun around, and kicked him in the face, sending him flying.
Bang!
The flying soldier crashed into another divine soldier charging at Luo Chen, sending them both flying.
"Damn it, keep attacking!"
McKinley gritted his teeth and ordered his men back into the fight.
"What, aren't you coming yourself? Then it's my turn to attack."
Luo Chen casually slapped the soldier charging at him away. He looked at McKinley as he spoke.
"Blood Wings-Red Storm!"
A pair of crimson fleshy wings spread from his back and beat at tremendous speed. A howling crimson storm formed behind him, engulfing everyone.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
The soldiers desperately tried to escape, but none were fast enough. They were all swept into it.
Crack!
Every cloud path was utterly destroyed by the storm.
"Damn it, we're not on the same level at all."
Captain McKinley sat slumped on the ground and pounded it with his fist as he looked at the figure walking toward him.
"Just a bunch of lackeys. Did you really think you were experts? With skills like yours, you dared to confront Enel?"
Luo Chen walked up to him and spoke indifferently.
"A bunch of ants. You really don't know your own limits!"
Looking at the crowd before him, too afraid to advance, he spoke again with disdain, paying them no heed whatsoever.
"Oh! I knew he could deal with those people, but I didn't expect it to end so quickly. Your ability is getting more and more interesting to me, Luo Chen."
On the divine throne in the temple, Enel had fully activated his Mantra and learned everything that had happened. He spoke in surprise.
"Lord Enel, you're giving him far too much credit. We could have dealt with that as well. They're just a bunch of ants."
Nearby, Priest Shura noticed Enel's surprise and admiration for Luo Chen and curled his lip.
"No, Shura, don't underestimate him. Luo Chen's strength will surprise every one of us."