Crackle!
The lightning long arrow burst apart and erupted, almost like teleportaion. To the naked eye, there was no time to react at all.
Yet in Shanks' Observation Haki, everything was perfectly clear. His right hand gripped Gryphon as he slashed diagonally forward, predicting the strike.
The moment he raised his hand, the blade's sword aura surged. It spread out like a massive shield and braced itself in front of him.
The lightning arrow slammed into the sword aura and forced him backward through the air.
The blocked lightning arrow flared brightly. The flashes of electricity grew faster and faster.
Shanks' gaze sharpened as Haki wrapped around his entire body.
Boom!
The lightning arrow exploded violently and expanded outward in all directions. From afar, it looked like a huge blue lightning net spreading across the sky.
The lightning born from the clash formed a massive web that wrapped around Shanks. Even so, it could not truly affect him. With powerful Haki reinforcing his body, the lightning could only cling to the surface of his skin and go no further.
He stepped forward and tore free from the lightning net.
Red Conqueror's lightning flickered along Gryphon as he aimed at the Amaru form Enel had gathered on the distant clouds and slashed several times.
Clang, clang, clang…
The sound of metal colliding rang out without pause, and the incoming lightning arrows were knocked aside. Some were sent flying at extreme speed and plunged into the sea below.
Waves dozens of meters high surged upward. Dead fish began floating across the surface of the ocean.
Under the cover of his slashes, Shanks turned into a streak of red light and charged straight at Enel.
Meanwhile, the hundred meter tall thunder giant flickered rapidly. Currents spilled outward, as if the signal of a video call had suddenly gone bad.
Crackle!
The red streak rushed in and tore the dark clouds in the sky apart the instant it passed through.
Enel's Amaru form vanished at once, as if he had teleported. In a section of the split clouds, lightning flashed again and his form rapidly reassembled.
Shanks frowned slightly. "Thunder clouds…"
The sea of clouds filling the sky was Enel's domain. Since that was the case…
Gryphon let out a soft hum. Sword aura that tore through the air flowed along the blade as Shanks spun sharply in place.
A perfect circular ring of sword aura formed around him.
There was a brief delay, a pause that lasted only a second, then it erupted.
From the sea below, the expanding ring was clearly visible as it swept the sky clean and continued to spread outward. The sword aura shredded the dark clouds and ground them into nothing.
Standing on the clouds, Enel extended both hands. Dense lightning rushed into his palms.
Across the entire sky, all the dark clouds visibly turned white. Every trace of lightning was drained away and poured into his Amaru form.
The body that was already a hundred meters tall swelled several times larger.
As the circular sword aura erased the lightning-drained white clouds and spread toward him, Enel bent his knees slightly and used the clouds beneath his feet like a springboard.
Crackle!
He vanished without a trace.
In the distance, Shanks sensed something through Observation Haki and raised his blade, slashing upward.
Crack!
A lightning pillar over a hundred meters thick split down from the depths of the sky, striking straight toward him. At the same time, the towering lightning giant followed, crashing down on him.
Gryphon erupted with overwhelming sword energy and tore straight through the giant's arm.
Enel's expression did not change. After all, it was lightning given form, not a solid body. Even with Armament Haki added, it could not withstand such power.
The lightning giant shone with blinding white light. At such close range, Shanks' eyes watered and he was forced to shut them.
Dense Armament Haki coated his skin as he drew Gryphon back to his left waist.
Boom!
A deafening roar shook the heavens and the earth.
People on the islands below clutched their ears in pain. Countless soldiers grimaced as the shockwave and tremors swept over them, like the world itself was roaring in fury.
The giant, compressed lightning pushed to its limit, was detonated directly by Enel.
It was as if a second sun rose in the sky.
Shanks took the attack head-on, yet the reformed Enel showed no joy. His face was grim.
In his perception, Shanks' magnetic field surged violently after the explosion, then vanished just as quickly.
Then the scene in the sky changed completely.
"What?!"
Cries of shock rang out everywhere. The crew on Shanks' ship finally let out a breath, while even Bullet's expression grew slightly heavier.
Rip!
In the sky, the explosion that spread like a second sun, was split cleanly in two from top to bottom by a single sword slash and fell away to the left and right.
Simultaneously, a faint tearing sound cut through the air, causing Enel's pupils to shrink sharply.
A long blade thrust straight toward his forehead. The sharp sword aura lightly pricked his skin.
Before Enel's pupils could even shrink to their limit, his body had already burst backward.
Still, the red streak of light chased him relentlessly, the outward-flowing Haki disrupting Enel's elemental form.
At this moment, Shanks' clothes were in tatters. His body was marked with multiple lightning burns. Blood seeped from his ears from the massive blast, yet his movements were not slowed at all.
Seizing the instant created by the eruption of that slash, he surged forward in pursuit. A certain guess in his mind slowly took shape.
"Is it because of the Devil Fruit ability…"
The moment the sword aura tore through the lightning storm, the violent energy interfered with Enel's magnetic field perception.
Shanks took advantage of it and closed in. Observation Haki was useless, the magnetic field was in chaos, and Enel failed to notice in time. That led directly to this situation.
The red streak drew closer and closer.
With his elemental form disrupted by the released Haki, Enel could not fully transform. He could only retreat at extreme speed and look for a chance to escape.
The gold on his right hand condensed into a short blade. His left hand brought two fingers together, lightning flickering at the tips, and stabbed toward Gryphon.
Clang!
The sword was struck by tremendous force and shifted slightly. Enel tilted his head in the opposite direction at the same time and slowed down.
Gryphon's edge grazed his cheek. Under the sharp sword aura, the wound was so deep that bone could be seen.
The golden short blade in Enel's right hand, coated with Haki and crackling with lightning, stabbed toward Shanks' chest.
Shanks' expression did not change. Thick Armament Haki covered his body as he took the hit head-on. The blade sank slightly into his chest, but Enel could not press the advantage any further.
Because the Gryphon that had just cut past Enel's cheek changed its angle and swept across horizontally.
Enel bent his neck sharply to the left, nearly ninety degrees, barely avoiding the slash. He did not even have time to pull out the golden blade before retreating.
Crack!
Enel's chest was struck hard while he retreated. The sound of ribs breaking rang out as it caved inward.
A trace of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. Simultaneously, he kicked toward Shanks.
Bang!
Their legs collided.
Using the recoil, Enel was sent flying backward and broke free from the lock of Shanks' outward Haki.
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