Shura had originally planned to wait for the other Priests to arrive. But now, unable to restrain himself under everyone's gaze, he spurred his bird steed forward in a blazing charge toward Buggy's group.
Buggy didn't move. Instead, he turned to Lafitte.
"Lafitte, deal with him. Watch out for his flames—he's using Flame Dials. And… keep him alive."
Shura's flight made him troublesome for most of the crew, but for Lafitte, this was nothing. With his wings and swordsmanship, he was the perfect counter. Still, Buggy warned him to be cautious. He had his reasons for sparing Shura and the others.
"Yes, Captain," Lafitte replied smoothly.
With a graceful leap, he sprouted a pair of enormous golden wings and soared into the air, colliding with Shura mid-flight.
At the very first clash, Shura nearly toppled from his mount. The sheer power behind Lafitte's strike—and the gleam of those golden wings—wiped the arrogance from his face.
A Devil Fruit user… and a swordsman of this caliber?
Shura's smirk hardened into a grim line. He summoned flames from both his spear and his bird, unleashing waves of fire at Lafitte.
But Lafitte danced through the air, weaving past the blazing torrents with unsettling elegance. He pressed the assault, each exchange forcing Shura back, their battle climbing higher into the skies.
It was then that reinforcements arrived.
From one direction thundered a hulking white hound, bearing a tall, bald man with narrow sunglasses and a massive sword taller than a man: Ohm, Priest of the Trial of Iron.
From another came a bizarre, rotund figure who looked like a living sphere, balanced atop a floating white orb: Satori, Priest of the Trial of Orbs.
From the last swept a towering man with wind whipping around his body, hair tied in thick braids jutting upward, his appearance as strange as his movements: Gedatsu, Priest of the Trial of Swamp.
The Four Priests were now assembled.
They glanced up at the sky, where Lafitte was forcing Shura back, and their expressions darkened. That Shura—who should have dominated the air—was being overwhelmed was proof enough of their enemies' strength. And if a single man could suppress him, then the rest of Buggy's crew were no less dangerous.
Buggy gave his next orders calmly: "Take them down. Leave them alive."
Immediately, his men moved.
Shiryu strode forward, his gaze locked on Ohm. Two swordsmen—this was fate. Their blades clashed, but the difference was vast. Ohm's skill was respectable, yet against a true swordmaster like Shiryu, he was utterly outclassed. Had Shiryu not held back, Ohm would have fallen in the very first strike.
Weevil crashed into Gedatsu. The Priest's Wind Dials whipped up gales and turbulence, but they were nothing before Weevil's raw power. Each swing of his guandao threatened to split Gedatsu in two. Only Buggy's command to spare lives kept him breathing.
Kuro and Daddy Masterson faced Satori. The rotund Priest's Mantra—Sky Island's version of Kenbunshoku Haki—let him dodge Kuro's attacks with unnerving ease. But Daddy, armed with both Kenbunshoku and Busoshoku Haki, kept him under relentless sniper fire. Each bullet forced Satori into desperate contortions, leaving openings for Kuro's claws. Slowly, inevitably, the pressure overwhelmed him.
High above, Lafitte's duel with Shura reached its conclusion. With a flash of steel, Lafitte struck him from the skies. Shura and his flaming bird plummeted, crashing to the ground.
One by one, the others followed.
Ohm and his giant hound collapsed under Shiryu's blade, both cut down and bleeding heavily.
Gedatsu, battered and broken, could no longer rise after Weevil's brutal strikes.
Finally, Satori, wounded by a bullet in the leg, failed to dodge Kuro's finishing blow and was dragged down as well.
The once-feared Four Priests were dragged before Buggy. Their proud, arrogant expressions were gone, replaced by terror and despair. Their bodies were marred with cuts, bruises, and blood, their forms battered and broken.
Buggy stood over them, cold and commanding.
"Now… call your god. Tell Enel to come here."
The Priests flinched at his words. For a moment, they looked terrified. But then faint glimmers of hope flickered in their eyes. To them, Enel was invincible.
With trembling hands, Satori pulled a Den Den Mushi from his robes. Slowly, he began to dial, summoning their "god.