Chapter 172: Heaven-Destroying, Earth-Shattering Raigo!
[You have withstood the impact of a Conqueror's Haki. A judgment is in progress. You have passed the judgment.]
…
A flood of similar notifications scrolled past Kaito Shirogane's eyes.
Donquixote Doflamingo's Conqueror's Haki had swept over a terrifying area of more than twenty nautical miles. Everyone caught in its tide was pale, and the Marines, pirates, and civilians of the early Grand Line, completely unable to withstand such a terrifying spiritual assault, were collapsing one after another, unconscious.
On Kaito's stolen warship, the only two left standing were himself and the trembling Captain Hina.
In the sky, Enel, his body wreathed in lightning, held his arms in front of him. For the first time, he felt a heart-stopping, terrifying impact. It was as if a horrifying beast was roaring in his spirit, trying to tear him apart with its sheer will.
Enel's expression was grim. The crimson-black Conqueror's Haki was crashing against him, and he could feel a sharp, stinging pain on his skin.
"What is this power…?" he hissed. "How can it affect my invincible body from a distance?"
Enel had never encountered Conqueror's Haki. He only knew that in the second half of the Grand Line, there were many masters of Armament Haki, who could bypass Devil Fruit abilities and touch the true bodies of Logia users. But this… this garishly dressed man was attacking him from afar?
Doflamingo, his arms spread wide, his fingers hooked, had attached his invisible strings to the clouds, holding himself in the air to avoid falling into the sea. He was not in good shape. His skin was covered in black scorch marks, his forehead was bleeding, and he could smell the stench of his own burning flesh.
"To think such a Devil Fruit ability actually exists…" he laughed, "Fuffuffuffu… even I'm a little jealous."
He clutched his head, his body slowly rising on the invisible threads, until he was level with Enel. Doflamingo was a giant, over three meters tall, but he had a habit of hunching over, which only made him seem more menacing.
Enel, seeing this man rise to his eye-level, his face immediately darkened. He spoke, and the sky rumbled with thunder. "Who gave you, a mortal, permission to look at a God?!"
The next moment, lightning crackled around him. Doflamingo's body instantly shot upwards, dodging.
CRACKLE!
A massive sphere of lightning, a hundred meters in diameter, exploded where he had just been. But Doflamingo, using his own Observation Haki, had already evaded.
BZZT!
A flash of electricity. Enel vanished and instantly re-formed behind Doflamingo as a bolt of lightning, his hand already reaching out. This was the same move that had grievously wounded him just moments before.
"Sixty Million Volts. El Thor."
Enel's eyes were half-closed. The terrifying current was about to be unleashed.
But Doflamingo just grinned. His body flipped in mid-air, and his Conqueror's Haki exploded outwards once more.
VMMMM!
Enel's mind was assaulted, and his attack faltered for a fraction of a second. In that instant, Doflamingo's left hand snapped up, and a torrent of strings shot out.
Overheat!
Slice!
Enel's body dissolved into electricity, completely ignoring the attack that could cleave the earth. Doflamingo, at the same time, coated his entire body in Armament Haki and kicked at the space behind him.
BZZT!
Enel, who had just been re-forming, once again dissolved into lightning and flew upwards.
Doflamingo frowned. This guy isn't one of those idiots who just relies on his passive Logia defenses…
He was beginning to realize that this Logia user was a terrifying opponent. He knew to actively use his elemental form to dodge Haki-infused attacks. And…
Enel sat cross-legged in the air, a hundred meters away, his composure restored. He was certain of his victory.
"And my Mantra is superior to your Observation Haki. Yahahahaha!"
Enel laughed. On any other day, Doflamingo would have dismissed him as a fool. But now, his expression was dark. A mind-reading Observation Haki, combined with a Logia-user who had mastered his elemental form... that was a difficult combination. And his Devil Fruit was, without a doubt, one of the most powerful Logia fruits in existence.
Enel sat in the sky, looking down on this "Warlord of the Sea" who, in his eyes, was nothing special. He was filled with a sense of supreme satisfaction. He felt that the people of the Blue Sea just hadn't seen his true power. What were these "Four Emperors," "Three Admirals," and "Seven Warlords"?
He was God.
Enel spread his arms. Electrical particles began to flash in the air. Doflamingo's expression changed. He looked back, and saw that the blue-white particles were flashing for miles, even tens of nautical miles away.
"Hey, hey…" A drop of cold sweat ran down his forehead. His heart seized. This guy's attack… it can't be covering that entire range, can it?
At the same time, on the deck of the warship, Kaito also felt the strange static in the air. His skin tingled, and the hair on his arms stood on end. The air around him was now filled with tiny, flashing arcs of electricity.
Hina's heart sank, her face as pale as paper. She lunged for the helm, forgetting Kaito, forgetting her pain. But her [Luck] was now at rock bottom. She tripped and fell, smashing her face on the door.
WHOOSH!
In her despair, Kaito appeared in the cabin like a phantom, pushed the unconscious sailors aside, and, closing his eyes, he yanked the ship's wheel, spinning it like a top. At a time like this, with my luck, whatever I do, it has to be the right choice!
CRACKLE!
First came the soft hiss. The sky lit up. Then, the world-shattering BOOM arrived.
"AAAAH!"
Amidst Hina's terrified screams, the entire sea area, for dozens of nautical miles, was instantly transformed into an ocean of pure lightning. Countless thunderbolts rained down, striking from all directions, as orbs of ball lightning exploded everywhere. It was an attack that had completely annihilated dozens of square miles of ocean.
A massive cloud of white steam and the foul stench of ozone rose from the sea. The ensuing shockwave, a hurricane-force wind, slammed into the warship, pushing it violently in a new direction.
Kaito stepped out onto the deck. He saw that the sky above was now a "lid." The air and sea within a radius of dozens of miles had been electrolyzed. The clouds had vanished, reformed into a single, massive, black thundercloud that was now gathering above Enel.
And the great [Doflamingo], the [Heavenly Yaksha], his body charred black, was falling from the sky.
Hina, on the deck, was trembling uncontrollably. She looked at the back half of her ship, which was now blackened and on fire. Several sailors who had been on the deck were now just carbonized statues. The helplessness and fear shattered her psyche. Enel hadn't even attacked them. A mere after-effect of his attack had almost annihilated her, a Marine Captain, and her entire crew.
The other seven warships were gone. Rear Admiral Robert, with his famed strength, the G-47's vanguard with their famed marksmanship… all of them had been erased from the world.
"Monster…"
She had always known the monsters of the sea were terrifying. But this was the first time she had ever faced a "natural disaster" of this magnitude. And this one time had been enough to completely destroy her will.
"Ha… haha… HAHAHAHA!"
Hina stiffly turned her head. She saw the black-haired, fierce-looking man, standing at the cabin door, looking at the "spectacle" on the ocean, and laughing. His eyes were wide, as if he had been completely captivated by Enel's power. But he wasn't afraid.
He was… greedy.
Kaito clutched his own chest. His heart was pounding with such intensity that even his [Logic] mimicry couldn't suppress it. This was it. This was the personal power of a natural disaster. This was the world he had wanted to see.
This is wonderful. This is fantastic! This is the future I've been craving!
At this moment, Kaito felt that his previous life had been as dry and boring as straw. Only this world, only this life, only this power… was what he had been looking for. His body began to swell, and the deck beneath his feet cracked as an intense force radiated from him.
Hina, seeing this, suddenly felt a new, even more dangerous aura. In her eyes, Kaito was no longer a reef. He was the Red Line itself. He was a terrifying, giant Sea King, his crimson maw open, ready to devour everything.
BAM! BAM!
Kaito kicked the unconscious sailors, his power controlled, the force of the blows sending them flying but not killing them. "Get up and sail this ship! Let's go find that treasure, and then we can find an even more exciting slaughter!"
His voice was ecstatic. Hina, still clutching her neck, felt the memory of his grip return. She looked at the ocean. She no longer had the courage to jump. She looked at the newly-awakened sailors, and her head dropped.
"Just… cooperate with him," she said, her voice lifeless. At the very least, leaving Enel's territory was a good thing. Compared to the madman in front of her, Enel was, in her eyes, a true, evil god.
The Marine warship, which was faster than a normal pirate vessel, and now enhanced by Kaito's milestone, quickly fled the area, heading for the former island of Jaya. The area was only a few nautical miles from Mock Town. Outside the town, a large number of pirate ships were anchored. They saw the Marine warship, but did not attack, nor did they flee.
Kaito knew they were all here for [El Dorado].
Enel's strength had far exceeded his expectations. He had originally, based on the manga, assumed that any Haki master could pose a threat to him. He had not expected him to defeat Doflamingo so easily. Clearly, in this world's timeline, Enel had not been defeated on the sky island. He had succeeded in using [Raigo] to destroy it, and in the process, his own power and his mastery of his fruit had grown even stronger.
But that's fine, Enel, Kaito thought. The news is out. This sea has plenty of entertainment for you.
"Captain Hina! We've arrived at the coordinates on the map!"
Kaito's spirit lifted. With his [Luck] this high, he had a feeling that the treasure would not be a disappointment.