"Thunder Breathing, Second Form: Rice Spirit!"
With Mike's low shout, his blade became a blur.
Five slashes as fast as meteors tore through the space between him and Enel.
The pale-blue energy of the sword strikes was coated in the inky black of Armament Haki, radiating an aura of pure, merciless destruction.
The lightning still dancing in the air was instantly sucked into the attack, turning the five slashes into crackling streaks of raw power.
Like five lightning bolts shot from a cannon, they surged towards the "god" hovering arrogantly in the sky.
"Yahahaha!" Enel just watched them come, a scornful grin plastered on his face.
'Lightning slashes?' he thought, his eyes filled with disdain.
'I am the Thunder God! This idiot is trying to fight me with my own element? It's like he's offering me a free recharge!
"Yahahaha! Playing with lightning in front of a god?" he boomed, spreading his arms wide to welcome the attack.
"How fooli—"
He never got to finish his word.
—Schlick—
The sound of tearing flesh echoed through the sky.
A spray of crimson blood erupted from Enel's body.
The five lightning-infused slashes slammed into him, each one leaving a deep, gruesome gash.
"What…?"
Enel's body trembled violently, his eyes bulging in sheer, unadulterated shock.
His mind simply broke.
'I'm… I'm bleeding? How? I'm supposed to be immune to physical attacks!'
For years, he had rampaged across Skypiea, and not a single person had ever been able to lay a scratch on him.
Here, he was invincible!
It was impossible…
"Why… why can your slash hurt me?!" Enel roared, his voice cracking with disbelief.
"This can't be happening! This is impossible!"
....
On Angel Island below, a tidal wave of gasps swept through the crowd.
"Oh my god…"
"The God… he's been wounded!"
"How is that possible? He's actually bleeding!"
These hushed, frantic whispers filled the air.
A young Skypiean murmured to himself with a tiny flicker of hope in his voice.
"Could it be… could Enel's reign… finally be over?"
For six long years, they had lived under his thumb.
Before him, their god was Gan Fall, a kind ruler who loved his people.
But Enel had changed everything.
He ruled through fear, striking down anyone who disobeyed with his divine lightning.
And now, for the first time, their tyrant was bleeding.
It felt like a sign.
A spark of hope that long since extinguished, began to rekindle in the hearts of the Skypiean people.
'Maybe… maybe this young man from the Blue Sea can actually defeat him. Maybe he can restore peace to our home.'
The thought spread like wildfire through their minds.
They bowed their heads, and a silent, unified prayer rose from the island.
'Please… let him win.'
They knew Enel's Mantra could hear their every thought, their every hope.
But in this moment, they didn't care.
They didn't hide their feelings.
Every single gaze was fixed on Mike.
His figure stood tall and unshakable, a single beam of light piercing through the years of darkness.
For the first time in a long time, the skies of Skypiea no longer felt so suffocating.
Kuzan, watching from the side, let out a low sigh.
He slowly raised a hand to his chest, feeling the steady beat of his own heart, a heart that now pulsed in sync with the will of the people.
'Just how far can you go, kid'? he wondered.
'I really want to see this through.'
....
Up in the sky, Enel's breathing grew ragged, but a crazed, desperate grin stretched across his face.
"I see! It's all just a cheap trick!" he screamed, ignoring the blood dripping down his chest.
"I am invincible! Watch me shatter your illusions!"
He tried to summon the power of lightning once more.
"Hmph—" Mike's eyes turned as cold as the abyss.
In that instant, a terrifying wave of Conqueror's Haki erupted from him like a tsunami.
The sheer, overwhelming pressure slammed down on everything, making the very air feel thick and heavy.
Enel felt like he was being crushed from all sides.
"No... I..." he choked out, a flicker of genuine fear in his eyes as his body was forced to bow down.
He struggled to stay airborne but couldn't fight the crushing pressure.
With a strangled cry, he crashed heavily to the ground.
He tried to push himself up with his golden staff, his vision swimming.
—Whoosh—
Mike vanished from the sky.
The next moment, a pitch-black, Haki-coated fist smashed squarely into Enel's face.
"—Crunch—"
The sound of shattering teeth echoed across the island.
Enel's eyes rolled back into his head, and his body went limp like a ragdoll, collapsing in a heap as his golden staff clattered to the ground beside him.
The one-two punch of overwhelming Haki and a devastating physical blow had knocked him out cold.
Mike calmly retracted his fist, his movements smooth and unhurried.
He casually lit a cigar and blew out a slow puff of smoke.
With steady footsteps, Smoker walked over, pulled out a pair of Sea-Prism Stone handcuffs, and firmly snapped them onto Enel's wrists.
"What should we do with this guy?" he asked.
"Once he wakes up, let the people of Skypiea judge him," Mike replied, taking another drag from his cigar.
"Just don't kill him."
It was the promise he'd made to Conis.
"After they're done, I need to have a little chat with him about Fish-Man Island."
Just then, Conis approached them, her cheeks flushed a deep red.
She fidgeted nervously with her hands.
"Mike..." she said softly, her voice barely a whisper.
"Someone… someone wants to see you."
An aged, dignified voice spoke from behind her.
"May I ask, sir…"
Mike turned to see an old man with a knight's bearing.
It was Gan Fall, the former god of Skypiea.
"Now that you have done this," Gan Fall asked, his eyes filled with a heavy hope.
"What path will the future of Skypiea take?"