Ray's frown deepened, his eyes locked on the enormous sphere of lightning descending from the heavens.
Its speed was far faster than he remembered from the original story.
Worse, there was no 80-ton golden ball for Luffy to grab.
No absurd, physics-defying rescue.
Forget whether the original plot was logical—the current Luffy didn't have the means to repeat it.
Thoughts raced through Ray's mind.
He had no choice but to gamble.
He unleashed his Observation Haki, calculating the descent against his own attack speed.
"Azure Dragon Break!"
An azure dragon, infused with all his power, shot toward the descending doom once more.
Simultaneously, he roared, "Demon Transformation!"
A giant Demon Dog appeared, now larger than ever due to his increased fusion rate.
Shoulder height: 80 meters. Body length: 150 meters.
An absolute behemoth.
To prevent the transformation from consuming his sanity, he reinforced a single, iron-clad suggestion in his mind: [Protect the Straw Hat Pirates beneath me.]
...
Far below, Luffy instinctively knew that evasion was impossible.
"Gear Third: Bone Balloon!"
He could only transform into a giant balloon once again, shielding everyone beneath him.
But an atmosphere of dread settled over the crew.
Luffy's cover only blocked the sky above.
Gaps remained on all sides.
The Bone Balloon was huge, but its elasticity prevented it from settling completely, leaving them vulnerable.
They huddled beneath it, Zoro straining to hold the rubbery skin aloft.
If that sphere of immense energy fell... just the shockwave, the energy surging from the sides, could annihilate them all.
It was a hopeless situation.
Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Chopper, and Usopp were filled with a bitter, choking frustration.
Despair mingled with regret.
If only they were stronger. If given another chance, they swore they would train twice as hard.
Robin, unlike the others, merely sighed.
Gazing at these companions she hadn't known for long, she reflected on her own life.
It had been a mess.
Aside from the Poneglyphs, these companions were the only thing that gave her a reason to live.
If they died, her own life was meaningless.
At this moment, she might as well give her all to secure even a sliver of survival for them.
With that thought, Robin unleashed her full power.
"Mil Fleurs: Net of Life!"
Tens of thousands of hands erupted, weaving into an enormous, densely-packed net that left not a single gap, enveloping everyone—Luffy included.
This was her absolute limit.
"Robin, what are you doing?!" Zoro exclaimed in shock.
Sanji rushed in front of her, frantic. "Robin-san, you'll die like this! Let me out—I'll go drain some of that thing's energy!"
Luffy was itching to roar, but he had to hold his breath or the balloon would deflate.
Zoro wanted to charge out, but reason told him it was suicide.
Racking his brain, he suddenly yelled the best possible plan.
"Everyone, lie down! Have Luffy wrap us up tightly! Robin, use your hands to stretch Luffy's skin and create a seal between us and the ground!"
Everyone immediately complied.
The earlier panic had been too sudden.
This... this was the approach with the highest survival rate.
As long as Luffy wasn't pierced and the ground didn't shatter, they had a chance.
Yet the hope was agonizingly slim.
As everyone lay down, one exception dashed out before Robin could complete the seal.
It was Chouchou.
Through his bloodline, Chouchou already knew what his master intended to do.
How could he let Ray stand in front? Thus, Chouchou roar at the approaching Raigo.
Head-on, straight up. He would stand before Ray.
The demonized Ray saw Chouchou's suicidal charge and felt a surge of anxiety.
'This dog is throwing his life away.'
But he was moved.
While his senses were still his own, Ray swiped a single giant claw.
A massive shockwave struck Chouchou, slamming him back to the ground.
In that same instant, Ray positioned his own massive body above Chouchou and the crew.
At that same moment, the Azure Dragon Break finally arrived.
After traveling 10 kilometers, its power had diminished, but the 200-meter dragon still collided head-on with Raigo.
The effect was visible: the 5-kilometer sphere shrank by a fifth.
The giant demon-dog looked up at the approaching doom without a trace of fear—only battle intent.
He layered his defenses.
One layer of Demonic Power armor. One layer of Conqueror's Haki armor. One layer of Armament armor.
Then, Ray lay down, his 150-meter-long body completely enveloping the Straw Hat Pirates.
The collision occurred.
The intense energy of Raigo clashed with Ray's armor.
One second later, the Demonic Power armor shattered.
Raigo shrank by another fifth.
A second after that, the Conqueror's Haki armor shattered.
One final second, and the armament armor shattered.
Raigo now retained only one-fifth of its original size, but Ray had no more protective measures.
He could only endure it head-on.
"ROAR!"
The remaining energy was still overwhelming.
Ray could only bet that he could withstand it... Just then, a familiar, mechanical voice rang out in his mind.
[Ding! Congratulations, host, for defeating the God of Sky Island, Enel.]
[Fusion rate increased by 0.1%. Current fusion rate: 60%.]
[Congratulations, host, for breaking through the critical value and obtaining Sesshomaru's exclusive reward: Tenseiga.]
[However, to use Tenseiga's abilities normally, you must undergo one trial.]
[Ding! Detected that the host is currently in a life-and-death crisis.]
[Host mortality rate: 1%.]
[Death risk too high.]
[Survival rate of host's companions (except Luffy): 1%.]
Although the probability of survival was high, the trial was still required.
[To ensure the smooth distribution of rewards, the Tenseiga Trial is forcibly initiated.]
[The system will forcibly transport the host and the host's companions to the trial location.]
A final voice echoed.
Ray, and the crew huddled beneath him, saw a sudden, blinding flash of white light and briefly lost consciousness.
Only Gan Fall was left behind, utterly bewildered.
He stared at the empty sky, where the descending Raigo had... vanished.
The Straw Hat Pirates... had also vanished.
He was completely, and totally, confused.
---------
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