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A deafening roar echoed out, and the very sky began to tremble.
Beneath that single fist—the priests, who had tried to resist, were obliterated in an instant.
Only Satori's younger brothers, Hotori and Kotori, were sent flying by the shockwave, coughing up blood as they vanished into the sky.
And that was the fate of the priests. What chance did the God's Army have?
In a single moment, they, along with their Wavers, were completely shattered, their remains raining down into the white sea.
A pillar of smoke and vapor shot into the sky.
The surging power was a visible thing, rippling outward like a shockwave on the ocean.
The White Sea itself was split apart, transformed into a "pool of lightning."
Anyone who stepped through—
Were instantly annihilated.
It was a terrifying sight.
In the distance, the earth-shattering explosion sent a tremor through the very souls of all who witnessed it.
The power of a single punch—it was like divine retribution.
The priests and the God's Army, wiped out in the blink of an eye... crushed like weeds.
The people of Angel Island could only stare, their eyes wide with terror, their hearts pounding in their chests. No one could speak.
Even those who had been currying favor with "God" were now silent. Because the man before them... seemed to be a god himself.
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Jin retracted his fist, his expression calm and composed.
A dark opening split open on the side of the demonic carrier, and a powerful suction force pulled in the residual souls.
Their bodies were broken, but their souls remained.
The only one who had escaped was the priest Shura. He had been in pursuit of Gan Fall and had been out of range of the blast.
Now, he and his giant bird were frozen in mid-air, their mouths agape, a cold sweat breaking out all over their bodies.
Shura was shaking, overcome with a chilling fear.
Who is that man?? How can he be so strong??
Gan Fall and Pierre, who were fleeing from him, were also horrified.
It was unbelievable.
The powerful priests and the God's Army... annihilated with a single punch. There had been over fifty of them. Even a professional butcher has to kill them one by one.
The wind from the shockwave finally snapped Shura out of his stupor. He swallowed hard, his eyes filled with terror.
"RUN!!!!"
Without a moment's hesitation, he and his bird shot into the sky, ignoring "God's" orders, their only thought to escape.
There was no need to see any more. This man was on a completely different level. The other priests, who were stronger than him, had been taken out in an instant. What was he going to do? Serve himself up on a platter?
This was not an enemy he could face.
"STOP!" Gan Fall shouted, his senses returning. He instinctively spurred Pierre on.
Jin heard the commotion and glanced up, his gaze falling on the chase a thousand meters away.
"Another fish that slipped through the net?"
He held out his hand.
From the Munch-Munch space, he produced a 98K rifle. He pulled back the bolt, loaded a single round, and chambered it.
He raised the rifle. Iron Sights? No...
Observation Haki—Headshot!!
The "sound" of the fleeing Shura and his bird was as loud as an alarm bell in his mind, their position crystal clear.
BAAAANG!
The shot rang out.
The bullet was wrapped in Armament Haki, giving it a greater muzzle velocity, a more powerful aerodynamic profile, and a longer range.
Two seconds later, three kilometers away, Shura and his bird both cried out in agony.
The bullet, coming from below, tore through the bird's body, the spiraling Haki—a technique he called Spiral Force—shredding its insides.
Then, it exited and ripped through Shura's waist, the sheer force of the impact tearing him in two.
Man and bird plummeted from the sky, a rain of blood falling into the sea of clouds below.
The scent of blood immediately attracted a swarm of Sky Sharks, which began to churn the water in a frenzy. Even Gan Fall, watching from a distance, had to look away.
He glanced back at the man on the island, his heart pounding. This man was... something else.
Even stronger than "God" Enel.
It was a gut feeling.
Perhaps... perhaps he could rely on him to drive Enel out.
Jin lowered the rifle and gave a small "V" sign with his fingers.
With his current strength, dealing with these soldiers was complete overkill. They were as fragile as glass.
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The sky rumbled, and storm clouds began to gather.
Enel had "heard" the voices of his priests and soldiers. And in a single instant, they had all been silenced.
"Their voices... are gone?? What a bunch of useless fools!" he said, a mixture of surprise and anger in his voice.
He wasn't angry that his loyal followers were dead. He didn't care about them.
He was angry at their incompetence.
He was angry that someone had dared to challenge him, to defy his divine wrath.
It was a rejection of his rule, of his very existence.
But... his opponent was undeniably strong.
"A bunch of mortals, good for nothing but slaughtering the weak. And now I have to deal with them myself. Losers have no right to continue following their God!"
Even if Jin hadn't killed Shura, if he had returned, he would have been executed by the enraged Enel for his failure.
"But, in recognition of your long service," Enel said, his voice dripping with condescension, "I will kill this man for you. The majesty of God is not to be trifled with!"
He stood up and glanced toward the entrance.
CRASH!
The door to the shrine was blasted open, and a massive hole appeared in the wall.
"And now a bunch of little insects have found their way in."
A vein throbbed on Enel's forehead.
A group of Shandia warriors—Wyper, Kamakiri, Braham, Genbo, and Raki—charged in.
With the priests and the God's Army gone, the defenses of Upper Yard had been left wide open.
And with Enel's attention focused on Angel Island, and the Shandia's ability to disrupt his Mantra by creating other sounds, Wyper and his group had managed to reach the shrine.
The battle to overthrow "God" had begun.
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