Sure enough, they didn't wait long.
A world-dominating aura suddenly filled the entire space.
The azure lightning that had appeared in the sky due to Enel, as if encountering something terrifying, vanished instantly. Then, streaks of massive red lightning, resembling divine dragons, appeared in the sky. They roared with thunderous sounds, as if the gods were enraged.
"You... what did you say?"
As Kong Tai spoke, starlight flowed in his eyes, vast and immense like a true starry sky.
He stared at Enel, opening his mouth and coldly stating, "Who do you think you are? Even now, you dare to negotiate with me?"
"I..."
Enel looked up at Kong Tai's cold, colossal eyes. The overwhelming pressure struck him, causing him to unconsciously retreat again and again.
Only when his feet touched the ground did he finally let out a sigh of relief.
As he stood there, unsure of what to say, Kong Tai's voice echoed once more.
"Hahaha!!"
"But it's my good mood today! I can give you a chance."
"Yes!"
Enel quickly looked up at the giant in the sky, his eyes filled with the hope of survival.
Sometimes, to make someone go all out, one truly had to give them hope. Otherwise, if death was inevitable, why would they fight at all?
They might as well lie down and accept their fate.
Kong Tai withdrew his gaze, tilted his head back, and took a swig of wine, laughing heartily, "As long as you can truly defeat Kuina, I will let you leave here."
"My word is my bond."
"What do you think?"
Kong Tai didn't answer. Instead, he lowered his head and stared at Enel.
Enel gazed at Kong Tai for a moment, then looked away, a look of unprecedented seriousness in his eyes.
There was no need for a powerful individual like Kong Tai to lie to him.
So...
He turned his head, fixated on Kuina in the distance, and a sky-high aura surged from him.
As long as he defeated the woman opposite him, he could leave this place.
Once he was out, he believed that with his speed, he could surely escape the clutches of the man above.
Therefore, this battle, he could only win, not lose.
His current state was completely different from his original self. Facing Kuina now, he was at his absolute peak.
The two were separated by thousands of meters of vast space. It was as if they could truly see into each other's eyes, and invisible lightning clashed between their gazes.
*Crack—!*
This sound reverberated in everyone's hearts.
"Do you know why I am called 'God'?"
Enel stared at Kuina, spreading his hands upwards. In his palms, a trace of azure lightning flickered and shifted.
Without waiting for an answer, he answered himself.
"Of course, it's because I possess the power that only gods can wield!"
As he spoke, he clenched his hands as if holding a weapon. Azure lightning continuously erupted from the cracks between his fingers. Then, all over his body, beneath him, and around him, countless azure lightning bolts spread out like a spiderweb.
With a rumbling sound, the lightning filled the sky, a shocking sight to behold.
"God's Judgment!"
Suddenly, a thick bolt of lightning shot up from the electromagnetic field formed by Enel's lightning. It curved and plummeted directly towards Kuina's position.
Lightning was already too fast for the naked eye to see.
But...
Red light flashed in Kuina's eyes. The surroundings seemed to freeze. She tightened her grip on her right hand, which was resting on Wado Ichimonji.
*Shing—!*
The sword's hum, like the chirping of cicadas in June, could be clearly heard no matter where you hid.
*Puff—!*
The blade, entwined with Armament Haki, easily sliced through the lightning column.
Kuina twirled her sword with her right hand, ignoring the burning ground around her, and looked down at Enel in the distance.
She stepped back with her right foot, her body angled towards Enel, raising her sword before her eyes. Then, gripping the sword with both hands, her gaze sharpened. A towering aura of sharpness filled her surroundings, whipping up a gale that bent all the flames, recently ignited by the lightning, to their knees.
"This girl, if not for the limitations of her physique, her strength would likely be another level higher!"
Kong Tai put down his wine gourd, a hint of a smile flashing in his eyes as he looked at Kuina. Then, he turned his gaze to Enel, a strange smile gracing his lips.
Out there, this guy could still tangle with Kuina using his speed. Even if he couldn't win, he could escape. Apart from him, probably no one could stop him.
But here, he couldn't even run, and his battle was confined to the area of the circular platform in the center.
This battle, if Enel only possessed the strength he displayed in the original story, was destined for his defeat.
"One Sword Style: God Slash!"
The wind around Kuina suddenly subsided. A cold gleam of a sword flashed, and a massive, silver-gray crescent-shaped slash, as if traversing space, tore through the air, appearing instantly before Enel.
On the ground of the circular platform in the center, a bottomless chasm was left behind.
"Slow! Too slow."
Enel's face flickered with the light of the incoming slash. He stared at the attack, a hint of disdain in his eyes.
Although this attack was powerful, so powerful that he dared not receive it lightly, for his exaggerated Observation Haki, evading it would be effortless.
In a thought, his body instantly transformed into lightning.
With a *pfft* sound, the slash cut through the lightning and continued towards his back. However, the severed lightning immediately reconnected, revealing Enel's unharmed body.
"Huh!"
Enel, having just reappeared, suddenly felt every hair on his body stand on end as if stimulated.
"Danger!"
He stared at Kuina, who had suddenly appeared before him. His mind reeling, he attempted to elementalize once more.
However...
"Tsubame Gaeshi!"
Three streaks of sword light, as if traversing the river of time, were so fast that he couldn't even elementalize. In an instant, they struck him.
With a *pfft* sound, blood splattered.
Fortunately, Kuina's Armament Haki wasn't very strong and hadn't surpassed his Devil Fruit ability development, so the damage to him wasn't significant.
Then, before he could even sigh in relief, the slashes that had passed through his body, with even greater speed, returned like swallows returning to their nests.
Another piercing cutting sound echoed.
Kuina twirled her sword with her right hand and swung it downwards, leaving a vertical, glaring, blood-red "I" on the ground to her right.
"What did you say?"
Only then did she look up, gazing at Enel, who was clutching his wound and retreating, and utter the first words of their battle in a cold tone.
Did this guy really think she couldn't wound him?
She vaguely recalled the sand crocodile, the guy named Crocodile, who was in a similar state when facing her at first.
These Logia-type users all seemed to possess a bizarre confidence in their Devil Fruit abilities, as if they were inherently invincible.
"Ridiculous."