Three hours passed by since their departure from 'Cloudia.' With the booming noises continuously heard from the bottom of Prominence, Rowan and his crew sailed through the clouds and enjoyed the fascinating views that the sky brought upon them. In comparison to their travel by the sea clouds previously, the speed was notably slower.
"Finally, I see a large sky island just ahead of us." Dan said with a sense of excitement within his voice as he looked through the binoculars.
"Come on, let me see as well!" Cavendish interfered childishly, attempting to get a good view of the island himself by snatching the binoculars from Dan's hands.
Alfred and Farul too gathered in front of the figurehead, curious as to what the large sky island would look like. However,
"Rowan." Carina spoke up solemnly as her reddened eyes—indicating the use of Observation Haki—were locked in a particular direction.
Rowan smiled, "I know. He's not a threat though."
With Rowan's words being a cue, a peculiar sight of an old-aged man in knight's armour riding on a winged horse-like creature, who were flying towards them, came into the view.
"Huh?" Carmen raised her eyebrow as her right hand lit up in flame, ready to combat any time.
Immediately after, others followed suit as Dan and Alfred lowered their stances, Cavendish unsheathed his sword, Robin crossed her arms together, and Farul's muscles clenched.
However, Rowan raised his hand up to stop his crew members' cautiousness, as his smile turned into a grin with a visible interest on his face.
"Unbelievable." Upon approaching Prominence, the old knight stated with widened eyes, "For my whole life, I've never seen ones like you who arrived to a sky island on a flying ship."
"Neigh~!!" Farul's expression turned into that of a surprise as he too sighted the horse-like creature, before he slowly walked up to the side of the Prominence where the old knight and the creature were flying along.
"Eeeee~!!" The creature responded with a cry of his own, as he turned his face and stared at Farul with his half-lidded eyes.
Rowan chuckled as he crossed his arms, "Seems like Farul took a liking to your horse."
"Oh," The old knight exclaimed, "Pierre's not a horse though. He's a bird who ate Horse Horse fruit."
"Neigh~?!!" Farul's jaw dropped open in a shock and his eyes popped out comically upon hearing the old knight's words.
"It's okay, Farul." Dan ruffled Farul's mane with a smile, "You just have to eat Bird Bird fruit, and you will be the same as him."
"Hm..." The old knight seemed to have something to ask for.
Rowan figured it out himself, "Feel free to land."
"Yes, thank you." The old knight's face brightened as he and Pierre landed in the middle of the deck, with Rowan and his crew surrounding the knight.
Getting himself off of Pierre, who morphed back to a giant bird-like form, the old knight cleared his throat before speaking up, "Fellow pirates from the blue sea, it is nice to meet you. I, Gan Fall, the knight of the sky, simply stopped by due to how amazed I was of your vessel. I thank you again for your hospitality."
"Well, parking on our ship doesn't come for free." Rowan said with a mischievous grin, "We would like you to pay us back with some information that we need."
Gan Fall nodded in agreement, "That is fine with me."
Hearing Gan Fall's consent, Carina spoke up in curiosity, "Where are we?"
Gan Fall tilted his head in confusion, "Oh, you weren't aware of where you are heading to? How did you reach here in the first place?"
Carina grew a tick mark on her forehead as she forced a smile, "Just answer the question, will you?"
"Hm, the sky island in front of you is known as Skypiea. It is mainly composed of two sections: the mass of island clouds that Skypieans reside within, and the Upper Yard, which consists of miraculous Vearth that was knocked up from the blue sea hundreds of years ago. Within the Upper Yard, the Shandorians, the natives of the land, and-" Gan Fall was interrupted mid-way by Cavendish, who yawned loudly.
Cavendish was about to complain of Gan Fall's endless description, but was quickly shut down by Dan, who smacked his back with a sense of urgency. As Cavendish fell on the floor with part of his head swollen in a comical manner, Dan turned back to Gan Fall with sparkling eyes and his hands clenched onto his notebook and pen.
"I simply asked where we are..." Carina muttered to herself with a sweatdrop as Gan Fall and Dan immersed themselves into their own world.
"Captain Rowan," From the side, Alfred spoke up, "We've crossed the boundary of Skypiea."
"Yes-" Rowan responded to Alfred, before he froze on his spot all of a sudden.
"What's wrong Rowan?" Carina asked with intrigue.
"…Who are you?" Rowan spoke up with a slight seriousness in his tone.
"Well," A casual voice was heard out of nowhere as the cracking sound of lightning resounded on Prominence, causing the rest of the Grimheart pirates to jump back in surprise. For some reason, their Observation Haki, except for Rowan, wasn't fast enough to detect the foreigner.
"I am god." The man said with an amused expression.
"E-Enel...!" Gan Fall's eyes widened as his eyes landed on the man who was sitting down at the edge of the rail.
"Crackling sound, along with an incredible speed to reach the flying ship within a second... lightning?!" Dan narrowed his eyes as he placed his notebook and pen into his pocket.
"Lightning?" Rowan said in an amused tone, before breaking into a chuckle, "Are you sure? This dude was too slow for lightning."
"Hm?" Enel raised his eyebrow upon hearing Rowan's claim, before his expression morphed into that of irritation, "You dare to mock god? Courting death!"
Enel lifted up his finger from his left hand, as its tip began to light up and crackle in blue-coloured lightning.
Rowan stared at Enel's attack impassively.
"Five Million Volts: Vari (Electrical Discharge)." With Enel's casual voice, the lightning shot towards Rowan, as Gan Fall's face turned ugly in anger. However, unexpected to them,
*Swoosh* The bolt of lightning missed Rowan and penetrated his afterimage instead, inducing Enel's surprise.
"Well, that's easy." Rowan was seen to be sitting on Enel's right, on top of the rail with his hands behind his head in a casual manner. He turned his blindfolded face to Enel with a grin, before speaking up to his crew, "Go to Skypiea without me. Will catch up to y'all soon."
Carina saluted with a relaxed smile, "Aye aye captain!"
"Just how..." Gan Fall whispered in complete shock, as he couldn't believe that Rowan managed to dodge the lightning, which forced the whole Skypieans to their knees.
With Rowan's prolonged confidence, Enel felt his irritation rising gradually. He opened his mouth, about to speak, however,
he found himself chocking with Rowan grabbing him by the neck at the next moment.
Enel's eyes widened, and immediately after, Rowan and Enel vanished from Prominence.
*BOOOOOOOOOM*
The exploding noise of Rowan's bounce force rumbled throughout the whole sky, causing the Grimheart pirates, with the exception of Robin, to chuckle and turn their head back to Skypiea, free of concern.
"Aren't you worried of your captain?" Gan Fall asked in a mix of worry and curiosity, "His opponent is Enel, the god of Skypiea with absolute control over the lightning itself. His absurd strength was proven a long time ago, when he alone destroyed the whole civilization of Birka!"
"Look, mister knight." Dan turned to Gan Fall with a smile, "When our captain says that he will handle the matter himself, it's over."
________________
"*Cough* *Cough*" Upon crashing into the nearby cloud, Enel coughed with his hands on top of his bruised neck, as he raised his eyes upon Rowan, who stood in midair by continuously using the minuscule bounce forces on the sole of his feet.
"Y-you... *Cough*" Enel gritted his teeth in a cold sweat. Previously, Rowan's strike was fast beyond belief, to an extent where Enel didn't have time to react even with mantra at his hand.
Rowan shrugged with an excited grin. Over some time of experience, he deduced that the enhancement of his eyes brought him an absolute observation of the surrounding; not only was he able to sight and observe any feature at an exquisite detail, but his reflex too seemed to have increased by quite a good amount. And the prowess that he showcased just now, that's what he is capable of with a blindfold on his face.
"No matter. I don't know how you managed to touch me, but," Enel stood up on the cloud he landed upon, as the blue lightning began to dance around him, "that shall be the only hit you ever land."
Enel had a full confidence in his strength. With his ability to maneuver lightning and attain premonition through mantra, he was invincible. Enel raised his arm with his palm pointing towards Rowan, as the crackling energy of lightning began to cluster.
'When I strike... he will dodge by dashing towards my right. If so...' Enel utilized mantra, or Observation Haki, to read Rowan's intent before unleashing his attack, "Thirty Million Volt...
El Thor (God's Judgement)!!"
*PAZZZZZZ*
The nearby air shook and crackled as the lightning was blasted off of Enel's palm, flying towards Rowan. Enel grinned as the lightning, right before reaching Rowan, suddenly made a turn to right, towards the location where he predicted Rowan to move to.
However, to his disbelief, Rowan simply stood on the same spot without any sign of movement. He simply stared at Enel with an amused chuckle.
"H-how?!!" Enel's jaw dropped comically as he turned his head back and forth between Rowan and the location he shot his lightning towards.
Rowan ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head in laughter, not bothering himself to answer Enel's inquiry. There was only one possible explanation to account for Enel's miscalculation: Rowan's Observation Haki was simply superior to Enel's.
"That was quite disappointing," Rowan spoke up as he cracked his knuckles, before bending his knees slightly, "Talk about pride. Still not going all out, huh."
Enel, with his mantra having sensed an upcoming danger, quickly tapped two of the drums on his back with his staff, "Sixty Million Volt, Jamboule (Thunder Dragon)!!"
The lightning, which took up the shape of a dragon, soared towards Rowan with a loud crackling sound. However, by the time the overwhelming lightning reached the spot, Rowan was long gone.
*Swoosh* Enel gritted and transformed his body into lightning upon sighting Rowan, who appeared out of thin air in front of him. Rowan's feet momentarily landed on the cloud Enel was previously standing on, before propelling him towards Enel at a blindingly fast speed.
"Three Hit, Sonic Rush."
Enel felt the whole world around him explode at an inconceivable speed, as Rowan flickered all around him at a speed faster than a sound, and bombarded him with countless number of punches, where each punch contained three consecutive bounces.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
The speed of Rowan's technique was so quick that his punch barrage was heard as one delayed and large booming sound. As Rowan ceased smashing Enel, the latter was sent flying while bleeding all over his body.
From what Rowan judged Enel was very similar to Carmen, with both of them heavily relying on their fruits. Enel's speed was incredible, and his Observational Haki seemed to be enhanced through the combination with his devil fruit ability. However, that synergy fell short when Rowan realized how slow Enel's reflex was. Simply put, Rowan wasn't dodging the lightning itself, but Enel's intents.
"Compared to Crocodile, this guy... quite underwhelming." Rowan said to himself as Enel stood up from the island cloud he was standing atop of, with his arms broken and many purple-coloured bruises and bleeding wounds across his whole body. "Unlike solid matters such as sand, something as eccentric as lightning... and Carmen's fire, they can't be imbued with Armament Haki. I see the pros and cons there."
While Rowan momentarily paused in thought, Enel finally recognized the severity of the problem as he attempted to calm his breath.
"*Huff* *Huff*" Enel's body shook in agony as his eyes locked onto Rowan with a hint of fear, "Just... what... *Cough* is going on...? I... I'm god! How can I be losing?!!"
"God?" Rowan said with mockery in his tone. He reminded himself of the time before he was reincarnated into this world, when he met a white-orb-like being, "God is the last thing you ever will be."