"Huh? Enel-sama!"
All of Enel's followers stared in shock as their god, Enel, was sent flying. Their eyes widened in disbelief.
Wyper, too, was left speechless, completely shocked by what he had just witnessed.
"Takumi, you..." Gan Fall, drenched in cold sweat, looked at the boy in front of him in utter amazement. "I couldn't even touch Enel, but you hit him with just one strike. How...?"
Takumi calmly retracted his arm, which was coated in Haki. "Armament Haki," he replied casually.
"Armament... Haki?" Gan Fall blinked, clearly puzzled. "What is that?"
Takumi smirked slightly and turned his back to Gan Fall, his eyes locking onto Enel, who had been knocked into a large tree and was now stumbling out of it, seething with rage. "It's something that lets me hit him," Takumi said nonchalantly.
Gan Fall was left speechless. "That explanation... doesn't help at all."
"Damn it! How dare you hurt Enel-sama? Die!"
One of Enel's priests, a man named Shura, who wore a flight cap and goggles and wielded a long spear, rushed toward Takumi and Gan Fall on the back of his large, purple bird, Fuza.
Gan Fall quickly readied himself for a fight.
However, Shura didn't attack them immediately. Instead, he circled around them several times.
"What is he doing?" Gan Fall muttered, watching Shura warily.
After making a few rounds, Shura finally stopped in front of them, grinning arrogantly. "Haha! It's too bad. You've got guts to take on Enel-sama, but unfortunately, you're both going to die here today!"
Suddenly, Gan Fall realized something strange. "My body... I can't move!"
He glanced down at himself and Takumi, noticing for the first time that they were entangled in thin, nearly invisible strings.
"What is this...?" Gan Fall gasped.
Shura laughed wickedly. "Haha! As expected from the former 'God.' You noticed! These are the nearly invisible but incredibly strong string clouds. No matter how strong you are, these threads will leave you completely immobilized."
Gan Fall gritted his teeth and tried to break free using brute force, but no matter how hard he struggled, the string clouds were too strong.
Unlike Gan Fall's frustration, Takumi seemed calm, despite being unable to move.
Shura noticed Takumi's composed demeanor and sneered. "You're brave, kid. Let's see how long that lasts! I'll start with you!" he declared as he flew toward Takumi, pointing the tip of his spear at him. A powerful jet of flame shot out from the spear, rushing toward Takumi.
"Overconfident fool," Takumi muttered, showing no signs of fear. Suddenly, two bright, lightning-charged spheres of energy appeared in his hands. He easily sliced through the string clouds binding him and then, just as the flames reached him, he effortlessly cut through the fire with a single strike.
In the blink of an eye, Takumi dashed forward and thrust his hand through Shura's chest with a "Raikiri" (Lightning Blade).
With a pained scream, Shura fell face-first onto the ground, dead. His mount, Fuza, panicked and fled into the sky, flapping its wings desperately.
"Shura!" Ohm, another of Enel's priests, quickly rushed over to check Shura's pulse. "He's dead?"
"What?!"
Enel's other priests looked on, their faces etched with disbelief.
Ohm, furious, immediately drew his long sword from its scabbard and swung it toward Takumi.
Just before the blade could hit him, it suddenly elongated, snaking like a whip toward Takumi.
Takumi leaped easily into the air, dodging the attack.
The whip-like blade struck the ground, leaving a deep and long scar in the earth.
Takumi, his expression indifferent, drew his wooden sword, Toyako. As Ohm attacked again, Takumi's sword met Ohm's supposedly unbreakable iron blade.
A shockwave of energy spread from the collision of their swords, forcing the onlookers to brace themselves.
Ohm's face twisted in disbelief. His iron cloud sword, which was said to be stronger than steel, was being held back by a mere wooden sword.
Then, with a slight grin, Takumi applied more pressure. With a sharp snap, Ohm's sword shattered before everyone's eyes.
"This... this is impossible!" Ohm gasped. "My Iron Cloud sword... broken by a wooden sword?! Impossible!"
"Who... who is this guy?" Wyper muttered, swallowing hard. A year ago, he had been holding a grudge against Takumi for injuring his comrades. He had been planning to get revenge the next time they met, even though his men had been the ones to provoke the fight.
But now, Wyper had to admit that if Takumi had used his full strength back then, his two comrades would have been long dead by now.
Takumi wasn't the type to seek out bloodshed. As long as his opponents knew their limits and didn't push him too far, he was willing to spare their lives.
"Damn it!" Ohm growled. "Holy! Come, we'll take him down together!"
At Ohm's command, a large white dog, Holy, charged toward Takumi, its sharp teeth bared.
Without a second thought, Takumi countered with a swift "Night Guy" kick, sending the dog flying far into the distance.
Ohm was left speechless.
"I gave you a chance," Takumi said coldly. He then unleashed a storm of Haki-enhanced sword slashes, raining down on Ohm like a violent tempest.
Ohm retreated, desperately trying to avoid the barrage of attacks.
Seeing Ohm in trouble, the remaining priests of Enel rushed forward, intending to assist.
Before they could move, a bolt of lightning struck the ground just three meters in front of Takumi, sending rocks and debris flying into the air.
In the midst of the chaos, Enel appeared, a cruel smile on his face, his right hand glowing with an intense, crackling light.
"Kid," Enel sneered, "since you were the first to make me feel pain in a long time, I'll reward you with a taste of my divine 'Judgment of God.'" His voice dripped with malice.
Enel's hand glowed brighter, and just as he finished speaking, a massive column of lightning shot toward Takumi with terrifying speed and power.
"Takumi, run!" Gan Fall shouted desperately, sensing the overwhelming power of the attack. He knew that if Takumi got hit by that, it would be fatal.
"Die," Enel said with a wicked grin.
But Takumi didn't move.
As the "Judgment of God" struck Takumi, at the same time, his storm of sword strikes finally caught up with Ohm, who hadn't escaped in time.
A scream filled the air.
Ohm's body was shredded by the Haki-infused sword slashes, leaving him lying on the ground, covered in blood, barely recognizable.
"You're brave, I'll give you that," Enel remarked coldly, staring at Takumi, who had taken the full force of the "Judgment of God." Enel didn't seem the least bit affected by the deaths of his subordinates. To him, Shura and Ohm were just weaklings who hadn't earned the protection of a god.
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