Chapter 56: Chapter 56
The peace of the moonlit night was broken by a battle between two god-like beings.
The sky itself crackled with giant pillars of lightning. The clouds parted themselves as strong winds blew in every direction.
Ace watched the two giant avatars battle with a grin on his face. He was seeing the potential of Logias.
'They definitely awakened their Devil Fruits. There's no other explanation!'
Lightning erupted from each attack of Enel's avatar. He was currently flying by standing on a lightning bolt.
Tanya's avatar flew gracefully, weaving through lightning bolts. Ace suspected she knew Mantra or Observation Haki as well.
The winds seemed to be fully under her control. Unlike Enel who needs to make deliberate movements to make his lightning do what he wanted, Tanya didn't.
Tanya was just flying to avoid lightning bolts, but attacks still came to Enel. Wind blades whistled flying through the air from every direction.
Enel had to use one of his arms to defend himself. As a result, he couldn't attack as much as he wanted.
From what Ace could see, Tanya looked like she had more control over her Devil Fruit. Ace was deeply impressed.
'How could she get strong so fast? She hasn't had her powers for more than three years, but it's already so strong. Is she just talented?'
Ace put that question to the back of his mind. He followed the battle.
The proportion of Enel and Tanya's fight got much bigger. Currently, they weren't even at the island cloud where Enel lived.
Enel and Tanya made the entirety of Upper Yard as well as the sky above it their battleground.
Giant trees fell, the earth was scorched, and fire came to life wherever Enel's lightning struck.
Of course, Ace treated fire like a snack. He was following the battle. Every time there was a fire, Ace would eat it.
"Gah!"
Suddenly, Enel was hit from behind with a giant wind blade. Tanya was successful in making him lose focus for a moment to deliver an attack.
Enel was sent crashing down. His avatar dissipated in midair. He crashed through a small mountain, so Tanya and Ace followed.
When they got inside what looked like a spacious cavern, Tanya's avatar dissipated as well. She landed on the ground and stumbled.
Tanya fell on one knee. She breathed heavily. Ace suspected it was because she was already spent.
Devil Fruit powers consume stamina, and it looked like Tanya's was about to run out.
Ace landed and watched by the side. He wasn't worried. He could just swoop in and save Tanya if her situation took a turn for the worse.
Both Enel and Tanya spent a few moments to collect themselves. Enel was hurt because he was the one that was mostly receiving damage. Tanya rested a little to catch her breath.
With the lull of the battle, Ace took that chance to look around. Then, he saw it.
A colossal ship in the middle of being built. It wasn't even halfway done, but Ace recognized it.
'Enel's Ark Maxim! So, it isn't built yet! Makes sense.'
The ship was far from finished but it already had a majestic feel to it. Inside the wooden hull of the ship, Ace saw mechanisms made of gold.
"Wh-Who are you?"
Ace turned to the side to see hundreds of Skypieans who looked like they've seen better days. Their clothes that looked like uniforms were tattered and they looked thin.
'These must be Gan Fall's Divine Squad! Enel did say he had them as his workers to build his Ark Maxim.'
"Yo!" Ace greeted the Divine Squad. "We're here to take down Enel."
The Divine Squad started to murmur between themselves. Ace mostly just watched them and didn't listen to whatever they were saying.
Some looked incredibly happy. Some looked relieved. Most looked doubtful.
Ace wasn't surprised to see that most of the ex-soldiers of Gan Fall looked like they lost hope. Enel cowed them into submission, after all.
So, Ace decided to uphold his end of the deal. To make Tanya the new God.
"You see that girl?"
Ace pointed at Tanya. The Divine Squad turned to where Tanya was. At that exact moment, Tanya stood back up.
"That girl is no ordinary girl!" Ace said. "She is Tanya! Gan Fall's mentor and inspiration! The true God that should've ruled Skypiea!"
Ace lied through his teeth. Tanya wasn't Gan Fall's mentor or inspiration. She just beat him up until he agreed that Skypiea will flourish more in her hands.
God needs to be the strongest, after all.
Ace's words made more of the Divine Squad start to believe their savior has come. Many of them still looked rather doubtful, but at least they looked like they started seeing hope.
"The true God?"
As quick as they found new hope, they quickly lost it. The Divine Soldiers looked at Enel in fear.
Enel stood up after Tanya. Despite looking rough and beaten, Enel elicited fear from the hearts of the Divine Squad.
"YAHAHAHA! What a great joke!"
Enel made his lightning crackle as he laughed. His display of power made the Divine Squad retreat a few steps despite not really attacking them.
"I am the true God!"
"No, you're not."
Tanya immediately disagreed with Enel. The attention was back on her.
Ace sneered. If he judged Tanya's character well enough, he guessed that she was about to make an effort to win over the Divine Squad.
"God is not a tyrant!"
Tanya flew up after speaking. Winds surrounded her and carried her upwards. The Divine Soldiers focused all their attention on her.
"God doesn't enslave!"
A few of the Divine Squad started tearing up.
"God doesn't terrorize his people!"
A blast of wind surged at Enel, pushing him down to a kneeling position. Tanya didn't relent and made the wind keep blowing to push down Enel.
"You're no God!" Tanya said. "You're just an oppressor."
"I-Insolent! I'll rip out your tongue and feed it to you!"
Enel fought back. He stood back up and turned into lightning.
"North Wind Armor!"
Wind started coating Tanya's body. She met Enel head on. They started fighting at close range, but their every clash still sent wind and lightning in every direction.
Their battle was fast and dangerous. Both of them flew around the wide cavern, clashing every time they met.
Somehow, in all their clashes, the Ark Maxim remained unscathed. Ace suspected it was because Enel took care not to clash anywhere near it.
Ace took out his cutlass. He sent a flying slash at every lightning or wind blade that would have hit the Divine Squad behind him.
"Praise the new God!"
"Tanya! Tanya! Tanya!"
Much to Ace's surprise, the Divine Squad that suffered under Enel's tyrannical rule started chanting Tanya's name in what sounded like a reverent tone.
'I shudder to think what happened to these guys…'
Somehow, Enel completely whittled down their will. They were barely hanging on. It was no wonder they quickly came to revere Tanya.
Seeing Tanya openly defy the figure that they deemed impossible to fight against made them latch on to her as the symbol of their hope and freedom.
"It's not safe here!" Ace said to the Divine Squad. "All of you, retreat! Return to your homes and spread the word! A new God has come!"
"Yes, sir!"
Ace waved off the fact that the Divine Squad saluted him. They must be thinking that he's their senior; a follower of Tanya. Ace won't correct them if it makes them obedient.
The Divine Squad suddenly seemed to have found new strength. They quickly ran towards the exit of the cavern.
Ace observed how they didn't even have shackles. He smirked.
If anyone ever ran, Enel would easily find them and quickly arrive in front of them. Lightning moves incredibly fast, after all.
The Divine Squad knew it as well. They didn't need to be shackled. Enel made them feel that he's strong enough to not even worry about them being able to escape.
As the Divine Squad exited the cavern, Ace looked out for them. He didn't stop sending a flying slash at every attack that would have hit them.
In the end, all of the imprisoned Divine Squad escaped safely.
With nothing else to worry about, Ace went back to watching Enel and Tanya fight. He felt it would be over soon.
Enel was hurt, and Tanya was getting tired.
The more the fight prolonged, the less they used their powers. They slowed down until eventually they stopped on the ground to catch their breath.
"Admit it, Enel!" Tanya said. "You're defeated!"
"No no, Tanya. I'm far from it!"
Then, Enel closed his eyes to focus. Ace watched to see what he will try to do.
Lightning crackled and crawled along Enel's skin. Then, much to Ace's and Tanya's surprise, his wounds and scrapes started healing at a visible rate.
'Well… that's something I never knew he could do.'
Tanya wasn't a fool. She knew what was happening. Unlike the usual anime logic, she didn't wait for Enel.
With a cloak of wind surrounding her, Tanya charged at Enel.
"Sky Fang!"
Tanya thrusted her arm that resembled a lance made of rotating winds at Enel. She was about to stab Enel in the gut when he opened his eyes.
Enel turned into lightning and disappeared. Tanya stabbed empty air.
Not a second later, Enel reappeared beside Tanya. His hand covered in lightning was outstretched for an attack.
"100,000,000 Volt Vari!"
"Wind Block!"
Tanya quickly made a gust of wind spin around her in a sphere. Enel blasted her with lightning.
Tanya was sent flying, but she wasn't hurt.
"What did you do?" Tanya asked.
"I told you! God is invincible!"
Ace suspected it was something along the lines of using his lightning to stimulate his cells to make himself heal faster at a visible rate. The fact that Enel looked pale and even more tired than Tanya was proof of that.
But, it seemed worth it. Enel was healthy again.
"Won't it kill you?" Ace asked, suddenly interrupting the long battle of the two. "You're basically making yourself age faster."
"God is immortal," Enel said, sneering at Ace.
"What a fool." Ace scoffed before turning to Tanya. "You're done. Stand aside and rest."
"I can still fight!"
"Those are my orders, Tanya!"
Ace asserted his standing as her soon to be captain. Tanya flinched at seeing Ace glare at her.
"Fine. You did uphold your end of the bargain."
"I did!" Ace grinned. "Now, let me quickly handle this clown."
Tanya flew up and retreated. She stood near the exit of the cavern to watch what Ace would do.
"YAHAHAHA! I know your power," Enel said to Ace. "Fire, wasn't it? You think you can beat lightning?"
"I don't even need to use it." Ace gave a sly grin. "After all, you're weak!"
Enel looked furious at Ace's words. Bolts of lightning erupted from him, scorching the cavern floor wherever it went.
"Weak? I'll show you weak!"
Enel gathered lightning around himself. Then, his form got bigger again. His giant deity-like avatar reappeared.
"200,000,000 Volt Amaru!"
Enel struck a fighting pose. Ace was still relaxed. Seeing his opponent show no visible reaction seemed to irk Enel further.
"Let's see you stay arrogant after this!"
Enel punched in Ace's direction. A bolt of lightning as big as his avatar's fist crackled and flew towards Ace.
Ace grinned at the incoming attack. He raised an arm covered with Armament Haki.
Then, when the bolt of lightning was close enough, Ace swept his arm sidewards. Enel's lightning was swatted away seemingly effortlessly.
Enel's attack flew away and struck the cavern wall instead of Ace. The lightning was strong enough to directly tear a hole in the small mountain.
Enel and Tanya saw what Ace did. Then, much to Ace's delight, they did something he's been waiting to see for a long time.
Both Enel and Tanya were incredibly shocked. Their mouths were wide open. Their eyes were bulging out of their sockets.
"HAHAHAHAHA! You guys really are family!"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone