Skypiea's Holy Land.
At the entrance to the Trial Grounds.
"Never thought there'd be a day where the four of us would be standing at the entrance together, waiting for whoever's coming to take the trial," Gedatsu said, glancing at the other three with a sigh of emotion.
"That only means the people coming this time are actually strong," Shura replied, resting his chin on his hand.
"Really? On this island, there shouldn't be anyone stronger than us," said the man wearing a hat and a pair of goggles that completely covered his eyes.
His name was Satori—another one of the Four Priests. From a distance, he looked like a round ball with limbs and a head stuck on.
"But God wouldn't do something pointless," Ohm said calmly. "If he told us to come here, then he has his reasons."
He wore sunglasses, a massive katana at his waist, and at his side sat a white dog—bigger than a man—watching him intently as if waiting for an order.
"Right," Gedatsu said, nodding. "So let's stay sharp."
"I just wonder when that guy God mentioned will show up…"
As he spoke, Gedatsu looked up at the sky.
"Huh? What's that?"
"Wait—someone's flying over here!" he blurted, startled.
Ohm and the others snapped their heads up too. Sure enough, two figures were cutting through the air at high speed.
As if they'd noticed the priests' gaze, the pair in the sky abruptly shifted course and dropped straight toward them.
Boom!
With a heavy impact, a man and a woman landed in front of Gedatsu and the others.
"Didn't expect people to be standing around here," Arton said, sweeping his eyes over Gedatsu, Ohm, Satori, and Shura with clear interest. As he looked them over, the images in his memory—those familiar anime designs—overlapped neatly with the real people in front of him.
Then his gaze slid to the massive white dog at Ohm's side, and Arton's eyes lit up.
"Hey, white dog," Arton said casually, "attack the guy in front of you."
"Woof! Woof!"
The dog barked excitedly and lunged at Ohm without a shred of hesitation.
Ohm's eyes went wide behind his sunglasses. He yanked his sword free and barely managed to block the incoming attack.
"Damn it—sit!" Ohm snapped, trying to command it.
The dog hesitated, about to obey… and then Arton's voice cut in again.
"Don't sit. Keep attacking."
Ohm stared at Arton like he'd just seen a ghost.
He blocked another swipe—then another—until the dog finally landed a brutal smack that sent Ohm reeling and nearly knocked him out on the spot.
Face dark, Ohm steadied himself and glared straight at Arton.
"So you're the one God singled out…" Ohm said through clenched teeth. "You actually know my pet's secret?"
"Secret?" Conis asked, looking between Ohm and Arton, completely baffled by what she'd just watched.
Arton shrugged with a grin. "I guessed. It just looked like a good dog."
"A dog that's happy to listen to humans."
Chapter 579: Conis Is Pretty Strong Now
Conis looked at Arton with an embarrassed expression, suddenly unsure what she was supposed to say.
After all, she knew what kind of person Arton was—he'd seen the "story" of this world before. So the fact that he knew Ohm's dog would obey commands from someone other than its owner didn't feel strange to her.
But unlike Conis, Ohm clearly didn't buy Arton's explanation.
"Seems your instincts are pretty sharp," Ohm said coolly. "Now let's see if your strength is really as terrifying as God thinks it is."
After forcing his pet dog to knock him senseless for a moment, Ohm drew his blade and faced Arton and Conis head-on.
Since the dog couldn't reliably fight for him anymore, he might as well take it out of the equation entirely. That way, he could focus on testing Arton properly.
With that, Ohm slashed at Arton.
Even from a distance, the blade in his hand extended like a whip—stretching out in a straight line as it snapped toward Arton.
Of course, what looked lightning-fast to everyone else moved like a crawling snail in Arton's eyes.
He simply lifted a hand and caught the blade barehanded.
"Oh?" Ohm's interest rose. "You can not only track my swing… you can grab my blade with your hands?"
"That's… pretty interesting."
"Need help, Ohm?" Shura asked with a grin.
"No." Ohm rejected him flatly.
Even now, he still didn't truly understand what kind of monster he was facing—and his confidence hadn't cracked in the slightest.
But Arton had no intention of trading blows with the priests at all.
He released Ohm's blade, casually stepped back two paces, and… leisurely moved behind Conis.
"Huh?" Ohm frowned hard. "You're seriously hiding behind a woman?"
"You think that Skypiea woman you brought can beat me?"
"Of course not," Arton said, shaking his head.
"Then why are you backing off?" Ohm's brow furrowed even deeper.
"Don't misunderstand," Arton said with a wave of his hand, smiling. "What I mean is—Conis isn't just going to beat you."
"She's going to beat all of you standing here."
As if. They were just four underlings, Enel's priests.
Their fighting style was nothing more than gimmicks with Skypiea's special shells—plus a shallow grasp of Mantra they'd picked up from Enel.
How could people like that possibly beat Conis, who had obtained Serval's template and could wield the power of the Path?
Back when Arton merged with Conis, he'd already noticed it—her body was far tougher than it had any right to be.
Maybe the old Conis didn't know how to use the strength inside her.
But now that she had Serval's template, Conis could finally draw out the energy packed inside that stronger-than-normal body—and actually use it.
What Arton didn't know was why Conis had become so sturdy in the first place.
It was because he'd mentioned Conis's name in the diary so many times before.
That caused Conis to earn a hefty amount of point credits—then she converted those points into training resources, and naturally grew stronger than the average person.
One thing Arton did have right, though. Before obtaining Serval's template, Conis had basically zero combat experience or instincts.
But after receiving Serval's template, part of Serval's combat sense had already fused into Conis's body along with the power.