(What are these thin lines? Is it a Devil Fruit ability?)
Casting a cold glance at the Priest, who acted as if victory were already in his grasp, Sherlock crouched on the deck. He took several deep, ragged breaths and instinctively began to survey his surroundings.
They were at an ancient stone altar, overgrown with moss and tangled vines, surrounded on all sides by water. The Going Merry sat right in the center of the altar, looking very much like a sacrificial offering waiting to be slaughtered.
Notably, the Merry was covered in the scars of a violent struggle. The ship was in a state of ruin; even the mast was gone, leaving behind only a jagged stump where it had been snapped off by sheer, brute force.
(The Merry... someone fought a battle here?!)
A dark premonition surged in Sherlock's heart. Enduring a splitting headache, he slowly reached into his Mirror Space and pulled out a small paper packet. At the same time, he barked a question at the Sky Rider: "Tell me—where are the people who were guarding this ship?"
"Oh? Are you talking about that Animal-type user?"
Priest Shura curled his lip in disdain. "He's dead! Honestly, the guy was pathetic. Even at death's door, he kept begging me not to damage this piece-of-junk ship."
(Chopper?!) Sherlock's heart skipped a beat, his pupils shrinking to the size of pinpricks.
"But don't worry, that monster won't be lonely for long. Because you—along with that former 'God' Gan Fall and the rest of the Blue Sea dwellers—will be joining him very soon!"
Shura raised his lance, a bloodthirsty smile spreading across his face. He clearly didn't think much of this exhausted Blue Sea man who was currently bound by his String Clouds and looking half-dead.
"I shall offer all your lives as sacrifices to the All-Knowing God!"
"Is that so..."
The Sorcerer's voice was unnervingly calm. "I'm just curious... where exactly do you get such confidence?"
As he spoke, Sherlock unhurriedly opened the paper packet. He dipped a finger into the Insamona powder, brought it to his lips, and took a light lick.
Whoosh!
His previously clouded mind cleared instantly, as if washed by cold water. The agonizing headache that had made him feel like he was dying was temporarily suppressed by the potency of the forbidden drug.
In an instant, the side effects of the Insamona vanished. Sherlock's strength surged back to its absolute peak!
Though Sherlock knew full well that this "drinking poison to quench thirst" approach was incredibly unwise, he had no other choice in a situation where escape was impossible.
"After all, you said it yourself—this ordeal of yours still has a 3% survival rate, doesn't it?"
Sherlock stood up and habitually gave his glasses a gentle push. The transparent lenses reflected two chilling streaks of white light.
"You... you bastard..."
Feeling the earth-shattering shift in the bespectacled man's aura, the nonchalant expression on Shura's face began to freeze.
Years of mastering Mantra gave the Sky Rider an incredibly sharp intuition, and the Sorcerer's undisguised, icy killing intent told the Priest one cruel, undeniable fact: He had played himself.
"Fuza! Burn him to ashes!"
Panicked, Priest Shura barked an order to his mount. Standing beside him, the giant three-toed bird obediently opened its beak. Flames erupted, and a scorching pillar of fire instantly surged toward the Sorcerer in the center of the deck.
Sherlock didn't dodge. The space around him began to ripple like a disturbed lake.
—Multi-Mirror Reflection!
This "clunky" skill, which usually required significant preparation, was cast in a single breath under his state of extreme mental hyper-arousal!
BOOM!!!! The flames exploded!
The fire was sent right back where it came from, but now as a crimson pillar of heat even larger and more intense than before. The ruthless flames instantly swallowed the fire-breathing bird. The oppressive heat waves were so intense they blurred the very air.
"What happened? Why was the fire reflected back?!"
Staring at his mount—which had been roasted so crisp and fragrant it could have been served as a "Deluxe Fried Chicken Bucket"—Priest Shura was utterly stunned. His focus shattered, and even his pride-and-joy Mantra ceased to function for a brief moment.
Because of this lapse, the mustachioed Priest failed to notice a heavy suit of black-armored cavalry rising abruptly behind him, trailing wisps of dark smoke. The eyes of the armor flickered with two points of crimson light...
"Don't look down on 3%. Sometimes, a mere 3% probability can lead to a 100% result..."
—Five-Fold Mirror Image Fusion: Black Knight Berserker!
"...For example: 100% [Death]!" A wicked smile curled on Sherlock's lips.
The Sky Rider, having underestimated his foe and abandoned his aerial advantage, stood no chance against a drugged-up Sorcerer. The outcome was clear.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Island of God, Upper Yard, Luffy's trio was undergoing the Ordeal of Orbs.
Predictive Mantra, mysterious Milky Clouds, and powerful Dials—these three things had given Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp a hard time, as they were unfamiliar with "aerial combat."
However, even so, this Ordeal of Orbs with its 10% survival rate was nearing its end. Honestly, it made one wonder how these survival rates were even calculated—they weren't accurate at all!
"Let go of me! Let go of me right now!"
On a Milky Orb floating in mid-air, a Priest shaped like a giant dumpling—Satori of the Forest—was screaming in desperation. But no matter how much he shouted, the rubber idiot pinning him down with all four limbs had no intention of letting go.
"Shishishi! I don't know how you can predict our moves or how your palms can release those shocks, but I finally caught you! Now you can't run away."
Luffy laughed happily, tightening his grip even further.
"That thing you were using... was it the 'Observation' Haki that Rovick mentioned before? It really is a pain in the ass..."
Sanji sat cross-legged on a nearby Milky Orb, silently lighting a cigarette. Judging by his battered appearance, the violent cook had taken quite a beating earlier.
And now, it was his turn for revenge!
"You keep talking about 'ordeals' this and 'ordeals' that—it's seriously annoying. But we accepted this boring challenge because there are two beautiful ladies waiting for their prince to rescue them. Which means..."
The lovestruck cook blew a smoke ring and looked solemnly at the immobilized, ball-shaped Priest. His dirty face was full of dead-serious resolve.
"...This is the [Ordeal of Love]!"
Thud!
Sanji stomped his foot, leaping high into the air, his body spinning rapidly like a whirlwind.
"Hey! You can't do this! If you do this, it's the same as declaring war on God Enel!" Satori screamed in despair. He never imagined these Blue Sea people would be so reckless!
Unfortunately, it was too late.
Sanji's right leg swung high and came crashing down like a meteor. The force behind this kick, amplified by centrifugal force, was terrifying; it even produced a piercing whistle in the air.
—Concassé!
CRACK!!! The heel of his leather shoe made an extremely unfriendly contact with the top of the Priest's head. The sound of the skull cracking was so "melodious" that even Usopp, watching from a distance, instinctively shuddered.
Near Upper Yard, in the Hidden Cloud Village—an extremely secluded little settlement.
This was the home of the Shandia people, who had been driven from their homeland.
"What did you say?!"
A fierce-looking Shandia warrior stood up abruptly, asking anxiously, "Aisa, did two of the Priests' 'voices' really disappear? You didn't hear wrong?"
"Yes, Wyper. That's what my Mantra says." The little girl named Aisa seemed quite afraid of the man called Wyper. She nodded timidly and said, "One was Shura, the other was Satori. Their voices vanished almost at the same time. Also, earlier, Gan Fall's voice..."
"The heavens are on our side!!!"
Wyper's excited roar cut off the rest of Aisa's words. He took a few heavy breaths, then turned his gaze toward a statue that had stood in the center of the village for hundreds of years. He murmured with intense focus:
"This must be the protection of the Great Warrior, Calgara!"
"What's this? Those two idiots were actually defeated? Those Blue Sea dwellers aren't half bad."
Lying in his shrine, a man with earlobes reaching down to his chest was munching on an apple. He muttered nonchalantly, "But that's fine. After all, the stronger the contestants are, the more interesting it becomes..."
Crackle! Blue-white electric arcs flickered with blinding lightning, frightening the surrounding handmaidens and servants into kneeling on the ground, trembling in fear.
"...In this [God's Game], HAHAHAHA!"
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