Chapter 460: Ian Teaches a Lesson 1/50
"Holy crap! That felt great!"
As his fist landed solidly, Ian couldn't help but cheer for himself.
Because he was skilled with blades, Ian rarely used his fists to solve problems in battle. But this time, well, Enel's positioning was just too perfect! So even Ian couldn't resist using his fist. There was something about hitting someone directly in the face that sometimes felt even better than cutting them with a sword.
Enel took Ian's fist square on the bridge of his nose, falling backward as a stream of blood flew into the air with his movement.
He was completely dazed by Ian's punch, feeling like something was seriously wrong. This wasn't how it was supposed to go!
The imagined scene of Ian's fist passing through his body hadn't happened, and Ian hadn't been electrocuted either. Instead, he, the god, had been punched until his nose bled!?
Ian's punch was quite forceful. Enel's nasal bridge was caved in, and the blow sent him crashing to the ground, rolling far away before finally stopping.
The pirate hiding behind the big tree in the distance was so shocked his eyes nearly popped out!
He had been imprisoned on this sky island for four years, so of course he knew how strong God Enel was. When Enel suddenly appeared earlier, he thought they were doomed and quickly hid, hoping the man who saved him could hold out a bit longer.
But things had developed completely beyond his expectations. God Enel was being suppressed at every turn, and now he had been punched flying by his savior.
This... this... could it be that the man before him was even more powerful than a god!?
For a moment, this pirate felt that his future had suddenly become bright...
Enel got up from the ground, shook his head slightly to clear his mind, and looked at his hand in disbelief after wiping his nose, seeing it covered in blood.
"You... you!" Enel was finally starting to panic, pointing at Ian and asking, "How could you hit my body!?"
"Heh! Guess!" Ian cracked his knuckles, producing a crisp sound, quite satisfied with his punch.
"Impossible!" Enel gritted his teeth and said, "I am a god! No one can defeat me. I'll kill you and make you understand the consequences of opposing a deity!"
Ian sighed, thinking to himself that this guy's delusions of grandeur were severe. Even now, he still thought he was a god?
So Ian couldn't help but curl his finger at Enel, saying, "Come on, come on. Watch me teach you how to be a human!"
Yeah... there was nothing wrong with that statement...
Ian's provocative expression successfully ignited Enel's anger. He suddenly swung his golden staff, gripped it with both hands, and assumed a fighting stance.
Seeing him use a weapon, Ian naturally drew his Thousand Cherry Blossoms blade. The next second, their forms collided.
Clang! A loud sound rang out as the image froze. Enel's golden staff and Ian's black Thousand Cherry Blossoms blade clashed together. Enel's face was twisted with rage, while Ian wore a calm smile.
Enel did have some combat intelligence. When he realized his proud Devil Fruit ability was completely useless against Ian, he understood he would have to rely on physical combat.
It had to be said that at this point, he had finally found the key to fighting Ian.
His lightning power was indeed formidable, but no matter how strong, it was useless against someone like Ian who could control lightning. On the contrary, if he used physical combat, his ability to teleport at lightning speed would actually give Ian more trouble.
Because Enel's teleportation was even more intense than Kizaru's Glint-Glint Fruit light-speed movement!
Why? Because Kizaru's light-speed movement could only move in straight lines. Ian had noticed this during his battle with Kizaru. When he kept moving in irregular directions, Kizaru's light-speed movement couldn't necessarily catch him.
But Enel's lightning teleportation was different. It didn't follow the rule of light traveling in straight lines. He could move wherever he wanted.
Especially when there were conductive materials nearby, he could even merge into them to move.
They exchanged dozens of blows in an instant, all with Enel attacking and Ian defending. Gradually, Enel sensed the rhythm of the battle changing. He found that by attacking this way, he was gaining the upper hand.
"Hmph!" Enel couldn't help but smile as he fought, saying, "I get it. You can't keep up with my speed!"
"Is that so!?" Ian responded casually, swinging his blade down.
Enel raised his golden staff to block the slash as before, but at that moment, black flames suddenly erupted from Ian's blade. Combined with the Armament Haki hardening already on the blade, it cut through Enel's golden staff like butter!
With the staff broken, it couldn't block the blade. If Enel hadn't been holding the staff with both hands at a distance from his chest, Ian's slash would have split him in two!
Even so, Ian's blade grazed Enel's chest, leaving a huge, deep wound that exposed bone.
Enel screamed, instantly transforming into lightning and teleporting far away from Ian. Then he looked down at the wound on his chest.
No blood flowed from the wound because the flames from the Evil King Flame Slayer Sword had already cauterized it, which actually helped stop the bleeding. But the slash had still dealt Enel a heavy blow.
Enel had combat intelligence, but so did Ian. He knew he couldn't keep up with Enel's teleportation speed, so he simply caught him off guard.
Enel didn't know that Ian's flame power could be attached to his blade, so Ian's attack caught him completely by surprise. To be honest, if Enel had dodged every one of Ian's attacks instead of blocking, Ian might not have been able to hit him. But since this guy chose to block Ian's blade, he had only himself to blame...
Actually, if Ian had followed up with a sword slash while cutting Enel, he could have killed him outright. But Ian chose not to.
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit was a rare Logia Devil Fruit, and its power was undeniable. If Ian's ability hadn't countered Enel, and if Haki hadn't also suppressed him, Ian might have suffered a crushing defeat at Enel's hands.
Against Ian, Enel would lose, but against others, it was a different story. In Ian's opinion, if Enel were sent to the Blue Sea, he could easily become a Warlord of the Sea, and would even be at the top tier of the Warlords. Ian's Dragon Hunter Pirates currently lacked this kind of top-level combat power, so Ian wanted to try to recruit this guy for his own use. Naturally, he couldn't kill him easily.
Originally, after killing Wapol and obtaining the Munch-Munch Fruit, Ian could have chosen to carry fruit with him to see if he could get the Rumble-Rumble Fruit after killing Enel. But the chances were uncertain. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit was originally a top-tier Logia Devil Fruit. If it degraded like last time, it would be hard to say.
If he ended up with something like the Zap-Zap Fruit or the Numb-Numb Fruit, which could only discharge a little electricity and numb people, it wouldn't be very useful.
So Ian chose to see if he could recruit Enel. He was actually more confident about this.
Enel's personality was that of an arrogant egomaniac. It was because he had been undefeated for so long that he proclaimed himself a god. From a psychological perspective, if you knock such a person off their pedestal, they will obediently submit.
Because such people tend to be even more superstitious about power. When they realize there is someone stronger than them, a huge gap forms in their minds, and they end up revering those stronger than them.
Ian didn't know if Enel would be like that, but he had to try. After all, he had an advantage in this regard. Enel's lightning would be controlled by him instead, meaning Enel's strongest power was actually his greatest weakness in front of Ian.
If he could get Enel to work for him, Ian would gain a huge asset. Just thinking about it was wonderful.
So now, what Ian had to do was thoroughly crush Enel, beat him until he cried, beat him until he couldn't take care of himself, beat him until he doubted his existence!
And this was Ian's "teach a lesson" routine...
Nothing wrong with that!