novelhk Chapter 201: Unleashing the Noble Phantasm, A Vow 400 Years Later
Chapter 201: Unleashing the Noble Phantasm, A Vow 400 Years Later
Chapter 201: Unleashing the Noble Phantasm, A Vow 400 Years Later
Luffy, or rather, Nika at this moment, stood atop the altar.
His body was as white as clouds, his hair and clothes were like drifting flames, and he exuded a warm and joyful aura like the sun, yet he also carried an undeniable divine pressure.
He stretched his limbs at will, imbuing the properties of rubber with a conceptual dimension. He felt that his body could encompass everything and also repel everything.
"Hehehe—" That signature laugh now carried an ethereal echo.
"I heard it! I heard so many sounds! The earth weeping, everyone praying, and—that arrogant god's thunder! In this form, I can definitely beat him to a pulp!"
He raised his head, his gaze piercing through the temple's dome and reaching the depths of the endless thunderclouds, and let out a defiant roar:
"Indra!!! Come out here!!! I'm going to beat you to a pulp!!!"
This roar not only contained Nika's divine power, but also carried his innate will to challenge all oppression. It exploded in the sky above the Sky Island like a thunderclap, even briefly overpowering the continuous thunder.
In response to Luffy's challenge, the sky roared even more violently.
The thunderclouds churned violently, eventually coalescing into two enormous eyes.
He looked down at the white figure below, radiating joy and freedom, his eyes devoid of any emotion, as if watching a speck of dust dance.
"madness."
The voice of God was no longer a simple loud noise, but transformed into a roar of rules, each syllable carrying the power of heaven and earth, causing the entire sky island to tremble.
"You stole a fragment of divine essence and fused with the will of the demons, thinking you could stand against me, the king who commands thunder and defines order? You are still an ant."
Before the words were even finished, a golden bolt of lightning, no longer a simple strike, flowed down from the clouds as if it had a life of its own, rapidly condensing in the air.
Ultimately, it transformed into a thunder incarnation tens of meters tall, entirely composed of raging lightning!
This incarnation, wielding a lightning spear and clad in electric armor, though lacking facial features, exudes a suffocating aura of destruction as it pounces on Luffy!
"Good timing!" Luffy laughed and went to meet them without fear.
The battle instantly entered a level beyond mortal comprehension.
The Thunder Avatar moves with lightning speed and attacks with unparalleled ferocity; every thrust and slash carries annihilating power.
However, Luffy, who has awakened as Nikka, has already elevated his abilities.
His fists can not only extend indefinitely, but they can also assimilate the surrounding environment into a rubbery state, forming enormous fists or feet for attacks.
Even more astonishing is his ability to imbue all things with will!
Facing the invisible and intangible thunder, he laughed and stretched out his hand: "Got you!"
The lightning, which was originally just an energy form, was actually caught by his rubbery hand!
It was as if the lightning had gained a physical form in his hands, and he swung it like a whip, smashing it heavily onto the body of the lightning incarnation!
"Bang!"
A solid hit, and a burst of dazzling electric sparks exploded on the chest of the Thunder Incarnation, causing it to pause slightly.
"It worked!" Chopper jumped up excitedly on the ground.
"Luffy—he can actually touch lightning—" Sanji lit a cigarette, his brow furrowed.
"But this guy—his energy seems inexhaustible."
Zoro gripped his sword hilt tightly, all three eyes fixed on the battlefield: "This is just an avatar, isn't it? The real god didn't even move. This is nothing more than his toy."
On the other side, the carefree spirit of Gol D. Roger stood with his arms crossed, his eyes gleaming with an all-knowing light.
"I guessed right—Rayleigh—the boy from many years in the future is becoming Nika's choice; Joy Boy's prophecy is all converging on him. But—"
He looked up at the pair of indifferent giant eyes in the sky.
"Yes, he is a true god, the embodiment of a concept that governs a region of heaven and earth. Free will alone is not enough."
Floating in mid-air, standing on withered wood, Shiki the Golden Lion with hair like a golden lion's mane, cigar in his mouth, sneered.
"What are you babbling about, you pretentious charlatan!"
"However, this world is indeed covered by his power. For that straw hat kid to fight him here is essentially fighting the world he created himself, putting him at a disadvantage from the start."
"Roger, it looks like your Master is in for a rough time."
Nami clutched the Clima-Tact tightly, her face filled with worry: "Luffy—although it looks like he hit it,—he seems to be struggling more and more—"
Usopp held up his slingshot, aiming for a long time but not knowing where to shoot, his voice trembling with tears.
"This isn't even on the same level! Where is that god's true form?!"
Robin's expression was grave; her scholarly intuition told her that she sensed something deeper.
"Mr. Bhujun told me that Indra—in Hindu mythology, is the king of gods, the thunder god, and the king of all gods."
"He is not merely an energy being; he represents rules and order. Luffy is now fighting not just against that incarnation of lightning, but against the sky itself, defined by Indra's divine authority."
Just as Robin had foreseen, the battle had reached a stalemate.
Luffy can hit the Thunder Avatar and even shatter it several times, but as long as Indra's will remains and the thunderclouds do not dissipate, the Avatar can instantly reassemble, seemingly without end.
However, Luffy's stamina was rapidly depleted in the battle against the world's rules.
Beneath his cheerful smile began to show signs of fatigue, and his movements were no longer as fluid as they had been at the beginning.
"Still haven't you realized it? How foolish." Indra's voice rang out again, with an all-knowing indifference.
"Every bolt of lightning you unleash, every force you resist, originates from me, from this very sky. The being within you is, in essence, a god of this sky, yet he still cannot escape this greatest constraint."
"In this world, I am the rule, I am cause and effect. Your resistance is itself within my order."
These words struck like a hammer blow to everyone's heart. Was there truly no chance of victory?
Finally, after unleashing his full power and temporarily blasting his lightning transformation into a sky full of electric snakes, Luffy's movements froze for an extremely brief moment.
The high-intensity output and the pressure of defying the rules finally pushed his physical strength to a critical point.
It's now!
The eye of Indra in the sky coldly fixed itself.
The scattered electric snakes converged instantly at a speed far exceeding that before, no longer appearing as incarnations, but condensing into a world-destroying thunder halberd that stretched across the sky and was engraved with countless Sanskrit mantras!
The lightning spear locked onto Luffy, carrying the will of judgment and ending, and slowly pressed down!
The speed wasn't fast, but the earth-shattering pressure had completely solidified space, leaving Luffy with no way to avoid it!
"Luffy!!!"
The Straw Hat crew let out desperate cries, trying to rush forward, but were firmly suppressed in place by the terrifying Kamui, unable to move.
At this critical moment.
A hoarse voice, yet imbued with an iron will, rang out calmly.
That's enough.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Calgara, whose spirit form was faintly visible, walking slowly to stand in front of Waver and shielding him behind him.
His gaze was not directed at his despairing companions, nor at the hopeless sky, but rather towards the distance, towards his homeland shrouded in thunderclouds.
"Ancestor, what are you going to do?" Weber asked urgently, as if he had a premonition of something.
Calgara did not answer; he simply began to walk forward, toward the world-destroying lightning halberd that was slowly pressing down, radiating an aura of destruction.
His steps were slow, yet exceptionally firm, each step seemingly treading on the pulse of time, stepping onto the cusp of destiny.
He began to speak in a low voice, which, though not loud, strangely carried throughout the silent battlefield and reached the ears of everyone present, as if he were bidding a final farewell to this land that had haunted his dreams for four hundred years.
"Four hundred years ago—there was a man from Qinghai. His name was—Montblanc Nolando."
A look of reminiscence and warmth appeared in his eyes.
"We fought side by side, we considered each other confidants. When he left, we made a vow—that when the golden bells toll once more, that will be the day we—meet again."
Nami, Usopp, and the others were deeply shocked when they recalled the story they had learned in Jaya.
"For this oath, I will guard this place until I die in battle."
"My soul, bound by this conviction to the very blood of this land, is summoned back by the will of this place—in life, I drove away the gods who invaded our home; in death, I will do the same—this, perhaps, is my destiny."
His steps never faltered, and a faint golden halo began to emanate from his body. The halo was not dazzling, but it carried the weight of history and an indomitable sorrow.
"But—fate—" Calgara's voice carried a hint of bitterness.
Noland never returned until his death, and the Golden Bell remained silent for four hundred years—the reunion promised by the bell's tolling became nothing but an empty dream—
Is fate mocking us?
He suddenly raised his head, his gaze sharp as torches, shooting towards the lightning power in the air that was slightly fluctuating due to his actions, and finally landing on the straw-hatted figure who was exhausted but still stubbornly standing.
"Four hundred years later! Another man has come here! He swears an oath to the sky and to everyone."
Calgara's voice suddenly rose, filled with boundless hope and determination!
"He's going to blast that self-righteous god away! And I believe in him! Just like I believed in Noland back then!"
"This time, I will witness whether these shackles of fate can truly be broken!!"
The moment the words fell, Calgara's spirit burst forth with an unprecedentedly brilliant light!
That light is the culmination of four hundred years of blood and tears of the Shandian people, the dignity of warriors guarding their homeland, the promise of friendship, and the most fervent expectation for the future.
"Ancestors!!" Waver cried out in tears, his voice hoarse with despair. He understood that he could not stop it; this was the choice of his ancestors, the end for a hero!
"Uncle! Stop right now!!" Luffy realized what was happening and struggled to get forward.
But it was too late.
Calgara turned around, took one last look at Waver and then at Luffy, and gave a relieved yet encouraging smile.
Then, he suddenly turned around, facing the world-destroying lightning halberd that had already descended upon his head, and let out a roar that shook the heavens and the earth.
"In the name of Calgara, the great warrior of Shandia! With this body and soul, I dedicate my thousand-year will to this land!"
"Noble Phantasm activated! [Anti-Divine Rebellion]!!!"
He no longer walked, but transformed into a golden shooting star shooting against the sky!
It is no longer a spirit, but the ultimate strike that embodies all beliefs!
There was no deafening explosion, only a chilling silence.
The golden light clashed with the destructive lightning halberd, not as a clash of energies, but as a collision of concepts! It was a confrontation between the will to oppress and the will to resist, a fight against the divine authority of destruction and order!
That lightning halberd, capable of annihilating everything, carried the concept of the laws of the world.
But in the face of this will that was born here but has always been resisting, in the face of an obsession that has spanned four hundred years, it has begun to crumble inch by inch!
The golden light, like the gentlest flame, was burning away the authority of God, forcibly pushing it away and dispersing it!
For the first time, the Eye of Indra in the sky showed a noticeable fluctuation, a sign of shock.
"—To actually shake the might of heaven with the thoughts of a mortal soul—." In the god's voice, the unchanging indifference of ten thousand years was finally broken, carrying a trace of disbelief and a trace of respect for the hero.
"Indeed, every world is not lacking in such foolish courage—admirable."
The golden light eventually dissipated into the air along with the remaining lightning.
Calgara's figure had completely transformed into countless warm particles of light, like countless shimmering golden fragments, slowly rising and merging into the sky he deeply loved and ultimately sacrificed himself for.
silence.
A deathly silence enveloped the entire sky island.
Only Indra, having regained his composure, spoke again with a voice that held profound meaning.
"So be it. The heroic spirits under the God-King's command shall temporarily return to their divine thrones."
The heroic spirits, including Axe-wielding Rama, the Immortal of Extreme Abundance, and Invincible, bowed silently and transformed into streaks of light, disappearing without a trace.
God's temporary retreat is the highest tribute to a mortal hero, and also a preparation for the final judgment.
Luffy collapsed to his knees, staring blankly in the direction where Calgara had vanished. Large tears fell onto the white cloud, spreading out in a dark hue.
He didn't make a sound, but his clenched fists trembled violently from the extreme force, his knuckles turned white, and even blood seeped from between his fingers.
Waver walked to his side. This strong Shandian warrior, his face streaked with tears, suppressed his immense grief and placed his hand heavily on Luffy's trembling shoulder. His voice was hoarse but contained a mountain-like determination:
"Our ancestors—entrusted the future of Shandora—the promise to ring the golden bell of Shandora—and all their beliefs—to you, Straw Hat Boy!"
Luffy abruptly raised his head, tears still streaming down his face, but his eyes were completely different. There was no longer confusion, no longer weariness, only a burning resolve and rage, like the core of a sun, capable of incinerating all shackles!
He slowly stood up, his body trembling slightly from the surge of emotion, but he stood straight, like a spear piercing the sky.
He raised his head, and with all his might, facing the seemingly eternal thundercloud sky, he made a vow that would surely be fulfilled. His voice was hoarse, yet it shook the soul.
"I will definitely—ring the golden bell!!! Let the sound of the bell resound in every corner of the world!!! Then..."
He took a deep breath and let out a thunderous roar.
"I absolutely have to beat you up!!! Indra!!!!"