The Shrine.
"Phew..."
After sending Enel flying with a single punch, Laxus looked at his own arm and muttered, "Is it just my imagination?! I feel like when I devoured Enel's lightning just now, I grasped something... something incredible."
"I have a feeling... the day I break through the barrier that has blocked my path for years is getting closer and closer."
Laxus mused to himself.
He had a distinct premonition that if he could just devour more of Enel's lightning—even more than this time—he could push his own magic power to a deeper level.
Meanwhile.
In a certain forest on Skypiea.
"I... lost?!"
"Heh, for me, the one and only true God, to be defeated?"
Enel lay in a pile of rubble, his eyes filled with utter disbelief. He never, ever imagined that his defeat would be so... unceremonious.
"No! I haven't lost..."
"I can still fight."
"The Ark Maxim is now complete."
"Only by using the Maxim can I display my true power."
"I will create a massive thundercloud!"
"I will take the entire Angel Island..."
"No, I will take the entire Skypiea, along with Laxus, and blast it all to smithereens!"
"Ahahaha! Ahahaha...!"
Enel laughed like a madman. In his eyes, once the Ark Maxim was complete, Angel Island and all of Skypiea were meaningless to him...
As long as he had the Maxim, he could travel to the legendary Endless Vearth. That was the place a god like him was meant to live! Not this pitifully small sky island.
Since Angel Island and Skypiea had become meaningless...
Then the only fitting tribute for his departure to the Endless Vearth was to utterly destroy them, letting the whole island explode like a firework and rain down upon the Blue Sea as debris.
As for Laxus?!
He was merely a small trial to overcome before he could reach the Endless Vearth and become a true god.
Yes, even Laxus himself could not have imagined that just when he needed more lightning to achieve his own breakthrough...
The angel investor, the great philanthropist of Skypiea, the one and only true god of the pirate world, 'Teacher' Enel, was already preparing to deliver him a transmigrator's ultimate gift package.
You have to know, not even Eden got this kind of treatment~
But all of that would come later.
After Laxus defeated Enel, a jubilant atmosphere spread across Angel Island. Countless citizens celebrated wildly in the streets, cheering and shouting, "The false god, the tyrant Enel, has been defeated!"
"The new God's name is Laxus!"
With Gedatsu's help, the name of the new god quickly spread throughout the island.
Inside the Shrine, countless female attendants hid in corners, secretly observing Laxus. From time to time, one of them would be captivated by his charm, her cheeks flushing a faint red.
"Hmph~"
Seeing this, Conis couldn't help but let out a cold snort. She teased Laxus with a sour tone, "As expected of the hero who defeated the tyrant 'false god' Enel! So popular with the young girls."
"Huh?!"
Laxus was completely baffled. He had no idea how he had possibly offended Conis to make her look at him so disapprovingly.
"I see, so this is Big Brother Laxus's way of handling things?"
"What a magnificent being! As expected of the man who defeated Lord Enel."
Gedatsu held a notebook and was writing furiously. He seemed to be silently recording everything about Laxus...
First and foremost, Gedatsu had to admit he could no longer resist Laxus's charisma. He had been completely conquered by this man's immense power and profound masculinity.
(Somewhere on an island in the New World, the three members of the Thunder Legion silently gave Gedatsu a thumbs-up.)
(Freed: "Gedatsu, I understand you!")
"Anyway, O great new God, hero Lord Laxus, please clean up the mess left behind by the old god, Enel~"
Conis couldn't be bothered with the dense Laxus. She shot him an annoyed glare and said her piece.
"First of all, drop the 'new God' title! It sounds weird and makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable."
"Also, I can't be this 'God' thing, your ruler. You should find a local to be your 'God'."
"As for me?! After I help you completely solve the Enel problem, I have to go to the Blue Sea to find my missing comrades. I can't stop worrying about those guys," Laxus said, scratching his cheek as he laid out his situation to everyone present.
"But you were the one who defeated Lord Enel!"
"You are the one I intend to pledge my loyalty to!" Gedatsu exclaimed, dropping to one knee before Laxus to express his devotion.
"Sorry, you're pledging allegiance to the wrong person."
"And don't think that just because you helped me find the Shrine and gave me intel on Enel's abilities, all your past mistakes are just forgotten," Laxus first refused Gedatsu's pledge, then reprimanded him sharply.
Then, as if Gedatsu's situation made him think of himself, Laxus let out a small, self-deprecating laugh. "Though, I suppose I don't really have the right to say that to you!"
"After all, I once made an enormous, unforgivable mistake! It's a sin that I can never wash away in this lifetime."
Yes, even though every member of the Fairy Tail guild had forgiven him because he saved them on Tenrou Island, Laxus himself had still not completely forgiven the person he had become during his rebellious phase, the person who was almost consumed by the violent lightning magic within him.
"In any case, we'll discuss all this later!" Laxus decided after a moment of thought.
Meanwhile.
Ten thousand meters below Skypiea, in the Blue Sea.
The distant land of Alabasta.
The group of four—Eden, Natsu, Nami, and Happy—after bidding farewell to Little Black and landing in the country, had walked for half a day under the scorching sun before finally finding a reasonably populated town.
Without any hesitation, they rushed straight into the town's bar, planning to drink to their hearts' content.
But, in a place none of them noticed...
A bare-chested young man wearing a sun hat, with a distinct skull tattoo on his back, happened to walk into the very same bar, also enjoying a refreshing beer.
~# Every 30 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter