“Damn it—”

  Over the ing sea, Saint Howard's face flushed as he heard El's disdainful words. Known for his pride, Saint Hred at the Lunarian "monster" before him, his eyes bzing with anger.

  In the past, as a s of the Nerona family—one of the een families of the Celestial Dragons—he had been hailed as a prodigy. Highly esteemed by the nobility of Mary Geoise, he was quickly inducted into the Holy Knight Order and ter asded to the rank of Supreme ander after surpassing his peers during a triennial hunt of the Celestial Dragons. His prize for victory was araordinary Devil Fruit, granting him the powers of the "Mythical Zoan, Model: Angel."

  Now, at the pinnacle of power and status, sed only to the Five Elders in the Wover, he was being looked down upon by a young Lunarian who should have been hunted down like a rat by now. El had not only mocked him but had also gaihe upper haedly in their earlier cshes—a reality Howard found intolerable.

  With his angeligs fring, Howard's killing i surged as he shouted, “A mere Lunarian, you dare uimate me? I am the Supreme ander of the Holy Knights!”

  “Sword of Judgment!”

  An intense radiaed, f a massive, holy sword that glowed with divine light as he sshed at the Fallen Angel, El. “Die, you i brat!”

  “A glimmer pared to the sun?”

  El’s expression hardened, his eyes glinting as he raised one hand. His powerful figure, ed with a golden horn and covered in blue scales, drew energies of storm, lightning, and fme, verging them into an intense beam of light that shot skyward.

  “What is that…?”

  Two or three kilometers away on Franca Isnd, Kong's eyes widened in shock, his entire body tensing up. Even from a distance, he could feel the terrifying, destructive energy radiating from El's attack.

  “Did El-onii e up with a new move?”

  Even Linlin was stunned, her beautiful face registering disbelief as she watched the formidable energy. "When did he create something like that?"

  “Swoosh—”

  In an instant, a massive, bzing sword formed above the sea, matg the size of Howard's holy sword, its brilliance overp the surroundings. In Saint Howard's shocked, incredulous gaze, El seized the bzing sword and swung it forward with a smirk, g against the giant, holy bde.

  “Golden Reination Burst!”

  'Boom!'

  The csh of light and brilliance shook the heavens. The holy sword and the massive light sword struck each other fiercely, refusing to yield. Hurrie-force wied from the collision, ing the sea below and sending waves crashing into the sky.

  In the moment, Saint Howard’s eyes widened in horror as El’s bde tore through his holy sword and tis unstoppable dest toward him.

  “Holy Shield!”

  Panicked, Howard retreated rapidly while summoning a glowing shield in front of him. But in seds, his shield shattered, and El’s powerful attack tinued, sshing downward.

  “Aaaaah!”

  'Boom!'

  The sea boiled as waves surged, and a deep fissure opened ier, stretg far into the distance, sending chills down the spines of those watg.

  H in the sky, El looked down calmly. His test teique—"Golden Reination Burst"—was a bination of elemental powers he had honed over time, drawing on his trol of wind, thunder, and fire. Though he wasirely satisfied with its destructive power, El believed he could perfect it with time and effort.

  'Ultimately, I'm just not powerful enough yet.'

  Iermath of the attack, blood spilled through the air as Saint Howard stumbled back, his angeligs beating furiously. He was bleeding profusely, his abdomen sshed deeply, revealing muscle and bone.

  “Damn… damn it!” Pale-faced and sweating, Hritted his teeth, clutg his wounded abdomen as he tried to keep his ans from spilling out. Shrouded in holy light, he murmured, “Holy Restoration!”

  A radiant glow enveloped him as his wounds began to close visibly, the healing process aided by his Devil Fruit powers.