Lucian sat atop a fluffy white cloud, eyes narrowed, watching as the battle between the Straw Hats and Enel raged on. Lightning streaked across the sky, thunder crashing as the self-proclaimed god rained destruction upon the battlefield. Lucian couldn't help the bitter smile that curled his lips.
Damn, he knew that overall his world had a significantly higher powerscale with beings capable of shattering continents and manipulating fundamental forces. Especially with how much more the world changed from the anime.
But watching this fight unfold in real time, witnessing Enel's effortless command over raw lightning, and then knowing his own current capabilities, just made it painfully clear how weak he still was.
It wasn't to say that he was entirely helpless, especially since he had absorbed Marcus and gained his power and knowledge, he was a solid Mid-Mid class devil. His mana reserves were now respectable, his control over basic spells was precise, and his understanding of magical principles had greatly expanded. If he went to the human world back on his earth, he could destroy an entire city easily if only humans attacked him.
But seeing Enel toss around bolts of lightning that could erase him from existence in a single, casual attack? It was humbling, to say the least. The sheer destructive force Enel wielded dwarfed his current offensive capabilities, a stark reminder of the vast chasm between his current standing and the true powerhouses of even this world, showing that while this world was weaker than his, the humans were far stronger than those in his world. He wasn't worried, though, he'd get there soon, far sooner than most would expect.
He continued watching as they fought, barely able to follow the high-speed exchange of blows and elemental bursts, but still managed to keep track of the chaotic dance. It wasn't long before the inevitable happened. Luffy, a blur of rubbery defiance, landed a final, thunderous blow, sending Enel flying with a resounding crack that echoed across the sky and ended the fight with his fist wrapped in a giant golden ball.
Lucian stood up from the top of the cloud he was sitting on, opened his black bat wings, and launched himself into the air, flying towards where he had sensed the fallen, so-called god.
As he was soaring through the buoyant sky, he felt something grow warm inside his body, a sudden, intense pulse deep within his core. Then, voices started flooding his mind, distant yet vivid, a cacophony of emotions, intentions, and raw sensory input, and he could feel his surroundings with an unprecedented clarity.
He staggered a little in the air, nearly losing his balance, before he quickly corrected himself and landed on a nearby cloud to adjust. Guess his deal with Aisa was completed, Enel was defeated, which meant her end of the bargain was fulfilled, and he got his price, Observation Haki.
He was lucky that he was used to manipulating mana, because while not the same, the mental discipline required for mana control helped immensely in keeping the raw flood of sensory data from overwhelming him, acting like a rudimentary filter. He wanted to start practicing, to delve into this new ability, but he didn't want to lose this immediate opportunity.
He flew up again and continued his way to Enel, finding him sprawled out on a cloud-ground, nearly half-dead, a bloody, broken mess. Guess Luffy truly did a number on him. He moved over to the self-proclaimed god, noticing the man was still conscious, good, this would make it easier.
It seemed that Enel sensed him when he got close and struggled, his bloodied face contorting as Lucian watched the man turn with great difficulty to look at him, a flicker of desperate defiance in his eyes. Lucian didn't even allow him to talk or give him any chance, he focused on his magic and waved his right hand, and immediately a cage formed around Enel. Its bars, thin and seemingly insubstantial, shimmered with a faint, rubbery essence, just big enough to contain him and with little space to move around.
He moved towards the man as he began to speak, first greeting him cheerfully as the man seemed to glare at him, a mix of pain and fury in his eyes. He introduced himself, "Good day, My Name is Lucian Raum. Devil. Merchant." and then, with a predatory smile, added, "And today, may be your saviour."
The man struggled, coughing out blood, and in a desperate, futile attempt, sent a bolt of lightning at him that hit the rubbery box he was in and just fizzled out, absorbed harmlessly.
"Don't bother," Lucian said smugly, his voice laced with amusement. "It's made of rubber, you know, like the guy that just kicked your 'divine' ass." he raised his hand as he air quoted the word divine. Coming from a world where divinity actually existed, it was rather funny in a way for him.
That seemed to make Enel glare harder, his eyes burning with impotent rage as he demanded to be set free, and he demanded, "How dare you imprison a god." Even as he struggled to talk, bloodied and beaten, this dude was still this arrogant, that was a little impressive, Lucian mused internally.
But Lucian really didn't have time for chit-chat. As he'd said before, magic without a magic circle ate up a lot of mana. Imagination magic was very costly, and the only reason he was even able to do this was because he had more magic now. But it wasn't even up to High-Mid class, so it wouldn't be do to hold this for too long, certainly not for a prolonged negotiation, so he hoped this worked quickly.
He waved his hand again, a deliberate, slow move so that Enel could fully understand what was happening. The box Enel was in started to shrink, the rubbery walls slowly pressing inward.
"You see this?" Lucian explained, his voice calm but firm. "It's made of rubber, so you can't break out or do anything. especially in your current state, it will continue to shrink up until it crushes you." He could see that the man at least understood the direness of the situation now, the arrogance in his eyes slowly giving way to a dawning horror. "So here's what I want, I want to make a deal with you."
"What deal?" the man asked, his voice a strained whisper, his eyes darting around the shrinking confines.
He stopped the shrinking. While he could threaten someone into making a deal with him, he couldn't threaten while a deal was ongoing, what he means is that he could threat someone to make a deal but he couldn't force that person to accept or pressure them to accept but if they think he could kill them if they don't that's another matter on its own.
"I'll let you live, in exchange, I get one thing from you." The man seemed hesitant, taking his time to maybe try and figure out what he wanted, his pride warring with his primal fear, but Lucian started whistling a casual tune, came up to the box, placing his hand on it as if inspecting it, as he started asking, almost conversationally,
"You ever wonder what happens to a Logia user when they can't phase? When they can't disperse? When all that pressure has nowhere to go but in? What happens if you trap lightning in a box and squeeze it till there's no more space"
That psychological jab seemed to kick the man's butt into gear, the image of his elemental body being compacted into nothingness proving too much for even his divine ego. He accepted the deal, a guttural "Fine!" escaping his lips.
Lucian released the box with a flick of his fingers and sighed inwardly, the mana drain from holding that construct still a deep ache in his reserves, though he made sure not to show it. He really needed a proper magic circle.
The ones Marcus had possessed, were as close to not having one at all, there were different circles and different levels to there efficiency, like the noble houses had circles that reduce cost of mana up to 75 to 80 percent but the one Marcus had was around 5 to 10, it was barely anything at all but still better than nothing at least. After all, Marcus was like him, someone who was raised in the lower end of society and clawed his way, getting to Mid class.
In terms of raw talent, Marcus was impressive, without help or anything, he got to Mid class in less than 500 years, that was a testament to his innate ability. There were devils from the first generation who were still stuck in mid class, some even low class, so you can see just how much talent Marcus had. Shame he was born into the wrong family. Had he been born into a high class family, he would have thrived.
Well, He was dead now, so....
He shook his head, pushing the thought aside, and focused back on Enel. The man, now free, immediately tried to attack him, stretching out his hands as if waiting for a bolt of lightning to erupt, but nothing happened. He tried again, and the same thing, again, and again, and again, his movements growing increasingly frantic.
He started to panic, his eyes wide with disbelief and horror as he realized what was going on, he had lost his powers. Lucian nodded, a silent confirmation, it worked.
He looked at the man and hummed, a thought sparking in his mind. He wanted to try something. He made to kill the man, raising his hand, but his body refused to move. He tried again, harder, willing his arm to strike, but nothing. "Thought so," he sighed, a wry smirk on his lips.
When he makes a deal, it is absolute, on both ends. That meant his word to leave Enel alive was an inviolable clause, binding him as much as it bound the former so called god. He couldn't touch him.
He opened his hand, and with a soft shimmer of golden light, a fruit appeared. It was the Goro Goro no Mi, looking like a standard Devil Fruit but with distinct swirls of electric blue and silver dancing across its dark purple skin, and a gnarled stem.
Enel saw the fruit, his eyes widening in primal recognition and desperate fury, and immediately lunged for it despite his current state, a guttural roar tearing from his throat. Lucian, however, was faster. He simply kicked the already injured man in the chest, sending him tumbling across the cloud-ground once more, a pathetic heap of defeated arrogance.
"Mine now," Lucian said simply, the words a quiet pronouncement of triumph. He had gotten what he came for, and more. With a wave of his hand, he summoned a shimmering portal and put the fruit in, leaving the powerless 'god' groaning in defeat behind him, as he turned and flew away. He got what he wanted from him, so he wasn't going to waste time here.
As he flew, he was thinking, at first he wanted to leave things as there were, but really was it that bad if he changed thinks, he already knew what would happen if he left them and while he didn't know how one piece would have ended, he still knew at the end luffy would become king that was enough, so he wasn't going to let his opportunity for getting stronger slip because he wanted to preserve canon just for the sake of seeing thing go the same way when he wouldn't even always be in this world to watch it.
Mind made up, he changed directions and started heading towards the straw hat crew.
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