"The world is vast, and there are always people stronger than you."
— Dracule Mihawk from One Piece
...
The large open field was heavy with somber energy. The air tasted of ozone and dust, laced with the faint, coppery tang of spilled blood. The Expanse's strange, multi-hued light threw long, distorted shadows from the scattered debris of camp.
Enel sat on a rough-hewn stone, head bent, gaze fixed on Eve as though the sword might offer something useful. The familiar weight of the blade across his lap felt different now. He could not believe he had lost—though he was aware that sounded exactly like the lament of a minor villain from the stories his younger cousins used to read.
But to lose to someone he hadn't known existed until four days ago, at the entrance of all places. That caterwauling voice now felt like a prophecy he'd been too arrogant to hear.
Foremost genius, indeed. The words turned bitter in his mind. I'm just a frog at the bottom of a well.
