Clang!
We rushed at each other and clashed swords simultaneously.
"Tch! What strength!"
Mihawk seemed surprised by my strength. It was natural. There was a reason why Garp showed off his strength every time he visited the island. It was because even when he squeezed out his power to the limit, I could handle it all. My strength was on par with normal mode Hulk from the MCU. From the start, he couldn't possibly be a match in terms of raw power.
We separated for a moment, then clashed again, exchanging several blows. Due to the aftermath, hills and trees on the island began to be sliced away.
Clang! Clang! Clang clang!
Mihawk, thinking it was impossible to receive my sword head-on, began deflecting and parrying the strikes. I also felt something after exchanging several blows. Clearly, in One Piece, all the attacks from pirates I'd met so far were just about brute strength. They attached strange names to their attacks, but ultimately it was all strong attacks, even stronger attacks. But Mihawk was different. His attacks had softness and finesse.
'To develop swordsmanship to this extent in such a world is truly amazing. Fitting for the world's greatest swordsman.'
The reason swordsmanship developed in that way in the One Piece worldview was largely due to the influence of Haki and Devil Fruits. In the end, who had stronger Haki, who had more overpowered Devil Fruit abilities—these differences became the biggest factors determining victory, so it was an unavoidable problem. That's why Mihawk's swordsmanship skill was somewhat moving, in a way?
The interesting point here is that I was attacking with [Armament Haki] and [Conqueror's Haki] clad on my sword, but Mihawk's black sword clad with [Armament Haki] didn't fall behind at all. That meant if Mihawk's Haki was graded, it would be one level higher than mine, at (SSS).
And it was the same for [Observation Haki]. Even with my [Observation Haki] fully activated, attacks would occasionally stab sharply into unexpected places. Clearly, his [Observation Haki] also seemed to be one grade above mine, at (SSS). Fortunately, since I had [Thought Acceleration] and [Danger Sense] abilities, I could block unexpected attacks to some extent.
The problem here was that because of Mihawk's [Observation Haki], my attacks weren't landing well. I was barely maintaining balance with the variations of the 'Jangbaekgeomgyeol' (White Frost Sword Art).
Clang!
We exchanged a powerful blow and a brief lull occurred.
"Amazing swordsmanship. The variations are diverse. I've never seen such swordsmanship before."
Mihawk seemed to praise the ever-changing nature of the [Jangbaekgeomgyeol]. It was natural. Given the nature of One Piece, such swordsmanship couldn't have developed.
"Hahaha, praise from Mihawk sounds good. But the perfection of the sword belongs to you."
It was true. Mihawk's swordsmanship focused on strength, with few variations, but each strike had very high perfection. That's why he could deflect and counterattack my attacks despite my high strength. Without that perfection, the match might have ended after a few exchanges.
"Meeting you was sheer luck. To see such swordsmanship... If this goes wrong, I might have to relinquish the title of greatest swordsman."
"You sure know how to say things you don't mean."
Mihawk showed a smile at my words. The island was already being devastated. Due to countless sword slashes, the island was carved away, its size reduced by a third.
"Let's finish now."
"Yes."
Mihawk took a stance again. I also took a stance, timing my attack. This time, Mihawk came in first.
"Secret Slash!!"
Mihawk rushed swiftly and launched a slash. I responded with a technique from the Jangbaekgeomgyeol.
"Wind Thunder Strike!!"
Clang!!
As our attacks canceled each other out, I immediately launched a swift attack.
"Seven Star Burst!!"
Seven Star Burst was a fast sword style among the Jangbaekgeomgyeol techniques. The sword's trajectory resembled the shape of the Big Dipper, hence the name.
Against the swift sword, Mihawk urgently ducked to evade and immediately stabbed upward with his sword to attack.
"Hup!! Black Blade: Dark Night!!"
Thud!!
I immediately blocked the attack by pressing the [Raijin's Longsword] against my body. However, the impact sent my body floating into the air. Looking down, I saw Mihawk smiling. He probably thought I couldn't do anything with my body in the air. As expected, Mihawk immediately launched consecutive slashes.
"Black Blade: Nocturne!!"
But contrary to Mihawk's expectation, the Jangbaekgeomgyeol had a technique that pours down attacks while falling from the air.
"Fierce Tiger Descending Valley!!!"
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
After blocking all attacks like that and landing on the ground, I saw Mihawk charging at high speed with his black blade leading.
"Black Blade: Sixteenfold Strike!!!"
The attack came at a perfect timing, making it hard to dodge. I had no choice but to raise my sword to block again, but in an instant, Mihawk's sword changed trajectory and the attack came not at my body but at my shoulder.
Stab!
"Tch!"
This was completely unexpected. It was the result of Mihawk learning from my sword in real-time while fighting me, increasing his variations. This seemed to be the meaning of Mihawk's smile. But I wasn't just going to take it lying down.
I immediately grabbed the black blade stabbed into my shoulder with immense strength and swung the [Raijin's Longsword] aiming for Mihawk's neck. During that time, Mihawk tried to pull the sword from my shoulder, but couldn't due to my powerful strength.
"My, I've lost..."
Mihawk could have lived by letting go of his sword and dodging, but instead of doing that, he seemed to accept death and just closed his eyes. Seeing that, I stopped my sword right beside Mihawk's neck.
"Why didn't you let go of your sword?"
Mihawk opened his eyes again and answered as I asked instead of slashing his neck.
"The black blade and I are one."
"Hmph! Is that so?"
I sheathed my sword, pulled the black blade stuck in my shoulder, released my grip, and let go of the black blade. Then Mihawk shook off the blood on the black blade and put it on his back.
"Now you are the greatest swordsman."
I immediately refuted that statement.
"No, I can't accept that. I don't feel like I won through swordsmanship at all. This was just overpowering with strength. With swords, I lost."
At those words, Mihawk laughed and said.
"Hahaha, it was Taejin, right?"
"Yes."
"It's been a long time since I enjoyed a duel this much. I learned a lot from this match. Can I see you anytime if I go to the Merchant's Island?"
"Yes, come anytime. You're welcome."
Honestly, if I had used a few more abilities, I might have won easily. But I wanted to fight using only swordsmanship.
Mihawk left like that, and Luffy's crew and I were returning to Cocoyashi Village on the Going Merry. Luffy and the others all had serious expressions.
"Why such serious expressions?"
Sanji thought for a moment, then answered my question with another question.
"Taejin bro, are there many strong people in the sea similar to you?"
"There aren't many, but they exist. Why? Already scared?"
Luffy's crew watched Mihawk and my fight from beginning to end. Well, a large island almost disappeared from the fight, so it was understandable to be intimidated by that overwhelming sight.
"Somehow I'm starting to regret setting out to sea."
"Hahaha! Sanji saying something like that, Boss Zeff would cry."
"But with just one slash, a mountain on the island flew away. I didn't know such monsters were swarming around."
"Not all of them are that strong. Strong ones like Mihawk are rare. And you guys are just beginning, right?"
Luffy, who had been quietly listening to my words, stood up and shouted as if steeling his resolve.
"Uooooooh!! Right!! We're just starting! There's no need to be scared at all!"
Then Nami sat crouched in a corner with a sad face and muttered.
"Ah... I want to go home quickly."
When we arrived at the village, the village was in the middle of a festival.
Wah~ Wah~
Asking around, I heard Zoro was resting and receiving treatment from 'Doctor Nako'. Usopp was on the village stage boasting about himself.
"Ah~ ah~ I am Captain Usopp, who defeated Arlong's officer!"
"Wow~ cool Captain Usopp!" "Give me an autograph~"
Come to think of it, remembering Luffy was also covered in wounds, I grabbed Luffy, who was munching on meat, and treated his wounds, wrapping them in bandages.
"Ouch ouch! It hurts!"
"Goodness, bear with it a little. And recruit a doctor as a crewmate. If a crewmate gets seriously injured or sick like this, you could lose a precious comrade."
Luffy thought for a moment and said.
"Hmm... I see. Then I need to find a doctor and a musician quickly."
Luffy equated the importance of a doctor and a musician. If the captain is like this, if he weren't the protagonist, I'd never want to join his pirate crew.
"Candy bro, can't you join our crew as the doctor?"
"The power difference is too great. If I solve everything for you, you guys won't be able to grow. And the Merchant's Island won't function without me."
"That's a shame."
When the treatment ended, I slapped Luffy's back.
Slap!
"Ugh!"
"Done. Go eat some food."
"Yahoo~!"
Luffy ran off and started eating meat again. I went out and saw Zoro was also out, eating food and drinking. I'm not sure if it's okay to drink alcohol after treating such a serious wound.
The party lasted for several days. Zoro, having apparently heard about what happened with Mihawk, kept coming to challenge me, so I knocked him out a few times, worried his wounds would reopen. During that time, orders came in, so I teleported to make deliveries.
While enjoying the party like that, one day Marines entered Cocoyashi Village. A huge person wearing a dog-shaped hat came, and when I looked, it was Vice Admiral Garp. I had told him about Nezumi, but I didn't expect him to come personally.
"Taejin, just as you said, it's been revealed that he was in cahoots with several pirates. Thank you."
The villagers handed over the captured Colonel Nezumi, his subordinates, and some captured Arlong crew members to Garp. The Marines locked them up on the warship, came out again, and bowed their heads to apologize to the villagers.
"Pirates colluding with Marines is entirely our failure. We sincerely apologize to the people of Cocoyashi Village."
Garp was truly a just Marine. He had Marine honor and the title of Marine Hero, so apologizing couldn't have been easy, but he admitted the mistake and bowed his head without hesitation.
"Huh? Gramps!"
"Huh? Why are you here, Luffy?"
I briefly explained what had happened. Hearing that, Garp laughed loudly and hit Luffy's back with his huge hand.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
"Cough!"
"Bwahahaha! As expected of my grandson. But how did you get here? Did Taejin give you a ride?"
"I am a pir... ugh!"
I urgently covered Luffy's mouth and said.
"Ahaha yes, he kept wanting to see other places. So I brought him out for a walk."
From the conversation, Garp didn't seem to know yet that Luffy had left the village. So to let it slide quietly, I quickly lied.
"I see. Return to the village quickly. Dadan is worried."
Garp talked with Genzo about something, then boarded the warship and left. Listening to what Genzo told the villagers, it was said the Marines agreed to provide some compensation.
Thinking about it quietly, something was strange. He should know Luffy became a pirate because of the 'Morgan' incident. I couldn't tell if Garp was pretending not to know, or if that branch kept quiet out of gratitude to Luffy.
'Well... it's good that it ended well.'
The next day, Luffy's crew prepared to depart. The villagers helped load supplies. Johnny and Yosaku decided to stay in the village. Once preparations were finished, Luffy's crew began boarding the Going Merry. But even after a long time, Nami didn't come, so Luffy and the others started to worry.
"Why isn't this guy coming?"
Then Nami appeared from behind and shouted loudly.
"Set sail!!"
Luffy's crew, not understanding why, did as told, unfurled the sails, and set the ship to depart. During that time, Nami went back and forth among the villagers, then jumped onto the departing Going Merry and boarded.
Thud thud thud!
As soon as Nami boarded, she shook her clothes, and numerous wallets fell to the floor. Seeing that, the villagers began searching for their wallets, but it was already too late.
"Everyone, take care~"
"You damn little brat-!!!" "Give back my wallet!!!" "Don't come back!!!"
Then the villagers' words began to change.
"Come back anytime!" "Stay healthy!" "Thank you so much!!"
Hearing that, Nami smiled and shouted loudly.
"Then everyone!! I'll be back!!!"
Honestly, I stayed here for several days to see this. As a One Piece fan, I couldn't miss this scene.