Clang!
We charged at each other the moment it started, blades colliding.
"Tch! What strength!"
Mihawk looked startled by my power. Of course he was. It wasn't for nothing that Garp came to the island to test his strength whenever he could. No matter how hard he pushed himself to his limits, I could take it all. In MCU terms, I had raw strength on par with Normal Mode Hulk. From the start, there was no way he could match me in sheer muscle.
We broke apart for a moment, then clashed again, exchanging several blows. The impact alone began shearing through the hills and trees on the island.
Clang! Tang! Clang-clang!
Mihawk seemed to realize he couldn't meet my sword head-on, so he started deflecting my strikes instead of blocking them. As we traded blows, I noticed something. In the world of One Piece, every pirate I'd met so far fought with nothing but raw power—strong attacks, stronger attacks, that's all they had. Even when they shouted strange names, it was still just brute force. But Mihawk was different. There was softness and finesse in his attacks.
'To develop swordsmanship to this level in this world... that's truly incredible. As expected of the world's strongest swordsman.'
The reason the One Piece world developed that way came down to Haki and Devil Fruits. In the end, who had stronger Haki and who had the more broken Devil Fruit ability—that decided most battles. So it was inevitable. Which made Mihawk's swordsmanship all the more impressive.
The interesting part was that I was attacking with [Armament Haki] and [Conqueror's Haki] wrapped around my blade, yet Mihawk's black blade, also clad in [Armament Haki], wasn't falling behind at all. That meant if we ranked his Haki, Mihawk's was a full tier above mine—(SSS).
His [Observation Haki] was the same. Even with my [Observation Haki] running at full capacity, his attacks would occasionally slip in from angles I couldn't predict, sharp and precise. His [Observation Haki] was definitely (SSS) as well, one grade above mine. Fortunately, I had [Accelerated Thought] and [Danger Sense], so I could still block most of those unexpected strikes.
The problem was that Mihawk's [Observation Haki] made it hard for my attacks to land. I was barely maintaining balance by using variations from the [Jangbaek Sword Art] of Yeolhyeol Gangho.
Clang!
We exchanged one powerful blow and fell into a brief lull.
"Impressive swordsmanship. So many variations. I've never seen a style like this."
Mihawk was praising the ever-changing nature of [Jangbaek Sword Art]. That made sense. Given how One Piece's combat developed, a sword style like this wouldn't have had a chance to evolve.
"Hahaha, praise from Mihawk. I'll take it. But in terms of sword mastery, you're still ahead."
That was the truth. Mihawk's swordsmanship was focused on power with few variations, but every single strike was honed to perfection. That's how he could redirect my high-strength attacks and counter. Without that level of mastery, he wouldn't have lasted more than a few exchanges.
"Meeting you is my good fortune. To see swordsmanship like this... I might have to step down as the strongest swordsman at this rate."
"You're good at saying things you don't mean."
Mihawk smiled at my words. By now, the island was already devastated. Countless sword strikes had carved it down to a third of its original size.
"Let's finish this."
"Right."
Mihawk took his stance again. I did the same, gauging the timing to strike. This time, Mihawk came in first.
"Flying Slash!!"
He dashed in quickly and unleashed a flying slash. I responded with a form from the Jangbaek Sword Art.
"Wind-Thunder Seal Strike!!"
Clang!!
Once our attacks canceled out, I immediately pressed forward.
"Seven Star Break!!"
Seven Star Break was one of the fastest quick-sword techniques in the Jangbaek Sword Art. The sword's trajectory resembled the Big Dipper, which was how it got its name.
Faced with that rapid quick-sword, Mihawk hurriedly ducked to evade and immediately thrust his blade upward.
"Hup!! Black Blade, Dark Night!!"
Tung!!
I instantly pulled the [Lightning God's Longsword] in close to block. But the impact sent my body airborne. Looking down, I saw Mihawk smiling. He probably thought I couldn't do anything while I was in the air. As expected, Mihawk followed up with a continuous barrage of flying slashes.
"Black Blade, Wild Song!!"
But contrary to Mihawk's expectations, the Jangbaek Sword Art had techniques for raining attacks down while airborne.
"Fierce Tiger Ravine!!!"
Clang! Clang! Chang! Clang! Ching!
After blocking every strike and landing, I saw Mihawk charging at me at high speed with his black blade leading.
"Black Blade, Sixteen Night Bloom!!!"
The timing was perfect—hard to dodge. I had no choice but to raise my sword to block, but at the last moment Mihawk's blade shifted course, aiming not at my body but at my shoulder.
Stab!
"Kugh!"
I couldn't predict that at all. Mihawk had been learning my sword in real time as we fought, and his variations had increased. That was the meaning behind his smile. But I wasn't just going to take it.
I immediately clamped down on the black blade piercing my shoulder with overwhelming strength and swung the [Lightning God's Longsword] toward Mihawk's neck. In that moment, Mihawk tried to pull his sword from my shoulder, but my grip was too strong.
"I've lost..."
Mihawk didn't try to let go of his sword to save himself. He simply closed his eyes, accepting death. Seeing that, I stopped my blade right beside his neck.
"Why didn't you let go of your sword?"
When I asked instead of cutting, Mihawk opened his eyes again and answered.
"My black blade and I are one."
"Hoh! Is that so?"
I withdrew my sword and pulled the black blade from my shoulder, then released my grip. Mihawk flicked the blood off his blade and sheathed it on his back.
"Now you are the strongest swordsman."
I immediately refuted that.
"No, I can't accept that. I don't feel like I won with the sword at all. This was just me overpowering you with strength. With the blade alone, I lost."
At that, Mihawk laughed and said,
"Hahaha, Tae-jin, was it?"
"That's right."
"Fighting like this... it's been a long time since I enjoyed a duel this much. I learned a lot from this fight. If I come to Merchant's Island, can I see you anytime?"
"Yeah. Come whenever you want. You're always welcome."
Truthfully, if I had used a few more abilities, I might have won easily. But I wanted to fight with swordsmanship alone.
Mihawk left just like that, and Luffy's crew and I sailed back to Cocoyasi Village on the Going Merry. Everyone looked grim.
"Why the serious faces?"
After thinking for a moment, Sanji answered my question with one of his own.
"Tae-jin hyung, are there a lot of monsters like you out on the sea?"
"Not many, but they exist. Why? Scared already?"
Luffy and the others had watched the entire fight between Mihawk and me from start to finish. Well, an entire large island had nearly vanished in the fight, so it was only natural to be intimidated by that overwhelming display.
"I'm starting to regret going out to sea."
"Hahaha! Hearing Sanji say that would make Chef Zeff cry."
"But still, one slash sent a mountain on the island flying. I didn't know monsters like that were running around."
"Not everyone's that strong. People like Mihawk are rare. And you guys are just starting out."
Hearing that, Luffy stood up and shouted with renewed resolve.
"Uwooooooh!! That's right!! We're just getting started! There's no reason to be scared at all!"
Just then, Nami was crouched in the corner, muttering sadly.
"Ah... I want to go home already."
When we arrived at the village, a festival was in full swing.
Wooo~ wooo~
When we asked around, they said Zoro was resting after being treated by Dr. Nako. Usopp was on the village platform bragging about himself.
"Ahem~ ahem~ This body is Captain Usopp, who defeated an Arlong executive!"
"Wow~ Amazing, Captain Usopp!" "Give me your autograph~"
Come to think of it, Luffy was covered in wounds too, so I grabbed him while he was stuffing his face with meat, treated his injuries, and wrapped him in bandages.
"Oww, oww! That hurts!"
"Geez, bear with it. And recruit a doctor for your crew. If someone gets seriously hurt or sick like this, you could lose a precious crewmate."
Luffy thought for a moment and then said,
"Mm... got it. Then I need to find a doctor and a musician fast."
Luffy was treating the importance of a doctor and a musician as equal. If he weren't the protagonist, I'd never want to join a pirate crew with a captain like this.
"Can't Candy hyung join our ship as the doctor?"
"The difference in strength is too big. If I solve everything for you, you guys won't grow. And Merchant's Island doesn't function without me."
"That's a shame."
Once the treatment was done, I slapped Luffy on the back.
Smack!
"Ugh!"
"All done. Go eat."
"Yahoo~!"
Luffy ran back off to eat meat. When I went out, Zoro was already out too, eating food and drinking. I wasn't sure if it was okay to drink after treating such a big wound.
The party went on for several days. Zoro, having heard about what happened with Mihawk, kept coming at me to fight, so I knocked him out a few times to keep his wounds from reopening. In between, orders came in, and I teleported out to make deliveries.
While we were enjoying the party, Marines entered Cocoyasi Village one day. A huge man wearing a dog-shaped hat came, and I saw it was Vice Admiral Garp. I hadn't expected him to come in person after I told him about Nezumi.
"Tae-jin, just like you said, it was confirmed that some of them were colluding with pirates. Thank you."
The villagers handed over Colonel Nezumi and his subordinates, along with the few Arlong crew members they had captured, to Garp. The Marines locked them up on their ship and then came out and bowed to me and the villagers.
"Our failure allowed pirates to collude with Marines. I sincerely apologize to the people of Cocoyasi Village."
Garp was a righteous Marine as expected. With the honor of the Marines and his title as the Hero of the Marines, apologizing couldn't have been easy, yet he admitted fault and bowed without hesitation.
"Huh? Gramps!"
"Eh? Luffy, what are you doing here?"
I gave a brief explanation of what had happened. Hearing it, Garp laughed heartily and slapped Luffy on the back with his massive hand.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"Cough!"
"Bwahahaha! That's my grandson. But how did you get here? Tae-jin, did you bring him?"
I hurriedly covered Luffy's mouth and said,
"Ahaha, yes. He kept saying he wanted to see other places, so I took him out for a walk."
From the way he talked, it seemed Garp didn't know Luffy had left the village yet. So I quickly lied to let it slide quietly.
"I see. Hurry back to the village. Dadan is worried."
Garp spoke with Genzo about something and then left on his ship. From what I overheard Genzo telling the villagers, the Marines had agreed to provide some compensation.
Thinking about it, something felt off. Garp should have known Luffy became a pirate after 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... if it ended well, that's what matters.'
The next day, Luffy and the others prepared to leave. The villagers helped load food onto the ship. Johnny and Yosaku decided to stay in the village. Once preparations were done, Luffy's crew started boarding the Going Merry. But a long time passed and Nami didn't show up, making everyone worry.
"Why is she taking so long?"
Just then, Nami appeared from behind and shouted loudly.
"Set sail!!"
Not understanding, Luffy's crew did as told, unfurling the sails and getting the ship moving. In the meantime, Nami ran through the villagers, then jumped onto the departing Going Merry.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud
As soon as she boarded, Nami shook out her clothes, and countless wallets fell to the deck. Seeing that, the villagers started searching for their wallets, but it was too late.
"Everyone, take care~"
"You damn little brat-!!!"
"Give me back my wallet!!!"
"Don't you ever come back!!!"
Then the villagers' words started to change.
"Come back anytime!"
"Stay healthy!"
"Thank you, really!!"
Hearing that, Nami smiled and shouted loudly.
"Then everyone!! I'll be going!!!"
Honestly, this was what I stayed here for the past few days to see. As a One Piece fan, I couldn't miss this scene.