"S-So strong…!"
Even Mihawk—the world's greatest swordsman—was utterly stunned by Arashi's earth-shattering slash.
He had always known Arashi was strong, but he had never imagined he was this absurdly powerful.
Looking at the sea, split cleanly down the middle for over a thousand ters, watching the waves roll violently to both sides, Mihawk couldn't help but swallow. That familiar, overwhelming battle intent surged once more in his hawk-like eyes.
anwhile—
Arashi narrowed his eyes as he looked at the distant slash and the churning sea, then calmly lowered his blade.
Back in the Sword Domain, he had already grasped the intent to split mountains and sever seas. But before, he could only cut mountains—not the sea.
The reason was simple—
He lacked a weapon capable of bearing that level of power.
"Mihawk, your turn!"
Clearly satisfied with his own strike—ntally giving himself a solid 90 points—Arashi casually tossed the Black Blade back and said seriously,
"That one just now cut about a thousand ters. Co on—if you can go farther, you win!"
"...?"
The battle intent Mihawk had just built up instantly froze.
His head filled with question marks.
What do you an… my turn?
Then suddenly—
His eyes nearly popped out.
Staring at Arashi, he confird that the man wasn't joking at all.
Suppressing the urge to explode on the spot, Mihawk asked slowly,
"The 'wonderful sparring thod' you ntioned… is comparing who can slash farther?"
"Yeah!"
Arashi nodded earnestly.
"Isn't that brilliant? One slash each—whoever cuts farther wins. Perfect, right?"
"Perfect… absolutely perfect…"
Mihawk nodded repeatedly, barely holding himself together.
"Fine. Fine! We'll do it your way!"
With that, he turned and walked to the edge of the deck, his sharp gaze locking onto the sea.
Inside the cabin—
Perona had changed into a maid outfit prepared by Robin.
Perhaps due to her natural fondness for such unique clothing, she looked delighted.
But before she could admire herself—
Another terrifying slash erupted outside.
"Waaahhh!"
Startled, the young Perona collapsed onto the floor.
"It's them! It's those two!! They're the ones who knocked into the sea!"
Watching the slash tear across the ocean outside, she finally understood what had happened to her.
Robin, seeing her burst into tears again, could only press a hand to her forehead in exasperation.
As for the two n outside—
She truly had no words.
Especially Arashi.
Mihawk had traveled all this way to spar seriously, only to be dragged into… a long-distance slashing contest.
But then again—
Looking at the entire world, probably only Arashi could co up with sothing like this.
Back on deck—
As soon as Mihawk finished his slash, Arashi's voice rang out:
"Nice! That one's over a thousand ters too, right?"
"About the sa as yours…" Mihawk replied, sounding slightly dead inside.
"In that case, eyeballing it isn't fun. See that thing floating out there? Yeah—the piece of the ghost ship I cut earlier. Let's use that as a marker and go again!"
"…Fine, fine. I'll go first this ti!"
"Co on, hurry up and swing!"
"Can you be quiet for a second?"
"Go for it!!!"
And just like that—
One was the world's greatest swordsman.
The other, a free-spirited traveler.
Together, they turned what should have been a legendary duel into a ridiculous ga—and sohow enjoyed every second of it.
"Hmm… it's already dawn."
After another round, Arashi glanced at the sky, still sowhat unsatisfied.
"Let's call it here. We'll continue another day."
Mihawk nodded instinctively.
"Yeah, next ti we'll—wait, what the hell?!"
Snapping back to his senses, he exploded on the spot.
A perfectly good duel—
Sohow turned into this ss again!
Still…
Even without crossing blades directly, he was certain of one thing:
Arashi's swordsmanship was no weaker than his own.
If anything—
It might even surpass it.
And after this "competition," Mihawk realized sothing else:
Arashi was the kind of monster who treated his own power like a toy.
Compared to winning or losing, he cared far more about enjoying himself.
Most importantly…
This "ga" was actually kind of fun.
At the very least—
Way more interesting than rock-paper-scissors.
By evening—
Order had fully returned to the royal city.
Having handled all urgent matters, Queen Sophia led a grand procession of nobles and officials toward the port.
Since the pirate attack had co and gone so suddenly, the common people had no idea what truly happened. So when they saw the queen personally heading to the harbor, they followed in droves.
Sophia walked with regal grace—
But inside, she was anything but calm.
She had never imagined that the traveler she had t on a whim… would beco the hero who saved the kingdom.
If not for her duties—and the sudden death of Topkapı III—
She would have rushed to find Arashi long ago.
Now that everything was settled, she could no longer hold back.
She wanted nothing more than to welco him into the palace as a hero.
On the deck of the Traveler—
Arashi and Mihawk were drinking together.
As Arashi spotted the approaching royal guards—and at the center of them, Sophia's elegant figure—his eyes slowly narrowed.
Then—
He smiled.
Like a man who had just spotted a jar of honey.
Innocent… yet not quite.
Mihawk, noticing the strange smile, followed his gaze.
The mont he saw Queen Sophia looking back at Arashi with the exact sa expression—
He blinked.
Then his eyes widened in shock.
…Yeah.
There was definitely a story between those two.
Extra chapters are already prepared… waiting to be unleashed.
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