"Shoot him."
As Daren's voice fell, Momonga, standing not far away, couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth, a heavy black line forming over his head.
What kind of bullshit swordsmanship is this!
Not even a name for the move... aside from the difference in speed and whether Armament Haki is infused, there's practically no variation at all!
But unlike Momonga, who was just a bystander, Moria and Mihawk both widened their eyes in shock.
Especially Mihawk... The moment the Vice Admiral spoke, he felt a fierce, destructive aura explode uncontrollably from that rotting long sword!
The magnetic field covering the island spiraled into chaos once again. The air seemed to boil, distorting and blurring Mihawk's vision as streaks of blue lightning danced through the air.
Boom!!
An overwhelming burst of force erupted. The Meito Kogarashi, fully blackened by Armament Haki, instantly accelerated, breaking the sound barrier and shooting forward at a staggering speed.
It's coming!
The intense sense of mortal danger made Mihawk's eyes narrow. In that instant, his mind and spirit reached complete focus.
After enduring the first strike, he had learned his lesson. He had already activated his Observation Haki… finally, within the death shadow cast by Kogarashi, he caught a slim chance for survival!
Before the blade even reached him, the blasting shockwave struck first, making his floral shirt whip noisily in the wind.
Clutching tightly onto the future "world's greatest black blade," Yoru, Mihawk slashed out with full force!
Clang!!
A deafening explosion rang out, shattering every piece of glass among the ruined buildings nearby.
Moria instinctively covered his ears to protect his eardrums from the blast.
He stared, wide-eyed, at the scene before him...
He hit it!
Mihawk's slash—precise beyond belief—struck the incoming Kogarashi dead-on!
Blade against blade!
A terrifying shockwave exploded outward, crashing over the battlefield like a massive tide.
However, Mihawk's face suddenly shifted. There was no joy at having landed a strike on Daren.
The Armament Haki wrapped around Kogarashi surged like a rocket's second-stage booster, erupting in black ripples at the tail and driving the blade forward with even greater force!
An almost unstoppable might surged toward him.
Mihawk was overwhelmed, battered backward by the brutal force pushing Kogarashi!
Five meters, ten meters, thirty meters...
He was forced back more than a hundred meters, plowing a long trench into the ground before he finally managed to halt his retreat, barely holding his ground.
The impact from the blade roared past both sides of his body, tearing a massive rift into the sea hundreds of meters away.
The waves surged violently, accompanied by a deafening roar.
The world fell into a dead silence.
Gecko Moria stood frozen, dumbstruck.
The Marines who had already retreated a good distance away stared pale-faced at the terrifying spectacle, nervously gulping.
Tick... tick...
Drops of blood fell from the hilt of Yoru onto the ground.
Mihawk gasped heavily for air. His hawk-like sharp golden eyes were now laced with dense blood vessels.
A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
His hand gripping Yoru burned with pain—skin torn, bleeding freely.
Under the crushing pressure of Armament Haki, the defensive Haki wrapped around his arm had been shattered, and the overwhelming impact had caused internal bleeding.
A cold, wet feeling crept up from beneath his feet—Mihawk didn't even need to look to know that the icy seawater had soaked through his boots.
He had nearly been knocked off the island into the sea by Daren's strike!
"He actually blocked it again..."
At this moment, Momonga's face was full of shock as he muttered under his breath.
Though Daren's magnetic sword technique wasn't even one of his main killing moves, it was definitely not something an ordinary person could block head-on.
How old was Mihawk now?
Fifteen? Sixteen?
At this age, he was able to detect Daren's strike the moment the blade swung and successfully intercept it!
This level of swordsmanship awareness and mastery was simply unheard of.
Daren had no talent for swordsmanship whatsoever. He much preferred close-quarters, hand-to-hand combat.
But Momonga—before he acquired the Goro Goro no Mi—had been a master swordsman himself!
Even though he was confined to the relatively small North Blue, he had still managed to forge his way to the realm of a true swordsman through sheer combat experience and exceptional talent!
Because of this, Momonga could see it clearer than anyone else...
He knew exactly how valuable Mihawk's sword strike just now was!
Without exaggeration—if you stripped away the power of the Goro Goro no Mi and talked purely about swordsmanship—Momonga had to admit he would be no match!
This kid's swordsmanship would absolutely dominate him!
"Another monster... No wonder Daren thinks so highly of him."
Momonga took a long look at Mihawk.
Tick, tick...
Blood dripped onto the ground as Mihawk struggled to calm the blood surging inside his body.
He didn't bother to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, but a smile of satisfaction appeared on his face.
"Excellent... Just excellent..."
He muttered with a smile.
Moria looked completely confused.
Was this guy beaten to a pulp?
Was he out of his mind?
He was seriously injured, yet he was smiling so happily?
"I came to the North Blue this time... It was the right decision, it was worth the trip!"
Mihawk completely ignored Moria's idiotic gaze, a smile on his face.
He was clearly a teenager of fifteen or sixteen, but his unique, calm, and cold temperament and the smile unique to a strong man did not seem out of place at all.
"Daren! What kind of sword technique is that!?"
Mihawk raised his light black sword with one hand again and pointed it directly at the Vice Admiral of the Marines.
"Such a powerful and domineering sword technique should have a name!"
"A name..."
Daren was taken aback by his words.
What name could it have... It was just a magnetic field that was sometimes weaker and sometimes stronger, wasn't it?
But facing Mihawk's bright and fiery gaze, he thought for a moment and then said,
"A sword technique is a sword technique. As long as it can kill the opponent, it's enough. The name doesn't matter at all."
As soon as he said this, Mihawk froze in place, as if struck by lightning.
"As long as it can kill the opponent, it's enough. The name doesn't matter at all..."
He muttered to himself with a slightly pale face.
"I see... I see!"
Suddenly, as if he had understood something, his eyes burst with an incomparably bright light.
"I understand!"
Daren: ???
You understand?
What do you understand?
I don't even understand what I'm saying, but you understand?
"So... this is the secret of powerful swordsmanship!"
Mihawk stared at Daren with burning eyes, trembling with excitement.
"I've been on the wrong path all along!"
"Daren, you truly deserve to be called a 'legend'!"
"The true way of the sword, the top swordsmen, don't need to be bound by a single move. They fuse thousands of ever-changing sword techniques into each of their moves!"
"As long as you can do that, every sword you swing is a secret technique! Every slash is a fatal blow!"
"There's no need for names, that's something only weak people need! A true master needs no words!"
Daren: ...
He was suddenly speechless.
Your comprehension is a little too strong.
But he didn't want to ruin his own performance, so he pretended to be profound and nodded, revealing a slight smile:
"Hmm, it seems you've learned something, that's good."
At the same time, a strange thought popped into Daren's mind.
Could it be that Hawk Eyes' every sword strike is a normal attack because of this...
"That's right!"
Mihawk's expression was solemn.
He suddenly took a step forward, then bowed deeply toward Daren and said,
"Thank you for your guidance!"
"Next, please show me... your strongest sword strike!"
Daren: ...
Moria: ...
Momonga covered his face with his hands, his face contorted in pain.
Daren wasn't a master swordsman at all!
He didn't know anything about swordsmanship!
As for the names of the sword techniques...
He was just too lazy to name them!