The battle before them was like something out of legend. In just three seconds, the ground within a hundred-meter radius around the two fighters had been blasted into a field of craters.
"RAAAAH!"
Agson's wild fighting style left everyone speechless. Roaring at the top of his lungs, he swung the horse-chopping blade faster and faster.
Across from him, the seriousness in Mihawk's eyes deepened. The speed of Yoru's thrusts also continued to increase.
Their rhythm climbed higher and higher until their exchanges became too fast for the naked eye to follow. Every thrust Mihawk made struck the horse-chopping blade with perfect precision and tremendous force.
At this point, the fight was no longer just a contest of eyesight and technique; it had become a battle of endurance.
'Clang! Clang! Clang!'
The endless ringing of steel against steel echoed without pause. Just hearing it was enough to imagine how intense the battle had become. After a full minute, beads of sweat had appeared on both men's foreheads, and the speed of their exchanges finally began to slow.
Three minutes later, their sword tips collided one last time. Mihawk stood firmly in place. Agson, however, took a single step backward. As he retreated, the horse-chopping blade tilted slightly before sweeping upward diagonally from lower left to upper right.
'Clang!'
Acting on instinct, he knocked aside Mihawk's sudden follow-up strike.
"What sharp instincts," Mihawk couldn't help but praise him after his surprise attack failed.
Agson bent his knees and leaped backward, widening the distance between them to twenty meters. Breathing lightly to steady himself, he wore a broad grin. "The world's greatest swordsman... You really get my blood pumping!"
It wasn't just Agson himself. The horse-chopping blade in his hand was trembling excitedly as well.
"I feel the same. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a fight like this," Mihawk spoke quietly as he rotated Yoru and pointed it toward Agson once more.
"Hahaha! Then let's enjoy it to the fullest!" With a loud roar, Agson shifted his grip to the center of the blade's hilt. After spinning the weapon through several flourishes, he was already in front of Mihawk, bringing it crashing down.
'Boom!'
Mihawk raised Yoru to block. A blinding shower of sparks erupted as the ground beneath them sank with a thunderous crash, kicking up clouds of dust.
Mihawk tried to lift Yoru and knock the attack aside, but the ever-increasing weight pressing down on him made his expression change.
"Hahaha! Heavy Strike!" Laughing loudly, Agson drove the horse-chopping blade down with even greater force.
Mihawk's pupils contracted. Rather than continue resisting, he abruptly withdrew Yoru and leaped backward. The instant he retreated, Agson's massive blade slammed into the ground.
'BOOM!'
The Earth exploded. With a deafening crack, the ground split in two, and a deep fissure stretched into the distance, running all the way into the dense forest.
Far away, Cricket's face turned pale. "Th-That slash... It almost split Jaya Island apart!" he exclaimed in shock.
"Again!" After being forced back by a single strike, Mihawk's expression grew serious. Without hesitation, he swung Yoru overhead. Though the slash cut through empty air, its power made everyone present shudder.
A deep-blue flying slash burst forth, carrying terrifying force as it tore across the ground toward Agson.
'Bzzzz...'
The island trembled. The earth split apart beneath the advancing slash, which raced forward like a winding blue dragon and reached Agson in the blink of an eye.
"I can't dodge it." His Observation Haki warned him instantly, and Agson's expression changed slightly. The speed and power of this slash were both terrifying. It was clearly one of Mihawk's trump cards. "Then I won't dodge!"
Agson let out a cold laugh and swung the horse-chopping blade.
"Dragon-Slaying Art - Dragon Slayer!"
He raised the blade high until it was level with his shoulder before bringing it down in a sweeping arc. A pale blue glow burst forth. The next instant, a dragon-shaped slash roared into existence and charged forward. A second later, it collided head-on with Mihawk's attack.
'BOOM!'
The two flying slashes exploded, scattering into nothing. Only then did everyone notice the two enormous trenches carved into the ground by the attacks before they met. Once again, the earth had been split apart.
"Dragon-Slaying Art..."
Mihawk's eyes narrowed as something stirred in his memory.
At that moment, Agson charged again. In only ten strides, he leaped high into the air above Mihawk, gripping the horse-chopping blade with both hands before bringing it down in a crushing blow.
"Dragon-Slaying Art - Dragon Beheading!"
'Whoosh!'
It was as if a dragon's roar echoed through the sky. A pale-blue slash wrapped itself around the horse-chopping blade, its power compressed but not yet released as it came crashing down toward Mihawk.
'Clang!'
Mihawk raised Yoru. The two great blades collided instantly. Yoru sank slightly under the impact before Mihawk forced it back up. The two entered another deadlock.
Three seconds later, the blades scraped violently against one another, filling the air with dazzling sparks and an ear-piercing screech. A breath later, they separated, only to collide again in midair.
'Boom!'
Another thunderous impact rang out. After a brief stalemate, they broke apart once more. The invisible shockwave burst outward, sending towering walls of water into the air on both sides of them.
"Dragon-Slaying Art - Scale Splitter!" Agson roared. The horse-chopping blade spun in his hands as its pale-blue glow flared again before sweeping downward.
Mihawk's expression darkened as he met the attack with Yoru.
'Bzz!'
The two blades scraped past each other in a brief clash. The resulting shockwave shot toward the sea behind them.
'Shhk! Shhk!'
Cricket stared in disbelief. Two immense cuts had opened across the ocean itself, splitting the sea and extending so far into the distance that he couldn't see where they ended.
The next instant, the two swords flashed through the air again, colliding over and over.
"Hahaha! This is incredible!" Sweat poured down Agson's face, but his spirit only grew higher. Throughout the battle, he hadn't used any of the special abilities granted by the Rinnegan; he was relying solely on his swordsmanship.
The countless afterimages of their blades blurred together as the two weaved around each other's attacks with subtle footwork. As the battle continued, the light in both men's eyes grew brighter.
"...Dragon-Slaying Art. I remember now." The two continued shifting across the battlefield until they reached the shoreline. Suddenly, Mihawk's eyes widened. "So that's it!"
"Oh?" Agson laughed as he leaped into the air once more, bringing his blade down.
Mihawk blocked it overhead with Yoru, staring fixedly at him. "You're Dragon-Slaying Blade Agson, the great swordsman of the North Blue from twenty-three years ago! I never imagined... you're still alive!" His solemn voice echoed across the sea, sending ripples spreading over the water.
"Hahaha! You're right. I am Agson. But you got one thing wrong."
'Screech!'
A shower of sparks burst forth as the Dragon-Slaying Blade slid away, changed direction, and slashed again.
"I died long ago!"
(End Of This Chapter)
You can read ahead up to 15 chapters on my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395