Agson's sudden words made Mihawk freeze for the briefest moment. In that instant, the broad horse-chopping blade was already in front of him.
'Screech!'
Yoru snapped upward, blocking vertically before him and colliding with the incoming blade. A long trail of sparks burst out.
The tremendous force exploded on impact, and Mihawk's feet carved grooves through the ground as he was pushed backward a great distance.
Agson laughed loudly. The horse-chopping blade spun through dazzling arcs as he strode forward. His entire style was overwhelmingly aggressive. Every step stirred violent winds, like a colossal beast advancing across the battlefield.
Moments later, Yoru and the Dragon-Slaying Blade collided again. Each clash sent sparks flying and whipped powerful gusts of wind in every direction.
"Dragon-Slaying Art - Dragon Tail!"
Blue light flashed. Agson's momentum surged like a tidal wave as one devastating attack after another crashed toward Mihawk.
"Dragon Bone!"
"Dragon Whisker!"
The relentless barrage forced even Mihawk to retreat continuously. In barely ten seconds, he had been driven all the way back to the shoreline. Waves crashed against the coast, throwing mist into the air.
Just as his next step would carry him into the sea, Mihawk suddenly stopped. A razor-sharp light burst from his eyes. "Even a storm eventually runs out of strength. And overwhelming power often hides a moment of weakness."
Yoru turned in his hands, carving a long black arc through the empty air. The slash seemed to cut through the night itself, leaving the air behind it warped. A flash appeared in the darkness. In the blink of an eye, it was already at Agson's throat.
Agson's laughter stopped abruptly. His expression changed as he threw his head back and bent his body, narrowly avoiding the slash by a hair's breadth. At the same time, his sharp instincts drove him to retreat rapidly, his feet tapping the ground again and again.
"Your momentum is gone. You can't recover your rhythm. You've already lost," Mihawk's calm voice drifted across the battlefield.
With knees bent, he swung Yoru again and again, each slash controlling the flow of the battle like the movement of a gentle breeze. Agson retreated in large strides. Black flashes of sword light chased after him, each passing only a fraction of an inch away, wave after wave without pause.
His Dragon-Slaying Blade couldn't recover in time. It was still committed to the previous attack, leaving him unable to defend properly. Mihawk's offense was incredibly precise. Like a master playing chess, every move built upon the last. Now, he was closing the net.
As Agson continued retreating, his situation became more and more dangerous. It was as though he were dueling atop a mountain, forced back step by step until the edge of a cliff lay just behind him. One more step... and he would fall.
The black flashes continued weaving through the air, drawing closer with every strike. Sweat quickly formed across Agson's forehead.
Several times he tried to gather his strength and raise the Dragon-Slaying Blade to block, but each time he tightened his grip, Mihawk's next attack shattered his rhythm before he could build his momentum.
For dozens of seconds, Agson retreated over three hundred meters, leaving a long trail of footprints across the ground. His breathing was in complete disarray. So was his rhythm.
In the distance, the expressions of Rogen's crew changed.
"Agson's swordsmanship has definitely reached an incredible level..." Jason said in confusion, "but it feels like... he's still missing something."
He had a vague feeling. On the surface, Agson and Mihawk seemed evenly matched. But beneath that... there was a clear gap. And that hidden difference was exactly what made the battle feel so strange.
Rogen's eyes flickered. He naturally understood the reason. Strictly speaking, Agson wasn't the original Agson; he was a clone created from Agson's corpse.
Although he retained tremendous strength, he still couldn't completely match the power he possessed in life. Just as Agson himself had said... he was already dead.
Ahead of them, the battle continued. By now, Mihawk had completely taken control.
After retreating another fifty steps, Agson forcibly halted himself. With sheer willpower, he drew in a deep breath and swung the Dragon-Slaying Blade.
"Dragon-Slaying Art... Ultimate Technique - Dragon God!"
"ROAR!"
His face twisted with fierce determination as he unleashed the strike. It was as though a dragon's soul truly lived within the Dragon-Slaying Blade, roaring with boundless fury. Behind Agson, the phantom of an enormous azure dragon hundreds of meters long coiled into the sky, its blood-red eyes glaring savagely at Mihawk.
Feeling the overwhelming pressure of the attack, Mihawk gripped Yoru with both hands. His eyes sharpened. Then he leaped into the air and struck.
The giant dragon lunged forward, its jaws snapping shut toward Mihawk. At the very same moment, Mihawk's blade descended.
'Whoosh!'
A gentle breeze swept across the battlefield. Mixed within it was the deafening roar of the dragon. The two figures flashed past one another, then they stood back to back.
'Drip...'
The sound of blood hitting the ground echoed softly. Mihawk slowly lowered Yoru and returned it to his back before turning around.
Agson's body suddenly trembled, and blood poured from him in great streams. The Dragon-Slaying Blade slammed into the ground before him to support his weight as he slowly turned to face Mihawk.
Only then did Mihawk see it. A deep slash ran from Agson's chest all the way to his abdomen. Blood soaked his body. The wound was so deep that he had nearly been cut in two. Fresh blood continued to pour from it, making everyone's scalp tingle.
"He lost..." Trensu said with a sigh.
"Heh. That's only natural," Rogen wasn't surprised.
"You've lost, Agson," Mihawk spoke in a low voice.
"No. I haven't lost, Mihawk," Agson suddenly smiled. Despite his horrific injuries, he still managed to laugh.
No... to be precise, it was Rogen, who was calmly walking forward, that was smiling. His hand reached toward the pitch-black sword slung across his back. Before his fingers even touched it, the blade trembled. The Seven Star Sword let out a clear hum as if answering a summons, flying into his hand on its own. He grasped it firmly.
"Your battle was magnificent. But that wasn't my full strength. And it wasn't my true swordsmanship. You're very strong, Mihawk. You've awakened my desire to fight."
After only a few steps, Rogen stood before Mihawk. At that moment, Mihawk's pupils shrank. He realized something shocking.
From the very beginning... everything Agson and Rogen had said, the timing, the rhythm, the pace, even the tone, had been exactly the same. It was as if... the words had come from a single person.
"Is that so?" Mihawk didn't ask the question forming in his mind. Instead, he gripped Yoru once more, his sharp gaze fixed firmly on Rogen.
'Hummm...'
Completely unlike any sword in the world, the Seven Star Sword danced happily in Rogen's hand, humming with a clear sword's cry. The next second, the pitch-black blade engraved with the pattern of the Big Dipper slowly turned. Its tip pointed straight at Mihawk.
"Come. Let's have a fight. Hawkeye Mihawk."
(End Of This Chapter)
You can read ahead up to 15 chapters on my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395