Zoro landed heavily, both swords stabbing into the frozen ground as he slid backward several meters before finally regaining his balance.
"Hmm?"
Mihawk watched him curiously.
That strike just now, he had hit Zoro squarely. Yet the swordsman didn't have so much as a scratch on him.
This bizarre sight made Mihawk frown in puzzlement.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
Zoro stood hunched over, breathing heavily as if enduring unbearable pain.
But only moments later, his head tilted down, and a sly grin crept onto his lips.
"Heh..."
He straightened, looking perfectly fine once more. Both arms spread wide as he shifted into his stance again, his fighting spirit locking firmly onto Mihawk.
A flicker of the Asura Blade's shadow flashed past, followed by a dark gleam from the Beast Blade.
Mihawk's power... had exceeded all of Zoro's expectations.
That overwhelming strength which had swatted him aside so easily, those casually unleashed slashes that could cleave mountains,
Zoro could feel it deep down: this was the kind of power that defied resistance.
The World's Greatest Swordsman... truly lives up to the title.
But Zoro was no pushover either.
At the very instant Mihawk's slash struck him, Zoro had activated the Asura's ability, transferring the physical damage to his spirit instead.
And thanks to the Beast Blade's power, all that accumulated damage would be stored and released only after the battle ended.
In other words, Zoro could now fight an entire battle without taking any real injury or exhaustion.
A terrifying ability, to say the least.
As long as the accumulated pain wouldn't kill him outright, Zoro could keep fighting... forever.
========
"Is this... the power of some Devil Fruit?" Mihawk wondered quietly, raising his black blade once more and pointing it toward Zoro.
A layer of Armament Haki suddenly surged from his hands, wrapping around the blade.
The black steel shimmered with a pitch-dark aura, its edge now exuding a killing pressure that made the air itself tremble.
The first exchange had only been a test, each man had gauged the other's strength.
Zoro now understood that in terms of pure strength and skill, he'd be cut down easily if he kept fighting normally.
If that's the case...
Then the reckless swordsman within him would step aside for now.
A glimmer of light flashed across the Asura Blade, resonating with Zoro's will.
The corner of Zoro's lips curved upward.
This feeling... fighting alongside my blades... it's the best!
A cold gleam flickered in his eyes.
The Beast Blade's crimson blood-energy surged through him, flooding toward the swords in his hands.
In his inner world, the sword spirit of the Beast opened its eyes, eyes filled with a terrifying, murderous light.
A look that Zoro had never seen before.
Because that gaze was one it only ever turned on enemies.
"Santoryu!"
Zoro's stance shifted, and the blades in his hands transformed into twin fangs.
He himself became like the massive head of a serpent, the Phantom Spirit in his mouth flicking like a snake's tongue.
BOOM!
The ground beneath him shattered. Even the reinforced ice couldn't withstand the force of his step.
The light of his blades tore through the air, a streak of green like a spatial rift.
Zoro's afterimage stretched out, his entire form twisting into a giant serpent.
The enormous snake lunged forward, fangs bared, its gaping maw expanding toward Mihawk.
A crushing, icy aura blanketed Mihawk.
From Zoro's calm expression shone a pair of dark, indifferent eyes, meeting Mihawk's sharp golden ones head-on.
Mihawk lowered his black blade slightly, its tip glinting as he aimed straight at the serpent's brow.
All of his will gathered within those golden irises.
He was certain now,
This giant serpent wasn't born from any Devil Fruit.
This was pure sword intent!
The manifestation of a true Sword Master's will.
To project one's sword intent with such vivid form and power...
It was something Mihawk had never witnessed before.
He had always looked down on the "flower sword" Vista of the Whitebeard Pirates, because Mihawk's own swordsmanship was absolute.
The ultimate edge. The ultimate precision. The ultimate strength. The ultimate speed.
Every slash of his was the strongest slash.
Every strike carried the purest form of his extreme sword intent.
He had always thought that wrapping sword intent in illusions and flair was meaningless, style over essence.
Until today.
Seeing Zoro's serpent, Mihawk realized for the first time, sword intent itself could be so terrifyingly awe-inspiring.
The Yoru pulsed faintly, light dancing across it as Mihawk's sword intent began to respond.
Just as the serpent was about to collide with him,
Zoro suddenly dipped his head and chuckled softly.
The rampaging serpent body began to twist and weave, zigzagging through the air.
Before Mihawk could react,
The serpent swerved sharply, its fangs swinging around to strike from behind!
SWISH!
The air screamed as its fangs thrust toward Mihawk's back.
CLANG, SHRIIK!!!
Mihawk spun at the last instant. His blade barely met the serpent's strike, sparks bursting into the air.
But his black sword had only blocked two fangs.
Zoro, after all, was a true Three-Sword Style swordsman.
Hisss,
The Phantom Spirit shot forward from the serpent's mouth, flicking like a tongue, stabbing toward Mihawk's brow with serpentine grace!
Mihawk's yellow eyes contracted. With his hands locked against the serpent's fangs, he couldn't parry, only dodge!
WHOOSH!
His black hat flew off, landing on the ice.
A few strands of dark hair, and a faint trace of blood, drifted down after it.
The Phantom Spirit's strike had missed his skull, but carved a long gash across Mihawk's face.
"Heh~"
Zoro lowered his head again, laughing, not out of pity, but at Mihawk's newly disheveled look.
BOOM!!!
A colossal, godlike slash erupted skyward.
But Zoro had already sensed it coming, leaping back in time to avoid the devastating strike.
A crescent-shaped arc of light blasted outward.
The frozen island split cleanly in two under its force.
Sea water rushed into the chasm, boiling with froth and thunder.
Even from the distant Baratie, everyone could see it, the sheer force that could reshape the landscape in an instant.
Even the crew of the Starry Sky Pirates stared in shock at Mihawk's might.
========
Mihawk, having driven Zoro back, glanced sideways at his fallen hat.
A clean cut had ruined its perfect form.
With rare emotion, Mihawk murmured, "That was my favorite hat..."
"Well then... guess I owe you an apology," Zoro said, but his tone and grin betrayed no remorse, his battle spirit still raging.
Straightening, Mihawk pointed his sword at him once more, ignoring the blood still dripping from his face.
"I didn't expect you'd use that kind of technique," he said.
To Mihawk, Zoro's fundamentals were solid, clearly the product of formal sword training.
That traditional swordsman's aura was unmistakable.
And in the traditional way of the sword, battles were fought directly, no tricks, no deception.
Ambush and misdirection like Zoro's were considered dishonorable arts, techniques frowned upon by purists.
They neither refined one's spirit nor deepened one's sword intent.
But for swordsmen at their level, tradition no longer mattered.
They were each their own school, their own way.
Zoro met Mihawk's gaze calmly, reversing his blade to point it forward.
"No matter what technique it takes..."
"So long as I can defeat you, "
"That's all that matters!!!"
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