"Well then," Mihawk said calmly, lifting Yoru with one hand, "I shall prepare."
The massive cross-shaped blade hummed softly as a dark sheen began to creep across its surface. What was once a silver edge slowly turned pitch black, the color deepening until the entire blade looked as though it had swallowed the light around it.
Giovanni's eyes widened.
"Huh!?" he blurted out. "Your sword just turned black, how, what did you do!?"
Mihawk glanced at him, genuinely surprised. "You don't know about Armament Haki?"
"Armament Haki?" Giovanni echoed. "The thing Shanks was talking about?"
Mihawk shifted his gaze briefly toward Shanks, one brow lifting slightly in question.
Shanks scratched the back of his head. "Gio's from the North Blue. He never left it before joining us. Honestly, it's already surprising he can use any Haki at all that far from the Grand Line." He grinned. "That being Observation Haki."
Mihawk exhaled slowly, almost disappointed. "So he's an amateur."
Giovanni's lips curled into a confident smile. "I wouldn't take me lightly if I were you."
Mihawk's golden eyes sharpened. "Those words should be spoken only by men who can back them up."
"Oh, trust me," Giovanni replied, tightening his grip on his saber. "I can back them up."
Mihawk inclined his head slightly. "Then shall we?"
Giovanni exploded forward.
His feet tore across the deck as he swung his saber in a sharp diagonal slash, followed immediately by a second strike aimed at Mihawk's midsection. Mihawk raised Yoru with effortless precision, parrying both blows with short, economical movements. The clash of steel rang out, sharp and heavy, sending vibrations through Giovanni's arms.
Before Giovanni could press the advantage, Mihawk stepped back in a single smooth motion, creating distance without breaking posture.
"Your swordsmanship," Mihawk said evenly, "is self-taught, isn't it?"
Giovanni froze for half a heartbeat, eyes widening. "Huh? You figured that out just from that?"
"The flaws are obvious," Mihawk continued. "Your footwork lacks balance. Your swings rely too heavily on momentum. Everything you do follows patterns, like lines from a script."
Giovanni exhaled through a grin. "To notice all that so quickly… I'm impressed."
"Impressing you brings me no joy whatsoever. Besides, I'm able to notice such flaws because I too am self taught."
Giovanni laughed despite himself. "Don't say that. You'll break my heart."
He surged forward again.
This time his attacks came faster, more aggressive. Wide slashes flowed into thrusts, his blade whistling through the air.
What followed was an utterly embarrassing showing from Giovanni, with Mihawk outclassing him in every way.
As he pushed his body to its limits. Mihawk met each strike with minimal effort, deflecting, redirecting, never once stepping out of control. It felt less like a fight and more like Giovanni was striking at a wall.
"Davy style swordsmanship huh," Mihawk remarked as he turned aside another blow, "I knew I remembered this style from somewhere. That one Pirate really gave me a run for my money."
Giovanni responded "Davy style swordsmanship!? What the hell are you talking about?"
Mihawk says, "Never mind that. Is this all you have to show me."
Giovanni gritted his teeth and twisted his wrist, sending his saber arcing upward in a feint before reversing the strike mid-swing. Mihawk shifted his stance, blocking again, the impact shaking Giovanni to his core.
Giovanni leapt back, boots skidding against the deck. His breathing had grown heavier now, chest rising and falling as sweat trickled down his brow.
Shanks watched closely, arms folded, his usual grin gone.
Mihawk stepped forward.
The pressure changed instantly.
It wasn't killing intent, not quite, but it was overwhelming. Giovanni felt it like a weight pressing down on his shoulders, his instincts screaming at him to move, to guard, to run. Mihawk advanced slowly, Yoru held casually at his side, yet every step felt like the closing of a trap.
Giovanni swallowed and steadied himself. So this is the gap…
He tightened his grip. "Guess I don't have much choice."
He raised his saber, stance lowering, feet planted firmly.
Mihawk paused. "Oh, Are you about to show me something interesting?."
Giovanni lunged, pouring everything he had into the strike. His blade shimmered faintly as he focused, muscles screaming as he unleashed his strongest technique.
"Beneath the Sea!"
The saber came down in a powerful, sweeping arc, the air itself seeming to bend under the force of the blow. It was a strike meant to overwhelm, to drag the opponent down like a crushing undertow.
Mihawk raised Yoru.
That was all.
The black blade met Giovanni's attack head-on and stopped it completely.
There was no explosion. No dramatic recoil. Just a dull, absolute halt.
Giovanni's eyes went wide as the force he had poured into the strike vanished into nothing. His arms trembled violently, his saber locked in place against Yoru, unable to move forward even an inch.
"This," Mihawk said calmly, "is the difference between ambition and mastery."
With a slight twist of his wrist, Mihawk shattered Giovanni's balance. The saber was knocked aside, the force sending Giovanni stumbling backward, boots scraping uselessly against the deck until he fell to one knee.
Silence followed.
Giovanni looked down at his shaking hands, then up at Mihawk. He laughed softly, breathless and almost relieved.
"…Yeah," he muttered. "I get it now."
He stood, slowly, deliberately.
Then he spread his arms wide.
Mihawk tilted his head. "What are you doing?"
Giovanni met his gaze without fear. "A swordsman can never have scars on his back now right."
Mihawk studied him for a long moment. Then, slowly, he nodded.
"Very well," he said. "I acknowledge your bravery."
Yoru moved.
One swift motion.
Too fast to follow.
The world seemed to split for an instant as Mihawk's blade flashed through the air. Giovanni felt the impact a heartbeat later, his body lifting before crashing backward onto the deck.
The pain came last.
Giovanni lay still, staring up at the sky, breath leaving him in a slow exhale. His saber clattered to the side, untouched by his grasp.
Mihawk lowered Yoru and turned away.
Shanks stepped forward, eyes sharp but calm, already knowing the outcome.
Giovanni smiled faintly despite himself.
"So… this is the world," he murmured. "Guess I've still got a long way to go."
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