Sword Fight Conclusion

Swords continued to clash at a high speed as two figures kept flashing around at a high speed.

Their afterimages were left behind along with the destruction that came from each small series of exchanges that took place once they met.

One sword met one of the swords of Clifford followed up with another follow-up attack that was sent piercing toward Mihawk.

The angle at which Yoru's position had changed in an instant caused the piercing sword to be diverted slightly to the side.

The attack of Clifford barely missed its target but he did not stop as he followed up with another attack right after that.

A rapid flurry of sword strikes kept increasing in lethality and power even as they were being fended off by the single large sword Yoru.

Although each attack was high risk and high reward that made use of putting himself in more danger to attack his opponents, he could still not get past Yoru.

His two swords could not reach Mihawk even as he pushed his swordsmanship to the best that he could perform.

That kind of situation would increase the pressure on anyone and would make them feel hopeless.

The best swordsman in the world was difficult to get past.

It was a position that could not be achieved so easily and the opponent was Mihawk who had fought a large number of fierce opponents on the Grand Line.

His experience was on a whole other level compared to the things that Clifford had experienced so far.

Despite feeling such pressure being pressed down on him, Clifford grit his teeth and kept up his assault trying to create an opening that could be made use of.

With each clash, his sword strikes kept improving along with his battle senses.

His usage of Observation Haki and Armament Haki kept sharpening further as they continued to clash.

He kept changing his grip on his swords, switching between holding them normally and holding them in a reverse grip each time.

Sometimes he held both in a reverse grip while other times he held one in a reverse grip.

Each time that he attacked, the way he held his swords became more unpredictable allowing him to increase his fighting methods.

He could effortlessly switch the way he gripped his blades to suddenly change his attack pattern in an instant which was what made him so scary and unpredictable.

His slashes were becoming even fiercer and his every stab was being thrust out with more precision and piercing power.

The various flaws in his swordsmanship and his Haki kept being reduced the longer that it went on.

The surroundings were destroyed by the impacts and slicing winds that came from both swordsmen.

It would not be strange for any swordsman wielding such a large weapon to be impeded by it but Mihawk was too different compared to those people.

Even as there were risks of using the weight of such a big weapon and getting it stuck somewhere after missing the intended target like suddenly getting it stuck in the ground after slamming it downward, none of that happened once for Mihawk.

He had perfect control over Yoru as he made the slightest adjustments to constantly switch between offence and defence effortlessly.

The slightest of movements that were made using Yoru caused the attacks of Clifford to be blocked and parried each time while there were other times when he was able to use his footwork to narrowly avoid a fatal strike.

It continued for quite some time until the battle started to slow down.

When it came to a battle of endurance, both swordsmen were soon reaching their limits after overexerting themselves so much.

Both of them retreated before lowering their weapons at the same time.

It seemed like they had come to an understanding between the both of them at that time so that they could put an end to everything.

They had both gained quite a lot from their duel but continuing any longer would not serve any purpose.

A grin formed on the face of Clifford who stood opposite Mihawk. "Thanks, I learned a lot from your sword. I would like to fight again in the future!"

Mihawk narrowed his eyes maintaining a serious expression. "To think that there is someone like you in this world. It is quite scary but also exciting. I would not mind exchanging like this again in a more suitable location from time to time."

He was intrigued that the White Storm had produced yet another talented individual so he was very curious about the kind of place that had a fellow Warlord like himself at the helm of it.

He had already fought Alyssia before so he knew how scary of an existence that she was and it was both scary and exciting for him to see someone else like that.

Mihawk was not so prideful that he would think that he was perfect in every way possible even after he was given the title of the world's strongest swordsman.

If that was the case then he would be content with no longer taking on challenges and he could live out a leisurely life making use of that title until the day he finally met his match.

He was not that type of person so even when challenged, he took on each challenge to assess the various talents in the world.

If there was someone strong and worth testing himself against then he would seek them out.

Perhaps the only reason why he never went on to challenge some among the Four Emperors was because they were not swordsmen and the only time he was granted the opportunity to clash with one in battle was during Marineford after being tied down by the position of Warlord.

Even the motivation he had toward duelling with Shanks had been lost after Shanks lost one of his arms which suggested that he much preferred to go up against someone who was in their best condition.

Perhaps what Mihawk was seeking was not the path to strength but instead the true path of the sword so his interest toward certain people was a lot less.

Kaido, Big Mom and Blackbeard did not make for good opponents for any swordsman and fighting them would not be helpful toward the pursuit of a sword since their attainments in the sword or other weapons were not on the same level as Mihawk.

Not only that but the three of them relied on other things like Devil Fruit abilities so it would take a lot of the fun out of a pure swordmanship duel.