January 25, 1502, Age of the Sea Circle
"Door Collapse."
Orion's words echoed with power in Mihawk's ears, and his senses reacted instantly, warning him of the danger this attack posed. Until now, he hadn't needed to exert himself in the slightest to repel Orion's strikes, which had caused him to lower his guard a little.
Now that he had fallen squarely into Orion's plan, he finally understood that his opponent had placed all his hopes on this single attack.
Mihawk knew there was no time to hesitate. He immediately tossed aside the practice sword he had been using and, with a swift motion, drew his supreme-grade blade, Yoru.
Before the small orb of energy that was distorting the surrounding air could make contact with his body, Mihawk concentrated his Conqueror's Haki into the blade of his sword and unleashed a violent slash.
The famed swordsman would never have imagined before the fight began that he would be forced to use his Conqueror's Haki, much less one of his most powerful attacks, but he made the decision without a second's doubt, fully aware that Orion's ultimate strike was dangerous.
The massive wave of energy emitted from Mihawk's blade—which contained not only Conqueror's Haki but also cutting energy, sword energy itself—crashed directly into the small orb of power released by Orion.
Anyone who had ever fought Mihawk, had they been present, would have assumed that the enormous wave of sword energy would obliterate the tiny orb hurled by Orion. Yet that was not what happened at all.
Upon contact, the two forces began a silent struggle, and Mihawk's attack appeared to be at a disadvantage!
The wave of energy emitted by Mihawk began to tremble violently, as though the space around it were being distorted, and finally, just when it seemed that Orion's attack would "devour" Mihawk's, a massive explosion erupted—as if a bomb had been dropped right in the middle of the arena.
From the stands of the great coliseum, the crowd could see a massive cloud of dust and debris rise from the platform, completely obscuring their vision and preventing them from seeing the outcome of the fight.
Only someone like Kyros, capable of using Observation Haki to perceive what was happening, could discern the result of the battle at that moment.
Gazing in astonishment toward the arena, Kyros sighed with admiration, realizing just how vast the world truly was, filled with all kinds of powerful individuals. If he intended to protect the kingdom of Dressrosa and its royal family to the very end, he would have to train hard to improve his skills—otherwise, he would be powerless when enemies of such caliber appeared with hostile intentions.
Orion had no idea that his fight with Mihawk had inspired the legendary gladiator of the coliseum to push his strength even further. And even if he had known, he wouldn't have had the energy to pay it any mind, for now he stood at the brink of collapse.
With the last of his strength, he could only remain conscious and upright, waiting to learn whether his plan had succeeded. In truth, Orion had devised his strategy entirely around the conditions of the duel; under any other circumstances, it would have been impossible to orchestrate an attack of this magnitude.
To begin with, it was only because Mihawk had not been fighting with the intent to annihilate him—and had remained on the defensive—that Orion had been able to carry out his sequence of attacks so smoothly.
Even the fact that the Warlord hadn't taken him seriously had granted him the opportunity to surprise him with this new technique. Door Collapse was truly a powerful move, for it was literally a collapse of spatial laws within a confined area.
Still, Orion could never use this attack in a real battle to the death, since no true enemy would ever give him the time to prepare it. Only in a sparring match under these particular conditions could he possibly display such power.
True to his extremely pragmatic nature, Orion had wanted to kill several birds with one stone; that was why he had chosen to face Mihawk in the coliseum under these specific rules.
Here, he could not only restrict the Warlord's movements, but also test his new technique against a high-level opponent, all while showcasing his strength to the people of Dressrosa after declaring himself the princess's fiancé.
Every action had a purpose, each one serving a greater plan to make the most of a single opportunity to achieve multiple goals. However, the most important reason Orion had asked Mihawk to fight in the coliseum was because of a wager the two had made several days earlier at the palace.
According to their bet, if Orion emerged victorious in this duel, Mihawk would grant him one request—as long as it was reasonable!
It was precisely because of this wager that Orion had chosen the coliseum as the battlefield, and that decision was tied to one of the arena's rules. In addition to victory by knocking out one's opponent or forcing them to surrender, there was a third way to win a match: by throwing the opponent out of the platform.
At present, Orion did not have enough power to defeat Mihawk in a duel, not in any way. Even if he used all his strongest attacks, he probably wouldn't be able to land even a single hit that could win according to the previously established rules.
However, it was possible that if he caught him by surprise with the right preparations, he might throw him off the platform to claim victory in the match. That had been his plan from the very beginning, and now that he had finally executed it, all that remained was to see the final result and determine whether he had succeeded or not.
The great cloud of dust dissolved after a few moments, allowing everyone present to see the state of the battlefield. Surprisingly, Mihawk had managed to repel Orion's attack with his sword, but the massive explosion caused by the collision of both energies had completely destroyed the platform, sending the Warlord into the water.
Had Mihawk not been standing right at the edge of the platform—after being driven there by Orion's enlarged Shigan strike—he would have had no problem at all, but that proximity to the limit of the battlefield was what ultimately left him without solid ground beneath his feet.
Having fallen into the water, Mihawk leapt out and reappeared on the remains of the combat platform. Then, looking at Orion, who was breathing heavily and struggling to stay conscious, he slightly shook his head and said,
"It's my defeat. I suppose I won't be able to mock Shanks now."
Although he had technically lost, Mihawk felt no disappointment. On the contrary, he was rather pleased to have taken part in something entertaining, even if only for a few minutes.
The existence of this Warlord was one of perpetual calm and boredom, his days passing without much change, so every opportunity to experience something new was particularly satisfying to him.
Ever since that fateful day when his life had changed so tragically years ago, he had been living in a rather miserable way, and perhaps only his duels with Shanks—or wandering the world in search of interesting things—were what kept him afloat.
After admitting his defeat, Mihawk sheathed his black sword Yoru, and with his usual elegance, left the platform without looking back. He still had to speak with Orion before leaving the kingdom, but he would definitely not do so in this place.
"O-OHHHH! The winner of the match is the princess Scarlett's fiancé!!" shouted the announcer with great enthusiasm upon hearing Mihawk's words and seeing him leave the arena.
"Ooooohhh!!!"
"Long live the prince consort!"
"Long live!"
The crowd erupted in joyful celebration, cheering not only for Orion's victory but also for the fact that this powerful individual would now become part of the royal family.
Meanwhile, Orion looked toward the royal family's private box and raised his victorious fist with a broad smile. Though this was difficult to consider a true victory over Mihawk, for Orion—who had been striving for over a decade to increase his strength as much as possible—it felt like a genuine achievement.
Perhaps today he did not yet have the power to truly defeat Mihawk, but if he kept training, that day would surely come. For now, he would simply enjoy what he had achieved at this moment, and the benefits gained from this occasion were far from small, since he had obtained a favor from the legendary Warlord known as the world's greatest swordsman!
…
January 26, 1502, Age of the Sea Circle
After a day of rest, Orion was back to full condition, enjoying his time alone with Scarlett, though still without taking the final step with her, as they had to wait for their wedding night due to the young woman's superstitions.
The night before, Orion had been far too exhausted, so he had not yet collected the promise the princess had made to him—that if he won, she would give him a reward. However, now it was early morning, and the beautiful princess had come to his room to "attack" him once again, just as she had the first night they were together.
Orion had planned to collect his reward this morning to start the day in a great way. Therefore, as he looked at the girl's naked ass, which swayed from side to side while she concentrated on her morning service to her beloved, Orion couldn't help but feel a great excitement.
After all, the thought of uniting with the beautiful princess of this kingdom in such an unorthodox way—for the standards of this world, at least—made his blood boil
Just as Orion was planning his next moves while caressing the princess's red hair as she knelt before him, the door to the room suddenly burst open, slamming against the wall.
"Brother-in-law! Dracule Mihawk has come to speak with you!" said Viola, who had entered unannounced, assuming Orion would still be asleep at this hour of the morning.
In truth, she usually came to wake her brother-in-law in this way, so she hadn't expected to find that her sister had come this time to fulfill her marital duties as proactively as possible.
Fortunately, Orion was sitting with his back to the door, so when Viola entered cheerfully, she couldn't see her sister Scarlett, who was kneeling in front of him. Even so, the crown princess immediately panicked, not knowing what to do.
If she were to be discovered by her sister in this position... she didn't even want to imagine how the mental image her little sister had of her would be shattered. Perhaps in the future, when her sister was a bit older, she would recall this incident just to tease her during one of their sisterly arguments or fights! She couldn't allow that to happen!
Scarlett lifted her gaze, her teary eyes making Orion lose his composure and nearly make a mistake right there, though he managed to restrain himself at the last moment. Nodding, he grabbed a blanket and covered the beautiful princess, hiding her from Viola's view as the younger girl approached cheerfully.
"Brother-in-law! Did you hear me? That Warlord came looking for you! He seems to be in a hurry and said that if you don't go soon, he'll leave," said Viola, paying no attention to the strange lump in front of Orion.
"R-Right, thank you for telling me, Viola. Tell him I'll be there right away," said Orion through clenched teeth, trying to contain the waves of pleasure that coursed through his body.
The beautiful crown princess, after the initial shock and worry, seemed to have completely forgotten about her image in her younger sister's mind—and had started moving again!
Orion could only grit his teeth, thinking that the women of this kingdom were truly passionate. Dressrosa's nickname as the Nation of Passion was absolutely fitting.
Viola tilted her head in curiosity, placing a finger on her chin, but in the end, she said nothing. Nodding, she turned and left the room, saying she would deliver Orion's message to Mihawk.
Once she was out of the room, the innocent expression she had shown moments earlier vanished, replaced by a crafty smirk.
"Hmph! My sister really is shameless! If it were me, I wouldn't have let my brother-in-law get caught in the middle of our romantic encounter!"
The little princess, far more precocious than Orion had imagined, simply complained about her older sister's shameless attitude as she ran back to where Mihawk was waiting. She had already seen the scene inside the room using her Devil Fruit powers, having entered only after watching curiously for a few moments.
Though she had read plenty of study material about the relationships between men and women—hidden under her sister's bed and in her father's study—there was something entirely different about seeing it live instead of in the drawings from those books.
Because of her powers, which allowed her to see people's memories, she had witnessed all kinds of scenes in the past and matured early, showing precociousness in several aspects compared to other children her age.
Although she couldn't fully understand the intimate acts between her older sister and Orion, she felt immense curiosity about them—especially when thinking about the great happiness they seemed to share during their private moments...
The little princess of Dressrosa shook her head slightly and stopped thinking about such complicated matters for the time being. She simply made a mental note that later, during one of their classic sisterly quarrels, she could reveal her sister Scarlett's shameless morning visit to Orion.
…
Finally, after a few minutes, the door to Orion's room opened again, and the pair of lovers emerged hand in hand. Orion's expression was bright and cheerful, and though Mihawk's sudden arrival had ruined his plans to enjoy an unorthodox connection with Scarlett, he was quite pleased.
After all, his beloved princess had woken him once more with a surprising morning "attack," showing all the sensual skill of her mouth with remarkable mastery. Since they had decided not to cross the final line until their wedding night, Scarlett had been fighting all her nightly battles using her beautiful mouth, so her technique had improved tremendously in a short time.
Orion even thought that the princess had a phenomenal talent in that area, since the improvement in her skills had truly been incredible.
In any case, Orion and Scarlett walked hand in hand to the room where Mihawk was waiting, already tired of waiting and about to leave without seeing Orion.
"You finally appeared," said Mihawk, slightly irritated from having waited several minutes.
"Ahem! My apologies, Lord Mihawk, I was occupied with something that couldn't be postponed," said Orion shamelessly. Perhaps he was so lustful that he was capable of risking the chance to claim a favor from the Warlord just to enjoy a morning moment of pleasure with his beloved princess.
Mihawk glanced at Orion, then at Scarlett, who was still clearing her throat softly from irritation, and simply sighed, unwilling to inquire further into the matter.
"Whatever. I've come to hear your request. If it's not something foolish, I'll keep my word and grant it," said Mihawk, looking at Orion seriously.
Orion nodded and spoke the words he had planned ever since making that bet with the Warlord.
"I want you to join my kingdom as my subordinate."
The room fell silent all of a sudden. Scarlett and Kyros, who were present, widened their eyes in astonishment, while little Viola looked at Orion with stars in her eyes, thinking that her brother-in-law was truly the coolest of all. He could even ask a Warlord to become his subordinate!
Mihawk squinted slightly for a moment, but then his expression relaxed, and he burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! You really went straight for the most outrageous request, didn't you?" Mihawk said casually.
Orion looked at him in surprise, since this was the first time he had seen the Warlord laugh so openly. The fact that it happened right after he had asked him to join his forces as a subordinate was a little embarrassing, but Orion had expected a rejection from the start.
"You should know that's impossible. Even if by some miracle I agreed to your proposal, you don't have what it takes for me to be your subordinate. You'd probably suffer more losses than benefits if I accepted," Mihawk said, analyzing the situation seriously.
He wasn't wrong. At present, Orion not only lacked the power to convince Mihawk to serve under him, but he also didn't have the means to face the consequences if the Warlord actually accepted.
Being one of the most dangerous people in the world, if Mihawk were to join his kingdom, the eyes of the World Government—which had so far almost completely ignored him due to his low threat level—would immediately turn toward him. That would be disastrous for his budding forces, which were still taking shape.
After all, Mihawk had become a Warlord precisely to avoid dealing with the constant attacks from the World Government and its lackeys.
Still, Orion had never actually planned to recruit Mihawk, at least not directly. His proposal was simply a strategy so that when he voiced his real request, Mihawk wouldn't find it as outrageous and might consider accepting it.
Basically, it was a cheap psychological trick he had learned during his days as a teacher in his previous life, and it usually worked well with people who had "high self-esteem" like Mihawk.
"Alright then, I'll change my proposal. I hope you can accept this one, since I don't think it's impossible for you," Orion said, preparing the ground a little more, trying to further condition the Warlord's response. Mihawk simply watched him quietly with those deep crimson eyes.
"You don't have to come to my kingdom as a subordinate, but at least you could come as an instructor, right? I want you to teach the art of swordsmanship to my subordinates, even if only for a short while!"
Orion made his new proposal—his true intention from the start—and this time, Mihawk didn't reject it immediately. Instead, the swordsman remained silent, carefully observing Orion as he pondered his response.
Finally, he shook his head.
"I can't accept that proposal. Even though I don't want to break my word, if I have to teach the art of the sword to a bunch of trash, I'd rather die on the spot."
Clearly, Mihawk felt a strong aversion to the idea of wasting his days training people with no real talent for swordsmanship. He felt that would make his already boring life even duller. Right now, the Warlord's mental state was hanging by a thread, and he knew he couldn't accept Orion's request.
Orion sighed in disappointment, realizing it was impossible after all to have Mihawk train the people of his kingdom in the way of the sword. His plan had been for Mihawk to stay as a guest instructor, which would have raised the quality of his troops and, at the same time, allowed him to build a closer relationship with Mihawk—something that could later turn into a genuine recruitment.
However, he knew from the start that the chance of Mihawk agreeing was close to zero. That's why he had tried to influence him psychologically with his previous proposal, hoping to appeal to the swordsman's sense of honor, making him feel that rejecting two offers in a row wouldn't be fitting for someone like him.
"Still…" Mihawk said suddenly, making Orion lift his head in renewed hope.
"It's not impossible for me to teach someone the way of the sword. If you have a subordinate with true talent for swordsmanship, it might be fun to train someone who could face me in the future."
Mihawk's eyes lit up, and a faint smile appeared on his face, as if he could already see the future he was imagining.
"Even so, I'll only train one person from your kingdom. If that person doesn't have the necessary talent to endure my training, I'll leave immediately, and the promise will be void," Mihawk concluded seriously.
Even so, Orion was thrilled! Because even if Mihawk trained only one person, that meant Orion could gain a swordsman subordinate with a level at least comparable to Mihawk's!
Just the thought of that made Orion smile uncontrollably—but then he realized the main problem: among his subordinates, there wasn't anyone with such high talent for the sword!
The person with the greatest potential for swordsmanship he had met was probably his childhood friend and fiancée, Gion, but she was now in Marineford and had joined the Navy, so she couldn't be the right candidate.
Moreover, Gion already had a master—the geisha Shimotsuki Ren. While this geisha couldn't compare to Mihawk in skill, she had been training Gion for almost a decade, so it was highly likely that her fighting style was already completely shaped.
Mihawk noticed the conflicted expression on Orion's face and immediately guessed his thoughts.
"If you don't have someone talented enough, it doesn't matter. My offer still stands. You can call me when you find someone worthy of my teachings, and I'll keep my word," Mihawk said as he pulled a Den Den Mushi from his clothes.
"Register the telepathic frequency of my Den Den Mushi. You can contact me when the time comes," added the Warlord indifferently.
Orion immediately took out one of the many Den Den Mushi he kept in his Pocket Dimension and placed it before Mihawk's snail. The two snails looked into each other's eyes, showing friendly smiles, and after a few moments, the connection between them was established. From now on, Orion would be able to contact Mihawk through this small and cheerful Den Den Mushi.
"Alright, if that's all, I'll take my leave. I need to visit a nearby kingdom said to have the best wines in the area," Mihawk said, walking toward the entrance without looking back.
Curiously, the fact that he had revealed part of his future plans suggested that his relationship with Orion had become much more amicable. After all, to Mihawk, Orion was quite an interesting individual, and he had high hopes for his future potential. Perhaps one day, they could fight seriously, just like in his duels with Shanks.
Orion watched Mihawk's back as he left with his usual elegance and said with a smile,
"Are you sure you don't want to stay for my wedding with Princess Scarlett, Mr. Mihawk?"
However, Mihawk didn't even answer the question, disappearing from the palace without another word.
Orion looked down at the small Den Den Mushi in his hand and thought that once he returned home, he had to start searching for someone with great talent in swordsmanship.
A chain of events that would one day change the entire world had been set in motion in the palace of Dressrosa—with nothing more than the Warlord's simple promise and a pair of snails.
...
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