Seeing that Sherwin had actually sent out only a "little cat" that was barely half his own height, Cavendish was instantly furious.
Someone who loved the spotlight as much as he did hated nothing more than being ignored.
Even though he knew very well that this "cat mink" with the nickname "Black Knight" was far from weak, he still chose to strike directly at Sherwin.
"Beautiful Sword: Blue Bird!"
Cavendish bypassed Seijuro Meow, who was walking toward him, and thrust his sword straight at Sherwin.
"Your opponent is me meow."
The small black cat flickered, blocking Cavendish path in an instant and easily parrying the thrust.
"Then I'll deal with you first!"
Judging from the speed Seijuro Meow had just displayed, Cavendish knew it wouldn't be easy to shake him off.
So despite his indignation, he could only clash head-on with Seijuro Meow, the two of them trading rapid blows.
As the most famous Supernova of this period, with a bounty of 280 million, Cavendish was not just a pretty face.
His swordsmanship and overall strength were absolutely not to be underestimated.
Even setting Devil Fruit abilities aside, his strength would not fall short of Cracker, who carried an 800 million bounty.
And with Cracker rather timid fighting style, when facing opponents of equal or greater strength, or enemies capable of countering his Fruit ability, he could only bring out about half of his true power.
If the two were to really fight, it might well be Cavendish who came out on top.
Even so, Cavendish still couldn't gain even the slightest advantage against Seijuro Meow.
The small black cat was already stronger than Cavendish to begin with, and after fighting Kaido, he had once again improved in a way that perfectly fit the pirate world logic.
If he hadn't wanted to see Cavendish full repertoire of sword techniques, he could have won long ago.
On the other side, the members of the Beautiful Pirates were actually quite loyal.
After failing to flee with Cavendish, they initially pretended to cower off to the side, not daring to step forward.
But once they saw that Sherwin and the other attention was completely drawn to the fight between Seijuro Meow and Cavendish, they immediately launched a sneak attack…
Only to be wiped out in one go by a casually thrown AOE from Shermie.
"Beautiful Sword: Swan Lake!"
Seeing his companions fall, Cavendish immediately unleashed a wide-area spinning slash to force Seijuro Meow back, then tried to rush over to their side.
"Flying Cat Sword Style: Rolling Flash Meow!"
Seijuro Meow instantly answered with a spinning slash of his own, blocking Cavendish after he had only taken two steps, and shifting from his earlier defensive-focused style to intensifying his offensive pressure.
"I've already said it—your opponent is me. If you want to get past, defeat me first, meow!"
"Damn it! Beautiful Sword: Slash—Stardust Prince!"
"Beautiful Sword: Round Table!"
"Beautiful Sword: Blue Bird!"
After several failed attempts to break through Seijuro Meow guard, anxiety grew deeper in Cavendish heart.
At the same time, he was secretly regretting his actions. In a moment of jealousy clouding his mind, he had come to cause trouble for Sherwin, only to end up putting both himself and his companions in danger.
Unfortunately, no matter how anxious he became, he could not make up for the gap in strength between them.
As Cavendish emotions continued to fluctuate, not only did he fail to achieve any last-moment breakthrough, but instead his techniques grew increasingly impatient and chaotic.
Of course, it might also be because he had not yet joined the protagonist side, so he couldn't benefit from any "plot power-up" or "sudden revival" buffs, making it impossible for him to grow stronger the longer the fight dragged on.
"Not bad swordsmanship, just a bit too flashy, meow."
Seeing that Cavendish techniques had begun to repeat themselves, and that many fatal openings were appearing under the influence of his emotions, Seijuro Meow decided it was time to stop playing around.
"Thunder Breathing…" The black kitten sheathed Kikyo Sentougetsu and took an iaijutsu stance. At the same time, arcs of electricity flickered around his body. "First Form: Thunderclap and Flash, meow!"
"Clang!"
"Meow? It was blocked?"
The strike that should have landed without fail was stopped, causing Seijuro Meow a brief moment of surprise.
Then he noticed that the Cavendish before him seemed like a completely different person, wearing a ferocious smile filled with murderous intent.
"So it appeared… Cavendish second personality."
Sherwin nodded without any surprise. Even without any "plot bonus" allowing a last-second breakthrough, when those with split personalities faced mortal danger, the stronger personality was guaranteed to emerge.
As for that supposed condition of "only appearing after falling asleep," it was fine to listen to, but not something to take seriously.
"Split personality, huh? I've always heard about it, but this is my first time actually seeing it, meow."
Haibara Meow lay sprawled over Sherwin shoulder, showing a bit of interest in this peculiar mental condition.
However, considering that She still had a mountain of things to research, and that studying split personalities wouldn't increase everyone strength, the little kitten quickly snuffed out that curiosity.
On Sherwin other shoulder, Klee Meow wrinkled her nose and leaned close to his ear, muttering, "Klee doesn't like this person, meow."
Shirahoshi, who could likewise sense other emotions, spoke with a grave expression.
"The feeling he giving off right now is very similar to Hody Jones back then… no, it should be even more insane and violent than that."
Although Seijuro Meow didn't quite understand what was going on with his opponent, the increase in the enemy strength was something the black kitten welcomed.
And besides…
"His speed is faster, his strength has increased too, and most importantly, his sword style has changed… interesting, meow."
Even though "White Horse" was stronger than Cavendish, he was still no match for Seijuro Meow.
Moreover, White Horse greatest strength lay in his speed, and for cats, speed had never been something that caused them much trouble.
By comparison, Seijuro Meow was far more interested in White Horse swordsmanship, no longer flashy, but purely devoted to killing.
"I'm gonna hack your hands, your feet, and your head into bloody pieces!" Cavendish second personality roared madly as he launched a frenzied assault on Seijuro Meow.
"I'm gonna chop everything to bits!"
"Is that so? But I don't think you can do it, meow." Seijuro Meow, calmly parrying every attack at a speed no slower than his opponent,
said evenly, "If you still have any other moves, feel free to use them."
However, the little black cat expectations were quickly dashed, because Cavendish second personality, like all burst-type abilities, had a time limit—and his duration was particularly short.
Thus, after hacking and slashing out dozens of strikes, "White Horse" still hadn't drawn a counterattack from Seijuro Meow when his body suddenly tilted, and he collapsed straight into sleep…
"Lord Sherwin, what should we do now, meow?"
Having suddenly lost his opponent, Seijuro Meow scratched his head, at a bit of a loss, and turned back to look at Sherwin.
Sherwin hadn't expected things to turn out this dramatically either. So how had this guy even managed to survive until now with such a massive weakness?
And since the Navy had already long known the truth behind the "Scythe of Rommel," why hadn't they just waited for Cavendish to fall asleep before capturing him? Back then he wasn't even a pirate, nor did he have any subordinates.
After delivering his usual round of complaints about the useless Navy, Sherwin said decisively, "Kill him. He not exactly a good person anyway."
In the world of pirates, there no notion of mental illness excusing murder, and Cavendish felt not the slightest guilt over the bloodshed caused by "White Horse."
On the contrary, he thoroughly enjoyed the "popularity" brought by his second personality.
So even though Cavendish eventually became a member of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet in the manga, and had plenty of standout moments in the Dressrosa arc, Sherwin felt absolutely no psychological burden about killing him.
"Understood, meow."
Seijuro Meow nodded, walked over to the already sleeping Cavendish, raised his sword, and thrust toward his throat.
"Ara ara, I can't just pretend I didn't see that…"
Along with a slightly languid voice, a layer of solid ice suddenly formed in front of Cavendish, blocking Seijuro Meow thrust.
…