Chapter 44: The Monster in the Mirror
If there was a second enemy, why hadn't he shown himself until now? The question burned in Cavendish's mind, a frantic counterpoint to the looming giant. Under the immense mental pressure of the hallucinatory assault, he pushed his Observation Haki to its absolute limit. He held his breath, concentrating, refusing to miss even the slightest tremor in the air around him.
This time, he caught it.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Two pieces of rubble materialized two meters in front of him. It was as if they had been isolated in another dimension, suddenly tearing through the fabric of space to launch their attack. This time, forewarned, he twisted his body, narrowly avoiding the projectiles.
When he looked back up at the hundred-meter-tall Ian, the giant's face began to warp and shift. The features melted away, reforming into a perfect, if grotesque, replica of his own face—Cavendish's. But this copy wore a ferocious, snarling expression, a hideous mockery of his perfect visage.
"A hallucination? Hypnosis?" The realization struck him like a physical blow. "Damn it! When did this happen? What a tricky ability! I didn't realize it until now!" He gripped Durandal tighter, his knuckles white. If he hadn't figured it out now, he would have been toyed with until his last breath. This giant version of himself was a deliberate creation, a taunt from Ian to make him understand the nature of his prison.
Come on! Ian thought, watching from the real world with intense focus. Now comes the real test. With his deliberate help, could Cavendish find a way to break the Dream World? Before facing more formidable enemies, Ian needed to find the flaws in his own awakened ability so he could patch them.
But he had overestimated his opponent's ingenuity.
"Haha! Since it's an illusion, then everything in front of me is false!" Cavendish declared to the empty sky, a triumphant, foolish smile on his face. "A hundred-meter giant? How could such a thing exist? It's all a lie! So! There's no need to hide. I see through it all now! I—cough!"
BOOM!
The giant's foot, tangible and devastatingly real within the dream, slammed into his side. The force was wild and domineering, kicking him dozens of meters across the shattered dreamscape. He tumbled and scraped across the ground, the Armament Haki he'd barely managed to activate doing little to mitigate the damage, only adding to his humiliation.
"What is going on?!" he coughed out blood, struggling to his feet, his body screaming in protest. "Isn't this... a hypnotic hallucination? How could it feel so... real...?"
Ian, watching the show from reality, could only sigh. "...Is this guy for real? So stupid!"
Just as Ian was about to write him off, Cavendish, lying broken on the ground, did something unexpected. Instead of trying to stand, he forced his body to go limp. He closed his eyes, regulating his breathing with a desperate, focused will, forcibly pushing his own consciousness down, down into the depths of sleep.
Ian's eyes widened, a spark of excitement igniting within him. It's finally here!
The second personality. The entity with twice the combat power of the original—the "Sickle-Weasel," Kamaitachi!
"Huh... Huh..."
A guttural, inhuman sound rasped from Cavendish's throat. He was a nervous freak, able to force himself to sleep even in the face of imminent death. Ian didn't wait. He commanded the giant to press the attack, its colossal foot stomping down towards the sleeping form's head.
Buzz...
BUZZ...
At the same moment, a faint buzzing started in Ian's mind, a subtle warning that quickly escalated into a sharp, stabbing pain behind his eyes. The Dream World was under assault.
He concentrated, observing the subtle fractures appearing in the illusion. This was a rare testing opportunity.
Just as the giant's foot was about to crush Cavendish, the sleeping "Sickle-Weasel" finally awoke.
A violent, bestial mental force erupted from within the Dream World, a barrage of psychic arrows that assailed the fabricated space from the inside. In the dream, the figure of Cavendish twisted, transforming into a black shadow that shot out in a bizarre, unnatural posture. The mental state that had been on the verge of collapse was not just restored; it was amplified, radiating a palpable, dangerous aura.
The "Pirate Nobleman" was gone. In his place was a creature with pale, vacant pupils, a wanton and evil smile stretching its lips, a dark and malevolent aura seeming to cling to its form. It was the perfect antithesis of Cavendish.
BUZZ—CRACK!
The buzzing in Ian's head became a deafening roar, the pain intensifying into a splitting headache.
Finally...
BOOM!
With a soundless, mental explosion, the Dream World shattered. A dull, throbbing pain made Ian grimace, taking a sharp, deep breath. The sensation was deeply unpleasant, but the test was a success. He now had the data: the warning buzz, the cranial pain—clear precursors to the illusion's collapse.
Flicker!
Almost the exact moment the Dream World broke, a black blur materialized in front of the real Ian. "Rommel's Kamaitachi" was upon him, Durandal swinging in a devastating, unpredictable arc aimed to bisect him. The speed was on a completely different level from before.
The rumors were true. Upon entering this second personality, "Kamaitachi's" swordsmanship, speed, and Haki were all dramatically enhanced.
CLANG! BOOM!
Ian met the blow with a hardened forearm, the impact staggering him back a step. The force was immense.
"Kill!" the Kamaitachi rasped, its voice a dry rustle. "Kill them all! I will definitely kill you!"
It attacked with feral madness, a whirlwind of steel without form or technique, yet its sheer speed and ferocity cut off Ian's avenues of retreat. The sword energy whizzed past, slicing through the air and scattering onto the buildings that had somehow survived the initial chaos. Dozens of residential houses were brutally chopped apart, collapsing into rubble under the onslaught. In mere minutes, the civilian street within a several-dozen-meter radius was utterly devastated.
Ian moved at high speed, his Observation Haki working overtime to track the Kamaitachi's movements. "Great speed and reaction!" he noted, a grudging respect in his tone even as he dodged a flurry of strikes. "While dodging my attacks, he's still able to press the offensive relentlessly." He deflected a slash meant for his throat, the impact numbing his arm. "No wonder he has such a high bounty."
The whetstone had just become a lot sharper. The real fight had finally begun.