Chapter 45: The End of a Supernova
The feral snarls of the Kamaitachi still echoed across the devastated street, a stark contrast to Ian's sudden, unnerving calm. Ian disengaged from the whirlwind of attacks, his movements ceasing as he planted his feet firmly. His eyes, cold and analytical, locked onto the berserk figure.
"Entering your second personality sooner would have made you more interesting," Ian stated, his voice cutting through the chaos with chilling clarity. "I might have been inclined to play with you for a while longer. As for now..."
His gaze intensified. The more skilled of his awakened abilities, honed and perfected in the crucible of this very battle, was already being deployed. It was not a physical attack, but a fundamental assault on perception itself.
[The Five Senses Are Destroyed]!
"Are you finally unable to run anymore?" the Kamaitachi rasped, its vacant eyes fixed on Ian's stationary form. "Hahaha, let me chop off your head!" It lunged, Durandal a silver blur aimed at Ian's neck.
"Ugh! What's going on?" The creature's charge faltered mid-step. Its sword arm dropped slightly. "My... my eyes...?"
The world around the Kamaitachi didn't just go dark; it ceased to exist. The vibrant, chaotic battlefield was swallowed by an absolute, sensory-deprived void. There was no light, no shadow, only an impenetrable nothingness.
"Damn it!" it roared into the abyss, its voice sounding hollow even to itself. "Do you think you can restrain me like this? Even if my eyes can't see, I can still feel you!" It tried to rely on the echoes of its footsteps, the feel of the air, the primal sense of a predator tracking its prey. "I've got you, you bastard!"
It pushed off from the ground, moving sideways in a practiced, evasive maneuver before launching another blind, furious assault. It had faced Devil Fruit users before. Defeat the user, break the ability. Ian's shift to this tactic surely meant he was exhausted, vulnerable. It could not give him a moment to recover.
"How come?!" Panic, a foreign emotion to the savage persona, began to creep in. Just moments ago, its Observation Haki had painted a clear picture of Ian's presence. Now, that mental outline had vanished. The subtle sounds of Ian's breathing, the shift of his clothes, the very presence of him had been erased. And then, the physical sensations followed. The feeling of the ground under its feet grew distant, then disappeared entirely. It could no longer feel the familiar grip of Durandal's hilt.
Clatter.
The famous sword Durandal fell from its nerveless fingers, hitting the rubble-strewn ground with a dull, final ring.
Thud.
The Kamaitachi's knees buckled next, its body collapsing powerlessly onto the street. The feral aura that had surrounded it flickered and died like a snuffed-out candle. The savage grin melted away, the pale pupils cleared, and the arrogant, terrified face of Cavendish returned as the primary personality was forcibly ejected—a last-ditch survival mechanism.
In the brief, unstable transition between personalities, Cavendish's five senses flickered back to life like a failing signal. He could feel the cold stone against his knees, see blurred flashes of light and shadow, hear the faint whistle of the wind. It was a desperate gambit by the Kamaitachi, hoping the host personality could reboot the system.
But it was futile. Two personalities, one sensory system. The prison Ian had built was absolute.
Cavendish could only kneel, his vision swimming, his body refusing to obey his commands to stand. He lacked even the strength for that.
"First... it was an illusion..." he gasped, each word a struggle. "Now... you're stealing a person's very senses... Jock Ian... your horrible fighting style... What kind of Devil Fruit ability is this?" A wave of cold dread washed over him. "Am I... going to be captured? Damn it!"
Ian did not intensify the sensory deprivation further. He allowed Cavendish to retain this sliver of perception, this horrifying clarity at the end. He walked closer, his footsteps unnaturally loud in Cavendish's starved ears, and stooped to pick up the fallen Durandal.
The action was deliberate, heavy with meaning. If this were a standard Marine operation, this might be where he spared the captive's life. But this battle, from its very inception, had a different purpose. Cavendish was not a prisoner to be taken. He was the ultimate experimental subject, having experienced both the Dream World and the destruction of the five senses. Letting him live, allowing word of these abilities to spread, was an unacceptable risk.
"You... what do you want to do?" Cavendish whispered, his voice trembling as he saw the cold resolve in Ian's eyes. "Are you planning to...?"
"You should have realized this the day you became a pirate, Cavendish," Ian's voice was low, final, devoid of mockery or anger. It was a simple statement of fact. "To be a pirate, you either kill others... or are killed by others. I'm sorry you ran into me."
Ian raised the legendary sword, its point aimed at Cavendish's heart. Cavendish's eyes widened, the last of his blurry vision filled with the gleam of his own blade.
"This era..." Ian thrust the sword forward, the steel piercing flesh and bone with a sickening, definitive finality. "...doesn't need a Pirate Supernova."
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the host for successfully defeating the "Handsome Pirate Captain," the "Pirate Prince" Cavendish!]
[Reward Gained: 1200 Enhancement Points!]
[Current Accumulated Points: 2246 Points!]
[Reminder: Every 1000 points can be used to enhance "Devil Fruit Ability" or "Overall Quality." Initiate enhancement now?]
Twelve hundred points. It was the largest single reward he had ever received. A 280 million Berry Pirate Supernova was indeed a massive source of experience. For a moment, Ian felt a pang of regret that he had arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago a year too early. If he were here next year, with eleven Supernovas boasting bounties over 100 million... the thought was tantalizing.
Using Cavendish as a test subject had been the right choice. One opponent, two valuable experimental results, giving him a profound understanding of his awakened abilities. Now, even if he faced a true Warlord of the Sea, he was confident he could put up a real fight.
To further increase his odds, he needed to grow stronger, faster. Without hesitation, he accessed the system interface, allocating one thousand points to [Overall Quality] and another thousand to [Devil Fruit Ability].
[Ding!]
[Physical ability enhanced. The awakened passive skill "Self-Healing Recovery" is significantly improved. Strength and Speed are markedly increased. 1000 Enhancement Points consumed!]
[Ding!]
[Conqueror's Haki enhanced. 1000 Enhancement Points consumed!]
[Conqueror's Haki level significantly improved. Level advanced to "Advanced"!]
[Advanced Conqueror's Haki Effect: Pressure Strike. Can radiate Conqueror's Haki in all directions with precision. The pressure can shake ships and crack stone. Those with weak willpower are completely unable to resist!]
The improvements to his physicality and self-healing were welcome, but ultimately incremental. Since awakening his fruit, he had scarcely been injured. What truly made his eyes gleam with fierce satisfaction was the evolution of his Haki.
Advanced Conqueror's Haki. Pressure Strike.
A slow, predatory smile spread across Ian's face as he felt the new, terrifying potential coursing through him. The death of one Supernova had just paved the way for the rise of something far more formidable. The waters of the Sabaody Archipelago were about to get much, much more dangerous.