Chapter 105

Chapter 105: Artoria vs. Hawkeye

Adrian looked at Artoria and asked, "Do you want to fight?"

"If it's a friendly match, I don't want to refuse," Artoria replied. She had heard of Hawkeye during her time here, the world's number one swordsman. She wanted to test how strong this world's top fighter really was.

Before, when she encountered the red-haired man, she only dealt with one move hastily. She also worried whether he would harm Adrian and was concerned about causing unintentional damage.

But now, the situation was different. The other party clearly stated that they wanted to spar, and Adrian had become much stronger. Artoria wasn't worried about him getting hurt by the residual battle energy anymore.

"In that case, let me take you both somewhere else later. We can't fight around here," Adrian said, concerned that the tavern might be destroyed after a couple of exchanges.

"Is that true? 'Hawkeye' is actually here to challenge Artoria-chan!"

"And she agreed!"

"Does this mean we'll get to see the battle of the world's number one swordsman?"

"Is it safe though? I think we should stay far away."

Mihawk finished his glass of red wine. The location didn't matter to him, but facing such a strong opponent, he couldn't help asking, "Until when do we have to wait?"

Adrian glanced at the curious crowd. "At least until the guests finish their drinks and leave before I close the bar, right?"

"Boss, check please!"

"Miss Meng Meng, the bill please!"

"Tom, settle the bill!"

"Ugh! You actually want Tom to pay your bill?"

As Adrian's words fell, the chaotic voices of the customers echoed. Within three minutes, around thirty people in the tavern settled their bills and left.

And they paid generously, without needing change.

While the liveliness was valuable, lives were more precious. Some excitement was better left unobserved. Today's experience was enough for them to boast about, like "I had a drink with 'Hawkeye' Mihawk!"

"You're really affecting my business...," Adrian sighed. "Let's go then."

Adrian patted Rui Mengmeng's shoulder. "We'll clean up when we come back. Let's go watch the match for now."

...

At a certain open area on GR Island No. 4, there was only an old house in solitude, and no one else around.

Adrian gestured for Tom to step back. "This will do. It's a lawless area, so feel free to fight."

Mihawk glanced at Adrian without revealing his thoughts. He was more concerned about the strength of his opponent.

Artoria's form was enveloped in a magical armor, her hands gripping the Sword of Promised Victory. This time, she didn't employ the King of Storms' barrier.

Mihawk looked surprised at the armor and sword materializing out of thin air. He asked, "A Devil Fruit user?"

Artoria denied, "No, it's not a power from a Devil Fruit. It's my own strength."

Mihawk unsheathed the black blade Yoru on his back and swung it, sending a crescent-shaped slash flying.

The length of the slash was much longer than Artoria's height.

"What's that?" Rui Mengmeng exclaimed. She had only seen Artoria's King of Storms hammer with ranged attacks. Unfortunately, she couldn't replicate it.

"Flying Slash. I think that's the name. It's good for bullying weaker opponents or cutting through ships and mountains, but I don't know the principle behind it," Adrian explained confidently, even though he was seeing it for the first time.

Tom rubbed his chin, finding the move illogical. It's a sword, not a gun, so how could it hit distant targets?

Artoria swung her sword, parrying Mihawk's slash and redirecting it to a nearby old house, cleanly slicing it in half. The house collapsed into ruins due to the structural damage.

"So strong!" Rui Mengmeng marveled. She couldn't believe someone could casually destroy a house. "Were there people in the house?"

"It's fine if there were. It might be even better," Adrian chuckled. "Don't you remember? We found out that the criminal group supporting the human traffickers was residing here."

"Oh!" Rui Mengmeng suddenly realized. Then she whispered, "Boss, are you using Hawkeye for your advantage? Will it anger him?"

"Isn't that a bit impolite? I just thought that if they fight, they'll probably damage the nearby buildings. So why not pick a spot near these scum? It's not really exploiting, right?"

Adrian believed that Hawkeye wouldn't be bothered by this, at most he might find it distasteful. Besides, until Adrian figured out how he earned the title "Marine Hunter," he had no intention of getting too close to him.

As they spoke, Mihawk and Artoria charged at each other. The world's number one swordsman and the extradimensional Excalibur clashed.

Mihawk stood at 198 cm tall, while Artoria was merely 154 cm. However, when facing off, Artoria's aura and strength were no weaker than his.

Clang! The two locked blades momentarily before stepping back, launching into an exchange of moves.

The clash of swords was constant, their frequency increasing. If ordinary people were present, they'd only see Artoria and Mihawk's arms moving; the swords' paths were nearly invisible.

The sounds of their swords colliding were unending. There were no shockwaves or sword auras as Adrian had imagined. It was as if they were calmly sparring with sword techniques!