Before coming to reclaim the spotlight, Cavendish had already mentally prepared himself for the strength Maude possessed.
However, getting blasted like this by a single shot was completely beyond his expectations.
This was nowhere near the script he had envisioned!
Scenes like this, developments like this...
He was supposed to struggle against Maude in a fierce battle and then emerge victorious in the end.
By that time, what harm would a few stains on his body do?
But...
One shot.
Just a single shot.
He hadn't even finished the opening act, yet his image had already reached the final scene.
Cavendish's mental state instantly crumbled.
The peculiar gazes from those around him only made him feel even more uneasy, as if he were sitting on needles.
This was not the way he wanted to be the center of attention.
"Damn it!"
Fury surged through Cavendish, snuffing out any interest he had in his pre-battle bravado. He raised his arm and adopted a graceful fencing stance.
Acknowledging Maude's overwhelming strength, Cavendish worried that his beloved steed, Farul, might get hurt, so he chose to fight alone.
"Beautiful Sword: Blue Bird!"
Cavendish's eyes suddenly turned sharp. With a forceful stomp, he sent a ripple of dust surging outward like a jellyfish's pulsating wave.
As the dust dispersed, Cavendish's figure shot forward at lightning speed.
At the same time, his bent arm abruptly straightened, driving the tip of his famed sword, Durandal, forward. Twin streaks of blue energy surged outward from the blade, resembling the outstretched wings of a soaring bluebird.
At the center of these wings was the sword's tip—like the sharp beak of a bird of prey—piercing forward with the speed of a hurricane, arriving before Maude in the blink of an eye.
Maude's left hand gripped the hilt of Shushui in a reverse grip. With a slight upward motion, he partially unsheathed the blade, precisely intercepting the trajectory of the Blue Bird's strike.
Clang!
The fierce energy carried by the Blue Bird attack clashed entirely against the partially unsheathed Shushui.
For a fleeting instant, the concentrated blue energy condensed into a single point. Then, upon impact, it erupted outward, dispersing into streams of blue wind in all directions.
The resilient bubbles floating in the air—rising from the ground—were instantly shattered by the dissipating energy.
Yet amid the turbulent winds, Maude remained unmoving, like an immovable mountain, effortlessly neutralizing Cavendish's swift and forceful thrust.
"....."
Seeing his Beautiful Sword: Blue Bird so easily countered, Cavendish's brow furrowed slightly.
Just as he was about to follow up with another attack, he noticed Maude's left hand still firmly gripping the hilt of Shushui, while his right hand raised the flintlock pistol, its pristine white barrel glinting like jade.
"At this range, if he—"
Recalling the terrifying power of the previous shot, Cavendish immediately abandoned the thought of pressing his attack.
Bang! Bang!—
Maude pulled the trigger without hesitation.
The lead bullets tore through the air, heading straight for Cavendish's face.
His expression tightened as he swiftly retreated a step while slashing at the incoming projectiles.
Swish! Swish!—
The sharp blade sliced through the bullets with ease, splitting them in two.
"Just regular gunfire…?"
Cavendish was slightly surprised, then swept his sword in a dazzling arc, forming a shimmering curtain of steel that deflected the continuous barrage of bullets.
Maude, eyes narrowing, watched Cavendish display his exceptional swordplay. He maintained relentless pressure, repeatedly pulling the trigger.
To withstand the storm of bullets fired from just a single gun, Cavendish was forced to retreat constantly, creating distance to better intercept the shots.
Thus, Maude advanced, while Cavendish fell back.
To the onlookers, it appeared as if Cavendish was being completely overpowered by Maude.
"Cavendish's 'Beautiful Sword' is actually being suppressed by a single flintlock pistol?!"
"He's being forced back with just a gun—this is the strength of a 500-million bounty…?!"
"Terrifying… Maude's power is absolutely terrifying…"
The onlookers' gazes toward Maude became filled with awe and respect.
"A master of both gun and sword—Bacardi Maude!"
A man with fanatical eyes slowly removed his hat, his deep voice carrying an overwhelming sense of admiration.
Hearing this sincere praise, those nearby instinctively turned toward the man who had just taken off his hat.
Beneath his tousled hair, faint protrusions could be seen, subtly breaking the harmony of his appearance.
Noticing this anomaly, someone's eyes flickered with realization before shifting their gaze back to Maude, or more precisely, to Maude's left hand, which still hovered over the hilt of Shushui.
"Gripping the hilt yet never drawing the blade… Maintaining such an unreadable stance is like a ticking time bomb, continuously pressuring his opponent. This, in turn, strengthens the suppressive force of his close-range gunfire."
The man's eyes gleamed with fervor as he spoke with reverence, "The seamless integration of gun and sword, the ability to fluidly switch between them—there's no need to favor one over the other. Sometimes, the gun can lead while the sword remains hidden. This… this is the true terror of Usopp-ryu!"
"As expected of you, Bacardi Maude!"
As he spoke, his face flushed with excitement.
"Brother, could it be that you are also…?"
The pirate who had instinctively removed his hat out of respect turned to look at the excited man beside him.
The man solemnly nodded.
The two exchanged glances for a few seconds before sharing a knowing smile.
—
Within the battlefield.
Though Cavendish was constantly being pushed back, his impeccable swordplay ensured that not a single bullet made it past his defenses.
"This bastard's gun…"
Cavendish's eyes widened.
He had originally planned to wait until Maude ran out of bullets before counterattacking, but Maude showed no signs of stopping. In just a minute, nearly a hundred bullets had been fired—without any sign of reloading.
"Forget it. I've already adapted to the bullet speed. Now, I just need to find an opening—"
A sharp glint flickered deep within Cavendish's eyes as he continued deflecting bullets.
Noticing Cavendish's increasing proficiency in blocking the shots, Maude decided to stop playing around. Among the continuous gunfire, he suddenly fired a single bullet infused with Armament Haki.
"Hmm?"
Cavendish immediately sensed something amiss.
But before he could react, his sword had already struck the incoming Haki-infused bullet.
In an instant, a familiar and overwhelming force surged through his blade.
"!!!"
Cavendish's face changed drastically as the sheer impact sent him skidding backward, carving trenches into the ground.
Shadow Step.
Maude's shadow shot forward, skimming the ground as it closed in on Cavendish.
At the same time, Maude pressed the tip of his foot to the ground and activated Stealth Walk, vanishing into the faint breeze.
The moment Cavendish came to a stop, Maude appeared behind him. The flintlock pistol in his right hand had already transformed into the White Weasel sword, and in his left hand, he had drawn Shusui.
As his twin blades crossed, about to strike down—
Cavendish, as if having anticipated this all along, twisted his body ahead of time, swinging his sword toward Maude.
"Beautiful Sword: Round Table!"
His rapier carved a smooth, crescent arc in midair, unleashing a slashing shockwave aimed straight at Maude's neck.
Got him!
The thought flashed through Cavendish's mind.
However—
Maude vanished into thin air.
The crescent-shaped shockwave sliced through empty space.
"Huh?"
Cavendish's eyes widened in shock.
Maude had swapped places with the shadow that had previously been in front of Cavendish.
At the very moment Cavendish had launched his counterattack, Maude used this ability and technique to once again appear behind him.
Without any pause, Maude's twin blades slashed forward.
In a sudden moment of insight, Cavendish made a split-second decision—rather than stopping, he let the arc of his previous attack continue its clockwise motion.
Clang!
In a desperate maneuver, his sword completed its loop, narrowly intercepting Maude's twin-blade strike.
However—
The overwhelming force transferred through the blade sent shockwaves through his entire body.
"Urgh!"
Cavendish coughed up a mouthful of blood. His knees buckled, nearly collapsing to the ground as his consciousness blurred.
All around—
The onlookers had never expected the tide of battle to shift so drastically in mere moments.
It was utterly one-sided.
Even though their bounties were only 120 million apart, the gap in strength was this vast?
Was it that Cavendish's strength didn't match his bounty?
Or was Maude's true power far beyond the 500 million mark?
Such questions filled their minds.
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